Heralds: The Pursuit of Darkness

A long time ago, many beings of great power fought a war which almost destroyed Earth before humanity had a chance to evolve. They broke their link with the world so as not to destroy it, but when an evil of their own accidental creation escapes and they are unable to chase after it, they must lend their powers to heroic humans, making them powerful heralds and giving them a chance to save their world. The heralds of fire, earth, air and water rise up and step into the public eye to combat the forces of evil and protect Earth. They are not our heroes. Now, we see the story of the heralds who stayed in secret.

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That was the vastly abridged version of the introduction, and welcome to Heralds: The Pursuit of Darkness. This will be an Urban Fantasy adventure RP where you play heralds, humans given supernatural powers by divine beings in order to save Earth from a great evil. What follows is the full introduction. Apologies for the length, but it should answer most questions about the setting.

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A long time ago, our world was born. But when rocks collided and combined and Earth was born, there was already one sentient being inhabiting the space where it formed. It was a being of great power and who many would think a god. Its power was not ultimate, but it was strong enough to see the humans who would one day inhabit the world, and it knew that if it remained they may not evolve. As such, it gathered its power and it unleashed it, creating a pocket dimension attached to Earth, within which it started to execute its plans. It created land and shaped it into a great plateau charged with its power, and from itself it created many beings, each given one aspect of its power and trusted to use it to protect the planet and ensure the evolution, then survival of humanity. Although the being created what it desired to create, its power was drained and as such it travelled to the middle of its world and raised a great crystal pillar out of the ground, surrounding itself in it. It begun to gather its power, a task that would take billions of years and left the planet to those it had created, who awoke in their own crystal pillars just as it fell dormant.

Although the beings, who quickly came to call themselves icons, at first watched over the Earth and managed it as they had been created to, conflict started between them. Four, the icons of fire, water, earth and air, rose to the positions of leaders among the beings and for some time kept peace, but eventually they became too hungry for power. Soon, each of the four convinced other icons to join their side and a four-way war occurred, with Earth being heavily damaged in the process, the dinosaurs becoming extinct as a consequence, and peace only occurring once major damage was done by a weapon created by the icons of void and sound, leaving the icons of blood, ice and metal seemingly dead and causing the icon of spirit to create an impenetrable barrier to seal herself inside her pillar. The remaining icons realised that peace was necessary and managed to salvage some life on Earth to give their mission a chance of success, but decided afterwards to exile the icon of Void to the empty space at the edge of their dimension and to close the portal between their world and Earth, leaving them the ability only to observe.

When the icons of void and sound unleashed their destructive attack, they caused an unnoticed crack in the side of the great pillar. While the original being, the creator, was not disturbed, a fragment of its power escaped before the crack repaired itself. This creation energy formed into a new being, taking the template of the icons that were created a long time before it but drawing in the energy of the land to fuel itself. In taking in the energy, the new icon witnessed the war that had occurred, and it took in their hate and made it its own. The icon of hate saw through to Earth, but it was not yet powerful enough to move through as the other icons could. So it waited and when the link was closed, it managed to use the residual creation power left in it to create a small hole which it could use to enter the world, starting to build a plan to destroy what the others worked to protect.

Slowly, the icon of hate gathered its power. Only when human society was already advanced did it find enough power to go through the hole it had created. The year was 2013 and within a week it started to wreak havoc. At first, it pretended to be normal threats, but slowly the people started to get suspicious. Just as humanity realised that there was something more to their present misfortune, as did the icons. But as hard as they tried to move through the small portal the icon of hate had created to pursue it, they could not. It was then that the icon of void retuned to them, with an idea to save the Earth. The icon suggested that they each chose a human and imbued them with their power, each icon making a herald to protect the Earth and pursue the dark icon in their place. The divine icons took the advice of the exile and picked humans to represent them in their fight and as the icon of hate revealed itself, a small group of humans were given the power to defeat it.

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So, long story short, you play as the heralds, humans given classical element-esque powers to save their world from a being born of a divine war. There will be a definite story, but there will be freedom to choose in some parts of it and the general tone will be set by how the players play. I am hoping for at least four players, but can accommodate a much larger number if needed and can probably work with three if there’s little interest. Players will be able to join at any point in the story.

The elemental powers of the players’ heralds will be chosen by the players, but these must be carefully considered and the Super Weight must be around three, with an actual increase in power possibly happening at some point in the story but becoming better mostly being based around the characters getting used to their powers and becoming more imaginative with them. Most elements will be allowed, with those which are unusable or subject to more criticism being marked as such and I will allow players to come up with their own elements if they want to, although these will of course be subject to criticsm. Whether your character is a good choice to save the world doesn’t matter and anywhere realistic on the scale of competence is acceptable.

The standard role playing rules apply, with no godmoding, auto-hitting or anything similar being allowed.

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Elements:

• Can’t be used:
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Earth
  • Air
  • Blood
  • Ice
  • Metal
  • Spirit
• Subject to more criticism:
  • Void
  • Magic (of the “stage illusions made real” type)
  • Radiation (doesn’t have to be entirely realistic, but nothing along the lines of the Hulk)
  • Time (no time travel)
  • Mind/Psychic (no directly controlling a person)
• Normal elements:
  • Electricity
  • Light (hard light is an option but normal light should be included in the power set)
  • Nature (plants, not animals)
  • Sound
  • Gravity/Force
  • Players may suggest more

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Sign-up sheet:

• Name: (Include real name and any alias used)
• Gender: (Pretty simple. Heralds are chosen with no consideration for this)
• Age: (I will allow unusually young or old characters if well-justified, but either way they must be capable of saving the world and as such too young or too old may be unsuitable)
• Appearance: (An image and/or picture describing their appearance. Some heralds may have physical changes caused by their powers, which should be included)
• History: (What happened in their past right up to the moment when they somehow lost consciousness, communicated with a god-like being and gained mystical powers)
• Personality: (How do they think and act?)
• Element: (Which icon decided that they would make a good hero? What element do they control?)
  • Powers: (What can your herald do with their element? Can be anything from physical changes and summoned weapons to mystic spells and super-powered abilities)
• Other: (Anything you might want to add that doesn’t fit easily under another section)

Definitively some intrest here, will work on a sign-up

The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.

I'm interested in this.

Curious.

Curious.

Other writing project aside, I'm intrigued.

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me

bouncing around some ideas... say, Replica, how do you feel about an element like Paper, or Sight

The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.

• Name: Terry Bramford / Sentinel
• Gender: male
• Age: 17
• Appearance: Terry is a handsome young man, having a muscular, tall frame that was built up through weight training. He has a light tan to his appearance. He has long, shoulder length golden blond hair, and rather innocent looking baby blue eyes. He prefers a golden colored t-shirt, a denim jacket, jeans, and sneakers. He seems to be a constant smiler, always projecting happiness and a happy go lucky, somewhat mischievous air. He walks with a confident stride.
• History: Terry has a certainly troubled past, one he actively tries to hide from others, namely because he views most of it as a series of disgusting failures. It is inferred that drugs were involved. Nowadays, however, he has become a vastly different person. He even has a girlfriend named Laura. He was gifted with the power of "Light", though this power interacted with his strange mental instability in a very unusual way. However, he has decided that this is not enough to stop him from doing what's right. He's going to help the Icons get rid of the Icon of Hate, and he will resist the Destroyer's demands.
• Personality: Poor Terry was a neurotic mess before he became Sentinel, currently hiding it behind a smiling front. He used his druggie father's stashes early in his life, and became very depressed very early due to parental negligence from his mother, and abuse from his father. He only barely managed to turn his life around, and recently made contract with the Icon of Light. This made a profound impact on him. He had always liked superheroes, and so he decided to use his powers to stop crimes and become a hero himself. He became more confident, resolving to forget the past. He became a much happier, joyful person, making a code against killing in his "Superhero Code" unless more lives are at stake than usual. He is very noble, markedly kind, and a little goofy when placed into social situations. Very idealistic and wide eyed, Terry thinks in optimistic terms. However, his past could not be dismissed so easily. It seems he has a strange split personality...
  • The Destroyer: His Id made manifest, it claims to be a manifestation of his past. The Destroyer represents everything that Terry really wants to do untampered by his morals, unrestrained by his new heroic code. The Destroyer is sadistic, cruel, and hedonistic, enjoying doing the most disgusting, painful things possible. Terry is not sure what made The Destroyer, whether it came with his powers, evolved from them, or whether it had simply always been there, waiting. While it is "evil", it is also fiercely protective of Laura, and Terry's friends...should he be confident in them. The Destroyer is blatantly manipulative, enjoying toying with emotions.
• Element: Light
• Powers: Terry's powers are mostly Light based, including shooting powerful Hard Light blasts, using actual visible light to make illusions and beams, though he can also coat himself in a Hard Light Aura, which results in Flight, increased toughness, strength and speed. However, he is too scared to use his powers too far, fearing what he could do to people. When he uses his powers, his eyes start glowing.
  • The Destroyer: Rather like a Superpowered Evil Side, it can only come out when Terry is under a lot of stress, or having a breakdown. It can, though, "whisper" to him, either taunts, or legitimate advice, when he's in his normal state. The Destroyer contrasts him in many ways. While Terry uses his Hard Light to make simple constructs and blasts, The Destroyer is creative. It can create razor sharp tentacles, black light blasts and things such as flying Hard Light swords, claws, and other instruments of violence. When this thing is in control, his iris turns red, and his sclera become dark orange.
• Other:
  • Character Establishing Quotes: "Please go home! I don't want to hurt you!", "My light...is the light of hope, forgiveness, and righteousness!"

edited 1st Aug '13 5:29:04 PM by NickTheSwing

Does sound encompass vibrations? I would think so, but just checking.

edited 3rd Jul '13 10:54:15 PM by Hasame

Interest. It reminds me a bit of Hydrall's The Gambit, which ran in here aeons ago.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

• Name: Major Victoria Donati
• Gender: Female
• Age: 28
• Appearance: 5'4" woman with copper hair done up in a braid and grey-blue eyes. Has a thin scar running across her cheek from when a bullet grazed her during combat.
• History: [CLASSIFIED]
• Personality: A no-nonsense woman who disciplines her troops very harshly.
• Element: Gravity
• Powers:
  • Gravity Well: Drastically increases the gravity in a circular area by raising and stomping her foot down.
  • Graviton Bomb: Slams her fist into the ground, drastically increasing the gravity in a 3 foot radius momentarily.
  • Satan from Orbit: Uses gravity to pull an object from orbit and bring it crashing into the ground.
  • Hammer of God: Sends out gravity in a wave, bringing down any structures around here and depressing anything caught in the wave's radius.
• Other: N/A

edited 16th Aug '13 7:22:07 PM by SixthSaint

@Sanojutso: Paper or sight could potentially be made to work if you can come up with something suitable, so go ahead if you want to try it. Definitely on the weirder side of things, but a possibility.

@Hasame: Yes it does.

@Nick the Swing: Accepted

• Name: Sanne “Blood Haired Hound” Reiyknoff

• Gender: Female

• Age: 17

• Appearance: Hello there… Leave your gold and go Her eyes change into a shifting clear colors, blues, greens and grays, and sometimes appearing to have second or third pupils when she uses her powers actively, it is also of note that her hair is, in fact, naturally brown.

• History: A bit of a sad story, a broken and unwelcoming household drove her out to the street where she became a thief, a beggar, a vandal, a smuggler, a gangster, a junkie, a pusher…etc. In this harsh life she had an accident that rendered her left eye half blind.

• Personality: Impish, prickish, opportunistic, foulmouthed, defiant and rebellious with a devil-may-care smile is the visage you’d see of a woman that lives in the moment to escape the depressive reality of her situation.

• Element: Sight

• Powers:
  • Passive: Her eyesight was restored to a peak condition and was informed it would stay that way for the rest of her days

  • Active: Upon activation, task that requires active concentration on the matter, several advantages become active for Sanne. The first she noticed, for example is her telescopic view, which is self-explanatory. The next is the ability to see through materials, though it is confined to a short range and its deterred by the thickness and composition of the material. Illusions is something she can detect and see trough but it hasn’t found much use as of yet. And finally she can see and perceive things in hyper-speed, effectively giving her Bullet-Time Vision, though she uses it in short burst because of the fatigue and frustration it causes her

edited 5th Jul '13 12:34:33 AM by sanojutsu

The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.

Would Heroism work?

It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.

(Of course the only two I'm interested in are the ones under more scrutiny, of course Hansen…)

What is Void, exactly? Is it what's described in the Power of the Void article? (If so, is Shadow/Darkness allowed? Because the RP title kind of makes me think that the answer is "no.")

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me

@sanojutso: Accepted

@dragon: My response here is the same to sight, essentially. If you can make it work, sure.

@Hansen: The ones under more scrutiny are essentially the ones where the first idea that came to mind myself was vastly overpowered. They're still perfectly viable.

As for Void, it actually is mostly the article, so yes to shadow/darkness, although I have considered miniature black holes and similar things. Hate's darkness is mostly symbolic (and colour schemes), while void's is much more literal.

edited 5th Jul '13 11:52:28 AM by Replica

Can I get sound? I might have a fun way to work with that.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Ya, i'll stop sound. I was thinking of electricity.

So yes to Darkness. Alright then. Let me think of something…

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me

Interest in a Mind bio sparked.

Allurand and surrounding world loading, 28%...

Revoking my interest due to my inability to think of a fitting character.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Just came back to say that I'm still interested—I'm just really slow with my character creation/profile, and I'm currently on vacation.

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me

interesting idea (or maybe I'm a sucker for superpowers, take your pick) would Space or Bone either be acceptable elements?

-dramatic music ensues-

@Hansen: No problem with that. I'm willing to wait as long as the other players are to start.

Also, for future reference, the amount of players is only limited by the amount of elements that they can come up with (although only one character per player for that reason) and if anyone still wants to join after it has started that will be fine.

@guyshane: If you can think of something that is a reasonable power level, yes.

Trivia: Originally bone was to be used instead of blood way back before I even decided what format to do this story in, but I eventually settled on blood because of a character idea which I eventually discarded later anyway, which was a herald hunter who could gain more power by drinking the blood of heralds. An odd idea, certainly.

I'm gonna pretend that that, in no way, sounded anything like potential foreshadowing now.

edited 10th Jul '13 11:51:14 AM by NaomiHansen

"I do not approve of the fact that my favorite quotes are too long for this character limit." - Me