Welcome to Quests, an RP in which every character has a quests, and the quests and characters come together to form a world and a story.
'What is a quest exactly,' you ask? Well, as this RP uses it, a "quest" is a goal which the character is traveling the world and possibly working with or against other characters in order to achieve. It should be something specific, not "a better world", and somewhat realistic (in a fantasy setting), not "destroy the world in ten seconds". It can be more than one thing—a list of things, that is—if you so desire. It should make sense with who your character is; it should be something they really want.
For example, perhaps there is thief looking to get rich, build up some money and live a secure life, or a cleric trying to fulfill a bunch of requirements (certain virtues or whatever) in order to ascend to a higher rank and come closer to their god. It could even be something more personal, like avenging a dead brother, or less serious, like telling a certain joke to as many people as possible before dying. It's all about being creative and having fun with it.
The posts that follow will, eventually, detail the setting and story as they have been established so far, but they will be mostly blank slates before the story begins. Note that any player can establish something new about the world (within reason) at any time, both by details of a character and by descriptions of action or conversation within the story itself; and once something has been established, everyone else can and should regard it as fact.
All About the World of _______*
*--Name to be determined
Mythos:
The gods, goddesses, mythical figures, and the legends all about them.
Fata-A goddess of fate; rumored to be fairy-like in appearance. [some information missing]
Jedan and Sest
Jedan is the god of duels, he has one artifact, a spear. He often appears as a middle class merchant.
Sest is the god of wars, He has six artifacts, six swords of varying types from across the world. He often appears as a foreign mercenary.
Races:
The different kinds of sentient peoples that inhabit the world.
Humans-Not all that different from the humans of the real world, though perhaps with a few extra eye or hair colorations and the ability to use magic, with enough training.
Elves-Magically skilled immortal-ish race with pointy ears.
Werecreatures-A sub-race of humans, elves, and other non-animal races. Generally become a hybrid of human and the creature they are related to on the night of the full moon, or at another specific lunar-oriented time, and, with practice, at will. Generally have sharper senses than average for the primary race.
Doll-Not truly a race, but rather constructs--golems of a sort, made to look human and given animation by a necromancer's own life-force, sometimes extended by the possession of a spirit within them. Generally quite fragile, bodily, and they don't heal.
Orriath-A people similar to humans, but who can 'see' both magic and spiritual energies, and interact with spirits who other races can't even see. Live in 'dead' spaces where ambient magic is at its lowest, and wear blindfolds when leaving their homes.
Kobold-Kin of dragons, miners and warriors; a communal culture that is generally able to see past the importance of a single life to the benefit of the entire culture.
Dwarves-Short people who mine. Rivals of Kobolds for resources. [some information missing]
Known Locations/Verbal Map:
Indris-A small city-state comprising of a large city and a few smaller towns, along with enough farmland to supply its people. Its royalty is notoriously good at surviving assassination attempts for some reason.
Kath'arn-A small, mostly-elfin village near a forest, but not quite in it. Karyn's hometown.
Loran-A kingdom of presently-unknown size. Count Jerral's original home.
A summary of the major events in the story so far. Ideally no more than a sentence per post, unless an absolute ton of important stuff happens in one post.
Karyn, Jain, Cinderbelle, and Versvesh meet by coincidence on the market street of Indris Capital. Cinderbelle mentions an oracle, and because the other three figure his information may be useful, they decide to follow her to his home. While they are waiting for him to answer the door, Oz and Count Jerral also show up. The oracle, when he finally does answer the door, is less than friendly, saying that he can't help anybody without a special lens that will help him focus on the destiny of a single person--a lens which has been stolen. Jerral leaves to search for the thief, while Karyn suggests they look for clues first.
Note that this sheet is more in-depth than most you might see, because this story is very character-oriented. Please make an effort to describe everything to your fullest ability. If you want to use a character made using a different sheet, and don't feel like reformatting everything, you should still add in the Quest, as it is highly important.
Read, obey, then delete everything in parentheses.
[noparse]Name: (Your character's name) Race: (Name your character's race (including crossbreeding, special conditions, etc.) and describe it in general terms. I encourage you to come up with new ideas, be original, use a new take on things if you like.) Gender: (If you can't figure this one out, I am afraid there is no help for you.) Age: (Different races have different lifespans; give the approximate earth-human equivalent if they age much faster/slower) Class: (A basic name for your character's profession, e.g. Thief, Fighter, Ice Mage; you will discuss it in more detail later.)
Strong Points: (The character's attributes which make them better, be it in battle, making money, or just being neat) Weak Points: (The character's attributes which make them worse, be it in battle, making money, or just being neat) Abilities/Traits: (Anything about your character that is neither useful nor harmful, such as the ability to juggle.)
DND-Style Alignment: (You can remove this if you want. Pick one of each group of three to describe your character's morals: Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic Good/Neutral Evil) Personality: (If you feel this has been sufficiently covered above, remove it; otherwise, tell how your character acts around others.)
Your Quest: (What your character is trying to do. Discussed in detail in the first post) History: (Your character's past. Should include the reason for their quest.)
Appearance: (Post a link to a picture, or a else good description of your character. Or you can mix and match the two, if you like. This should include mention of what equipment he/she carries with him/her.)[/noparse]
Character Listing:
Karyn Mazzleroth-A clumsy half-elf unwilling werewolf amateur mage in search of someone to be the apprentice of. [Xindaris]
Cinderbelle Kristall-One of many 'dolls' created by a necromancer; fragile in nature with a split personality due to a spirit that is in her; searching for a missing doll made by the same necromancer. [Acquariana]
Jain di Wulfe-Member of a spirit-sensitive race who wanders the world blind, looking to calm restless spirits and bring peace where he can. [Seiji]
Versvesh-A strong descendant of dragons in search of other, bigger warriors to do battle with, to make himself a legend. [Levistus]
A race of people who are entirely hairless, but fashion opulent wigs from the hair of their foes. They seem, initially, a peaceful people because of the slow hum to their society. They curb vices, the entire culture having taken vows to not imbibe the drugs like other cultures. All of this is not for peace, it is to prime the bodies of their people for war. Slow to reproduce, yet seldom dying because when they are severely wounded they enter a regenerative trance. The gestation of their offspring is roughly three years, the infants are then children for fifty years. The people have extended lifespans, living to be three hundred years old or until they are slain in battle.
The hair of the first slain by a member of the clan is their wig for their name, they can only change one when they change the other, the ritual of growing up in the tribe.
Gender: Female Age: Equivalent to around 20 years of age for humans. Class: Shadow Mage
Strong Points: Extreme attention to detail and focus, one of the most intelligent of her people, useful in trying to grasp arcane studies. She is also fairly charming, earning her the complacence of many people in dealing with her. Weak Points: Set in her ways, she refuses to attempt different branches of magic. Her warlike culture makes her wary and suspicious of people.
Abilities/Traits: Orchidia possesses a rare singing voice, high and pure.
DND-Style Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Personality: Upon meeting new people, Orch acts sweet and charming but she carefully monitors their actions and is very enigmatic due to a lack of trust. She will become increasingly hostile towards anyone who seems threatening towards her. When she is accustomed to someone and considers them a part of her taiche, her family, she will gradually open up to them and seek to please them.
Your Quest: A strange disease has begun to strike in the Eslafayne and they have sent Orch to discover the remedy and the cause.
History: Orchidia is the daughter of the clan elder, the woman who oversees the affairs of the Eslafayne village. Her mother was one hundred and eighty when Orch, at the time called Ziru, was born, earning criticism from some at her age for having a child but Orch entered the world and became the glowing star of the village. Ziru played throughout the houses of whomever she pleased, for she was the unblemished darling.
At ten years of age, infanthood still, Ziru was taken to be trained as a shadow mage in war for her people, the most deadly of their fighters. At thirty, she obtained her prized wig of hair.
Just after coming of age, being around seventy years in the village, people began to fall ill with an encroaching disease. Ziru was away in a battle with their northern neighbors and had just earned her adult name and wig. Desperate to find the cause and cure, the village placed their trust in Orch as their savior. She seeks the fountain of their Goddess,
Eslay, to find the answers she seeks.
Awesome, very nice, and accepted Kitti :)
Thanks for making the first character, and if you want it I am willing to hand you the honor of making the first IC post once the RP is ready to go IC..partially to emphasize how I'm not supposed to be the sole leader of the RP and so on.
I'm guessing a shadow mage manipulates shadows in a magi-physical sort of way, or else uses some kind of 'dark' magic...
Anyway, yeah, the character I had in mind, and am going to post quite soon, is a great antithesis to that... I love it when things work out.
(See previous post for response to the character posted prior)
Xin's Character-- Name: Karyn (car-yin) Mazzleroth Race: Half-elf (half-human); werewolf (bitten at a young age) Gender: Male Age: 16 Class: Novice Mage
Strong Points: Karyn has a lot of potential with magic, and a very high stamina for it--he has a lot of magic to use, and doesn't get fatigued too easily when using it. He knows a few very low-level elemental spells and does what he can. Being a werewolf, he has good senses of hearing and smell even without looking at all like a werewolf, and can generally bounce back from less serious injuries that an ordinary half-elf might not, and further, survive some injuries that might kill him otherwise, though certainly the worse for wear. Weak Points: Karyn is unbelievably clumsy. He can trip over his own feet, cast the wrong spell, miscast a spell, misdirect a spell, and so on. It doesn't help that he has a bit of a "heroic" streak where, when there is an opportunity to do something brave or foolish that might help somebody else, he jumps at it...and often fails. He doesn't have much control over when his more werewolfish traits such as a light layer of fur, large ears, a tail, or very sharp teeth show themselves, and on the night of a full moon, or if otherwise forced into full werewolf form, he is not consciously aware, instead behaving rather like a domesticated dog. Many people, unfortunately for Karyn, also see werewolves as monsters to run away from or slay. Abilities/Traits: n/a
DND-Style Alignment: Neutral Good Personality: Karyn is a very cheerful, friendly young man, who tries to stay positive even in the worst of situations. He likes to help people when he can, and has dreams of becoming a great, famous heroic mage or something. He isn't an absolute idiot, and can think for himself just fine, but has the kind of gullibility that comes from trusting everyone else, and their intentions, too much when given the opportunity.
Your Quest: Karyn is looking for a mage who will keep him as an apprentice for more than a month--and hopefully beyond that, which would enable him to actually learn to be a little more competent. History: Karyn doesn't know much about his father, or his younger childhood. His father was apparently some kind of heroic warrior, and when the town his parents lived in was attacked, he took it upon himself to defend it. This went badly once when a rather large pack of werewolves attacked, and killed a good many people, said father included.
Karyn is fuzzy on the details, but somehow or other he was bitten by a werewolf who was killed not long afterward. He wasn't aware of even being a werewolf for several years afterward, as he showed few traits outside of changing form on the full moon, and his mother would keep him inside and 'train' him (lovingly, of course) during that time.
He's been the apprentice of three mages so far, since he left home at the age of 15. The first two were impatient with his clumsiness and turned him out, the third was willing to put up with the clumsiness, but drove him out upon discovering Karyn was a werewolf, despite the young mage's assurances that he was 'quite tame'; he was so upset that he didn't even give him time to return the book of basic spells Karyn was borrowing from him at the time. He's studied said book repeatedly since then, and it is the source of what little magic he actually knows how to use.
Appearance: Karyn usually looks like your average half-elf teenager: A little lanky, with moderately pointed ears. He wears loose traveling clothes, including a black cape, and carries around only a book of spells and a couple of shoddy daggers in sheathes on his belt for self-defense when magic fails him. His hair is a dull auburn, and his eyes are a bright green. Occasionally certain werewolfish traits will show up, such as his ears becoming fur-covered, or his arms and legs (the latter less obvious, being covered over by pants), or claws forming on his fingernails, sharp teeth, or even just a tail coming from his back. All those sorts of things tend to happen when he is excited or surprised, or is just too distracted to prevent them. He has a small mark on his mid-stomach where he was bitten which could easily be mistaken for a birthmark.
On the full moon, or in other, far rarer circumstances, Karyn turns entirely into a werewolf with dark brown fur, a form which fortunately or maybe intentionally still fits in the loose clothing.
Dolls are humanoids made meticulously by a branch of necromancers called Doll-Makers. Doll-Makers spend their lives making beautiful dolls that come to life. Because the Doll-Makers use their own life-force to animate the dolls, the dolls directly inherite their makers' powers. However, only a small number of the dolls actually created stay animated for more than a few months, often from the artificial life-forced becoming too depleted to sustain the doll's movement or from having its body burned in combat.
However, this is only one kind of doll. Another kind of doll is a possessed doll. Possessed dolls have no will of their own and are directly controlled by a spirit of a deceased one. These dolls tend to have a wider-range of powers, but sporadically become immobile as the spirit's power weakens. The third kind, and the least common kind of doll is the hybrid. A hybrid is formed when a spirit dwells within a doll, but is too weak to actually make the doll move. When the doll-maker animates the doll, the spirit somewhat takes over, making the doll suffer from multiple personality syndrome, but have the longest life-span (some hybrids have survived a millenium before finally becoming immobile).
Lastly, most dolls appear child-like, appearing to be around anywhere from newborn to thirteen years of age.
Gender: Appears to be female. Actual Age: 21 years human equivalent. (this is counting her mental age, not how she appears. She appears quite a bit younger than that) Class: Novice mage
Strong Points: With the aid of a spirit and her creator's magical prowess, she shows a strong affinity for magical spells and has great potential. Because the spirit that inhabited her body before she was animated was a rather powerful fire mage, she is able to pick up fire magic rather easily, casting it with little error. She can cast her spells efficiently and accurately, using her flames to injure the front lines. Weak Points: However, just because she can command magic very well doesn't mean that she is just as powerful in other areas. Her body is weak and a direct slice or jab could permanently damage her fragile body. Also, she is still somewhat unaware of the world around her, and has little knowledge of all the threats out there. Another issue that she faces is her alternate personality, which she constantly has to keep in check since the spirit that also has a hold of her body is somewhat rude and annoying, contrasting with her silent, polite demeanor.
Abilities/Traits: She can cook well and make a nice pot of tea.
DND-Style Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Personality: Cinderbelle's personality is split into two distinctly different entities, herself, and the spirit Cinder, that also inhabits her body. Cinderbelle is polite, quiet, and obeying. She is often frustrated at herself for her lack of knowledge of the world around her, which often makes her seem a bit moody at times. Cinder contrasts her in quite a few ways. Cinder is rather loud, often complaining about something or making fun of the people that Cinderbelle is near. Cinder tends to become angered easily, but is rarely controlling, being too lazy to take over Cinderbelle's body.
Your Quest: Cinderbelle is trying to find out what the world around her is like. She is also trying to find her owner's lost doll, Sienna. History: Cinderbelle was the last of four dolls that her owner made. Cinderbelle had actually been made ten years before her animation, allowing the spirit Cinder to dwell within her for so long undisturbed. The night Cinderbelle was animated, a raid was conducted on the village that her owner lived in. Two of her sisters managed to escape, but Sienna ended up staying behind, trying to evacuate those in the village who refused to leave. Her owner, not wanting any more of his dolls taken away, used part of the fortune he had amassed making non-animated dolls to buy a safe-keeping place where Cinderbelle and the other two dolls, Mia and Clara, dwelled until their owner died of a stroke a week after Cinderbelle turned
ten years old.
Now that her owner was dead, the dolls were set free of their prison, and given their citizenship by the local authorities. Cinderbelle lived the next two months of her life in relative peace, inhabiting her deceased owner's mansion with the other two dolls that her owner created. One day, though, Cinderbelle found a letter containing a lead to where Sienna, the lost doll, was located. Cinderbelle, wanting to free her, set out on a quest to find the doll and liberate her from where she was being held.
Appearance:
*Note: As far as this RP is concerned, she does not have orange horns!
Cinderbelle is short compared to the average human at her age, standing at about four and a half feet. She is skinny, and isn't lean or fat due to the fact that dolls' bodeies change very little. What she wears varies, due to the fact that her owner had many different articles of clothing to adorn his creations with. However, she often dresses in more conservative clothing in front of others, wearing a dress that covers almost everything from her neck to her ankles. However, when around people she knows or when in battle, she prefers lighter clothing for maneuverability, wearing light armor over anything from a tank-top and a pair of shorts to a coat and a pair of jeans depending on the weather.
Character is very good and accepted.
I have one curiosity though: What sort of material are dolls made of? I'd imagine that would affect just how they can be injured...
--Also, Seiji and Levistus, please post in the thread so I'll see a new post whenever you happen to finish your respective characters.
It's totally cool! You have a new, exciting RPG idea. Characters ready, players promising characters and suddenly...!
Nothing.
No dude, it's completely cool. I'm happy that you were all up on me about it, actually; holds me accountable to my promise. So while I did break it (ugh, I'm sorry about that), it's only because I didn't want to hand you a half-assed character that I didn't have my heart in.
Look at this way: the new concept I have will be even more creative in the race department. Well, sort of, anyways!
Bah, I should've explained that earlier. Honestly, they can be made out of almost any conceivable material, but they most commonly are made out of polymer clay or porcelain around the skeleton of a deceased person (now how's that for a twist? ;p). My character in particular is made of polymer clay, explaining why her skin is tan-ish.
EDIT: The hair typically comes from horse hair, but the fancy dolls have actual human hair ;].
Okay, Kitti. I understand, you're busy and all, and I'll be sure to say hi or something.
What that means for the rest of us is you two who have reserved posts need to get the sheets out, because I sure can't start the RP with two characters/players, and three might be a bit desperate...so four would be nice. Please?
I'm so, so sorry this took so long, Xin. I went through a number of different character concepts before I settled on this one. It's surprisingly tame (I apologise for that), but I didn't want to indulge a few of my other concepts for being... too ripping off. =P For example, I almost made a character that would have been almost identical to Frog from Chrono Trigger!
Name: Jain di Wulfe
Race: Orriath
An offshoot of humanity, Orriaths live within the deep recesses of the wilderness, mostly around mountain tops and valleys, sometimes far within rain forests. There is a catch to where they establish their sporadic points of civilization, however-- it is a dead zone to the natural energies of the world, an 'eye of the hurricane' if you will.
Orriaths can sense these empty nexuses, and build atop of them so they can do what they believe their job has been since their inception by the gods: to guide and police spirits. Orriaths not only sense these entities, they can see spirits and other entities. They see many things having to do with the unnatural world; they can see whorls of arcane energy, they can see founts of natural energy, they even witness the exact going-ons of what a wizard is doing when he casts his spells. As such, outside of the 'empty' zones of their cities, they tend to wear blindfolds unless it is time to deal with a spirit. The constant visual stimulation from the 'energy of creation,' as Orriaths call it, can and does cause short-term mental break downs. It's simply too much to take in at once.
Physically, they resemble humans, albeit much taller, generally almost a foot taller than average. They are slightly more slender, and tend to have paler complexions. They all have dark hair, either dark brown or black, and only have a single shade of eye-colour: a pale, gently-glowing blue. The only major physiological difference they have between normal humans is the placement of their heart-- it is dead-center of their chest, right beneath the breast bone. Otherwise, they are perfectly capable of breeding with humans. However, these crossbreeds are never truly crossbreeds-- they either come out fully-Human, or fully-Orriath.
Orriath society is a blend of tribal and 'civilized' urban living. They live in small buildings and homes that lack angles; everything has a 'round' aesthetic in Orriath life. The largest societal difference is the use of tattoos to denote family and prestige. As a youth, they are given a small tattoo on one of their arms that denote what family they are from, and what city they were born in. The next tattoo they get follows a rite of passage which decide whether they will be warriors, scholars, artisans/merchants, or skilled labor. There is no class hierarchy to their societal place; all have a job that is equally important. From here, additional tattoos mark ranks among their placement. Journeyman Architect or Blacksmith, Squad Leader of a Hunting Unit, so on and so forth. The tattoos are altered only slightly as they gain rank and prestige. The final tattoo an Orriath can earn comes from gaining a leadership position; these are universally placed on the face, for they are to be immediately recognized. These people are given universal respect.
Gender: Male Age: 25 years. Class: Spirit Shaman
Strong Points: Choosing to blind himself outside of Orriath cities, Jain has heightened senses. The most useful is being able to hear better than most people, as well as taste and smell potentially harmful things.
While not the strongest individual around, Jain is quite dextrous and athletic. He can outrun and outpace most other basic humanoids, and is surprisingly skilled with the use of the spear. All Orriaths of the Warrior caste are taught to blind fight.
Naturally inquisitive, Jain seeks to learn as much as possible about the outside world. He asks questions about culture, food, clothing... everything. While potentially a bad thing, it also makes him a natural detective.
Weak Points: The most obvious weakness is the blindness Jain forces on himself. While it is required, and Orriaths are trained to make up for this self-imposed weakness, it is still a weakness. He can't see someone trying to shoot him from a distance with a bow (unless they happened to be close enough for him to hear the drawing of the bow string), for example.
Orriaths are also world-deprived. While they have an academic understanding of the outside world, they are socially retarded, which can put them in all sorts of trouble.
Finally, all Orriaths feel an obligation to help the dead. While they are happy to do so, it almost always derails them of whatever mission they are currently on.
Abilities/Traits: Jain is gifted with the ability to see, interact, and converse with spirits, and has a natural obligation to assist the dead when possible. Spirits unable to pass on, he takes upon himself to help. He also exorcises demons and spirits that would attempt to cause harm to living beings, and he has the ability to meditate and contact spirits in the after life and other realms of existence for help or advice.
In dire times, he can contact the spirit of an ancestor to deliver him their skill and knowledge. It is cumulative with his own; for example, should he summon a warrior ancestor, their skill and ability would stack on top of his own, turning him into a fearsome opponent. The ability is short-lived however, and causes massive physical trauma that requires an Orriath to rest for some hours.
Jain also has minor abilities in magic. He can conjur simple shields and barriers, and cast minor enchantments. He can also evoke simple fireballs and other magical attacks, though he finds this to be somewhat draining. He tends to restrict his magical use.
DND-Style Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Personality: Jain is cheerful and inquisitive, and is always ready and open to have a conversation. He is, simply put, the entire opposite of 'reserved.' While a pragmatist, he likes to think he can resolve situations to their relative-best outcome. A quirk of his (and of most Orriaths) is their openness about death and it's possibility. In dangerous situations, they like to point out their mortality and those around them in an almost joking manner.
Jain is slow to anger, but he is capable of it. When he does get angry, it is a quiet, calm rage. His cheerful and open disposition is washed away as he works to apply his rage in a rational, cold-blooded manner. While quite the compassionate and merciful person normally, he is more than willing to commit complete murder.
Your Quest: Wandering Spirit Shaman of the Orriath, Jain seeks out two things: knowledge of all kind, and to apply his 'trade' to the world around. The Orriath have felt the world has been in turmoil for the past decade, and as such, have deployed their 'troops' across the nations to help shift the imbalance of spiritual energy.
In practice, Jain is a priest. He directs funerals and other rituals for the dead, and exorcises 'evil' entities when needed, as well as assists spirits in 'moving on.'