Codex

Asmodeus

Certified Subdomain
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
MYTHICAL MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. Speed of Light
Writing Levels
  1. Douche
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
The Codex is dying...

We, the Living Books of Librarium, have endured throughout the centuries. But now... someone is killing us. Every week another Book is found, bodies shedding paper skin, faces cracked and frayed.

We call it the Plagar Scourge... and it is a threat to all that we have known.

Bible, the greatest of the Living Books, has drawn together those strong enough to fight. He has a way to enter the minds of the dead books and follow the traces of the Plagar through the dreamscapes...

We are the last hope of the Codex...





Okay, so this is a weird roleplay set in an alternate earth called Librarium. This world is exactly like our own, but is home to the Codex, a group of beings who represent the "souls" of popular books. Each being is a mythical representation of a single book, with appearance and powers based on that story.




Here are the main types of Codex beings available...

SCRIPTURES
A Scripture is the soul of an ancient book of wisdom, religion or magic. These are the most powerful beings in the Codex, with powers that work in ALL worlds. Many of them are mysterious and unknown characters, living in the shadows and often misunderstood. There are even some child-like Scripture characters representing nursery rhymes and fairytales. The most powerful Scripture at present is Bible, but he has fought hard to get his place at the top. [Please PM me if you wish to play a Scripture].

CLASSICS
Most characters in this roleplay are likely to be Classics. They are the heroes of Librarium, with great influence and power in certain worlds. They are masters of their genre, well-respected in the Codex and with distinctive appearances. There are huge variety of Classic Books, from the embodiement of Dracula to the embodiement of Bridget Jones's Diary.

ABSTRACTS
These are the bureaucrats of the Codex, grey and humourless beings. Each one is the embodiement of an expert reference-book. The most boring Abstracts are called "Manuals", who know everything about a single subject, while the wiser ones are called "Omnibi", who have encyclopaedic knowledge. There are also "Atlases" and "Histories", who have massive memories. An Abstract is a good person to go to if you seek information - just be prepared to get drawn into a long and boring lecture.

PORNOS
As can be imagined, these characters embody the ever-increasing amount of pornographic literature. They are beautiful and seductive characters with great influence in almost every world. Some believe they have the power to rival the Scriptures. However, they are mostly characters without purpose, too busy enjoying life to heed any kind of calling. They are not ones to count on if you want something done.

PULPERS
Pulpers are the most numerous members of the Codex, representing the everyday adventure books, comics, romance novels and paperbacks churned out for quick consumption. As such, the Pulpers aren't that powerful or well-known, but they each have their certain quirks. Their personalities can be anything from romantic to overly-macho, and some even appear to be "cartoonised" in appearance (which requires them to wear disguises when amongst humans). Pulpers are vulnerable to other powers and often try to copy and suck up to the more powerful members of the Codex.

MOTIVES
These characters represent self-help books - everything from cooking to DIY, bereavement-guides to get-rich schemes. They are the most positive members of the Codex, with an eternal optimism and a huge willingness to help others. Like Abstracts they have knowledge in certain areas, though sometimes this is just their own enthusiastic opinion rather than hard fact. They are the butt of many jokes in the Codex - they mean well but they usually end up failing or screwing things up.

LEGALS
The most unpopular and irritating members of the Codex, Legals like to go around sticking their noses into other people's business. Their powers are mainly restrictive ones, preventing you from doing things, getting things or saying things. They represent the huge body of legislative literature, from grand works such as the US Constitution to petty things like tax records. No one likes them much and does their best to ignore them.

JOURNALS
Journals are the most confused and misunderstood of the Codex. They represent spur-of-the-moment poetry, personal journals, blogs and diaries. Many of these characters are impossible to understand, as they speak in a language of poetry and shorthand. They are also incredibly emotional, prone to mood-swings and depression. Like Pornos, they are not the first choice for reliability.

BIOS
Even weirder than the Journals are the Bios, who are the absolute freaks of the Codex. They represent celebrity biographies, obituraries and memoirs. In many cases, these characters appear like twisted versions of Hollywood stars or historical figures, an ego taken to the extreme. They may appear beautiful and inspirational, like a celebrity's ideal opinion of themselves. But deep inside they are incredibly twisted and superficial. No two Bios are the same, and very few can be trusted.

LINGUALS
Linguals, nicknamed "Lingers" are the police force of the Codex, most of them working with the Legals to maintain law and order. They represent dictionaries, thesauruses, translation books, writing-theory books and grammar guides. They have the power to alter, block and imprison other Books, but they must work in large numbers to do so. Also, their powers only function in the world of Librarium and not in any other world.







So, the character sheet will be the book that you are going to play. And bear in mind that we will be "entering" other book settings in this roleplay, so the book you choose to play MAY or MAY NOT be suited to crossing over into other books.


CHARACTER SHEET

GENRE: (Which type of book you are playing)

TITLE: (Your name. This must be the name of the book you are representing, or an abbreviation of it, e.g. "Lotty" for Lord of the Rings)

COVER: (Your appearance. Must relate to your book and embody the total feel of that book)

FRONTISPIECE: (What country you come from, when you came into being, how old you are, etc. Simply look at when your book was published to find out how old you are)

FOREWORD: (Your reputation in the Codex and in the world at large)

META-CHAPTERS: (Realistic powers that work in the real world, such as trained skills and talents. These Chapter-Powers must directly reflect the book you are roleplaying and be 100% realistic)

SUB-CHAPTERS: (Unrealistic powers that work inside other books. These are powers dependent on certain genres, e.g. magic powers that only work in fantasy settings, sci-fi powers that only work in future settings, kung-fu powers that only work in cartoon settings, etc. Every Sub-Chapter Power you put here will have a weakness to it. You can add this yourself, or I will edit it into your sheet for you)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: (Whether you have any alliances/relationships with other characters or are part of a trilogy or omnibus. I will sometimes allow you to NPC other members of your trilogy or series and combine your powers with theirs. For example, all the Harry Potter books could join powers to produce a bigger spell, etc.)







I advise you to roleplay your favourite book and have your next favourite book on-hand. I may ask you to "host" a chapter - i.e. describe one of the worlds that we go into, where the Plagar Scourge has corrupted the story.


:D
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
CHARACTER SHEET

GENRE: Ancient Literature/Manual.

TITLE: Tao (also known as The Art of War.)

FRONTISPIECE: Tao originated in China, and is currently two millenia and six century's old. He came into being when a brilliant strategist put his thoughts down on paper, formulating a few simple rules to follow for effective warfare.

FOREWORD: Tao is well known as one of the founders of military knowledge, as well as a brilliant strategic asset for Librarium. Having long served as the realms general, he has now retired to the more influential position of military advisor. In matters of strategy (whatever kind of strategy, though mostly military.), his opinion matters greatly, and many realms have indeed heard from him. Outside of his area of expertise, there's only the little influence he's gained because of his age however.

META-CHAPTERS:
-Skilled in the use of ancient to medieval weaponry and armor.
-A brilliant strategist
-An effective leader of men, though not necessarily of nations.

SUB-CHAPTERS:
Draft:
-Skill: In any setting where armies still duke it out with swords and arrows, Toa can draft a small army in a seemingly impossible amount of time. Afterall, what is a general without an army?
-weakness: has little control over the quality and type of troops he drafts. Even with proper knowledge of the setting, drafting troops to his liking will be difficult, and most times they will need training or will inconvenience him or his allies in some other way.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
He has an some affinity for other old chinese works, especially in the upper echelons of Librarium society. Most military works look up to him, and he counts many sons and daughters amongst them. Even though his influences reaches reasonably far, he has no real alliances to speak of.
 
I'm heavily leaning towards something along the lines of The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes. Would that be legit? Considering, the 'complete works' consists of 4 novels which are, well, not VERY novel-length. More novellas, actually. Then there are, of course, the whole mess of short stories... I believe though, The Complete Works would be considered 'Classics?'
 
GENRE: Low-level Classic

TITLE: Imajica (sometimes known as Maestro)

COVER:
bOOP_by_NathoO.jpg

FRONTISPIECE: Imajica is only 20 years old and hails from England. He was brought into being many years after his more-powerful brothers, Hellraiser and Candyman.

FOREWORD: Imajica is respected as one of the most intelligent of the contemporary Classics, with an eloquent and imaginative personality. He is androgynous and highly sexual, dressing in vivid colours and embracing all beliefs and persuasions. When committed to a cause, he is both intense and very thorough in his approach.

META-CHAPTERS:
- Seductive and freaky in the bedroom
- An eloquent and inspirational speaker

SUB-CHAPTERS:
- Pneuma Breath: In any setting where gods exist, Imajica can create great telekinetic blasta by blowing/spitting into his hand and throwing the breath like a ball of force. This power is completely useless in non-religious worlds.
- Reconcilement: In worlds where multiple realms/dimensions are active, Imajica can sense the parallel realms and... with tremendous effort... open doorways between them. However, in single-dimension worlds, Imajica's mind is clouded and he becomes irritable and intolerant.
- Divine Linguist: Imajica can pick up the language of any creature with a soul within one day of study. Any creature without a soul remains completely alien to him and he has no chance of understanding them.
- Remembrance: Imajica can enable people to remember things they have forgotten, including those who have been mind-wiped or traumatised. However, there is a 50/50 chance this power will backfire and make him forget things about himself in non-spiritual worlds. (I'll roll a dice for this).

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Imajica has solid friendships with most fantasy Books and also a number of sadomasochistic Porno allies. He is allied with all Goddess-related Scriptures. He is disliked by Bible. He can sometimes call upon the aid of his powerful brothers, Hellraiser and Candyman in times of need.
 
GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure

TITLE: Morgawr (Third and last book in the "Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" trilogy)

COVER:

Looking, hope it'll be up soon.



FRONTISPIECE: Publishes 8 years ago in the U.S.

FOREWORD: The trilogy are the younger siblings "Sword of Shennara" and the family resemblance is clear. Almost straddling the Fantasy-steampunk line.

META-CHAPTERS:

Strong, tough, and an understanding of non-electronic mechanisms.

Proficient with light melee weapons.



SUB-CHAPTERS:

Wishsong:Magic carried by voice, or most often humming. It performs the caster's deepest desire at the time of casting, the trick is to remain calm and focus on what you want it to do. Is known to be able to change the forms of others, extend the caster's senses, and create illusions completely believable to the person seeing them, and to enable the caster to understand any language.

The sword of Shannara: Reveals all truths to the person it touches and t the wielder focusing on the lies we tell ourselves. To be able to use it you must accept all truths about yourself. It can also be used to sense the truths about any object.

 
Reserved Space.

Possible Book Titles

Dante's Inferno

Frankenstein

Count of Monte Cristo

The Screwtape Letters

World War Z

DnD Player Handbook

R.A. Salvatore's Homeland

Ed Greenwood's Elminster saga

David Eddings...Either a book from the Belgariade or the Mallorean...not sure which.


Pm me for suggestions on any you may prefer to play with...or catch me on msn...Trying to decide what I want to do.
 
GENRE: Classic

TITLE: Canterbury Tales (prefers to be called Canter)

COVER:
bard.png

FRONTISPIECE: Canter was born more than six hundred years ago. Even he does not know the date of his birth anymore.

FOREWORD: Known far and wide as a storyteller and societal commentator, Canter's reputation is nonetheless declining as of late except amongst the older generation and the social elite.

META-CHAPTERS: A comprehensive study of knights and squires for one of his social commentaries has given Canter knowledge of horseback riding, swordsmanship, and use of the lance.

SUB-CHAPTERS:
For chapters where magic works: Canter's music has a tune to it that reverberates with the soul, allowing him to inspire men to exceed their mortal limitations, becoming faster, stronger, wiser, and so on. Weakness: any loud noise or distraction will disrupt the music, preventing its effects from working.
For chapters dealing with medieval times: Canter's intensive knowledge of society allows him to easily disguise himself as a member of the populace, giving him the ability to take on any role. Weakness: Canter's disguises are limited to what he can find lying around, so without the proper materials, he cannot disguise himself correctly.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: While a close friend with many of the older denizens of Librarium, Canter is distant with the newer generation and tends to hold their morals in low regard. He can occasionally get flashes of information picked up from his conversations with the men and women of yore to aid him in his battles and troubles.
 
Coming up with a char!
 
GENRE: Scripture (Fairytale)

TITLE: Rose Red

COVER:
indoorgarden.jpg

FRONTISPIECE: German, 198 years old.

FOREWORD: Little more than a child, Rode Red is the embodiment of childish innocence and energy. Others regard her with respect, for she is an embodiment of purity and sincerity.

META-CHAPTERS: Rose Red can soothe angry spirits with her genuine motives and actions, she rarely comes to harm from any living creature because of this soothing effect. Only the truly wicked would harm a guileless child.

SUB-CHAPTERS: Rose Red is associated with summer and has a degree of influence over heat and animals in fantasy settings. Rose Red cannot implement scorching heat into an icy tundra, only warm little spots. Her animals that she can influence are summer fare: swallows, butterflies, and the like. She also has an uncanny connection with bears of any kind.

In comedic settings, Rose Red can convince others to momentarily forget their original plans and aid her in whatever she needs for a few minutes. This does not always work if the person is passionately intent on their goal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rose Red is deeply attached to her twin, Snow White. The two were always together, sharing all that they had. Their mother was a good, kind woman who raised her daughters with humility and honesty, as well as compassion. The two were said to be polar opposites, and yet the best of friends. Snow White is more fair in complexion and more gentle in nature than her sister. Rose Red spent many months of her childhood tumbling through the forest and dancing with wood thrushes. Snow White and Rose Red are often called upon by others as mitigators and decision makers because their decisions are unsullied with bias, greed, or personal motive.
 
It's living, it's living.

I've got the IC half-written and waiting on notepad.
 
This is a kickass concept...but we've lost two players...care to remarket the idea Asmo? Or archive for now?
 
I'll try a reinvention...