INTEREST SO MUCH INTEREST.
You can count on me to provide a character and some ideas for plot.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Mike Jones
Oh, wow, thanks! I'd be happy to see any ideas you have. Means I have to do less work, haha.
Count me in!
Back after a long hiatus
Sure, why not. I have a few interesting ideas (mostly involving birds).
“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert
That One Gal
I'm confused why both Wind and Air are separate elements. Aren't they technically the same thing? Wind being moving air. I mean, a car doesn't become something else just because it moves.
No offense meant, just curious what the distinction is.
Mike Jones
There is indeed a lot of overlap in the elements. It's really up to your interpretation. I imagine that Wind element is better at moving air around. But Air Elementals can change the properties of the air itself. Like a Wind elemental could blow themselves around to fly, but the air elemental could make the air denser so they could swim in it. If they got into a fight, a wind elemental could throw enemies at round with drafts. An Air elemental could break the air down into hydrogen and oxygen, then use a light to make a flamethrower. To stop it from being OP, that spell would require more time to set up, but pack a lot more punch.
Of course, that's just how I'd do it. I'm not gonna deny you if you get creative with your element. All I care about is if your powers aren't terrible OP.
edited 6th Aug '15 11:17:00 PM by HeroicSociopath
That One Gal
Makes sense.
Now for some less nit-picky questions; what exactly ARE monsters? Are they just any unexplained thing that doesn't fit in as a Mage/Hero/Mortal? Or is it just an umbrella term for the kinds of mythical creatures we already have (mermaids, krakens, werewolves, phoenixes, etc)? What would a mortal have to do to get enrolled in the school, anything special or like, just have a lot of money? Do mages only practice with the element they were born under or can they venture into the others? Can we sign up as faculty, or strictly students?
Sorry, I just wanna be thorough as to what can or can't happen.
Mike Jones
Don't apologize, it's fine. Ask as many questions as you like, I like talking about stuff I make.
"Monster" is a blanket term for any sentient being that's not a human. Think of it like an ethnicity. This also functions to make them anything that's not a Mage, Mortal, or Hero. Like it says in the OP, the term "Monster" is in and of itself not very offensive in their world.
Scholarships are obtainable, though a mortal would have to work for it. Straight As and honors classes can net you a full ride. Even having very good grades will make the school cover some of the cost. Scholarships are also offered occasionally for students who distinguish themself in some manner, such as by winning a math bee or writing a book at age 12. Or students can just pay. It's a little pricy compared to a more conventional private school, but not prohibitively expensive. A middle class family could probably afford it.
Mages can only use spells of their element. However, there's a lot of overlap. For example, a Lava mage could take a rock and turn it into lava. A Fire mage could use fire to heat up the rock and melt it down. A Heat Mage could also melt said rock. But what the Lava mage could do is then levitate the lava and hurl it at an enemy. Fire and Heat mages could not. But on the other hand, the lava mage couldn't shoot fire from their hands, nor could they set a tree on fire by focusing on it. So Mages can only use spells of their element, but a creative mage can mimic a lot of spells from other elements. But it may or may not be quite as flexible or powerful.
As far as faculty goes, you can if you want to. But I can't promise there will be a lot for you to do, though. We probably won't be focusing on classes all that much unless you guys really want to. And it might not be as fun if someone who's running a teacher character comes in and bails out the students every time they're in a little trouble. In other words, they're there if you want them, I suppose.
edited 7th Aug '15 12:10:13 AM by HeroicSociopath
That One Gal
Wait, if monsters aren't actually monsters, then what about big beast-y things? Are they called something else entirely?
Mike Jones
For the people on this world, most of them are just normal, albeit rare and exotic, animals. To us, a dragon would seem like a crazy monster. But then, so would any animal we'd never heard of existing before. To the people who live in their world, things like manticores and cockatrices and slimes are just animals, just like tigers and brown recluse spiders and iguanas are just animals to us.
It should be noted that most of the animals that exist in the game world but not ours were made by mages. Unicorns were made by a mage so he could use them to cure the sick, and dragons were first used as terrifying weapons of war, for example.
edited 7th Aug '15 12:29:16 AM by HeroicSociopath
How many characters can we make?
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Mike Jones
As many as you can handle.
- Name: Matthew Streiss
- Gender: male
- Age: 16
- Type: Incidental
- Talent: Blades
- Appearance: Matt is a tall – about 6'2'' – young man, has rather long blond hair usually tied back in a ponytail, blue eyes, a rather Pretty Boy-like facial appearance, and a somewhat tan skin tone. In terms of bodily build, he has a well trained, muscular form – not too heavy, but not thin either. Its rather like a quarterback's build. He usually wears a letterman jacket, a white short sleeve shirt under that, and jeans and sneaker shoes. He's not exactly a hero by appearance.
- Personality: Matt has an initial impression of a rather typical Dumb Jock, most of his similes and metaphors involve American Football, though markedly not a malicious one. He does, though, seem to be playing up his dumbness so as to “relate” better. Inside he is a lot more in tune with others and intelligent than he lets on. He is fond of self deprecation based on his appearances, and has a sense of humour about himself. There's also some Deadpan Snarker elements. Deep down, however, he is a phenomenally loyal young man, and would never abandon a friend no matter what. He'll throw himself into whatever danger is around him as soon as he hears the words “help” or if he detects someone is in trouble.
- History: Raised by a man named Kyrio, Matthew grew up in rather strenuous circumstances. Kyrio is the only one who really knows a lot of what happened, Matthew has few memories of what happened before he was ten. Except that Kyrio married his mom, and his biological father left the family. Something happened when he was about eleven that resulted in Matthew developing his Heroic abilities. This being a creature called “Seer” murdered his father or did it. Since then he's been training under a 27 year old Hero of Flames, called Jason Druford.
- Abilities: Matthew is very capable with any bladed weapon, moving extremely quickly with them and some of his slashes showing tremendous bursts of energy after a hit. He is also sturdy, strong, and fast on his feet, capable of healing from damage quickly. Matthew's “real” talent according to Druford is the fact he can create swords, spears, lances, and such out of the aether, in a process that is described as resembling numerous blue and white diamonds collecting into the form. The exact mechanism is unknown, even Matthew just says “I need a weapon I put my hand out, grab the handle, and imagine one.” The thing is, it has to be a bladed weapon, and he cannot create anything except that. One hypothesis is he has access to a Hyperspace Arsenal of “the ideas of weapons formed before they are crafted”, and that Matthew literally blacksmiths weapons exactly identical to their ideal form and capability.
- Skills: Even though its a sport, it deserves to be said in his old high school, he was Varcity Quarterback at 16.
- He's also a very caring leader. He doesn't like being put in charge in dangerous situations, but if he has to, he'll do his best.
- Matt's a passable cook.
- His hand to hand combat skills are nothing to be dismissed.
- Name: Justin Henderson
- Gender: Male
- Age: 17
- Element: Iron, its mark resembles a blue sphere with an eagle-like “shadow” on the front.
- Appearance: Justin had dark hair, primarily, but then he dyed his hair near the front blond, his eyes are green, and he stands about 6'1''. He's rather pale, and wears a black jacket, a blue shirt, black jeans and boots. He most often has smears of stuff from his experiments on him. His build is rather thin and wiry. He has three rings made of iron on his right hand, most likely to use for his spells if all else fails despite the small quantity.
- Personality: Justin Henderson is a rather quiet, but kind young man, who is fond of helping others and giving back to the community. Inside, however, Justin is deeply troubled by how his mother got involved with his father, and has a strong dislike of both of them, though he's "too good" to ever really show it. Hence his problem - inside, his real feelings, clashing against his PR and nice guy act, are eating away at him. Whenever he gets mad enough that it shows, most people say its rather frightening.
- History: Justin is one of the older students, the equivalent of a Junior, though he focuses more of his attention on his experiments than on learning more spells. Throughout his life, Henderson has been a rather unwanted person – his mother married his father after putting him under the effects of a love potion. His father dislikes even looking at Justin, and his mother either uses him or ignores him. He has an enduring fascination with trying to combine technology and magic, creating Magitech, in other words.
- Spells: Crafting: Steel Blades: Forms a veritable onslaught of metallic blades to rain down on the foe.
- Crafting: Shifting Shield: He creates a shield made of metal that can take on additional forms to match the attacks of the foe.
- Crafting: Ensemble Decalogue: Controls surrounding metals in the area with even a hint of iron in them. Very slow to cast, but very, very powerful in the right circumstances.
- Skills: very good with tech.
- Organized person, capable with plans and schematics.
- Good people skills.
Mike Jones
Probably accepted. How many blades is an "Onslaught?" Maybe one normal-sized sword per shot, or 2-3 smaller ones for now?
Yeah, basically - Justin can turn the iron in an environment into what he needs it to be, but;
1) he needs there to be enough iron for it to be worth anything.
2) he needs quite a long while to prepare the spell
3) the foe can interrupt him during the spell and force him to start over.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Question: When it comes to Mages, are those born with two elements a possibility? I'm looking at a Fire/Life combination.
Mike Jones
@Nickthe Swing sounds good. Accepted.
@Undying Phoenix I'm afraid not. That said, the different elements are versatile enough that you may not have to. Like I said, I'm not gonna reject you for being creative with your element. All I really care about is if it's too strong. Like, if you want to be able to make small creatures made of fire, that could be Life or Fire, though Life would probably need an existing fire. And you could always work together with a mage of the other element if one signs up.
edited 7th Aug '15 1:13:55 PM by HeroicSociopath
Back after a long hiatus
Question: can one use Bird magic to give yourself/others wings (whether permanent or temporary)?
edited 7th Aug '15 3:59:45 PM by Tojin
“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert
Mike Jones
If you want. Like I said, it's really up to player interpretation what elements can and can't do, just so long as it makes sense and isn't terribly OP.
Back after a long hiatus
Cool cool. Signup to follow soonish.
“Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable." - Taylor Hebert
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
Okay, the main idea I'm working off might fall under Monster/Mage/Hero than just one. To explain: He would be an artificial human made as part of an experiment to make artificial Mage marks. However a flaw in the design causes his false Ice Mage powers to feed on his negativity, turning him into a rampaging demon thing if he fails to sufficiently control himself. Though each time this happens he becomes a bit more altered. Thus he relies on magic items since his magic is too unsafe for regular use.
Though I am curious: Can a Mage forcibly give themselves another mark or make a Construct to give stolen magic to?
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
That One Gal
Could someone with, like, the Mind element be able to change his mind to give him a new sign? Or maybe like, a fake sign, where he can only control the element in a certain way, such as being able to turn water into ice, but nothing else?
Mike Jones
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Seeing as he's a magical being, that sounds like a monster, albeit an odd one. If it was via purely technological means, that'd count as a monster too. Whether he's human or not in story is of course up to interpretation, but for the purposes of the SU, I'd put him down as a monster.
As for artificial marks, it's been tried, and usually the results aren't pretty. Nobody's made a mage on purpose yet, though there are a few disputed cases.
It's less a matter of the mind, and more physical makeup when it comes to magic. To oversimplify a lot, having an element is a little like having a muscle that other humans don't have. Knowing spells is like knowing how to use that muscle to punch or kick or lift weights properly. Being able to change one's element would be kinda OP anyhow.
Shapeshifting mages can theoretically alter their bodies to mimic other mage powers to some extent. Like a Bird element mage could give themselves wings easily. A life element mage could give themselves fire breathing, but they would have to be extremely skilled to do so without hurting themselves, and understand how other fire-breathing animals, like dragons, do it.
edited 7th Aug '15 7:41:19 PM by HeroicSociopath
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
I'll admit, the Mage/Hero modifiers would show his abilities didn't actually manifest truly, thus allowing an epic moment much later on when he's able to. That and I figured he can't learn external magic, so he has to use tools or forcibly better his powers somehow. Though regardless I'll work out his application not long from now.
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
This is an RP about a world that is somewhat different from ours. In this world, magical beings like mages, vampires, dragons, and elves are all very real. For most of history, these beings and mankind have been at war with one another. However, 200 years ago, after a great war, the leaders of the men and monsters gathered, and declared a truce. Since then, the two groups have more or less lived in peace. There are even schools where humans and monsters learn together. This RP is the story of one of these schools, known as St. Anne Academy of Magic.
http://i.imgur.com/QtXHRvV
St. Anne Academy of Magic is old. It's gone through many names, and changed shapes many time, and it hasn't always been a school. It's been the hold of dark sorcerers, great heroes, mad scientists, fel demons, and many others. Some of their trinkets are still in the school, sealed away in the catacombs deep below. It appears where it needs to, and shortly after the Avalon Treaty, it appeared in Ruckersville, Virginia. For now, it takes the appearance of a private school campus. The brick and mortar buildings that litter the block the school takes up are aged, but by no means do they appear ancient. From the outside, it seems to be an ordinary, if elaborate, educational facility.
The school teaches middle to high school. Students are required to take core subjects, such as math, science, and literature, and are free to select a number of electives. The school is most notable for its magical education curriculum, where students learn about supernatural subjects. Teaching Heroes, Monsters, and Mages to effectively use their powers is very delicate and resource intensive. Keeping normal teenagers under control is difficult, and these students can breathe fire and shoot lightning. St. Anne Academy is one of a dozen schools in North America that is equipped to do so. The Academy teaches supernatural students for free. The school is kept afloat by, among other things, private donations and tuition from mortal students. They usually have enough left over to offer merit-based scholarships to mortals who wouldn't normally be able to pay.
The campus itself is about the size of a city block. The main building has most of the classrooms, and there's also a massive library. An observatory sits off in the corner, which is where the science club meets. There are two buildings for student dorms, one for each gender, and students who live nearby are of course welcome to stay at home. It should be remembered that St. Anne Academy is old, with old magic built into the walls. The buildings are bigger on the inside, and contain hidden passages to chambers left by old owners. Going into these passages is against the rules, but every once in a while a student decides they don't care and go on an adventure. Sometimes they come out with valuable magical artifacts. Usually they just get stuck and a teacher has to come get them, and then they're ridiculed by their peers and given detention for the rest of the year.
Though it is a magical school, St. Anne has about the same problems as most of the schools in our world. Tension between human and monster students exists, though the staff tries their best to keep it under control. Bullying is a problem as well, as it is in most schools. That said, no student has died at Nocturne Academy in the past two centuries.
The label "Monster" carries no negative connotation in and of itself. It's just a catch-all term for all manner of supernatural beings. This can include natural-born entities, such as elementals or dragonkin. It can also refer to mundane creatures altered by magical forces, such as vampires, nekomata, and golems. Monster abilities vary widely depending on the species.
In ages past, they used to prey on humans. Since the Avalon Treaty, they've lived in peace with the two groups. Though more powerful than mortals, they're far outnumbered, and that's not even counting Heroes. Blatant discrimination between the two groups is illegal in most civilized countries. There still is some racism, but it's uncommon to find a human who openly hates monsters. Some monsters discriminate against other species of monster as well, which is part of why monsters never conquered humanity as a whole.
Mages
Every once in a while, a human child is born with a strange mark on their body. This mark signifies that the child is a mage, and it can also be used to identify which of the 60 elements the child will be able to cast spells using. Outside of the power and element of the mage in question, there seem to be no limits to what magic can do. Fire element mages can throw fireballs, Force element mages can lift cars using telekinesis, and Mold mages can implant fungus onto corpses that raises them as undead. However, Mages can only use their spells after Awakening. They wake up one day, and they find out they can make statues come to life. Most mages Awaken at some point during puberty.
Mages occupy a unique place within society: While human, many allied themselves with monsters during conflicts between them and humans. In fact, some breeds of monsters, such as the undead, were actually created by Mages. Further, when Mages have children, sometimes the child is born as some sort of monster. Because of these things, many humans still consider mages to be no different from monsters, and in some countries, magicians face heavy persecution.
Heroes
Sometimes, through hard work and lots of training, or just a freak accident, humans learn to go beyond the limits of what's normally possible. These people are called Heroes. Heroes are extremely proficient at an art they have a talent for. There are two types. Natural Heroes gain powers by practicing at something until they reach a breakthrough. It could be swordfighting, weapon crafting, science, martial arts, or really any talent. Whatever it is, Heroes are extremely good at it. A normal human swordsman could swing a sword without hurting themselves, and not die in a fight. A Heroic swordsman could cleave clean through that human swordsman's blade, or focus his ki and cut him in half from across the street. Likewise, a human engineer could build maybe a Roomba or fix a dishwasher. A Heroic mechanic could make a small mech or a laser cannon.
There are also such things as Incidental Heroes. Instead of having power born of intense training, they received theirs from undergoing immense strife. Sometimes, when a person is under extreme stress, they gain supernatural powers that help them escape from whatever pickle they've gotten themselves into. It's not magic, in that their abilities are innate, as opposed to gained from studying. Incidental Hero powers still tend to at least seem more magical, and they often stem from the situation that granted them their powers. A Hero that manifested in a house fire might gain pyrokinesis, while one that was trapped under a crashed car might simply have insane strength, or be able to turn themselves into a bronze golem with drill fists.
Finally, many magical weapons, such as Excalibur or Masamune, were made specifically for Heroes. Thus, most will only accept Heroes as their wielders.
It used to be that Heroes were the main defense humans had against monsters. Since the Avalon treaty, most Heroes work as tradesmen: A Heroic artist has a very lucrative career ahead of her. More combat-oriented Heroes are rarer these days. Most of them serve as arbiters, keeping the peace between humans and monsters. Then again, not all Heroes are heroic, and some of them still think that monsters can't be trusted.
Mortals
Mortal men make up most of the world's population. They lack magical power or sheer strength, but they can still be badass sometimes.
Lava
Fire
Disease
Ash
Heat
Smoke
Oil
Diamond
Iron
Copper
Lead
Gold
Neon
Mud
Stone
Salt
Sand
Glass
Slime
Water
Ice
Quicksilver
Snow
Fog
Birds
Cold
Plasma
Electricity
Wind
Mammals
Air
Plants
Wood
Mold
Bugs
Reptiles
Poison
Blood
Bone
Plastic
Rubber
Lye
Fish
Acid
Paper
Magnetism
Force
Gravity
Darkness
Void
Sleep
Light
Reflection
Life
Death
Space
Time
Sound
Mind
Monsters
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Species:
Appearance:
History:
Abilities: What powers does your character have that stem from their species?
Skills: List any mundane skills your character has.
Mages
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Element: Which of the elements does your character use? If you're the first one choosing the element, you also get to decide what that element's mark looks like.
Appearance:
History:
Spells: Most Mages have 1-3 by the time they get to Nocturne academy. Stronger spells take more time to learn. Also, Mages can only learn spells from their element, though there is some overlap between elements.
Skills: List any mundane skills your character has.
Heroes
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Type: Natural or Incidental? Natural heroes get their powers from training. Incidental heroes get their powers from undergoing intense stress.
Talent: What is your character really good at?
Appearance:
History:
Abilities: What can your character do with their talent that's so Heroic? Note that most things here are things that would be impossible for normal people to do.
Skills: Heroes have mundane skills too.
Mortals
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Appearance:
History:
Skills: What's your character good at?
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Element: Life. The Mark of Life takes the shape of a teal circle. A line bisects it, with two smaller circles on either side of it.
Appearance: Nick as a tall, lanky young man, with a mop of shaggy black hair atop his head. His sun-kissed skin is an olive color, and he has a pair of big, dark eyes. Even in warm weather, he wears a thick leather jacket.
History: Nick never had a father. Well, he did, but he never really knew him. According to his mom, he left shortly after Nick was born. His mom was a professional wood sculptor, and while Nick never got her talent for turning tree trunks into statues of bears, he did inherit her love of making things with his hands. But he always knew that his true calling was his magic. His mother was religious, and so Nick always figured his power was a gift from God. Whether he liked it or not, it was his duty to use his powers to help people. Upon awakening at 16, he enrolled in Nocturne Academy.
Spells:
Healing Hands: By holding his hand out, Nick can manifest a blue aura. This aura empowers the healing process. It doesn't make wounds heal faster, per se. It more makes wounds that shouldn't heal start healing. For example, if someone had their fingers chopped off, Nick could hold the digits to the stumps, and then use this spell. The fingers would begin to reattach themselves, though it would take a few weeks, and the subject would have to keep them taped on for the first few days.
Painless: By pressing his fingers to the subjects jugular, Nick can turn off their perception of pain. The subject can still be wounded, but they won't feel it. Pressing them there again will turn it back on. He can also use this spell on himself.
Life Sensing: If Nick focuses just right, he can see the life force of beings within about a block of himself. They appear outlined in a blue glow, though people close to death have dimmer glows. He can see life force through walls and other barriers as well.
Skills: Nick knows basic first aid, and he played for his middle-school baseball team. He also enjoys painting. Specifically, he likes doing landscapes.
Leo Cortez, Life Mage picture
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@Nick The Swing
Matthew Streiss, Blade Hero
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Justin Henderson, Iron Mage
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Arlen Westlau, Smoke Mage
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Antoin Reyva, Blood Mage
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@sgtpendulum
Julia Altano, Death Mage
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Felicidad Altano/Rodriguez, Strength and Speed Hero
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@Undying Phoenix
Nicholas Oakley, Fire Mage
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Victoria Oakley, Iaijutsu Hero
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@Karrin Blue
Isra, Shadow Elemental
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Adrienne, Light Mage
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Hadar Salzman
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@Taco
Al Berners-Lee Turing Kahn, Golem
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Hela Varaide, Gnoll
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@tricksterson
Marianne Chu, Stone Mage
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@Evil Paladin
"The Marvelous" Marvin Martinez, Mortal Magician
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@Musik Maestro
Cody Antwerp, Sleep Mage
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@Metanoia
Octa Moss, Paper Mage
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@Dem Kimochis
Alissandra Ventin, Air Mage
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Gertrude Schtillros, Iron Mage
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@Tojin
Magdalena Wegrzyn, Bird Mage
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@Daydre
Dian Xiang, Raiju
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@Truth Hurts 22
Damon Wiles, Pain Hero
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Allison Nauder, Mind Mage
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@svenorzokarkoff
Victor Datra, Nature Spirit: Poison Aspect
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@Kkutwar
Kurt Jones, DemiSlime
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@Hazzy Haz
Calvin Guan, Machine Hero
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@Leliel
Li "Bay" Bayani, Tikbalang
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@Saturn
Straza, Demon: Succubus
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@Clawthe Wolf
Maion, Angel
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@Fergard Strato Avis
Dagan Turandus, Demon: Krampus
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edited 24th Aug '15 4:40:07 AM by HeroicSociopath