The City at the Center of the Multiverse (Crossover RP - Interest Check)

To bounce off what Chabal brought up, I actually had an idea for establishing a privately-owned pioneer group to explore for new resources in the god-planet and beyond; one that either works with or competes against Akane's gang. Naming it something cute, like the Interplanetary Transportation and Cultivation House, or ITCH.

That aside, can we agree on a draft of what these original heroes were like, and how many of them are still left? If they'd ever elected a leader among themselves pre-benevolent god betrayal, that person would make a fine candidate for one of Envy's victims.

I'm also seeing some "administrative work" characters, but did I miss someone calling dibs on the mayoral office? Cuz that seems like an easy chair for a veteran to fill.

edited 23rd Mar '18 12:19:27 PM by TheodoreHastings

We could also have several people with Power Incontinence get buried as the god-planet formed, only waiting for someone to delve too deeply to release them.

Extra Envys?

I mean, if people want to do that, go for it. Might be a bit boring at the start though. ^_^;

Not necessarily P Cs, could also be minions summoned by the god.

For instance, a fire elemental ends up trapped in what becomes a coal seam, turning the whole seam into various grades of diamond.

edited 23rd Mar '18 12:51:11 PM by Chabal2

So, I don't know if it's been suggested yet but wind turbines could be a good source of power for those who don't feel like venturing into the dead god's body in search of something that could work as a power source. Same with most forms of liquid generated power.

Also, sorry if I'm asking too many questions but do OC's have to be the descendant/offspring of one of the original warriors? Who I have in mind isn't really related to any specific franchise. It's no big if it is because if so then I could probably cook something else up.

Also; what's the status on 'planet buster' tier characters? Because it could be easy to write them out by saying the evil god, figuring out what the 'good' god was doing, specifically blocked off contact of worlds with any character that would be a major threat to him, so the likes of Goku, Superman and Saitama wouldn't be running around trying to stop him.

Although I would like to suggest King Kai as a refugee who was shanghaied into the war by accident. In an attempt to reach the Dragon Ball universe before the Evil God could block it off, the good god attempted to summon Goku as quickly as possible. In the process, they ended up grabbing the guy next to him instead; King Kai, who had the unfortunate luck of stepping in front of Goku just as he was summoned.

Needless to say, he's not happy about the situation, nor are most of the residents of the new world too fond of him, either. Nonetheless, he's more less settled into the role of teaching the newer generation how to defend themselves, so they can better deal with whatever's on the unexplored parts of the dead god's body.

Of course, it doesn't have to be him specifically. I'm more just throwing out ideas for a mentor character because inevitably, someone will end up taking the role of teaching self-defense to the newer generation.

After talking with Strat a bunch to make sure it was kosher, and also taking on board some tentative worldbuilding he'll be posting later on once it's finalised, I'll be signing up as an original settler man in the form of a Khornate ex-librarian (get it out of your system now, lads) acting as general for a portion of the poorly-equipped forces defending the crumbling outer wall from all the nastiness lurking outside the city.

He'd also be responsible (along with 35 years of rumours and most of the other founders being seldom-seen) for the perception in those parts of the original settlers as being superhuman. That and a bunch of them being superhuman, but shut up.

So now that we've settled some things about the planet, here are all ideas for the city, the fauna/flora and the planets. Apologies if some parts of it are confused or a bit of a mess, seeing as I've cobbled this together from posts in the thread, random private messages, ideas that popped in my head and from convos with other players.

None of this is final (yet), we can all change this, so feel free to suggest changes.

ALSO IF ANY OF THIS IS CONFUSING, DON'T WORRY! We'll have a more straightforward and concise version of this in the future. We're just worldbuilding.

• Here's a rough first map of the city.◊ The city center/outskirts divide was established around the time the third wave came around. The red parts are the Naked Wilds, and everyone is free to suggest names for each of the biomes suggested in the maps. Also, imagine there's even more Naked Wilds outside this map.
• How big is the city? For you to get from one side of the city to the other on foot (without going around the city center), it would take you a day and a half. Going around the city center ups that trip to two days. Taking a carriage halves that time. The outskirts are divided in three sections (the north, west and east sections, with the north section being the cooler one cause it has access to a river of clear green water).
• The history of the city is as follows: created in 0 AD, the city was built as a place for the original warriors to live, but over the next few years, random portal storms (along with vagrants from other planets) have led to the city's population ballooning to unexpected numbers. So what were once small farms alongside a few huts soon became medium-sized houses next to farms, ranches, shops, amongst others. Despite attempts from the original warriors to contain the numbers and size of the city, it continued to grow. So in 20 AD, the already walled off city became the city center as a new wall was built to fit what are still, to this day, known as the 'outskirts' of the city. The city as a whole continued to operate on a loose code of law, based only on the morality of the original warriors, with punishments being doled out based on previous sentences, and every situation being solved on a case-by-case basis. This semi-Wild West modus operandi continued until 25 AD, when a push from the now secluded members of the city center began a huge shift towards a formalized economy, judiciary system, executive system, with officials amongst others. These changes were readily applied to the city center, but even to this day, the outskirts are still a semi-Wild West, except a few shops accept the city's new currency, whilst many of the citizens of the outskirts are clamoring for actual officials to enact the 'code of law' that has been established in the city center.
  • The following (newly created) roles need to be filled:
    • Mayor
    • Chancellor (Head of Economy): Jo'on Yorigami
    • Judge (Head of the Judiciary)
    • Chief-General (Head of the Military and the Fusiliers): Satsuki Kiryuin
    • Lawbringer (Head of the Legislative)
    • Sub-Generals of Each Outskirt Section: Ex-Librarian Character for the East Quadrant (OG-Sama), West and North Quadrant without Sub-Generals (yet)
  • Aesthetically speaking, the city center is organized, sleek, new, since it's been recently rebuild as one of the many parts of the 'new economy' plan- think the general look and greenery of Tomorrowland◊, but not the actual buildings. The outskirts are cobbled together not only from whatever materials the builders have available to them, but also because it operates on a 'hey, if you wanna build something, build something' rule, so it's a colorful mixture of different architectural styles. Think the look, albeit slightly cleaner and without spaceships, of Sakaar◊ from Thor Ragnarok.◊
• Technologically speaking, the City as a whole has electricity and basic plumbing, but access to these things on the outskirts is limited. Think gas lamps dotting badly built stone streets with metal buildings, with public places being more 'this is a giant open space in the middle of the city, let's put a market here' for the outskirts. Think a 1920s city with sleeker and cooler aesthetics for the city center. Electricity is generated from rudimentary hemo-electric dams and solar cells.
• The city center and the city itself is walled.
  • The center's wall was the original wall, but as the city grew, the need for a second wall was established (it was built in 20 AD). Both of the walls are manned by a volunteer organization named Fusiliers. People who sign up to be guards get food, a place to live, and the 'honor' of wearing the uniform.
  • Although there is one big military leader, each outskirt 'section' has its own sub-leader, seeing as the second outer wall is a much harder place to take care of, what with it being literally right next door to the Naked Wilds.
  • Those who just signed up usually get assigned to the outer wall, but the heroes, the generals, the big name soldiers, they get assigned to the inner wall. There's a difference: since the inner wall being around the part of the city that has successfully transferred to a capitalist economy, they get paid a salary and get to enjoy all the amenities from the city centers. The outer wall guards get paid with food, housing and, again, the honor of wearing the uniform. The inner city fusiliers are mostly higher class, don't see a lot of combat, whilst the outskirts fusiliers double time as police.
  • In regards to their weaponry, its a hodge podge of hand-to-hand weaponry and primitive laser weapons, not just because the Fusiliers was developed at the same time as their spaceships, but also because the Naked Wilds are home to so many different deadly animals that it's impossible to get a grip on exactly what kind of weapon you need. The big weapons, however, are located in the city center, in the hands of the military leader.
• Civil punishment? If you're a criminal and you get caught, you're probably gonna get thrown in prison. But you can volunteer to mine/hunt for resources in the Naked Wilds, basically cutting off time from your sentence and be given better treatment.
• Spaceships? There are a few under the control of the city, but they are mostly used for shipping and contact with other planets. Travel offworld is either extremely limited or super expensive, which means most people in the city have never seen the other planets.
• Religions:
  • Purists: the god is dead, he was undoubtedly the greatest power in existence, and that while he might be out for the moment it's impossible to keep him down. They more firmly believe that the god will resurrect himself, though for what purpose is something even further debated.
  • Dualists: believe that the thing they're living on is half of a god, or the personification of evil and darkness within a dual-natured god. They believe the good half will return, and create a much more pleasant world for life to thrive on.
  • Deadists: people who believe that the god being dead is central to the god's benevolence- him coming back will mean the return of his evil side.
  • Hero Worshippers: people who worship the original warriors/early wave heroes as living beacons of good.
  • Naked Wilds Survivalists: people who think the Naked Wilds are the 'right' place to live and that trying to wall them off is the wrong idea.

• The fauna/flora are mostly composed of bacteria and other cellular organisms that were supposed to be inside of the god. When it died, all of these organisms 'escaped' the decomposing body and rapidly evolved when exposed to the radiation of the purple Sun. As a result, the fauna/flora outside of the city is unknown, mostly violent and kinda always avoided, with the exception of a few beasts of burden, meaty animals that people like to cook/eat and the occasional small two-headed animal that got domesticated and became the city's version of a dog.
  • For each biome, think the florest of Nausicaa slept with the Earth version of said biome.
  • Maybe thanks to Guzma, domesticated (read: docile and mostly incapable of fighting) versions of Pokémons are popular pets throughout the city?

• Planet One: A microplanet, with three rings and a moon of its own. One of the few planets in the system from which a second sun can be seen in the sky. Gravity is earth-like. The planet itself is sapient and has a habit of feeding on its own rings, and any lump of rock unfortunate enough to pass by. The surface resembles an uncultivated moor, and is home to recognizable animals great and small. In fact, some animals we call small are large here, and many come in bizarre combinations. All animals are tethered into the hive mind of the planet itself, but there is one willful species that has ascended to civilized sapience. This race numbers in the hundreds, with a feudal yet atheistic society.
• Planet Two: A dwarf planet in a bizarre shape, with two rings, a few orbiting comets, and a great density that walking here very strenuous for our types. One of the few planets in the system from which a second sun can be seen in the sky. On the surface can be found grasslands, a jungle region, a strange sea, biomechanics terrain and a disturbingly flesh-like landscape, possibly from a chunk of our dear dead god. This small, heavy world is the somehow the most densely populated, with people numbering in the tens of thousands. Their society is ancient (Stone Age), with a religious backdrop.
• Planet Three: A regular sized planet, with a few orbiting comets and warped gravity that varies from one spot to the next. One of the few planets in the system from which a second sun can be seen in the sky. The air is filled with floating mountains and some strange layers of clouds About a fifth of the planet surface is of moors, while another fifth is of Great Lakes. The rest is comprised of regular mountains, sea, desert, biomechanics, shining crystals, and a lifeless barren wasteland. The recognizable animals here are of a tiny size.
• Planet Four: A ring-shaped world ten times the size of the earth, with fairly low gravity on the surface. A tenth of the world is sheets of ice, another tenth is tundra, yet another tenth is moor, just over a tenth is forest, and just over a tenth is sea. The rest of the world is full of grasslands, Great Lakes, strange seas, mountains, jungle, swampland, volcanic plains and flesh-like terrain. That's not getting into the strange cloud layer, the floating mountain range, and all the intricate networks of caverns. The wildlife here is bizarre, coming in weird combinations, and every so often, it's said there comes an animal that is the very avatar of the world itself.
• Planet Five: A disk-shaped uninhabited world ten times the size of earth, with a moon of its own and variable gravity. Setting aside the strange cloud layer and floating mountains, tenths of the surface can be roughly divided into volcanic plains, strange seas, ice sheets, Great Lakes, and flesh-like terrain, with a slightly larger chunk going to swampland. What remains from this are the deserts, the jungles, the mountains, the seas, the grasslands, the forests, and a crystalline landscape.
• Planet Six: A microplanet with a moon and a ring to it, plus some very very low gravity, to the point where the floating mountains come as little surprise. The surface is a desert, with uncanny areas that seem to return to their previous state every time you turn around. The creatures here are unrecognizable, in weird combinations, and carry terrible plagues with them. One such species has ascended to a civilized, space-faring, atheistic race.
• Planet Seven: A disk-shaped microplanet with five rings and variable gravity. The surface area is a moor, with weather that almost has a mind of its own. It is home to recognizable animals great and small, with some coming in weird combinations. Its human colonists number in the thousands, with a modern society.

• First Wave/Original Warriors (0 AD- after death of the god)
  • Toph Beifong (GMNPC) - brought over
  • Envy (GMNPC) - brought over
  • Mr. Scratch (Theodore Hastings) - brought over
  • Hans Schultz (Nick) - brought over
  • Khornate ex-librarian (OG-Sama) - brought over
  • Guzma (possible orginal group leader?) and Akane Owari (whizzerd) - brought over
  • Vezon (Lizardof Aus) - brought over
  • Chimera Ant Queen (Oni) - brought over - deceased

• Second Wave (10 AD)
  • Matt Murdock (Troydenite) - brought over
  • Satsuki Kiryuin (Little Mako) - brought over
  • Monster Child Thing (Oni) - native

• Third Wave (20 AD)
  • Franklin Yishan Murdock (Troydenite) - native
  • Jo'on Yorigami and Shion (Joergen Jetsam) - brought over

• Fourth Wave (30 AD)
  • Mitsuko XXXX (Little Mako) - native
  • Guzma and Akane's kid (whizzerd) - native

• Fifth Wave (35 AD = present)
  • BOTW!Link (Theodore Hastings) - brought over

Here are the ideas for the Planet.

CURRENT PLAN: settle on all the details and re-write the opening post with concise and clear information about the world (basically settle everything down on stone), and also give you folks the sign up sheet.

@Chabal: nah. The god is dead.

@goldenshark: Okay. I think that sounds okay, with the powers nowhere near god level.

@Makaioh: I dunno, I'd rather you didn't play as a corporation? :v

@whizzerd: I imagine there's like a prison? What with the fusiliers acting like a sort-of police, there's a place for bad people to stay. Envy being trapped on the underground was an one time thing they did specifically for Envy.

@Theo: I'm waiting to limit the number of original warriors until we open the sign up sheet, but I did add a preliminary list of administrative positions up there.

@Toko WH: your OC has to have some relation to the City. Doesn't have to be a descendant, though. I'd rather not bring in planet busters, though?

@Lizard: yoinked your planets.

edited 23rd Mar '18 5:50:00 PM by Stratofarius

Khorne-man's name and title would be Bloodfather Jengbish.

edited 23rd Mar '18 5:41:15 PM by OG-Sama

Great! Can I say that he had godlike powers but lost them in the evil god fight with no chance of him getting them back? Doesn't change much in the end. Also, I have some ideas of who's SOU Ls Asriel has now, but that would require some backstory on the journeys Original Warriors had to get the stuff they need to kill the evil god. Maybe Envy started a group of the more evil parts of them to do things the good guy would never do?

If there are no problems, here are the people making up the taken SOU Ls; (if anyone wants me to change them for some reason I will, just let me know. Also, not all of them are part of the Original Warriors, most of them just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.)

Preston Garvey - represented by green, Kindness

Iris Thompson (SCP-105) - represented by light blue, Patience

Jack Morrison (Soldier 76) - represented by yellow, Justice

Weiss Schnee - represented by dark blue, Integrity

Mumen Rider - represented by orange, Bravery

Mario - represented by red, Determination

Rick Sanchez - represented by purple, Perseverance (he and Morty where part of the Original Warriors who was the last SOUL needed for Flowey to become Asriel again. With the portal gun lost with Rick, Morty was left in the care of Asriel. Now grown up he is a technician who is working to get more power for the city while secretly trying to make a new portal gun.)

For religion, i'm thinking The Cult of the Mind. A group that lives near the god's brain for it's nourishment. They think eating the brain can increase your intelligence, but instead it causes insanity. The group thinks that the dead god got is power not by strength, but by wisdom and by doing this they are gaining the dead god's intelligence and way of thinking. They are a dangerous group, as it's not only eat the god's brain they eat...

For the other planets, 1. A populated planet that was devastated by nuclear warfare, the remaining residence (lets say catmen) will gladly reward anyone who help them with the vast resources and advanced technology they have left. But the planetary defense grid is still online and shoots down anyone who gets too close. To date, no one has gotten past it.

2. An ice planet were it's thick atmosphere prevents most light from reaching the planets surface. The few fauna on the planet have adapted to getting it's water from the flora, but two stand out. The Ice Melter, a six-legged elephant like mammal which takes in the little sunlight it can to heat up it's feet and quickly drink up the water. Then there is the more dangerous Water Vampire, what is essentially a large mass of tentacles that can impale someone and drain the liquid out of them. They are the planet's only known predator. The last thing to note is that this is the home planet of Ice Grapes. Ice Grapes are berry that only need to grow off ice and be given minimal sunlight to thrive, as such, they are popular to grow in the The City.

3. Definitely one of the more bizarre planets, this entire world is made of glass. The flora and fauna, the crust, mantles, everything. Even the core and 'water' is made of liquid glass. How this came to be is a huge head scratcher. Resource wise, it has next to nothing to offer. But with that said, it's considered to be one of the most beautiful places in the galaxy and a popular vacation spot for the rich. Some even take home souvenirs for decorations, or pets like glass wolves and birds, maybe glass seeds to grow into glass flowers or trees. This has cause of rift between the rich and poorer classes, as the latter don't like the waste of time and space travel to a resource poor land just to take a vacation.

For the city, maybe while there is a Mayor, electoral season is coming up. Definitely would spice things up in politics.

edited 24th Mar '18 3:41:46 PM by goldenshark

@Strat: Quick correction; Laeta (Guzma/Akane kid) would be Second Wave instead of Fourth, right, since I wanted her to be in her early twenties?

So what's the status of outskirt citizens seeing the city centre? Are they allowed to visit, or is it closed-off to them unless they have business/work there?

Either way, I imagine Guzma moved out to the outskirts as protest against the gentrification of the centre, and that's where he and his kid live now (which Laeta doesn't like because, sure, fuck the system and all that, but now she lives in a shitty house with only the bare necessities). Akane meanwhile... I could see her having a home in the centre that she never uses since she's off-world all the time. Since she comes from a poor background, I could see her renting out the place to outskirt citizens for dirt cheap (against the express wishes of the neighbourhood, who worry about the possibility of urban decline).

I can dig them being rivals; pettily trying to one-up each other or racing to get to resources first, a sort of levity from the general seriousness of the situation.

@LittleMako: Speaking of, is Caeser the type who would commandeer one of these exploration groups? I ask because, while Akane would be gung-ho to explore, she's also kind of an idiot, and would probably need someone smarter to handle the technical know-how of spaceship travel.

Well, I've been gunning to have Guzma in that role, and I'd rather have him not be dead That said, now I'm thinking about the possibility of his having been one of Envy's intended targets, and ending up with a permanent injury before Envy was detained. It'd add another layer to him relinquishing leadership to Satsuki (or to the person that Satsuki would take it from later) as well as his dynamic with his daughter.

I love this, yet I have no idea who I wanna be.

I have narrowed it down to Part 3 Joseph as a 3rd Gen, Rock Howard as a 4th Gen, Or maybe an OC as either a 2nd Gen or 5th Gen.

, - I should probably mention that I've since decided not to use Caesar as my character's father. I'm still working out a new idea with another player.

...Guzma? Leader of a band of warriors that take down a planet-sized god?

...well, at the very least it would give Mr. Scratch a great reason to never take the heroes seriously.

Far as ITCH vs. Akane's group goes, I should let you know that Mr. Scratch is most interested in finding a certain sort of special environment that's native to the world of Alan Wake. My plan for the start of this RP is to have someone (maybe ITCH, maybe Akane's group, maybe someone else or scouts for the city itself) find that kind of place within the god-planet, and he needs to steal and plunder gather the resources he needs to get that area working.

edited 24th Mar '18 8:52:42 AM by TheodoreHastings

For reasons of Russia, I've been combing through my old and dusty Tumblr blog, and I've rediscovered some pieces that could be useful for worldbuilding. Planets, for example: this might be a shape for the 'strangely shaped' world I randomly generated, and these could provide invaluable for adding onto other words, like goldenshark's ice planet idea.

Just want to say I'm definitely interested and currently weighing up several character choices in my mind...

Oh hey, Vox, long time no see.

Guilds: food providers, miners, beggars, merchants, thieves, seamstresses, "seamstresses", weaponsmiths, city guards, explorers...

Is the rest of the planet big/developped enough to have smaller towns so we can have Gangs Of Hats?

I think the idea is that this is the only population centre around, but you could definitely have suburbs of hats developing in certain regions of the city. Keep in mind this thing is gonna be p damn big.

Yeah, really is pretty big...

Y'know, as much fun as it is to come up with all of these planets and stuff, it's probably important to note we can't delve too much into it in the game. I mean, if we come up with all these dozens of places to be and things to do, we might spread our player base too thin. The last thing a game needs is for any one player to be stuck in their own little corner, with no one to play with but the GM.

@goldenshark: what do you mean by 'stared an evil group'? I only see two problems with that list fo souls: if Katara was among them, Toph would probably end Asriel right there and then. As for Morty... well, my problem is that he's a character from a comedy show, y'know. And while I'm not against comedy, I think he'd probably stick out like a sore thumb. As for the cult of the mind, no one has gotten to the brain (yet), and I adapted some of your planet ideas.

@whizzerd: I like all of those ideas.

Hey everyone. I collected every single idea and wrote them down in a (hopefully) concise post. Notice that this post does not include your personal character ideas, seeing as this will also be the OP of our signup thread. Feel free to suggest edits and changes to all these ideas. We still are lacking quite a few names (for the city, the planets) and I've left it open for you guys to suggest cool fauna/flora for the planet as well.

edited 24th Mar '18 9:45:52 PM by Stratofarius

Oops, I meant started, not stared. And changed Katara to Weiss Schnee. As for Morty, I don't think he'd stick out too much. Rick and Morty is a comedy show, but most of the humor come from either Rick and the surreal environments and/or adventures the two have. With Rick dead and Morty stuck in one place everything for him is more 'grounded' so to speak.

Fauna:

Shockerpede - Growing over 16 feet long, this centipede like creature is very similar to it's Earth counterpart, but instead of poison, it uses electricity to hunt. These are one of the more dangerous residents of Balder, as they are not shy at making humans a meal. It's hunting strategy for groups of people are to stun everyone, then take one of them and quickly retreat into it's deep burrow. There is some debate over whether or not some should be captured and used in some way as the city's power power source.

Camo monkey: These 8 limbed simians are, just as their name imply, able to camouflage themselves. They mostly keep to themselves and are generally harmless, they have been know to sneak into the city to steal food.

Ice Mites: Immigrants from Planet Four (I want to call Allecto, by the way), these annoying pests are ant sized insects that painless bite into a host and drain not only blood, but body heat as well. Attempts were made to exterminate them, but they got into the locale wildlife and are here to stay.

Flora:

Bomb Trees: Small but thick, these trees are the source of Bomb Fruit. Bomb Fruit, when touched by anyone other then it 'parent', violently explodes in about five seconds with enough force to blow a man into pieces. It does this as a way to defend itself and as a means to spread it's seeds. Some people want to find a way to use these deadly fruit as grenades, but no such luck has come from using them in a practical way.The last thing to note is that the tree itself as it has exceptionally durable bark.

Mercury Man Traps: Large plants that blend into the ground. If someone steps on it, the carnivorous plant will close up around it's victim and digests them alive. The the whole process takes about seven minutes.

Ice Vines: Native to the ice planet Allecto, this are the same vines that grow Ice Grapes. While they are popular to grow and eat, they can be hard to grow if you aren't prepared properly. Instead of of soil, they need ice to grow on. Instead of getting it's nutrients from soil, it gets them all from light. The combination of cold and light makes it easy for anyone with a refrigerator to grow. Also, if the ice they grow on is just water, the grapes are light blue, but in Balder frozen blood, that have a pink coloring.

Golden Flowers - When Asriel was still Flowey, he left some seeds behind before getting his last SOUL. Although the flowers that grew from them are not sentient or in any way self aware (thankfully) they have made themselves permanent residents of Balder. Golden Flowers have corollas with five to six yellow petals. They grow on individual stems and grow in patches large and small as well. They are very resilient to the point that they can cushion someone's fall, can grow in the harshest of environments and can spread quickly thinks to it's sticky seeds. In the right hand, they can be made into delicious tea. (Not to be confused with buttercups, the toxic flowers that poisoned Chara.)

Also, something I want to ask is what the population of The City is made up of? I would think the majority of them are human with maybe a few ‘lizard people’ from Planet Six, but are there other races from other universes, or is that just a case by case basis for signups?

Lastly, I think The City should be called 'Hope'.

edited 25th Mar '18 10:59:16 AM by goldenshark

I was thinking of bringing in Pre Vizsla of Star Wars. As one of the original members of the group, he would be a leader, the type the combat-minded would rally around. He despises weakness and peacefulness, and would attempt to teach others the ways of the Mando'ad. Despite this, he is pragmatic and may take actions some see as cowardly, such as a tactical retreat. And though he may have what some call a war-like philosophy, he mainly focuses on the hunting of wild beasts nowadays as opposed to fighting the 'peacemongers'. He comes armed with a jetpack, a wrist vambrace that comes equipped with a flamethrower and energy shield, his signature dual WESTAR blasters and his other signature weapon, the darksaber. Though as he's now 30 years older he's not as tough as he used to be.

He would live separately from the main city, sticking with the nomadic ways of the ancient Mandalorians. Despite his adherence to the ways of the old Mandalorians, he is a human supremacist, not welcoming the 'beast' races. He wasn't too popular among the first warriors, not being the best dude and all, but in the waves of population that came afterward he found recruits. Nowadays he likes to recruit from the Fusiliers though some people aren't too sympathetic with his cause. Speaking of, his cause is basically to make Mandalore great again, which would require him to actually find a way back home. He also plans on bringing his recruits home with him.

His new recruits, the new Death Watch (though not called the New Death Watch as he finds that name dangerously close to the New Mandalorians, his pacifistic rivals), do not wear the beskar'gam of the traditional Mandalorians but instead a more primitive armor made of the bones of the dead god. Their jetpacks run on the fuel of the dead god's fat, which allows for a minute and a half of straight flight time before requiring a break. Blasters are rare due to the general tech level, as are jetpacks. Most of the new Death Watch wields bone blades or more conventional rifles. He also considers them below the Death Watch back home, as those are composed of true Mandalorians (but not True Mandalorians; very different). Still, he values his Death Watch members, as the nomadic lifestyle is particularly difficult on the dead god. While technically there's nothing keeping them from living in the City, they choose not to, to to keep their skills honed.

Pre Vizsla believes that technology is the way to finding their way home, and also recently has begun looking to add a spaceship to their arsenal for transportation and assault purposes. While he has no quarrel with the City - they're not exactly pacifistic - he is usually at odds with the Mayor and holds no high rank within the city despite his status as one of the original heroes.

edited 24th Mar '18 8:37:18 PM by Kepler-7

Do the hero worshippers respect each other's beliefs, or do they regularly launch smear campaigns and hold Who Would Win debates that turn into football riots? Would heroes be able to use their fan legions to access political power or raise them into private armies (not necessarily for evil purposes, more like avoiding government conscription by making it entirely voluntary)?

Provided I can find the time to devote to this, I'd like to go with Erik 'Killmonger' Stevens (rebranding himself as N'Jadaka for a fresh start) and Miki 'Miko' Kuroda (rebranding herself as just plain ol' Miki, for much the same reasons).

• Erik arrives in 10 AM after the events of the movie, confused, enraged, despairing, and just the slightest bit grudgingly respectful of those that had defeated him. Not sure whether it was worth it to try and go back, and not having an easy route to do that anyway, he settled into an old groove—killing, specifically the monstrous beasts that called the Naked Wilds home. Armed with a Vibranium half-spear, the golden Black Panther suit, and all of the martial mastery over twenty years of military training could provide, he made a name for himself poaching and pillaging the corpses of the monsters that roamed the wilds, making a sport of it even as he traded and sold the monster's various body parts for creature comforts and bullets. Neighborhoods around his abode sprang into color and life as a result of his efforts, as everything from pelts to decorations to warding heads on sticks dotted people, places, and things. His single-handed efforts became multi-handed as he accumulated volunteers and eager recruits, harnessing those that could shoot straight and teaching those that couldn't. N'Jadaka thumbed his nose at the Fusiliers, and his crew did mostly the same, viewing themselves as the superior private sector equivalent to a security force employed by teenagers. Killing was business, and business was good.

• Miki arrives at the same time, finding herself abruptly, perhaps irrevocably, untethered from each and every issue that had plagued her on her own world. Attempting to lay low at first, it was mere days before she was forced to use her spider form to defend herself, and she spent the days after that terrified that the mobs would come for her. When they didn't, she was confronted with a revelation; maybe this wasn't so bad, after all. Her strength and speed proved a boon to working odd jobs in the neighborhood, doing construction and light security and one humiliating instance of providing a ride. But before long, she found by far the most cost-effective use of looking like a monster—blending in with other monsters. By donning her spider form and going out short distances into the Naked Wilds, she found that she could collect resources and materials without having to do much more than snarl at the competition. She found demand, and provided supply, unwittingly competing with N'Jadaka though not on a scale either of them noticed. She started telling people stories of the people she knew, turning trauma into myth, trying to make sense of the tangled web that had led her here. Occasionally she looked to the pistol in her desk drawer that had made the trip with her; but mostly, she looked to the future.

• The unlikely duo's paths crossed violently one day in 13 AM, when N'Jadaka's hunting expedition coincidentally came across Miki as she was gathering resources. Thinking it was merely a beast he hadn't seen before, N'Jadaka wasted no time critically wounding her—only realizing his mistake once the creature turned into a screaming, bleeding resident of the City. Initially disbelieving and unwilling to accept responsibility, N'Jadaka nevertheless helped escort her back to the city, where he secured her medical care less out of a concern for her well-being and more out of a desire not to get nicked for murdering a denizen of the city. Visits to ensure that said murder hadn't taken place incrementally became something more, however, as their banter and mutual trauma fed off of each other to reveal more of themselves than they meant to. N'Jadaka found that the plight of the Devilmen struck a chord with him, and her tales of a world tearing itself apart in fear and paranoia as the strong consumed the weak consuming the strong gave him pause. Miki found herself letting her guard down as he brought her trinkets from the wilds, faintly charmed by his efforts to show off, and finding that he reminded her of someone that she thought she'd have to forget—particularly when one of those trinkets happened to be a pair of amber sunglasses, lost from her person during the initial attack.

• Certain barriers prevented them from going much further—the shock of the initial attack, N'Jadaka's work putting him in constant danger, and an age gap of nearly twenty years—but as Miki gradually became well enough to run in the mornings again, N'Jadaka was there every step of the way, goading and prodding her on until they were almost neck-and-neck. Emboldened by the shortness of life in their new environment and her Devilman instincts, Miki made the first move—and the next, and the next. N'Jadaka became slightly more careful as the days went on, delegating more of the hunting and gathering responsibilities to his men, taking more men with him on raiding parties, and challenging less giant monsters to battle for the thrill of it. Though neither of them would admit it, or could acknowledge it, they were approaching a level of happiness they hadn't known in their home worlds. Little by little, the City became their home.

• Things became a bit more complicated in 15 AM, when Miki found out she was pregnant. N'Jadaka froze, completely unsure how to deal with the responsibility, and Miki found herself terrified by the way her Devilman body reacted, changed, and lashed out in accordance with the body growing inside of her. Their relationship reached a rough patch it almost didn't survive, as N'Jadaka spent more time in the wilds allegedly to bolster their nest egg and Miki found her impulse control and ability to reign in her body's violent tendencies at an all-time low. But after nine months of awkward encounters, destroyed furniture, and a fit of frenzied fighting, N'Jadaka was there at the delivery of his baby girl, weathering Miki's unwitting assault and not letting a gash down the side of his face stop him from holding his little girl in his hands.

• Now with something concrete to protect, N'Jadaka and his forces begrudgingly began to play ball with the Fusiliers, gradually integrating with their forces even as they unofficially christened themselves the Umtyholi—Xhosa (aka Wakandan) for "Devils". While helping to build the western wall in 17 AM after the attack by the Wilds took a number of his friends, N'Jadaka took to putting the heads, limbs, and other assorted viscera on the outside of the partially-built structure, going to far as to write taunting messages using the blood of the creatures to keep morale up. This tradition kept up even as the wall was completed, the great stonework looking eternally like dozens of beasts were stuck inside the structure and fighting to get their way out. As soon as the position of Sub-General for the Western Quadrant came into existence, N'Jadaka made a play for it, not wanting it for the position or power but mostly because he didn't trust anyone else to look over the community where he lived. Thus he finally came full-circle, adopting a throne he didn't want for the greater good of his subjects.

• After raising her child to control her Devilman instincts and body, Miki settled into old habits of her own, and became the P.E. teacher at the Western Quadrant's new school, with a focus on track-and-field, hoping to teach the next generation the value of teamwork and knowing that everything that comes after relies on what came before. As for the child herself, [DETAILS COMING SOON].

As for a name for the city, how about something like Vitae, the latin plural for life (because the latin singular for life is vita, and we don't want to be named after a handheld :v)?

edited 25th Mar '18 10:31:15 AM by Uncandescent

Possible names: Vorantis for the self-devouring Planet One, Mizage for 'Lost Woods intensifies' Planet Six, Verdant Creek for the Northern Quadrant river.

Also, some fauna that could result from the cross-breeding Mons idea that I mentioned earlier. Most would likely be found in the outskirts, since Guzma would be spearheading the domestication and he's not interested in business with the centre. However, some could have escaped and assimilated themselves into the Naked Wilds, creating more dangerous variations of the original, mostly harmless breeds.

• Grubbs: Tiny insectoid creatures, with grey colouring and yellow mandibles. Their bodies produce minute amounts of electricity- not enough to provide for the city, but it allows them to glow in a manner reminiscent of fireflies. They're popular with children as a result. They're also rich in calcium and protein, so cooks will snatch them up by the dozens to mix into meals. Feral Grubbs (that is, those that escaped domesticity and started breeding out in the Naked Wilds) are mostly just a nuisance, as their bodies produce a mild shock when they're threatened.
• Maseyes: Small, flying creatures. They have a circular body, and two sets of wings; a pair in their back to keep them aloft, and a larger, decorative pair up front. The decoration differs depending on how they're bred. That varying aesthetic, alongside their ability to predict rainfall, makes them popular pets.
• Thorsnaps: Larger (about 4 feet) bipedal insects. They're characterised by the four large, spiky pincers atop their head. Said pincers are powerful, and most domesticated Thorsnaps are used to mash up the god's broken bones into a workable paste. Feral Thorsnaps are infamously aggressive, but are weak to cold temperatures.
• Pincae: Insects with a brown, metallic exoskeleton. Their defining feature are the pair of large pincers that rest at the end of their segmented arms. Like Thorsnaps, they're used to mash up the god's bones, though also find work with anything that requires more precise slicing and dicing. Feral Pincae are dangerous, due to their strong grip and durable body, but can be fended away with fire.
• Armpods: Born as arthropods, they become bipedal and grow large, humanoid appendages upon maturation. While not as big or as tough as the creature that sired them, they nevertheless boast enough strength to make them a poor man's beast of burden. Their dark grey exoskeleton can be harvested and used to make tools or armour. Feral Armpods are threatening in groups, but when encountered alone they're more likely to choose flight over fight.

Also also, a couple of flora ideas:

• Surgere: A species of flowers, identifiable by their blue-green stems, drooping purple petals, and dented leaves. Their pollen has a psychoactive effect, and can be brewed into a drink to achieve an awakened state similar to caffeine. Recent studies have revealed that 'Surge' pollen can, however, have an adverse effect on the human body if consumed too often (most alarmingly, the slow but eventual deterioration of motor functions).
• Curenis: A plant with shocking pink leaves that procure an analgesic substance. They can be chewed directly, or brewed/mushed into food and drink, to greatly relieve pain. They can only grow in the hot, dry climate of the desert, and don't grow in the winter. They're quite pricey as a result of being non-essential and difficult to obtain, meaning it's rare to see them outside of the city centre.

edited 25th Mar '18 1:56:01 PM by whizzerd