Hercine, City of Wonders and Magic - Intest, Worldbuilding and Signup

Would you believe that Anno's character and mine were even more similar in their original concepts? Because we were talking about it earlier and the amount of times our character ideas were more or less identical was...rather impressive.

Also, to be fair there's a difference between "a little bit on the pale side" and "very, very pale". I suppose I should've clarified that Alex's hair is supposed to be a fairly light brown. The rings do completely different things and I'd imagine have completely different stories behind them. And where's the second 14 year old?

edited 14th Dec '11 4:45:48 PM by tachikaze

Emi, and by extension all Nem, are extremely pale and basically paper-white. After all, a species that was originally nocturnal obviously doesn't get out in the sun much.

And yeah, our characters were bizarrely similar.

edited 14th Dec '11 4:52:19 PM by AnnoR

If you two have discussed this beforehand and don't have a problem with it, I guess I have nothing to say. I'm just a stickler for character concept diversity.

Not sure if you're still taking characters, but here goes.

Name: Lakan Ting

Species/Race: Human (there are many rumors that say otherwise)

Gender: Male, though he can choose to look otherwise

Age: 25

Appearance: Lakan Ting is a being of many faces. Some days he looks like an old man, some days like a young child, some day he may even take the face of a friend you have known your entire life! A few actors and attendants at the Court of Dreams know him as a smiling, almond-eyed young man with tan skin and unruly black hair.

Possessions: numerous sets of clothing, masks and costumes, ranging from filthy beggars rags to robes of fine silk and cloth-of-gold, though he doesn't wear them all at once of course. Other than that he often carries two daggers on his person, usually hidden up his sleeves or inside of his boots, as well as a few smoke-bombs and flash-bombs. Lakan has a moderate amount of wealth, but usually keeps to his quarters in the Court.

Personality: To Lakan, all the world is a stage, and life is the best possible play. He acts equal parts romantic hero and mischievous trickster. He might help the city guard catch a troublesome thief one day and break him out the very next or foil an attempt to assassinate the Doge just to get close enough to pick his pocket. despite his occasional criminal acts, Lakan Ting tends to do more good than bad, and his brilliance as an actor means that he's popular amongst the masses in any case. He is surprisingly down to earth for an Actor from the Court of Dreams.

Skills: Lakan Ting is a master of Face-Changing, a specific type of shape-shifting magic that allows him to alter his appearance and body type, but only within human limits. Aside from that he is highly skilled at acting (lying), Acrobatics, sleight-of hand trickery, stage magic, pickpocketing, martial arts and armed combat. many of these skills he picked up from his years at the Court of Dreams. He also has a relatively good singing voice.

Bio: Lakan Ting has been part of the Court of Dreams since he was five years old, rising from a mere apprentice unworthy of being called an actor to become one of the Court's most popular thespians. Unlike many of the Court's veteran actors, Lakan has always liked venturing out into Hercine itself, though he almost always does so in disguise.

Other: Despite Lakan's often less-than-legal antics and the complaints of many annoyed guards, his ability to change his appearance at will makes any attempts at arresting him or bringing up charges rather difficult.

edited 15th Dec '11 11:37:47 PM by Dblade26

Ha, I feel very diverse from the others.

Yes, but my character can look more diverse than all of you!

edited 14th Dec '11 6:44:42 PM by Dblade26

Maybe I'll make Elly a Dark Skinned Blond to differentiate her a little...

So, on a scale of Dark Ages to Early Renaissance, how medieval is the setting/society?

For instance, is serfdom still a fact of life for many, or is moving towards a tenanted farm system? Is gunpowder completely unheard of or a new substance that is starting to be put to use?

The government sound reminiscent of an Italian or Swiss city-state, and the fact that piracy exists makes it sound closer to the Renaissance than to the Dung Ages. Also, perhaps we (all) could/should we invent a church/clergy, considering how huge religion was during the corresponding periods of real history?

EDIT, nevermind. Silly dragon should've read the Dungeon Punk page first. Though I'm still curious about the society. How far have things progressed socially? Is religion still a major player in politics?

edited 14th Dec '11 7:36:52 PM by zzzdragon

Neo: Approved.

Luthen: Nice work! Very much approved.

Tachi and Anno: Both welcome.

Dblade26: Like it a lot. Approved. Might give you some more details on the Court of Dreams later.

zzzdragon: Indeed, I took inspiration for the city from Venice and a little aesthetics from Rome. Like Venice they are very independent due to their very defensible position and their strong navy... Which in this case is actually an air force. As for religions... well, in truth they are very prominent in other cities and kingdoms but for the most part the mayor powers in Hercine besides its government and army are economics and the magic Academy.

Being such a prosperous port it draws people from very far away lands which exposes them to lots of cultures and religions. The Temple District serves as the place for most of them to reside besides lots of smaller chapels and such scattered through the whole city. Still, while some religions are more prominent than others, Hercine doesn't a chief faith to abide by.

To be honest I haven't prepared many religions for the city yet, so there is certainly some freedom there if someone wants to world build in that direction.

As for society... in this world civilization is very concentrated into scattered centers. The world is largely hostile, with lots of beasts, monsters and such stalking the wilds. civilization has settled and mostly concentrated on safe havens and advantageous positions to remain safe. Even with all the magical advances and the advance of the various races if you stray too far from the guarded roads you will find a certain level of nasty creatures. This brings a certain level of isolation to the different kingdoms and settlements, which makes the cultures therein pretty distinct from one another. So its mostly a mixed bunch.

Is there any other point you would wish me to elaborate in?

Nope, I was just trying to get a good feel for how feudal system-y the city/world is. I was planning on trying to come up a character who's a member of the nobility, half because no one else has, half because I re-watched Zero No Tsukaima on a whim throughout Oct/Nov.

The religion was question was because I was toying with the idea of putting together a Knightly order a la the Templar or the Hospitller. To possibly serve as a Jedi-esque police force.

OH and, Brutus can Dream as well. I mean, if he has an imagination to create art from, then he must be able to dream. Right?

So speaking of, what's to know about the Court of Dreams?

edited 14th Dec '11 8:45:40 PM by Dblade26

Oh I see. Very well, besides the ruling family of Hercine there are also a number of noble families from which your character might hail from. Another option however, would be a foreign noble.

On Hercine there are many childs, uncles and other family members coming from many different cities and countries, who are not on the direct line for succession or find themselves otherwise without an inheritance or clear purpose. In this world in such cases it is not uncommon for them to settle comfortably on allied cities and distant nations and work as ambassadors in the interest of their homeland.

On the other front, there is certainly space in Hercine for Knightly orders and other such associations. The blue cloaked guards of Hercine are the official law enforcement... however with such a busy and big city they tend to find themselves with far too much on their plate. The Doge has his own particular elite guard, who have almost nothing to do with the guards of Hercine and likewise the Academy has their own people. There is a wide diversity of hired arms working for many institutions so there certainly is place for another faction more.

As for the Court of Dreams... they are very quirky bunch as I mentioned before. They have a massive staff and have numerous plays and shows every day. The members of the court, especially the higher ups live in their own particular world where everything is bigger and more passionate. Slights to honor are met with duels at dawn, love is the mightiest force on earth... drama and bigger than life characters tend to be the order of the day. Except for some melancholic characters and some more subdued individuals the members of the court tend to a be cheery and colorful bunch. Once they reach a certain level of fame the actors practically become their particular character.

Wow, so Lakan actually fits right into that description fairly well, neat! Also, mind if I add his being decent with bladework into the mix, seeing as he carries blades and they tend to duel in the court?

edited 14th Dec '11 9:43:27 PM by Dblade26

• Name: Killian Reitter
• Species/Race: Human
• Gender: male
• Age: 17
• Appearance: A handsome, muscled black haired young man with bright blue eyes, he wears a black armored jacket with long sleeves. He wears gauntlets, one of which has an attached shield on there. He wears black slacks and steel toed boots, and he has a belt which has a series of knives on it. And yes, Killian wears no shirt.
• Possessions: Killian wears a long sword at his waist, given to him by Bardane Reitter, his father.
• Personality: While most people in Hercine are not sure whether to admire or despise Bardane Reitter, Killian knows that he is very deeply loyal to his father and loves him very much, even though he is an adopted child. He can be quiet and seems like the type to prefer being alone, but he has a very kind personality that leads him into helping people in need, though he he claims he does it for the money and because he has this battle maniac thing going. He is very shy, and disguises affection by acting a lot like a Tsundere. He has a somewhat jaded world view due to how he was brought up on the streets before his father took him in.
• Skills: he is very, very good at swordsmanship, but also has a unique style of magic called Spider Craft, which lets him make very thin threads of magic with his sword, and either use them to climb, or use them as very dangerous cutting weapons. He seems otherwise untalented in magic, unable to make even the smallest flame, but this is because his actual elemental type is Chaos, which means he can cast nothing but high order destructive spells. He knows nothing of this.
• Bio: Killian does not even remember what his birth name was, but just remembers his training as a child in the magic cult called Ciela Doga, which made him into basically a Mage Killing Tyke Bomb. Bardane rescued him from that life during a clash between Bardane's Einasch Knights and the cult. Killian decided to serve his father and the royal family in thanks for the rescue. Bardane trained Killian himself, and gave him that name, which was what Bardane's wife would have liked a male child of their to be named.
• Other: At first, Bardane wanted to use Killian as his own Dragon as the boy grew up, but he became the mask while caring for Killian.
  • A note on the Einasch Knights, they are an order made by Bardane to support the royal guard, and largely handle magical crime and deal in shadow and are less than easily able to be seen. In simple terms, they are Knights Who Wield Majitek and wear Power Armor. They have a sort of rivalry with the royal guard.

edited 16th Dec '11 9:21:03 PM by NickTheSwing

So, what is/are the common riding animal(s)? Just horses, or is there some sort of Skybax-like creature considering the canyon/air-centric setting?

If you look back and up a bit, it says in the description that giant eagles, Gryphons and other flying creatures are common as well as airships.

Soo much stuff to remember...

Sorry

np obviously.

Name: Amairei

Species/Race: Magical Construct/Chimera: Mainly composed of human and dragon, but also includes cat.

Age: Apparently 16. Actually 2.

Appearance: Amairei appears to be a dragon half, a human with dragonic wings and a tail. She stands 5'4" and has shoulder-length red hair and green eyes. Her leathery wings and tail are red. After she learns how, she can use magic to hide her dragonic features to appear as a normal human.

Her wardrobe is a bit limited due to her extra appendages. She usually wears a simple green cloth tied around her chest and a skirt.

Also pix.◊

Possessions: The clothes on her back, which isn't much.

Personality: At first, timid and a bit shy. She is mistrusting of males, but much more accepting of females. She is good-natured, kind, and more than a little naive. Due to her construct nature however, she has a dual personality. When threatened, the other, (intended) personality may emerge, and she will deal with the threat with ruthless efficiency. After she faces her creator, she can reconcile her personas.

Skills: In her primary personality, Amairei is a poor fighter, utterly incapable of magic, and a fairly good cook. Her alternate personality is skilled in fighting, both unarmed and with a sword or dagger, commands powerful destructive magic, and is a Lethal Chef. Either way, her primary defense is the unnatural toughness of her wings, which function as shields for her.

After facing her creator and reconciling her personalities, Amairei can access her combat prowess without reverting to an emotionless state.

Bio: Amairei was created in the magical laboratory of the reclusive sorceress Lady Motoko. Intending to create the perfect soldier, Motoko embued her creation with both magical and conventional combat prowess. However, something went wrong while imprinting a personality on her and Amairei emerged as a weak-willed girl. Determined to salvage her experiment, Motoko subjected Amairei to abuse and harsh training for two years. She was making progress, but one day during training, there was a magical explosion which opened a rift in time and space. When Motoko finally sealed the rift, Amairei was gone...

Other: Ohai daltar <3

As her wings are her primary defense, and her tail is a weapon, both are fairly insensitive to touch.

edited 16th Dec '11 8:00:14 PM by evilneko

Wagner is a dragon/demihuman by birth. Meeting this girl will be interesting to say the least.

Dblade: That is completely fine.

Nick: Ah, sorry Nick but I already have plans for the royal guard... so that angle would have to change or be scrapped. As for elemental affinities... It would not work quite like that. For something like that to happen he would either need to have an amazing amount of mana which would make him unstable in the magic department... and which would be quite obvious.

evilneko: Oh hai evilneko. Approved, though since there will be no dimension warping (which, I might be wrong, it sounds like it's the case in your Signup) in this RP we'll just have to say that Lady Motoko resided in this world's version of Japan and her spell sent Amairei very far away.

zzzdragon: There are some horses and other similar animals in the city, though most people prefer to walk or fly within. Most of the land bound mounts in the city are actually kept near the bridges of the city to transit them or for travelers leaving the city. Nevertheless, it is quite alright if a little rare to ride a horse through the city. As for mounts... there are a lot of flying creatures within the city, though the area's most common flying animals are wyverns (which are basically what to dragons monkeys are to us. Big flying lizards with no intellect, no magical skills and no breath weapon) and giant eagles.

Also! The RP shall begin sometime later tonight. Signups shall remain open indefinitely.

edited 16th Dec '11 12:55:36 PM by daltar

Oh, Motoko is intended to be in the same world as Amairei. Just, yeah, very far away.

How about a discussion thread? Or are you waiting until the RP is up?

Discussion thread would be very nice.