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

Awesome. May we please have a recap of events?

Well there was a recap in the Skype chat but it's outdated.

Well, in the market place a merchant got scammed, said merchant then bought some magic books he's likely to get arrested for trying to sell, then a dragon girl fell out of the sky, crushing his cart. Then an actor managed to convince the guards investigating the scene of the crime that the merchant who was at the scene of the crime wanted them to chase after the dragon girl who was also being chased by Nick's character. A fight almost broke out between the guards, Nick's character and the jotun, until the captain of the guards pointed out how ridiculous their presence in that alleyway was...

Then the dragon girl flew off, the actor almost told the two young thieves to arrange a meeting with some people so he could apologise for...having sex with their wives while shapeshifted to look like them, or something. And then a ratty looking guy stole a magic bag and took it to his lab. The two young thieves are currently in Emi's room at an inn.

Oh, and Nick's character and a student from the magic academy went off to find the dragon girl despite repeated suggestions that said character is probably the reason she left.

And there's a brawl going on in the bar below Emi's room, one Chandri (the ratty looking guy) just got himself involved in)

This looks interesting. I think I might jump in myself once I've had a chance to catch up on recent events and think up my own character.

Well, I had an idea for a second PC and I'm going to post it. Due to being easily distracted I still haven't finished the bio and it's sorta haphazard...I feel posting it here might motivate me...

• Name: Bat
• Species/Race: Domesticated Little Dragon
• Gender: Male
• Age: 9
• Appearance: Having learnt the art of shapeshifting, Bat has three forms.
  • His true form is that of a cat-sized brown dragon
    otherwise I would have listed something else in the species/race section…
    a underbelly of a paler brown, smooth scales, small horns, smaller spines, typical bat-shaped dragon wings and grey reptilian eyes.
  • His second form is that of a 9-year-old boy
    this isn’t linked to Bat’s age, rather it’s the largest size he can pull off right now.
    with white skin
    not unnaturally white but ‘white person’ white!
    , brown hair and grey eyes. Only wears an open vest and shorts that magically conjure up when he transforms as he has a dislike to apparel, especially with footwear.
  • His third form is a cat, with a brown fur coat with no patterns and grey eyes.
    yeah, by now it is clear his shapeshifting falls under Morphic Resonance
• Possessions: The clothes on his back when in human form, otherwise nothing.
• Personality: Naturally curious, Bat loves learning new things. Bat is also full of energy and sometimes mischievous. Although he finds humans and similar creatures weird in someways, he still enjoys their company if they have the right personality.
• Skills:
  • Being a Domesticated Little Dragon, Bat naturally possess short-range one way telepathy, which he can use on a large amount of people at once, making it a good substitute for actual talking. This is good, as even in his human form Bat can’t talk.
  • Bat’s nose and ears are more sensitive than that of a human’s and his eyes allow him to see in the dark.
  • Utilizing his inner magical energy that most of his race don’t utilize (with them tending to be pets, they don’t really have a point to do so), Bat can use magic he has learnt from his time with his previous master.
    • Skilled at the art of shapeshifting, Bat can turn into a human and a cat. It does have some limitations, if Bat wants to go from human to cat or the opposite, Bat's forms tend to stick to a certain colour theme and he has to revert to his true form first and he can’t pass over physical traits to forms, for example his draconic senses as a human. Fortunately he can still use telepathy in all three forms.
    • Unlike Wild Little Dragons, Bat’s species can’t breathe fire naturally. However Bat can utilize magic to the same effect and can also breathe out sleeping gas and give a supersonic scream.
  • Because of his time with his previous master, Bat has the knowledge of the scholar, having great knowledge of things like magic, history, politics and creatures of the world.
• Bio:
  • When barely any time has passed for him to hatch from his egg, a professor of the Whitebolt Academy called Chasel Kanso took him in to ease the loneliness in his dorm, knowing that Little Domesticated Dragons are known to communicate to their masters. He called his pet Bat as a joke about it’s wings.
  • The relationship was quite typical between a Tamed Little Dragon and his master, basically idle chatter until Bat got curious about the books Chasel read and wanted to know what was interesting about them. Chasel explained the importance of books to Bat and possibly as a joke, offered to teach the dragon how to read. The professor expected the creature’s interest to read would have waned but Bat was dedicated to become literate and when Chasel wasn’t teaching him, read as much as he could.
  • One day, Bat pulled out a book about dragons and was amazed at what his cousins were capable of. The little dragon asked Chasel if he could do such things and the professor let out the brutal truth. This took away Bat’s enthusiasm…but only for a few minutes. Seeing his master was a magical professor, he asked if he could be taught spells that would allow him to replicate these abilities. While Chasel was harsh before, Bat’s eyes made it impossible for him to refuse.
  • Bat learnt magic but he felt it wasn’t enough…so a goal set in his mind. He was going to aim to become one of the great dragons. He didn’t explain his dream to Chasel…and he didn’t need too much time to hide it. Eventually, his master passed away and Bat was given to the professor’s Niece. Bat did not like his new master, the woman rarely talked to him and only seemed to keep him for show. Feeling his dream would never be achieved with such a boring master, he escaped and is now roaming Hercine, trying to find anything that could help him on his goal.
• Other: I was inspired to make this character thanks to two part dragon girls!

edited 19th Jan '12 7:45:15 PM by JustaUsername

Okay, considering this is a fantasy setting and I didn't see anyone else using this character type glancing over everyone's sign up sheets, being some kind of a bard might be fun, provided I could think of something interesting to do besides just hanging around and playing music. He'd probably have some personal motivation for being there besides his job, and I might give him some light combat ability just so he wouldn't be completely useless if he ended up in a fight.

Anyway, just throwing the idea out there for now so I can flesh it out later. I don't think I'll be able to post a full official character sheet until later tonight.

Well, you could give him some magical ability. Or rogue abilities. Bards do tend to be The Mario(s) of fantasy.

Just throwing in my two cents. Why bother not letting him breath fire when he can do the same thing with magic? Here's a thought, give each form a different breath weapon. Have the boy breath fire and oh maybe give the cat a sonic weapon. Just a thought. Course a fire-breathing cat would be cool too.

edited 27th Dec '11 1:31:58 PM by tricksterson

Rogue might be fun. I'm envisioning him as coming from someplace where he played regularly at some pretty rough taverns, so he'd have to defend himself every so often in bar fights.

Also keep in mind that bards are in a great position to hear things so he might be a spy of some kind. Or just an information broker.

I almost wanted to play up the musicianship angle, have him act like some kind of indie rocker about to hit the big time and not sure what to make of it (except obviously with a style of music more appropriate to the setting), but I like that information broker idea. Maybe he's using the musician angle as a cover, and the real reason he's on his way up is because someone important has been supporting him...

YES

FANTASY HIPSTER

WE HAVE A FANTASY LUCHADORSUPERHERO GUY, WE NEED A FANTASY HIPSTER PLEASE GOD DO IT.

I'll take that as approval of the general concept. Will try to have something posted later tonight.

Well daltar actually has to approve. Taco's just one of the resident nutballs, albeit a well loved one.

Read the recap, and I can't make heads or tails of it, or where to start. Help!

edited 27th Dec '11 5:49:09 PM by Insano

Why not just read the thread? It's not that long.

Oh, I know I need official approval. I'm just happy there's some enthusiasm for my idea.

Okay, here goes...

• Name: Kurt Roswell
• Species/Race: Human
• Gender: Male
• Age: 26
• Appearance: Kurt is of average height and slender build, with green eyes, shoulder length brown hair, and facial hair that can range from slight permastubble to a short goatee, depending on how much effort he feels he should put into grooming on any given day. Although he is a bard, he tends to favor simple peasant clothes to anything resembling bards' robes, generally wearing a simple tunic and trousers even when performing.
• Possessions: Kurt lives in a decent middle class apartment in the middle of town, close by the marketplace and entertainment districts where he spends most of his time. This is still a somewhat new development for him considering he was slumming it in the bad part of town making a living performing in some real dumps until recently. He owns three lutes, all of which he will bring to performances but only one he carries around at any given time. He doesn't necessarily choose favorites as all three are roughly equivalent. His instruments tended to suffer quite a bit of abuse given the environments he used to frequent, so he also carries around a magical repair kit in his music case, although thankfully his new surroundings mean his instruments are much less likely to snap in two on a regular basis as they once were. Finally, he carries a simple concealable dagger for self defense purposes.
• Personality: Kurt considers himself an artist first and foremost, and while he isn't necessarily above accepting "fringe benefits" of playing music (i.e. paying gigs, free drinks at the tavern, chances to meet women), he would tell you he does what he does primarily for his own enjoyment. As a one-time frequenter of public places where less than reputable people hang out, he is also quite perceptive and has learned to use these abilities to his advantage and sometimes profit.
• Skills: While he obviously has musical ability that he does take seriously, Kurt's true value lies in his ability to absorb and exploit information for his own gain, whether this is to advance his own career or just provide it to people for the right price. This is not supernatural precognition however; Kurt does have to establish himself as a regular before he can begin learning things. He also has some degree of hand to hand combat experience, largely as a side effect from hanging out in some pretty awful parts of town. He isn't one to go looking for a fight, but street thugs are often surprised that a seemingly harmless bard can hold his own.
• Bio: Growing up in the poor part of town, Kurt had no formal bard training. His music started as a simple hobby as a kid and eventually became a means of supporting himself and his mother after his father died in the war. Eventually left on his own as a teenager, he was forced to develop his own brand of street smarts to survive when almost everyone around him was making ends meet by decidedly less legitimate means. Despite his harsh surroundings, he eventually came to enjoy his way of life, never aspiring to much more than his own artistic satisfaction. Then one day a couple years ago, Kurt found himself helping a man who claimed to be a nobleman in disguise, passing through the area for somewhat unclear reasons. As it turned out, he also enjoyed the music and thought Kurt deserved more than the usual dives and hellholes. Before he knew it, Kurt had left his old life behind and was performing at much more respectable pub and theater venues, where bar fights were much less likely to occur on a nightly basis. These days, Kurt is certainly much better off than he was, but he still can't shake his feeling of unease. Just who was that guy, and why him? Perhaps he'd never know.

edited 27th Dec '11 10:31:00 PM by CombatC122

Approved! Welcome Bard.

Woot! I guess part two is figuring out how best to jump into the action. Not gonna happen tonight though, since it is getting late. I should be around for most of the day tomorrow though.

Name: Dragon Knight Wagner Ven Renilia

Species/Race: Half-human/dragon hybrid

Gender: Male

Age: Mid 300s

Appearance: ARMOR AND SHIT◊

Possessions:

• Cherubim, Legendary Sword of Life: A blade specifically belonging to the clan of Niveus only bestowed upon those worthy of the sword. The blade burns with an everlasting flame, capable of cutting down the toughest of foes. The blade resembles a scimitar.
• Clarent: A runic long sword and something the Dragon Knight holds close to his heart. Has low magical resistance.

Personality: When he was young he was much like his daughter. Upbeat, couldn't focus on one thing more than five minutes. Always cheerful even in the darkest of situations. Lending a helping hand to those who needed it. Over the years and his travels he changed into a secluded man. He viewed life as precious and would give anything to save it. Most of his innocence had left by this time. The first major dent in his personality came when his first wife and child had passed away. He kept the pain to himself and went back to his old way of life. He saved people, yeah, but he didn't feel anything of it. Two centuries passed and he stayed this way. The man is now a hollow shell of his former self.

Skills:

• Swordplay: The Dragon Knight is unparalleled when it comes to sword fighting. Swift movements combined with unpredictable attacks make for a fearsome foe.

• Dragon Magic[Heat]: Being part of a Dragon Clan, the art of Dragon Magic runs through his blood.
  • Hollow Wind: A hot wind exits the caster's hand, flying forth to stun the foe or burn them.
  • Dual Dragon Rising: Two flaming dragon serpents coil out from the user's hand and attack the target. Capable of causing moderate explosive damage Ex. twenty feet.
  • Flame Scissor: A flaming disc that flies forth from the user's hand to.. well.. slice them through.
  • Breath of Life: Perhaps the only powerful healing spell in the knight's arsenal. Can heal injuries faster over an extended period of time.
  • Heat Gale: A deviant of Hollow Wind. Powerful, hot winds swirl around the knight providing protecting from most attacks.
  • Grand Rupture: Stalagmites burst forth from the ground to impale the opponent. Requires casting time (10 or so seconds).

• Runic Spells: Spells required to have magical lay outs, not used for quick combat.
  • Lava Pool: A magical circle forms on the ground, causing lava to spew up from the floor to destroy any obstacle.
  • Hell Spire: A deviant of Lava Pool. Instead of a slow rising puddle of lava, this comes in the form of a violent tower.

Bio: The Dragon Knight comes from the clan of Niveus. He was once an adventurer of the highest order. Seeing life, seeing the world for what it was and the beauty of it all. After nearly a century the man settled down in a small farm village. He fell in love with one of the girls there and married. His wife became pregnant and the knight looked forward to raising a family.

Six months pass and reality struck hard. The baby died due to being premature and the mother died in child birth. Unable to deal with the loss, the man went back to his old ways. Fight after fight, he saved everyone he could from powerful monsters. He went to different towns, explored dungeons and caverns. For years to come this is all he did.

Eventually he returned to the clan he once left. He was bestowed with the sword Cheribum for all that he's done in his travels. The knight fell in love again, this time with a young girl around the age of twenty. The knight had a child by the name of Wagner Renilia. He was around during the early years but eventually left again, only to come back in longer intervals. No one knows where he is now.

Other: Betrayed by ones own beliefs can lead to a path of ruin.

edited 28th Dec '11 3:33:11 PM by RagnaTheSaviour

Approved!

Okay, finished Bat's bio.

@tricksterson:

Well...Bat wants to emulate his more Bad Ass cousins as much as possible until he finds a way to turn into the same species as his more Bad Ass cousins...not adding the backstory can leave questions about a character, can't it?

• Name: Coil Real name unknown

• Species/Race: Human Though a long lived one. Rumors circulate that living for so long, he has become something else entirely, if he was ever human to begin with. Though the latter, at least, is false.

• Gender: Male

• Age: Mid 30s Real age unknown

• Appearance: A slender but by no means emaciated man, Coil wears the face of a trickster, wearing long (for a man), straight black hair down to his chin and almost always with a smug grin to go with his blueish grey eyes. Despite this, he wears a magely or perhaps even priestly garb, loose-fitting grey pants and a black shirt worn underneath a purple cowl, the shoulders and upper back decorated with the image of golden branches on an otherwise plain cape. This costume provides more protection than it appears though, as underneath his shirt is overlaid mythril chain mail atop a white undershirt, a little insurance in case of a dangerous event. When using his more powerful magics, Coil's eyes change from blue to their true glowing violet appearance, as he forgoes using that small bit of magic that hides their color to increase his concentration.

• Possessions: A silver staff with the design of a snake coiling around a metal rod, its teeth clamped down on a simple violet orb at the top. It's mostly just for show; he can cast spells without it. A Bag of Holding (a smart traveler will always have one). A diary with random jottings in it, sealed with a spell to which a very specific magic signature is needed to open it.
• Personality: A bit of a trickster, Coil loves to use his magic to dick around with people. In fact, it's really all he seems to ever do. He's also considers lying to be an invaluable skill. He'd tell you that his goal is to get people to examine their own flaws, but even if that's true, he's still an asshole.

• Skills: Coil is good with magic. Aside from the bread and butter of non-specialized mages (fireballs, ice arrows, ball lightning, and basic healing/regeneration), he is also able to teleport (with a 10 minute cooldown, as to prevent spamming) and levitate. However, his true specialty is curses. Aiming his staff at his target, after a few seconds to start up he can cast:
  • Poison: He can make a target feel deathly ill, sapping away at their strength.

  • Sleep: They become drowsy, and may even find themselves falling unconscious right then and there if they lack the willpower to stay awake.

  • Mood: He can make a target start to feel happy, sad, angry, or whatever basic emotion he so chooses, or intensify the mood they are already in.

  • Whisper: He can implant a small thought into the mind of a target. Not quite mind control, the affected person can choose to ignore it, but doing so will only increase the insistence and presence of the thought until it's dispelled with sufficient magic or by sheer force of will.

• These effects last until a few minutes after Coil disengages its continuation. His knowledge in mood and body altering magic also allows him resistance against certain kinds and flat out immunity to others. If he does find himself under the influence of such magic, he can conjure up a quick spell to disperse its effects. In addition, his fire, ice, and thunder spells can burn, freeze, and stun their marks, respectively. He also knows some illusion magic, which he uses to hide the color of his eyes, which are an indicator of how powerful a sorcerer he is. They change to violet when using either teleportation, levitation, or a curse. He can also use the magic to change his appearance, though he will still look to be of the same height and build.

• Bio: A strange man with a penchant for messing around with others, Coil's origin is as unknown as his destination. Even knowing that he is the ageless mage heard about from certain rumors, it tells you little, as many stories centered around him are contradictory in nature. What can he said for certain is that he's older, more knowledgeable, and more powerful than he lets on. Oh, and he likes his pranks. That's always consistent.

• Other: No relation to Luceid, despite his similar appearance. u mad?

edited 28th Dec '11 8:05:02 PM by Starbound2

Approved.

Seeing as this is hopefully still open I'll try my luck

• Name: Scydacina "Scyd" Melacholioneasus de Maracoriotare.
• Species/Race: Fairy.
• Gender: Female.
• Age: 14 years old in human terms, an inexperienced child in fairy terms (approximately 9-10).
• Appearance: Pix and since her ears are covered I should perhaps say that they are of course, somewhat pointy.
• Possessions: A Bag of Holding, a magically clean dress with open space in the back for her wings, a sickle, a knife and a big grimoire with which she may access any book she have access to (by rules that is, physical access is not necessary) in the great library of the Academy. She also has a familiar with the shape of a little bird called Ram. She also constantly wears the necklace that reveals that she's a student at the Academy
• Personality: The least one can say about Scyda is that she's enthusiastic about her interests which covers a wide variety of subjects, particularly magic and ancient lore and it's often her curiosity that wins over her common sense regarding experimenting with spells, brewing potions and reading ancient scriptures on the walls of ruins when she doesn't really have time to do so. On the opposite side of the spectrum she cannot even begin to bother with things outside those interests such as sword fighting and the like and berates and snarks at those that do practice those "unintellectual pastimes" and gets caught up in them. Needless to say she has a pride and ego not befitting someone of her tiny physique and will not very willingly associate herself with those she does not consider her peers unless she may need them for something, such as for expeditions and the like. Because of this behaviour however she lacks any real friends except for her books and her magical familiar.
• Skills: Since she has the physique and size of a young girl that does not go out very often Scyd is practically useless in a physical fight unless her opponent truly is terrible. This lack of physical prowess is however compensated by her prodigy-level skill and power in magic with her excelling in almost all her classes except for, well anything that requires demanding physical actions, any form of transportation magic and most illusion spells. Due to her fairy nature she also has retractable wings she can fly with and she can turn invisible.
• Spell List: Scyd have a large variety of spells to her disposal but these are her most important ones:
  • Solar Flare: A really powerful fire spell that takes the form of a Wave-Motion Gun, it does however carry large drawbacks such as long casting time, humongous mana cost and large damage to the immediate environment.
  • Sacred Shield: While not exactly sacred it is most certainly a shield that takes the form of a dome with Scyda in the centre. She can't move while performing it and it constantly drains mana, in addition to the energy it takes each time when its hit.
  • Phase: A spell that causes an solid object to phase out of reality for a very short moment, causing it to be unaffected by anything consisting of matter and anything made out of matter can't be affected by the enchanted object. Despite the perhaps simple premise it is Scydas most draining spell and she can only cast it two times a day without collapsing.
  • Multi Magic Massacre: This spell essential creates a swarm of magical projectiles that are individually weak but powerful in large masses and hurls them towards Scydas target(s). The projectiles can however be directed as Scyda wills.
  • Detection: A spell that reveals all magical objects or beings in the immediate vicinity (25 meters) by making them glow with a bright light not unlike that of ultraviolet.
• Bio: Born to a dynasty of fairy magi in the city of Maracoriotare Scyd's future was practically decided. It was a future Scyd embraced heartily so no sadness there. Already at a young age Scyd showed great magical potential and she mastered the basic spells at the very young age of 6 and when she was 11 human years she was sent to the Whitebolt Magic Academy in order to receive further and professional education. Well there she quickly set herself apart from the other students with her aptitude for learning as well as her completely dead social life. However more recently she has gone out more, the reason presumably that she is getting different assignments on behalf of the older wizards.

edited 26th Feb '12 6:33:49 PM by Clawthewolf