#1052: Feb 16th 2022 at 9:06:10 PM
I've decided on Bugaria from Bug Fables and I am awaiting any changes. Also, be warned of spoilers for the game if you plan on playing it.
Main Characters
Team Snakemouth
- Name: Vi, Kabbu, and Leif
- Age: 16-17 (Vi), early 20’s (Kabbu), 30’s (Leif)
- Appearance: In order: Vi, Kabbu, and Leif
◊
- Personality:
- Vi has a desire for money and fame which serves as her primary motivator for the search for the Everlasting Sapling. She is also short-tempered, sassy, snarky, and self-important, but she cares about her team and is willing to work with them. She also has a dislike of the Bee Kingdom for their perceived snobbishness.
- Kabbu, despite his intimidating appearance, is as heroic as they come with a desire to help whatever problems the team comes across. He also serves as both the heart of the team and their leader, being compassionate, level-headed and willing to pick the diplomatic option. However, this does not mean he is a pushover and will fight back with great strength. However, he bears a survivor’s guilt from a past adventure gone wrong and holds a grudge against the beast that caused it. Also, he is a fan of the Bug Rangers and has a fear of heights.
- Leif is not one to emote as much as his team and his comments are rather blunt and insensitive. However, he also serves as the most level-headed of the group and is not easily fooled by disguises. He’s as willing to go with Kabbu’s ideas as he is willing to go with Vi’s, as long as it benefits the team. Out of all of his team, he distrusts Elizant II due to her rule being much more aggressive than her mother’s. Also, he has a love for cute things and refers to himself as “we”.
- Powers:
- Awakened Bug Physiology: (Assume the same is true of almost all characters in this chunk) These bugs are not your ordinary bugs you might find in the sense that they are given human sapience and life spans. Their bodies also change to become more human-like hence their anthropomorphic appearances.
- For specifics: Vi is able to fly (and go up to 5MPH while doing so) while Kabbu and Leif do not despite having wings. Kabbu can use his horn like a sword attached to his head and can dig through the ground and is the strongest (being able to lift boulders three times his size) and toughest of the group. Leif can use his wings as a shield, but it does rather minimal protection.
- Ice Magic: Exclusive to Leif. Leif can send chunks of ice towards his opponent or summon spikes of ice from below. He can also use his powers to freeze things, though bigger things would take more time to freeze, and he cannot freeze things well over his size.
- Barrier: Exclusive to Leif. He can erect a barrier that can protect one person or a group of around 3-4 (usually his team). The larger barrier will prevent him from moving quickly and can wear him out for around a minute. The barrier can withstand anything short of a grenade
- Awakened Bug Physiology: (Assume the same is true of almost all characters in this chunk) These bugs are not your ordinary bugs you might find in the sense that they are given human sapience and life spans. Their bodies also change to become more human-like hence their anthropomorphic appearances.
- Equipment: Both are exclusive to Vi.
- Beemerang: The Automated Drone Boomerang Prototype (A.D.B.P.) or the Beemerang is a weapon that can strike opponents from afar akin to a blunt weapon. It can also stop in place and whip up a small tornado to batter the opponent with strong winds. The tornado can also lift up opponents that are around her size, but anything bigger will not budge.
- Secret Stash: A personal collection of rations and berries (this world’s currency) in case of emergencies. Said rations consist of leaves, eggs, and mushrooms so it’s more of what a bug would eat than a person.
- Backstory:
- The Bee Kingdom mainly consists of artists, engineers, and scientists but Vi (short for Violet) is not one of them. She wanted to be an explorer, but when the subject was brought up, they mocked her, especially her sister Jaune. Eventually, she lashed out at them, insulting both their livelihoods and their queen and leaving the Hive to prove them all wrong. She eventually ended up at the Explorer’s Association where she met Kabbu and eventually, Leif and took the artifact in Snakemouth Den, earning their team's name.
- From a faraway land from the north, Kabbu and two others traveled to Bugaria. However, due to a monster attack in the Far Grasslands, all of his party perished, leaving him as the sole survivor. Along the way, he went through the Lost Sands, got to know a few faces, and found the Explorer’s Association along with Vi.
- Leif was once a part of an explorer team sent to Snakemouth Den, but after an encounter with a vicious spider, he was lost while the others escaped. In truth, Leif had perished from the spider, but was brought back to life due to a mass of cordyceps entering his body. However, he would be eventually rescued by Vi and Kabbu and would in turn, help them defeat the spider and secure the artifact.
- The group as a whole also manage to secure an ancient slab from the plant goddess Venus and a half of a key from the Bee Kingdom and would be on their way to obtaining the other half, but that plan will run into a complication as the entirety of Bugaria is whisked away to another world.
Supporting Cast
Queen Elizant II
- Name: Queen Elizant II
- Age: Unknown but likely over 30
- Appearance: The Matriarch of the Ants◊
- Personality: She carries a stern, cold, but fearless air towards her subjects with little care about her divisive reputation. However, to those that perform well, she rewards them handsomely. Beneath that exterior lies a bug with a strong inferiority complex and someone who believes that she does not deserve to be her mother’s successor. She genuinely wants to care and protect her people, but she fears that it would make her weak and thus, not be able to do so.
- Powers: She is a skilled fighter if she feels the need to defend herself. Outside of that, however, she has no powers.
- Equipment: She carries around twin swords.
- Backstory: Before she took the throne, her mother, Elizant I, sought the Everlasting Sapling to help her kingdom flourish. However, she took the big sleep before she found it, leaving her daughter to fill in her shoes. Unlike her mother’s rule, which favored kindness, Elizant II’s rule favored power, which did not sit well for some of her subjects. Unbeknownst to all but a select few, her mother is actually put into a deep sleep and the reason why she wants the Sapling is to cure her mother because she felt like she is not able to rule like her mother did. Whatever the reason may be, she would do anything to get the Everlasting Sapling for the sake of her kingdom, despite the world around them being in unfamiliar territory.
Team Mothiva
- Name: Mothiva and Zasp
- Age: Unknown
- Appearance: Silky Smooth Moth◊ and the Super Important Mothiva Protector◊
- Personality:
- At first glance, Mothiva is bubbly, kind, and genial, but that’s only to keep up her public persona. In reality, she is vain, shallow, egotistical, and will not hesitate to do almost any wrong to gain fame and to boost her ego. She sees her partner as useful since an idol like her cannot do everything herself and any other exploration team as a challenge to her status.
- Whenever he’s not around his partner, Zasp is quite cordial, if gruff towards others. When she is here however, he would do anything for her, even beating up people he would otherwise be cordial to. Although he has a strong love for her, it is unknown if Mothiva reciprocates.
- Powers: Mothiva can create notes with her voice that can launch like bullets or create a big note to deal wider damage. Those notes can deal blunt damage akin to a punch. She can also sing to bolster someone’s defense. Zasp on the other hand has no powers, preferring to attack physically.
- Equipment: Zasp has all of the below.
- Smoke Bomb: A short-ranged bomb used to make quick escapes or to stun enemies.
- Needles: Sharp objects used to pierce through armor.
- Spicy Berry: A berry that, if eaten, will boost his attack slightly.
- Backstory: Mothiva is known across Bugaria for her acting and singing prowess, but despite those achievements, she feels like she needs more praise. When the news of explorer teams becoming popular, she wished to add that to her repertoire. However, she could not join unless she had another person with her. In comes Zasp, a wasp from a land outside of Bugaria, to help her out. Since then, they have become a skilled team despite Mothiva’s ego and Zasp’s defensiveness. With the hunt for the Everlasting Sapling is on, she seeks to get it for the sake of fame and fortune, but Battleworld had other plans.
Team Maki
- Name: Maki and Kina
- Age: Unknown
- Appearance: The Queen’s Blade◊ and his sister◊
- Personality:
- Maki is a stolid and principled warrior and comes off as harsh towards newer explorers. However, to those with the resolve to do good, he shows his respect. He also has a strong loyalty to his queen and a protectiveness towards his sister. However, that protectiveness usually translates to going on missions alone.
- By contrast, Kina is normally polite and caring, but she also has a short fuse, especially when Maki is concerned. She shows her overprotectiveness like a badge and hates it when he goes solo. She also bears some resentment for their newest member Yin for taking Maki's attention away from her.
- Powers: Both of them are highly skilled combatants with Maki fighting up close and Kina attacking from a distance.
- Equipment:
- Maki’s Sword: His sword is actually a piece of hard, sharp plastic, but it can still deal damage like a steel sword.
- Kina’s Darts: Her needles can inflict several poisons such as ones that induce drowsiness, paralysis, and slow-acting damaging toxins that can be dispelled by antidotes and healing magic.
- Smoke Bombs: Same as above.
- Backstory: Ever since the Explorer’s Association has opened up, Maki and his sister Kina have risen up in the ranks, eventually being the highest ranked team. Eventually, he was knighted by Elizant II to serve as her loyal agent and the only one she can trust to run top-secret assignments. Eventually, they adopt a caterpillar named Yin, but they avoid involving her in fights since she cannot defend herself.
The Wasp King
- Name: The Wasp King Hoaxe
- Age: Unknown
- Appearance: The tyrant in red.◊
- Personality: A cruel, ill-tempered, and brutal ruler, he seeks the Everlasting Sapling to gain immortality and power to expand his dominance all over Bugaria permanently. He considers anyone that challenges him beneath him, not even worth remembering their names. However, he is not a quitter and would push on to complete a task no matter what it takes, even if it means sacrificing his troops.
- Powers: The Wasp King bears an incredible power in pyromancy, being able to threaten the safety of Bugaria with it. He can use it to summon pillars of flame and fireballs that can torch through any bug’s defense. He is also rather skilled with the axe, but it does not compare to the sheer destructive force that his fire powers can bring.
- Equipment:
- Slayer: His axe which he can throw and have it return to him and use it to hack any fool in his way.
- Ancient Crown: A fancy piece of headwear to let anyone know who the boss of the wasps is. In actuality, it is a mind control device made by the Roaches that forces his subjects to serve him with undying loyalty. However, it can only work on wasps with straight antennae so if the antennae are damaged or a magical counter is in place, the mind control will be disrupted.
- Backstory: Before he was The Wasp King, he went by Hoaxe. Abandoned by his parents in the hellish Dead Lands before his first word was spoken, he had to learn to fend for himself. Eventually when he could, Hoaxe made his way to the Wasp Kingdom to live among its denizens. However, he is not a wasp but a mimic fly, and so, he was ostracized due to both his species and his status as a mere janitor. When he heard of the Ancient Crown, he went to Metal Island, bought it, and returned with vengeance in his mind. With the crown, he was able to control the populace and seize the throne, now taking on the mantle as The Wasp King. It would not be long before the news of the Everlasting Sapling would reach him and he would stop at nothing, not even being transported to an unknown world, to claim it’s power and Bugaria along with it.
Other Significant Named Characters (Will make more sign-up sheets if needed):
- Team Ant◊: A rather low-level explorer team that consists of the energetic Gen (in the blue scarf) and the rational Eri (in the green scarf). They are not the brightest or the strongest, but they do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
- Team Celia◊: Another exploration team that serves the Ant Kingdom. Celia is rather cold while Levi is more open The ladybug is Levi, and the ant is Celia.
- Team Slacker◊: Queen Elizant’s most trusted scouts. They are actually pretty talented at their job and in combat, but they often leave the task to other teams. The big one is Stratos and the mosquito is Delilah.
- Queen Bianca◊: The queen of the Bee Kingdom. Has a good relationship with the Ant Kingdom and is generally pacifistic. However, she will not hesitate to use force if it means to defend herself and her allies.
- King Hector IV◊ and Queen Layra II◊: The rulers of the Termite Kingdom, Hector is hot-blooded while Layra is calm and collected. They do not have the best relationship with the Ant Kingdom, mostly from Hector’s end.
- Acolyte Aria◊: The guardian of the Golden Settlement and a devout follower of Venus. She’s a capable fighter herself, but Venus lends her some assistance through her prayer.
- Venus◊: The Goddess watching over Bugaria (in actuality, a creation of the Roaches), she will only help out those that earned her favor through her Buds. She can dispense healing for a price and can sense any bug, barring some exceptions. However, her reach is limited to just Bugaria.
- Astotheles◊: The leader of the bandits in the Lost Sands. He is calm and calculating, but he treats his bugs like family and is willing to provide for them. He also has a strong dislike for Queen Elizant II for denying him from establishing his own land with his fellow bandits. He is also missing an arm.
- General Ultimax◊: The general of the Wasp King's army. He fancies himself the arm of the Wasp Kingdom's army and will not hesitate to throw that fact around. When personally threatened, however, he is shown to be quite cowardly, and his attacks are very weak. His real name is Fuff, which he tries to deny up and down.
- Queen Vanessa II◊: Formerly, she is the queen of the Wasp Kingdom, but now, she serves as the Wasp King's prisoner. She is one of the very few wasps immune to the King's mind control due to the Flame Brooch she carries, which also provides protection from fire-based attacks.
Chunk
Bugaria
- Name of the World: Bugaria
- Description: From a distance, this chunk can be best described as a giant backyard with a sandbox, a tree, a puddle full of objects, and a house. Upon closer inspection, it is a land with varying ecosystems and multiple kingdoms. However, its kingdoms are much more compact. A map for reference◊.
- Contents/Locations:
- Ant Kingdom: Ruled by Queen Elizant II, this kingdom is largely held by diplomatic and mercantile endeavors. Although it has an army, it is chiefly used to defend its citizens and protect anyone within its borders. However, due to an incident involving ladybugs, most of them were exiled with the only ones remaining having to go through many hoops to live here. They also have developed sail-less ships but are meant for transport.
- Snakemouth Den: Near the Ant Kingdom lies a den which no explorer team has ever come back from, until a certain bee, beetle, and moth has done so with an artifact created by the Roaches. Currently, it is closed off from the public to avoid anyone else being lost inside, but there are rumors of more artifacts going around. Within the cave lies an abandoned research facility of the Roaches. The purpose of the lab is to find a means of immortality without the Sapling, but the experiments have gone awry and lead to the deaths of every roach inside.
- Bee Kingdom: Among the more technologically advanced of the kingdoms, they seek to spread their wealth and knowledge to both its territories and their allies. They have a friendly relationship with the Ant Kingdom and are willing to assist them, if need be, but for the most part, they are a pacifistic kingdom. The bulk of the Kingdom resides in the Hive above Defiant Root and within the Hive is the Honey Factory, which automates the honey production through robots. They are ruled by Queen Bianca.
- Golden Settlement: A small village within the Bee Kingdom’s territory. Here and the area around it is in a permanent state of Autumn. Beyond the village lies the Goddess Venus.
- Defiant Root: A town at the base of the tree holding the Bee Kingdom and right around the Lost Sands. Recently, they are having issues dealing with bandits, but it serves as an oasis within the desert.
- Termite Kingdom: An industrialist and isolationist society that prefers to be left to their own methods and has a disdain for the Ant Kingdom. However, it’s kingdom is the most advanced in terms of technology, even besting the Bee Kingdom in certain areas with numerous developments akin to current human society. They have skyscrapers, fast food, a colosseum, hell, they even have their own internet! They are ruled by King Hector IV and Queen Layra II and unlike most of the other kingdoms, both its soldiers are male and female as opposed to just female.
- The Forsaken Lands: A barren area with dense fog. One could easily get lost within the fog and run into terrifying creatures. The Termite Kingdom lies underneath this land.
- Wasp Kingdom: When looking into the land, you could see that most of its inhabitants live in squalor, yet its military is highly developed, enough to plot out a military offensive and that most of its population are capable combatants. Originally it was ruled by Queen Vanessa II, but she has been usurped by the Wasp King.
- Rubber Prison: A prison built by the Ant Kingdom from a tire to house its criminals. It has since then fallen into disuse due to times of peace, but the Wasps have plans for that prison. It also is the only spot within Bugaria that connects to the Dead Lands.
- Metal Lake: A body of water with many metallic objects. Holds the Metal Island, an artificial island resort made from a hubcap that the rich reside in. It also holds the Spy Card tournament.
- The Lost Sands: A desert bordering the Bee and Wasp kingdoms. There have been sightings of bandits looking to jump any unsuspecting traveler and their hideout resides within it. Also within it is Stream Mountain, an oasis in the middle of the desert.
- The Far Grasslands: A jungle between the Lost Sands and the Wasp Kingdom.
- The Wild Swamplands: Further inside the Far Grasslands remains a swamp that contains deadly lesser bugs, wild plants, tribes of hostile leaf bugs, and dangerous terrain. Within the bowels of the swamp also lay a horrifying monster responsible for terrorizing bugs everywhere known only as The Beast.
- The Dead Lands: A desolate wasteland that contains unknowable horrors and locations far more alien than anywhere else in Bugaria. As such, no bug would ever dare venture out willingly unless some underlying circumstances say so. Within the Dead Lands is the Giant’s Lair, which to a person is an abandoned house, but to the bugs, it is unlike any place they have seen before. The only inhabitants are mutated creatures that vaguely resemble bugs and plants, but there is one monster that towers over all things in Bugaria. Thankfully, these inhabitants do not leave Dead Lands and will most likely not enter another Chunk on their own. Also within the Dead Lands is a small village of roaches, but they kept themselves hidden from the outside world.
- Ant Kingdom: Ruled by Queen Elizant II, this kingdom is largely held by diplomatic and mercantile endeavors. Although it has an army, it is chiefly used to defend its citizens and protect anyone within its borders. However, due to an incident involving ladybugs, most of them were exiled with the only ones remaining having to go through many hoops to live here. They also have developed sail-less ships but are meant for transport.
- Specialties:
- Ancient Crystals: Scattered throughout Bugaria are crystals that are used to provide power for machines and other things. Some crystals also record where people have walked through, akin to a security camera, but it is stationary and rooted to the earth. Most commonly, there are blue crystals that only record, but the rarer red crystal, which can heal, and yellow crystals, which can do both. The crystals are also in trace amounts within the soil and plants, which would cause some of them to become animate and within the honey that also becomes animate if mixed improperly.
- Mother Crystal: Deep within the Forsaken Lands is a crystal far bigger than any other. It is said that the power prevents the outside world from invading Bugaria. This is the reason why monsters outside of Bugaria’s borders do not invade it, but it will most likely not affect any other invading force.
- The Everlasting Sapling: A mystical plant created by the Roaches that is said to grant whoever wields it unimaginable power. Even eating one of its leaves grants the user immortality. However, no one knows where it is outside of clues from the ancient artifacts, which is the reason why the Ant and Wasp Kingdoms wish to obtain it. Despite its power, the lack of sunlight within the Dead Lands has left the Sapling wilted and its power sapped, unknown to the outside world.
- Ancient Crystals: Scattered throughout Bugaria are crystals that are used to provide power for machines and other things. Some crystals also record where people have walked through, akin to a security camera, but it is stationary and rooted to the earth. Most commonly, there are blue crystals that only record, but the rarer red crystal, which can heal, and yellow crystals, which can do both. The crystals are also in trace amounts within the soil and plants, which would cause some of them to become animate and within the honey that also becomes animate if mixed improperly.
- Population: Most of its population are bugs that have been given human sentience and lifespans stemming from the “Day of Awakening”. Each kingdom is based on the majority of its population (Ant kingdom has mostly ants, Bee kingdom has mostly bees, etc.) However, not every bug received this effect and have been delegated as “lesser bugs”, being no different than wild animals. Also, some of the flora has mutated to be more hostile from minor nuisances such as Seedlings to the more menacing Chompers. For an estimate on overall population, it would be around 10,000 bugs. In the game, they are just the size of average bugs you see in real life, but in Battleworld, they will be put to a roughly equal scale of all the other Chunks.
Edited by Ore-O on Oct 30th 2022 at 9:47:30 AM
"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra
EchoingSilence
Since: Jun, 2013
#1053: Oct 18th 2022 at 3:33:26 PM
Cast
- Name: Central Officer John Bradford
- Age: Mid 30s
- Appearance: Rather generic isn't he?◊
- Personality: Direct and serious, a little generic but useful for a number 2 whose job is to keep everyone under control of The Commander's orders for the sake of saving the human race.
- Powers:
- Combat Training
- Administrative Skills
- Equipment:
- Xcom Tablet
- Pistol
- Green Sweater
- Backstory: Bradford entered the Xcom program and was selected for his cool head and stoic nature, feeling that this straightforward nature would be a natural balancing effect for the program.
- Name: Dr. Moira Vahlen
- Age: Mid 20s to Early 30s
- Appearance: Green Assigned Scientist◊
- Personality: Destructive and Analytical, Vahlen is always ready to study whatever gets tossed into the bases containment facilities by the Skyranger Team. Vahlen believes in scientific progress and will gladly push forward with whatever project no matter how unethical it seems.
- Powers:
- Scientific Mind
- Expert Interrogator
- Equipment:
- Science Lab
- Clipboard
- Backstory: Dr. Vahlen joined eagerly at the Xcom project feeling it was a way to skirt a few of the boundaries on human experimentation, knowing that she'd be allowed more leeway into her research.
- Name: Dr. Raymond Shen
- Age: 40s to 50s
- Appearance: Perhaps the only reasonable staff member◊
- Personality: Cautious but optimistic, Shen is the staff engineer and directs all major projects in production.
- Powers:
- Engineering Doctorate
- Expert at Reverse-Engineering
- Equipment:
- Xcom Factories
- Backstory: Dr. Shen was selected for the Xcom program, knowing that a secure head such as his would be necessary to keep the program moral, as well as secure the morale of the facility's on site factories.
Chunk
- Name of the World: X-Com Base
- Description: Underground Complex Located in North America (For the purposes of here, Cheyenne Mountains), housing advanced technologies and research facilities meant to fight the Alien Menace invading earth.
- Contents/Locations:
- Command Room
- Labratories
- Factories
- Barracks and Dorms
- Aircraft Hanger
- Specialties:
- Nothing
- Population:
- Xcom Soldiers - the Brave Humans ready to put aside the differences across the borders of earth and step up to save it from Alien Invaders. Though ultimately still human, the soldiers are ready to sacrifice themselves in the line of duty or research to fight back against the Invaders.
- Xcom Scientists - The researchers under Shen and Vahlen, experts in their fields and capable of taking the most esoteric of alien technology and turning it into something useful.
- Base Staff - Factory Staff, Dorm managers, Quartermasters, Cooks on staff at the Base.
Final Notes
This one was a bit difficult to write but I wanted to give it a start, anything we can do to cover the more ambiguous nature such as the Commander? The only pictures we have are of the Alien Avatar they use, and them in a Stasis Suit.
TheodoreHastings
Since: Jan, 2013
#1054: Oct 18th 2022 at 6:45:17 PM
Wow, what a blast from the past!
Hey there, Echo! It's been a while!
Sorry to inform you that this game is literally in the process of ending. We have decided to merge this setting with the new season of AGOG Frontiers.
If you'd like to take a crack at a signup, I suggest you do so over there.
Great to hear from you!
EchoingSilence
Since: Jun, 2013
#1055: Oct 19th 2022 at 4:31:07 AM
Ah Danke! I guess I'll give it a shot over there, been on an Xcom kick recently.
Total posts: 1,055
Ok I cannot comment on the Bug Fables idea but each of the other three would probably be workable with nerfs where needed although be aware that Indol will likely not be allowed to be imported in full Titan form it'd be treated like all other chunks