Shadows of Sandfield II Sign Ups

June 13th, 2016. Sandfield, California

What started with the disappearance of Tom Winters in February of 2016 escalated into a series of sudden events. The Masquerade has fallen away and Magic exists now in the open...though not in the most ideal of circumstances. The cybernetic terrorist Justin Henderson unleashed a devastating Mana Bomb that destroyed the city of Dubai, turning a city of 3.3 million people into a pit of glass.

In the wake of this incident, a severe reactionary backlash began.

The City of Sandfield supposedly was host to allies and insurgent agents of Justin Henderson's Ephas Abjuration organization, with more attacks planned. A group of well connected mercenaries, militiamen, and wealthy agents commenced a devastating move on Sandfield not a week after the excuse had been given.

The city would be surrounded by the looming doom that is Green Wall, a gargantuan mechanism designed to slowly grind Sandfield into a fine dust beneath it. In addition, the mechanism shuts off all internet and phone capabilities going in and out of Sandfield. There would be no notice going in and out.

The city of Sandfield, California...is a war zone.

However, hope is not lost. Resistance springs up in the city, utilizing the magic that the militia so feared and desired to repress. The two local high schools, Monroe and Coolidge High, have been turned from places of learning to places of resistance - home to the 317th Brigade, armored fighters whose enhanced abilities turned back the tide.

And there still exist pockets of isolated resistance. People ready to fight to survive. They're going to have to. Because it's rough out there.

After all, Elijah Gibbs and his army of militia thugs are not the only things lurking in Sandfield's darker corners.

Welcome to the sequel to my first ever successful roleplay.

Shadows of Sandfield II picks up directly where the last one left off (a recap is available on the tropes page), and brings the setting from masqueraded urban fantasy to a more action / urban fantasy setting where there is a greater emphasis on survival, fighting, consequences of decision making, and trust.

Food, supplies and other amenities are in short supply at the start. Some quisling townsfolk have sided with the militia, and so, obtaining resources is a real part of the experience.

Who you decide to side with and work with during these events will shape your experience. Not everyone is entirely trustworthy, and some NPC's and even your fellow player characters might well need to be taken with a grain of salt.

• Sign Ups

• Name:
• Gender:
• Age:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Skills and Tools:
• Magic Types: (basically generic magic types. Less potent on average than a unique, more personalized magic type.)
  • Unique Magic Type:
• Backstory:
• Misc:

• Name: Seraphina Twilight (known in Sandfield as Sera Taylor)
• Gender: Female
• Age: 116 chronically, early-mid twenties physically
• Appearance:
  • "Here I am, just a flapper in the 21st century. Totally not outdated at all (not that I care)."◊
  • She also has an abstract, black birthmark on her left hand and she's around 5'9" feet tall.
  • If she feels like it, she'll sometimes wear a black cloche hat and 1920s coat over her dress.
• Personality:
  • Seraphina is an aloof, sarcastic and pragmatic individual. She's prone to making dry, snarky commentary about what goes on around her and is able to think quickly on her feet. She prefers to stay out of others' business and desires for others to stay out of her own business as well. She's also quite blunt, saying whatever's on her mind. However, she is mindful enough not to say things that'll deeply upset someone (such as bringing up someone's Trigger).
  • However, underneath that standoffish personality, she has a decent set of morals and an (anti)-heroic attitude. She'll go out of her way to help others and give advice, even if she'll be snarkily doing the latter. She's cautious when fighting, making sure not to get innocents caught in the crossfire. Seraphina finds executing people over minor crimes to be particularly abhorrent, alongside what the average, decent person finds quite horrible as well..
  • Seraphina dresses up as a Flapper, as she came out of age around The Roaring '20s and she has fond memories of that era. If she's in the right mood for it, she's willing to chat all about her time spent in that era in decent detail and enthusiasm.
  • She suffers from the occasional intrusive thoughts. These intrusive thoughts tell her to go cause great chaos and destruction with her weapons but she always resists them. She may not show it outwardly, but they distress her as they serve as a reminder of her role in a certain prophecy. A role she does not want to play.
  • Whatever you do, do not touch her locket. As a memento from her deceased mother, it is very valuable to Seraphina. Thus, she is careful with it and will get greatly pissed if you try touching it. Speaking of her mother, whenever Seraphina ponders about her mother, she gets sorrowful but only cries if no one is around. Even if it's been decades since her death, Seraphina still misses her mother.
• Skills and tools:
  • Historical Knowledge: Having lived through the 20th century, Seraphina is highly knowledgeable about history from that era, particularly American and Western European history.
  • Marksmanship: She's highly skilled in wielding guns as per her Grand Magitex Gunslinger magic.
  • Magitex Firearms: Created from her Grand Magitex Gunslinger magic, Seraphina has a few of these that she keeps in her handbag and pulls them out to use in battle. They're all named after famous flappers and she's able to summon the weapons by calling out their names.
    • Clara Bow: A Tommy gun and Seraphina's default weapon. While it does low damage, it has a very quick fire rate, so the damage adds up overtime. Seraphina can charge up the gun and fire a more powerful laser blast, but it'll be on cooldown, so she can't continuously spam the laser blasts.
    • Josephine Baker: A pistol with a silencer on it for close combat or stealth attacks. Every shot it makes is completely silent and whenever a bullet enters a person's body, it ruptures within the body, causing internal bleeding and hindering the person's physical capabilities.
    • Anna May Wong: A sniper rifle for enemies at great distances and assassinations. Whenever Seraphina wields it, she gains wall hacks that'll allow her to see the glowing outlines of living organisms through walls/floors/ceilings/etc. The bullets are able to pass through tough materials such as bricks, concrete and steel. They also move very quickly, but it's still possible to dodge them, albeit it might be difficult to do so.
    • Louise Brookes: A shotgun good for close distances against bulky enemies. Every fire from the shotgun acts more like mini-grenades, thus they have the capability to burn whatever they hit. Seraphina can also saw off the shotgun to get more damage and make it easier to carry at the cost of decreasing her already short range but she can also restore the sawed off shotgun to its original form.
    • Zelda Fitzgerald: A powerful bazooka. Each blast from the bazooka are bursts of pure magic and are large scaled attacks (around 20 feet max), thus able to cause a decent amount of destruction. However, the cost from using the bazooka is great on Seraphina and those around her, so she only uses it as a last resort during an emergency.
• Magic Type(s):
  • Gravity Magic: Seraphina can mildly affect how gravity works on certain objects. She mainly uses it to make her bullets heavier and to make herself lighter to move more swiftly.
  • Shadow Magic: She's able to manipulate shadows but isn't able to use them for offensive purposes. She mainly uses this ability to hide herself and the bullets she fires.
• Unique Magic Type:
  • Grand Magitex Gunslinger: A mighty Magic Type specialized in the usage of Magitex Firearms. Seraphina is able to create Magitex firearms of all kinds with nothing but magic, changes their size to fit in her handbag, immediately masters any gun she gets her hands on, has a natural resistance towards gunfire, and takes control of enemy bullets and turns them against whoever fired them. She can summon multiple Magitex guns at once (whether it'll be different weapons or copies of the same one) and power them up. However, the more power she excerpts from her weapons, the more of a physical toll she'll take from them. This particular magic is ingrained within her body, intertwining her Mana Reserves with her nervous system, thus each spell puts some strain on her body.
• Backstory:
  • Once upon a time, there was a powerful mage by the name of Arcanius Twilight. Arcanius was the first to specialize in the art of Magitex Firearms, a Magic Type based around infusing magic into firearms and using them to fire spells as bullets. His mastery over Magitex Firearms was so advanced that it became its own Magic Type, Grand Magitex Gunslinger. However his Magic Type was very costly on his body as his spells tend to be a great strain on him. At one point, he was deathly ill from his gunslinging and desperate to not die, he made a deal with a spider-demon serving Azekred to let him live longer and restore his body. The demon obliged, but offered a drawback to the deal. If Arcanius were to accept the deal, his firstborn will be twins that'll inherit his Magic Type; the Twin in White and the Twin in Black. The Twin in White is destined to be a light for the world, a saintly figure who uses their firearms to bring peace and harmony. The Twin in Black is destined to be a great evil for the world, a heinous monster who uses their firearms to bring death and destruction. Arcanius accepted the deal, deciding that he shall not sire children as he didn't want to deal with the Twin in Black even if the Twin in White should theoretically handle them.
  • For the next few centuries, Arcanius wandered around the world, serving as a mercenary and using his Magic Type to fight, albeit more careful to not risk harming his body again. Around the last decade of the 19th century, he stumbled upon a mage living in a mansion in the woods by herself; Bellatrix Crescent, the sole remaining member of a noble mage family that was slaughtered decades ago. Arcanius and Bellatrix had a hours-long discussion, which led to the former deciding to stay at the latter's place for a while. During his stay, Arcanius and Bellatrix fell in love, leading to them marrying. Eventually, Bellatrix told Arcanius of her desire to bear children. Arcanius was very hesitant, explaining the deal he made centuries ago and the prophecy about the twins. Bellatrix, while understanding, explained that they could find a workaround around it by using a spell to guarantee that a single child will be born. Such a spell would require a lot of effort, which the couple were willing to put in. After a couple years, they created the spell and Bellatrix soon became pregnant. Using magic, she only detected a single embryo within her womb, leading to her and Arcanius believing that the spell worked and that they'll be expecting a single child. However, a prophecy placed by a demon working for one the Dark Gods is difficult to displace, as during conception, the zygote split in two, creating identical twins who will fulfill their roles. The Twin in Black was granted a special ability to remain undetected until birth, thus its parents were completely unaware of its existence.
  • On the first day of 1900, Bellatrix entered labor and Arcanius stayed by her side as an improv midwife providing support. Within 16 hours, she gave birth to a healthy girl whose cries were strong and vigorous. As the new parents bonded with their child, Arcanius noticed a bright, abstract white birthmark on her right hand and Bellatrix's labor pains soon returned. Arcanius became horrified that the prophecy still happened despite the preventive measures that they had taken and thus were expecting twins this whole time. Five minutes later, the second child was born; a sickly girl much smaller than her sister and whose cries were more like weak wimpers. Inspecting the child, Arcanius discovered a deep black birthmark on her left hand, matching that of her sister's, confirming that they are the Twin in White and Twin in Black. Arcanius attempted to kill the Twin in Black but Bellatrix stopped him. She had empathized with the child in her fragile state and said that she couldn't bear to see a living being who she carried within her body get murdered, especially when it occurred shortly after birth. Thus, the Twin in Black was begrudgingly spared and named Seraphina while her sister was named Ophelia. Growing up, Arcanius was quite distant with Seraphina, heavily preferring Ophelia and teaching her how to use the Grand Magitex Gunslinger magic. Seraphina was left in the care of her mother who devoutly raised her. Unlike Arcanius, she tried giving equal love to both of her daughters, but as her husband refuses]d to care for Seraphina, she ended up giving more attention to her younger daughter to make sure she'll be loved. During their childhood, Seraphina and Ophelia were about as close as you expected twins to be, which meant they had a very close bond. They played together, laughed together, talked frequently and even Ophelia taught Seraphina how to use the Grand Magitex Gunslinger magic as well. Despite that, as they got older, they became more and more distant as Arcanius told Ophelia about the prophecy and what Seraphina is destined to do, while Seraphina was left in the dark (Arcanius neglected to tell her about it while Bellatrix didn't have the heart to do so). Ophelia became weary of Seraphina and stayed away from her, which confused and frustrated the latter. Whenever Seraphina would try to confront Ophelia about it, Ophelia simply refuses to acknowledge her. This led to Seraphina relying more on her mother for emotional comfort.
  • When the twins turned 20, Bellatrix caught a deadly magical disease. Arcanius searched far and wide for a cure but he was unsuccessful in finding one. As Bellatrix lay dying, the twins stayed by her side. Bellatrix gave her wedding ring to Ophelia and a locket containing the Crescent family crest to Seraphina. She told Ophelia to love and care for her sister while telling Seraphina that no matter what destiny says, she should strive to do what's right. Seraphina tearfully promised to follow her mother's advice while Ophelia gave a confused glance at Bellatrix. Shortly afterwards, Bellatrix passed away. Ophelia then revealed to Seraphina that their father despised the latter and would be very upset to find out that she lived instead of Bellatrix, suggesting to her that she should get out as soon as possible. Seraphina obliged, packing up her bags and leaving the mansion she had grown up in. She traveled to New York City where she would encounter the culture of The Roaring '20s; jazz, flappers, dancing, parties and all of that flamboyance. It cheered up her grieving soul and she became a flapper who partied and drank excessively. She became notable for her free-spirited recklessness, catching the attention of those high up in the social ladders. Seraphina traveled across America and Europe, meeting fabled figures from the Jazz Age such as the [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Fitzgerald Fitzgeralds]], Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, Clara Bow, Getrude Stein, Louis Armstrong, Anna May Wong, Langston Hughes, Louise Brookes and so on.
  • In 1928, there was a series of murders in New York City where several people were either found dead with bullet wounds or sniped in public. Many of these victims were criminals but they also consisted of hardcore partiers. News of the murders spread across America and Europe, with the police and the FBI trying to find the gunman responsible for the murders but were unsuccessful. The killer was dubbed "The Punishing Gunman" and Seraphina decided she should hunt down the killer herself. In order to find the Gunman, Seraphina journeyed into the shady underworld of NYC where organized crime thrived. With the help of a few gang members she threatened with her Magitex guns, she headed over to a peculiar abandoned warehouse in a dangerous street. There, she found something shocking; Ophelia was lecturing several people all dressed in white about morals and what the ideal society should be. Seraphina hasn't seen her sister in years by then and had assumed that she had stayed at their childhood home. Ophelia noticed Seraphina and smiled at her. She explained to Seraphina that she had been gathering followers over the years for her cause of creating an ideal world where peace and order are in place. When a follower tried speaking up, Ophelia summoned a revolver and shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Seraphina was horrified at the sight while the other followers looked on with some sadness but otherwise weren't highly affected by it. When Seraphina tried calling out Ophelia for the murder, the latter simply said that the follower broke one of her many rules and that she holds her followers to a high moral standard so they won't be "corrupted" with sin, stating that sinners have no place in her ideal world. Ophelia then revealed herself as the Punishing Gunman, having been killing "sinners" in order to cleanse the world. She then took out a notepad and showed it to Seraphina, where it contains a list of the names of many famous Jazz Age figures, several of which Seraphina had met. Ophelia disclosed that it was a hit list as she intended to execute them for their "sins".
  • Having had enough, Seraphina pulled out several of her Magitex weaponry, intending to stop Ophelia. After a few laughs, Ophelia told Seraphina about the prophecy, about how they were the Twin in White and Twin in Black respectively, about how Seraphina was destined to cause great destruction, and that after Seraphina left, their father came home after a long, unsuccessful journey to a find a cure for their mother's sickness, he was on the verge of death. Ophelia stated that she had lied to him about killing Seraphina and offered to mercifully kill him, which he took the offer. In the meantime, Ophelia was willing to kill Seraphina for real, thus the two entered an intense gunfight that lasted for several hours and caused great devastation around them. Around the end of the gunfight, both were heavily exhausted and their bodies were pushed to their limits. Eventually, the heavily wounded Ophelia fled away, leaving Seraphina as the victor. She had no idea about her sister's fate but she had the gut feeling that she survived the battle. News of the fight spread around like wildfire but most had assumed it to be a brutal gang war due to the sheer destruction, with the truth being that it consisted solely of two women with a large, powerful arsenal on them being brushed aside as an urban legend due to how absurd it sounded. Seraphina stayed in NYC until the Great Depression hit, where she would find herself in the world of mages in order to make end's meat and became a mercenary like her father. She traveled across the world throughout the 20th century, taking on missions to gain money and witnessed history first hand. In the 1980s, she settled in Sandfield, California, and took up an alias there after saving up enough money to live comfortably. There was something about that town that called out to her yet didn't know why. She would get known by the locals who knew her as a standoffish, private woman dressed as a flapper that you'll encounter every now and then and seems to be quite knowledgeable about certain topics.
  • During the events of Shadows of Sandfield I, she minded her business and didn't get involved. When Tom Winters disappeared, she pitied his family and friends but assumed that he's already dead, so there was nothing to do about it. However, there was an uneasy feeling surrounding the disappearance that prompted Seraphina to get out of town and go on vacation in Los Angeles for a few weeks. When she returned from vacation, she learned that Dubai got nuked and the Masquerade surrounding magic had been broken, thus magic had become common knowledge. And by the looks of it, it's just the beginning and much to her chagrin, she might have to get involved.
• Miscellaneous:
  • Seraphina's dialogue will be gray.
  • Whenever someone asks her about her birthmark, she'll simply say it's a tattoo as it has a complex design for a birthmark.
  • As she has lived in Sandfield for a couple decades, she knows mostly everyone there and the same is true vice versa. She has explained away her youthful appearance as a mix of good genetics, decent health and some plastic surgery.
  • She's a lesbian, albeit currently uninterested in pursuing a relationship.
  • Seraphina's sister, Ophelia, can be used as an enemy NPC. She has the same abilities as Seraphina (except that she has a larger variety of weapons on her and has Light Magic in place of Shadow Magic), is an Well-Intentioned Extremist at best and a delusional Knight Templar at worst. She doesn't seem to realize that her ideas for a peaceful world that she's devoted to carrying out are actually that of a Crapsaccharine Dystopia. She essentially leads a cult that follows her beliefs and thus has the typical personality of a cult leader; she has a calm demeanor and an angelic, ASMR-esque voice yet is dynamic, charismatic, and convincing which makes it easy for her to gain followers and manipulate them. She's also willing to kill any of her members if they break one of the cult's many, many rules, no matter how minor it is.. Besides having an identical face and the same hair-eye color combo, Ophelia and Seraphina don't even look alike. Ophelia wears an elegant, loose white gown with large, cloak-like sleeves and has long, flowing hair that reaches her knees. Ophelia's appearance helps sell her saintly image and she takes advantage of it. She no longer has any love for Seraphina, seeing her as a bane of evil that'll take down what she has built, thus someone that must be killed at all costs.
  • Seraphina has... complicated feelings about Ophelia. On one hand she condemns what Ophelia has done and that her ideal world sounds more like a dystopia that shouldn't be put in action. On the other hand, Ophelia's her twin sister and they'd been together from birth until their father told Ophelia about the prophecy, ruining the bond. Seraphina wonders that had their father not told Ophelia about the prophecy, they would've stuck together by the present day and Ophelia wouldn't turn into a twisted crusader. This twist of fate upsets Seraphina when she ponders on it as she still has some love for her sister, but she isn't overly open about it towards others.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Jul 12th 2023 at 8:17:15 AM

Accepted.

• Name: Jayden Gardner
• Gender: Male
• Age: 15^note Asssuming he didn't have a birthday at some point.
• Appearance: Fifteen years old and very tired◊. Stands at 5'7.
• Personality: Jayden is tired. That's the first thing you'll notice about him; the look of someone who has been through far too much in far too short a time, and rather than be traumatized or scared they're just exhausted. His social skills have not improved much, only instead of weirding people out with his exuberance, they just leave when they realize they can't break through the sullenness. But whenever he (somehow) fires up again, he's almost like how he used to be—bold and bright and passionate.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Jayden is, at heart, an investigator. These skills did not serve him particularly well in his last-go around, which shifted from investigating to battle far too quickly for him to adjust, but he has a keen eye for detail and a knack for putting disparate pieces together.
  • On the subject of that, he tended to sneak around places he shouldn't be a lot for the sake of evidence-gathering for his occult conspiracy theories. As such, he's good at hiding, sneaking around, keeping quiet, and trailing people.
  • Carries his much beloved journal everywhere he goes. It's where he wrote down all his theories about the supernatural. It's...mostly outdated, and almost out of space, but Jayden will never ever let go of it.
  • Good artist! Likes to draw diagrams. This will probably never be useful but I thought I'd mention it.
  • Has gotten...marginally better at lying since last RP. He can do a decent poker face, if nothing else.
• Magic Types: As a Fiendbonder, Jayden has some command over the darkness. He can create and control shadow swords to stab people, and cloak himself in darkness for a sort-of invisibility.
  • Unique Magic Type: Non-applicable. Jayden is...reasonably sure the shadow swords and the cloaking are something any Fiendbonder could do, and thus his magic could be performed by anyone.
• Backstory:
  • When Jayden was seven years old, his father was killed in a car crash while driving him home from school. Jayden himself was not permanently harmed, but he was quietly traumatized, and turned to the Internet to find some way to cope. What he found was a website that claimed that sometimes, the souls of the deceased would return to watch over their living relatives. Distraught as he was by his father's death, Jayden happily accepted the idea, and quickly became intrigued by everything else the website had to say.
  • At first, nobody minded much, dismissing it as simply a way for him to cope with his recent loss. But as days turned to weeks, then months, then years, it became apparent that this fascination with the supernatural was no longer a coping mechanism; it was an obsession. By high school, Jayden had cultivated a reputation as "the weird conspiracy theory kid" and people avoided him on principle.
  • Then Tom—one of the most vocal skeptics—disappeared. And it would not be inaccurate to say Jayden's life started going downhill from there.
  • Over the course of the next few months, Jayden was: ignored, pushed to the side, coerced into pacting with a demon, almost driven to a mental breakdown, and stuffed into a giant wall along with his family because his mother worked for the bad guys, where he has been slowly atrophying over the timeskip. He is on the verge of accepting his fate of going crazy for real and getting locked in a padded cell...but there's one thing he wants to know first: what was the deal with his dad? Jayden has been pretty burnt out on the whole investigator thing for a while now, but before he throws in the towel for good, he wants to figure out whatever secrets Arthur Gardner might've had.
• Misc:
  • Jayden's journal was a gift from his father, Arthur.
  • On the autism spectrum. Which wasn't originally intended, but he has a lot of traits associated with autism, so...why not?

Accepted.

• Name: "Cendrillon"^*  Uses the false name of Cinder Blanchette.
• Gender: Female
• Age: 25^*  Biologically speaking. Cendrillon was woven fully-grown early in 2015, making her only a year and a few months old.
• Appearance: Standing at a staggering 6'10", Cendrillon◊ is a powerfully-built woman with fair skin and a head of stark white hair, which is cropped to a medium length and styled into a jagged but symmetrical cut that frames her face. With a mathematically perfect countenance, Cendrillon nonetheless straddles the line between being stunningly beautiful and fundamentally uncanny, especially when her blood-red eyes and tendency to stare intensely at others with them are taken into account. While in her everyday clothes, Cendrillon dresses in casual wear such as hoodies and baggy sweatpants, with little care given to fashion or her appearance beyond that. However, when she's on duty, she noticeably stands taller as if she's in her element; she slouches whenever she's off work, subtracting her apparent height by a good few inches in the process.
• Personality: Cendrillon is an unflappably calm, efficient worker who will stop at absolutely nothing to see her goals or the goals of her benefactors through to the very end. Usually she is quiet, letting others speak before herself so that she can effectively build off of their conversation, but if necessary she'll gladly bark out orders if one of her comrades is compromised by fear or indecision. Speaking of which, Cendrillon completely lacks the ability to feel fear; neither can she form emotional bonds with people, even if she claims otherwise. Though she isn't affected by anything that does not directly involve herself, Cendrillon can still be offended and act rashly according to her temper, though she is quick to collect herself if someone is brave enough to talk her down out of her rage. Still, Cendrillon is a fantastic liar and will more often than not fake her responses to others around her purely to maintain a distance between them and her. While these deceptions aren't always harmful, they most definitely come natural to her, and she will only ever reveal truths about herself if she believes it is absolutely necessary and there's no chance of her being ratted out. All in all, Cendrillon is superficially charming but has little to offer others beyond her cold sense of duty and self-preservation, and the best she can do is consider her allies a band of meat shields that will soften any force coming her way before it reaches her. At the very least, she knows how to behave, though she makes a hobby of planning ahead exactly how she'll get back at people who cross her once she gets the chance.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Expert Combatant: Cendrillon has been trained and bred specifically for combat, and even without her powers and equipment can hold her own by virtue of her skills in and of themselves. She practises a fighting style superficially akin to Krav Maga in its efficiency and use of her environment, though she also has a penchant for throwing her enemies around like ragdolls purely to pain and humiliate them. Her large stature and muscular build give her a huge size and weight advantage over most of her opponents, with only similar gigantic foes giving her reason to switch tactics. Beyond CQC, Cendrillon is adept with firearms and at the very least capable of using martial weapons even if they aren't her preference. Cendrillon is also knowledgeable of how to scout out the best locales to fight in, and will try to lead her enemies into an area most advantageous for her to best them in.
  • Configurable Firearms: Magitek dual pistols with explosive shots, having a characteristic red muzzle flash and firing bolts of concentrated magical energy that is able to burn through multiple walls before losing velocity. Able to be combined and reconfigured into a similarly explosive sniper rifle for long-distance affairs, or melded into Cendrillon's suit to be seamlessly holstered and hidden from view. These weapons can be magnetised back into Cendrillon's hands from a short distance if she loses them, and they are programmed to disable themselves if someone other than Cendrillon attempts to fire them. The firearms have theoretically infinite ammo, however they are prone to overheating when fired successively, and require recharging after a few hours of use in order to maintain their potency.
  • Configurable Bodysuit: A slim-fitting suit made of magitek layered fabric, able to be reshaped to either fit its wearer perfectly or shrink itself down into a more portable wad of fabric that can be stored away easily. The suit is impervious to light attacks against it, repelling unreinforced bullets and most ordinary weapons that aren't of a higher grade of potency. The suit can be put on and taken off smoothly simply by channelling magic into it while holding its fabric, and it is able to charge Cendrillon's guns while they are safely holstered within its material. The suit is primarily vantablack in colouration, though it also features glowing red lights and piping that flare in response to Cendrillon's magic. These lights can (thankfully) switch off for situations where Cendrillon needs to be unseen, allowing the vantablack to completely blend into the darkest shadows. The suit also features a retractable helmet, which resembles a blank visor that fully obscures Cendrillon's head when worn.
• Magic Types: N/A
• Unique Magic Type:
  • Personal Biomancy: Cendrillon is able to use her magic in order to selectively bolster her capabilities, such as increasing her strength to person-throwing or concrete-obliterating levels or increasing her speed to the point of being able to move faster than the eye can even track. By focusing her magic into her skin, she can make herself physically hardier and difficult to injure, and by focusing her magic into her brain she can even enhance her senses to potentially ridiculous levels; such as being able to physically feel a pin dropping in the next room over or make her sight more sensitive to thermal signatures in order to track sources of heat in environments with otherwise poor visibility. The downside to this otherwise incredible power is that Cendrillon is only capable of altering one aspect of herself at a time, and they don't stack. If she wants to dash over to someone and punch them into the next room over, she'll have to stop suddenly in front of them after closing the distance and divert her magic into her muscles before doing so. The same goes for all her sensory abilities, meaning that if she's distracted trying to seek someone out by enhancing her senses, she is vulnerable physically. Thankfully for Cendrillon's survivability, she can also enhance her body's natural healing ability in order to survive otherwise mortal blows, though at that point she's likely too weak to fight or even move while concentrating on fixing herself.
• Backstory: The mechanically and magically woven woman who would be later given the name of Cendrillon was the central subject of the Cendrillon Project, which was an experiment orchestrated by Malcaba with the goal of creating a powerful homunculus with exceptional combat prowess and versatility unmatched by any other single combatant in the history of the world. Officially beginning in 2011, solid progress was made later on in 2013 and 2014 in terms of weaving the homunculus' frame, and once the body was complete the artificial woman was given select magical abilities and accompanying equipment in order to cover as many weaknesses as possible. However, despite Malcaba's success in designing this powerful creation, the woman finally awoke to full awareness as a complete sociopath; with no ability to empathise with others and an entirely self-centred attitude. Training the newly-dubbed Cendrillon took over a year due to this fault in her mind and her lack of loyalty towards Malcaba, but she regardless ended up exactly as adept and ruthless as Malcaba had wished for—only for the Takeover to occur not long after Cendrillon had completed her first few trial missions, which prompted Malcaba to flee for his life and abandon his secret project in the process. Now alone and without direction, Cendrillon has decided to take up whatever work she can get her hands on in order to satiate her thirst for stimulation, and given her lack of interest in whatever theocracy is being proclaimed by Elijah's militia, it is doubtful she will choose to side with the attacking forces in Sandfield…
• Misc:
  • Cendrillon has adopted for herself a French accent and the accompanying false name of Cinder Blanchette due to the naming convention Malcaba used for the homunculus project, though as convincing as her accent is, it's entirely false. Her true manner of speaking is reflective of whoever she's talking to at the time.
  • Enjoys her vices, such as alcohol and cigarettes. Both could have a detrimental effect on her if she lets it, but she tends to bolster her body's healing ability in order to negate their respective side-effects.
  • As a homunculus, Cendrillon completely lacks a soul. Whether or not this is tied to her sociopathy is unknown, and may just be due to a fault in Malcaba's designs.

Edited by Enirboreh on Jul 9th 2023 at 12:37:10 PM

Accepted.

• Name: Katarina Kato
• Gender: Female
• Age: 18
• Appearance: Short dark and fuzzy.◊ Stands at 4'9. Used to be taller.
• Personality: Katarina is playful, coy, and just a bit devious. Often relaxed and poised, she delights in teasing others, often playing tricks or games to amuse herself. That's assuming she's in the mood. Said mood can be fickle, with Katarina being incredibly driven or incredibly lazy depending on how she feels that day. However, she can also become arrogant and furious if properly pushed, even going so far as to hiss and growl until she gets her way. No matter what mood she's in, she's incredibly caustic, coming up with creative insults and snark born from her love of pop culture. She isn't sure if it's a defence mechanism or her natural personality, but it's the one part of herself she's not ashamed of.
  • That said, she's also become rather distraught over the whole 'actually a cat' thing. Whenever she thinks about it too much, she becomes sullen and cranky, lashing out at anyone in the vicinity. She's even tried to put on a mask and shave off her own fur, only for it to grow back within minutes. She's desperate for anything that could let her live a normal life. She doesn't care about the fate of the world or even the town. She's more concerned with locating her mother and undoing her transformation, but she's not heartless.
  • She's not a saint either, but she has some strong beliefs. She thinks those in power should not abuse their authority. She doesn't tolerate stupidity or those who recklessly endanger others. Most importantly, if you hurt her or those she cares about, she will end you. It's these same beliefs that help fuel her magic and make her a force to be reckoned with. She used to believe that the truth is more important than anything else, but now she has a truth she doesn't want to confront.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Kitty Cat: Katarina has all the proportionate abilities of a cat, as befits the daughter of Bast. She's stronger than a human, but her real talents are her speed and incredible agility, always landing on her feet. Her claws can cut through solid steel or pick locks, and she can scale walls that even the most skilled rock climber could have trouble with. Her senses (hearing, smell, etc.) are superhuman and her sharp yellow eyes let her see in the dark with ease. Her instincts are top-notch and let her hold her own even without training, but they can be inconvenient.
  • Year of The Cat: As the daughter of Bast, Katarina can turn into any cat. Big or small, large or fat, real or mythological. She hates it, but it's useful in a pinch. She's only scratched the surface of her abilities, but it's not something she wants to explore.
  • Cat Calls: As the daughter of Bast, Katarina can talk to cats. She can understand them and they understand her. It's possible she can control them, but she hasn't cared to test it.
  • Nose for Trouble: Before all hell broke loose, Katarina spent her days studying to be a reporter and investigator. She has a nose for trouble and an ear for gossip, even more after her glamor failed. With her electric barbs and commanding presence, she can put on the pressure and crack most people open like a can. She prefers a more hands-on approach, investigating leads and sneaking into buildings firsthand, but she's no stranger to social media. She always believed in the truth above all else, but her current situation has caused her to falter.
• Magic Types:
  • Lightning Magic: Kat isn't a master mage, but she has some tricks. Her speciality is lightning magic, stemming from her strong beliefs and commanding personality. She uses it to enhance her speed and natural weapons. She can surround herself with electricity and move in quick bursts, or slash the air and send waves of electricity towards her opponents. She can call it down if she's pissed, but it's not her first choice.
• Unique Magic Type:
  • Protector God: Kat can throw up a forcefield, protecting herself and others from harm. She can only create one field at a time and it can't hold more than a few people, but it's pretty durable. The stronger she gets, the stronger her forcefields will become and the more people they can hold.
• Backstory: Katarina Cato was just your ordinary teenage girl. Mostly. She still had a few eccentricities. Such as licking herself when she got dirty. Or pouncing on her favourite toys. Or even giving the occasional purr when she was pleased. Okay, maybe she wasn't so ordinary. But she fit in well enough until her 18th birthday. Unfortunately, it was the same day everything else went to hell.
  • She'd just learned about the existence of magic and beastmen when felt a couple of pointed tufts on the top of her head, jutting out where her ears used to be. A strange growth erupted from her rear, elongating until it became a tail. Her fingers became claws, her eye sharp and yellow, dark fur spreading out over her skin. Whiskers grew from her snout, her snout became a muzzle and she shrank about 12 inches. She had become a beastfolk herself. Or perhaps she always was one. She learned from her mother that she was adopted, left on her doorstep as a baby with nothing but a small gold ankh to her name. Katarina always kept the ankh around her neck, but once the masquerade was broken it lost its luster, fading to a dull bronze. She didn't it know then, but the ankh was a glamour concealing her true nature. As long as everyone didn't think beastfolk were real, she could pass for human, but it was dependent on public perception. Once the truth was out, the ankh lust its luster and so did the glamour.
  • She wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to run to. Since then she's been holed up in the basement with her mom and living off rations, ignoring all the bad things around her and pretending she was still human. But they couldn't stay there forever. They'd nearly run out of food when her mom went out to get more. She never returned. Out of food and missing her mom, she left the house, both for her mom and to get some grub. But she'd soon regret it.
• Etc: Kat isn't an expert with magic, but she has some tricks. Her adoptive mother was an archaeologist and occasionally dug up some magic tombs. She studied them for the sake of her research, but after some experimentation, she discovered it was real. She passed on what she knew to Kat in case she needed to defend herself, but the true nature of her heritage made her better at it than her mother was.

Edited by kkhohoho on Jul 19th 2023 at 10:43:19 AM

• Name: Mina Parker
• Gender: Female (she/her)
• Age: 14
• Appearance: Mina is a short and stocky girl who wears rectangular wire-rimmed glasses. She has amber eyes and waist-length hair, which she gathers into two low pigtails, but her bangs still cover her eyes most of the time. She usually wears extremely loose, mundane-looking school uniform outfits from previous private schools she's attended and well-fitting combat boots. Maintaining a professional look is important for a radio host, just as it is for any respectable reporter.
• Personality: Quiet and reserved, probably because she feels more like listening than speaking, but adopts a bombastic persona when hosting her radio broadcast, and no longer stutters like she used to. However, she has a kind disposition wrapped under all that shyness, and will often try to help people when they're not looking. She has come to care very deeply for her friends and will get very angry if they're hurt. She used to have a reputation as being a sheltered doormat, but that has been turned around since the attack of the Gibbs Militia.
• Skills & Tools:
  • Rebel Radio Host: Mina hosts a secret radio broadcast under the pseudonym Warning Glory, and has picked up some considerable skill with communications equipment to supplement her role. Along with the associated uber-hackery you might not expect a girl like her to be able to accomplish, she can easily muster enough coordination to unleash merry hell upon misinformation campaigns and demagoguery. It has been noted that her efforts are currently a major contributor to Sandfield's morale.
  • Junior Intelligencer: Having a fledgling news network is all well and good, but one needs to actually be able to back up your claims with cold, hard facts and information. Mina's previous skill with drones, cameras, and all manner of recording equipment has evolved since her time at the safehouse, and she's tinkered with the Black Box Birds she obtained from the fateful raid on a Gibbs Militia base as well. She's working on becoming an unofficial intelligence officer for her side, with all the sharpness and acumen that implies.
• Magic Type(s):
  • Earth 🜃: Stalwart, practical, and unobtrusive yet capable of great force, earth magic exemplifies Mina's personality very well. She usually uses it to supplement her more defensive support role, as her teammates focus on attacking. However, she is also more than capable of creating shockwaves and walls to control the battlefield, and is not so rigid as to confine herself to only solid earth—enemies' positions are only as secure as the ground they're standing on, and quicksand tends to dispel any notion of safety as quickly as it's implied.
  • Fire 🜂: A secondary affinity discovered during training, but somewhat neglected due to Mina finding her niche early and sticking to it. A seemingly straightforward and destructive element, it has less direct utility than her earth magic, but seeing as many dark creatures have weaknesses centered around light and fire, it's not hard to see how this affinity might be applied. A little-known use of it helps Mina inject some metaphorical fire into her rhetoric, projecting her passions to a large audience as a distraction if not as a persuasive method.
• Unique Magic Type:
  • Media Mavenry: Mina's tenuous monopoly over Sandfield's only source of resistance media has developed into something wholly new and strange. Whenever she streams, broadcasts, or otherwise reaches a large group through technology, every person that willingly participates or spectates can help Mina with her combat magic, most commonly projected through her Black Box Birds. This can be used to summon literal walls of text, projectiles made of flaming, foul language, and more amusingly, to DDoS the Gibbs Militia's technology with a large, concerted effort from the resistance's supporters. Further helping her cyberbully the invaders to death is the self-spreading nature of the news and slogans she can upload online. Like a helpful virus, she can magically program her memes to sabotage communications—a mocking phrase first takes over a single button of enemy software, then spreads to other files, and finally, leaks out of the modem as a white, staticky pus and into papers left on the keyboard, replacing all instances of text with itself. In such an echo chamber, the emperor is revealed as wearing no clothes, and even tigers turn into paper.
• Backstory:
  • Mina was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and used to be sent to private school, but her mother protested this and said that it was affecting her social development. After an argument, the Parker family moved to Sandfield to enroll Mina into a reputable public school, and Mina was able to find kindred spirits in the tabletop role-playing club after the photography club was de-funded and shut down. Shortly after Mina settled in, her mother went missing in action investigating something in the same woods that Tom disappeared in. Since then, Mina's father became rather distant with her, though he often makes overtures of peace by buying her various things. He also started going off on "business trips," being away from the house for several days at a time, leaving Mina mostly alone for the duration. Mina felt that she needed to give her father some space to mourn and thus didn't think any more about the subject, until her fellow club member Tom disappeared under similarly suspicious circumstances. He was the first person to welcome her to her new school while others simply laughed at her, so this galvanized her into beginning to grow a spine during the search for him.
  • With the revelations about her mother and the rescue of Tom, along with many other uncovered secrets, Mina is making a name for herself as one of the primary voices of the rebellion against the Gibbs Militia post-breaking of the Masquerade. With her confidence boosted by her growing power and skill with magic, she's already found her niche in the newly warlike environment, even if she's only just begun to participate in it herself. However, with her role in distributing the truth of the day, how will she choose to spin it to her audience?
• Misc: She talks in cinnamon.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jul 11th 2023 at 8:33:46 AM

Name: Johnathan "Cigarillo" Blackfeather

Gender: Male

Age: 24 physically, 111 chronologically.

Appearance: Johnathan is a man who has black hair with red streaks. He's about 5'8 tall and looks skinny. Johnathan has burn scars from his magic experiments that are most prominent on his arms. He also has a black feather tattoo on his left hand. He gets his nickname from the fact that he smokes a lot, although the fact that he still looks quite good should be the first thing about him that's odd. He likes to wear black and red clothing.

Personality: Johnathan is fairly smart and quick-witted, but he's also very perfectionistic and panics when something goes wrong. He's fairly quiet and demure, not wanting to butt in to conversations, but when he wants to talk, he can talk a lot. Johnathan likes video games, history, geography and is eager to display his knowledge in those areas.

Johnathan is also quick to point out other's faults and tends to apologize a lot for his own, sometimes more than is necessary. His rhetoric is brutally honest and he's prone to giving many a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to those he finds nasty.

Also, Johnathan has somewhat high moral standards. He doesn't like it when people freak out over nothing, or get mad over things that are minor slights. In addition, taking his cigarettes away from him is a good way to get him upset, as they relax his nerves and calm him down. Johnathan also hates the idea of familicide because he has two sisters who were taken away from him. Johnathan also hates when people are excessively loud and yell at him for talking too much.

Johnathan's well aware of his magic powers, and while he promises to use them responsibly, he mostly uses them to silence others.

Skills and Tools:

Geographical knowledge: Johnathan knows a lot about the world and what's happening around it.

Firearms skills: Johnathan is really good at firing guns and is an experienced marksman who can hit the lit end of a cigarette from a few feet away.

Gambler: Johnathan can lie and deceive others to his own benefit, though he only usually does it while gambling and has a good poker face.

Green thumb: Johnathan likes plants and gardening and has knowledge of many different types of plants, though he hasn't been able to garden much.

Johnathan's Weapons:

Pew-Pew: A pistol

Ratatatatat: An AR-15.

Mr. Blunt: A baseball bat

Magic types:

Fire Magic: This allows Johnathan to manipulate fire and create blasts or towers of flame. He mostly uses this to light his cigarettes. His fire magic powers and the smoke his flames cause has rendered him immune to smoke and smoking.

Lightning Magic: Bolts of lightning and balls of electricity are formed and strike when Johnathan wields this kind of magic. Unlike most bolts of lightning, this cannot cause fires. He mostly does this to energize his electric car or charge his stuff, as he can manipulate the strength of the bolts and balls.

Wind Magic: Johnathan can change the direction of the wind or concentrate it to increase the speed and strength of wind. He mostly does this to cool himself off when it's too hot outside.

Shadow Magic: Johnathan can create blasts of pure darkness and shadow to warp his opponents and damage them as well as veil himself to prevent himself from being seen.

Unique magic type:

Magic Clone: Johnathan can conjure up a magic clone of himself to do something while he goes to do something else at the same time. The clone has some limitations, it operates on a time limit, it can only be out for a maximum of three hours and only one can be out at a time. The clone also can't harm people or perform actions that harm people.

Backstory:

Johnathan and his two sisters are the last surviving members of the House of Blackfeather, a prominent family of mages from a few centuries ago. The family was a powerful clan of mages, though they operated in secret due to fears of being killed and persecuted because of their magical abilities, so they didn't look the part of sorcerers and just acted as normal people in society.

Johnathan was born to Sarah and Richard Blackfeather in 1905 in California, he has two sisters; an older sister named Margaret and a younger sister named Helen. Both are still alive, but Johnathan has yet to find them.

But, when Johnathan was twenty-four, a serial killer entered Cigarillo's house, and killed his parents. Before his parents were killed, they cast a coma spell upon him and his sisters, knocking them out. The siblings were later buried beside the house by its new owners after being found in it.

Fast forward many years later to the mid 2010s and the siblings awoke from their graves due to the spell running out. After being homeless for a few years and getting strange looks for looking like they were Amish or attending a party, they finally somewhat adjusted to the modern world and had found residence in an old, cheap, apartment building. But then a man in a purple suit appeared and took the sisters away, with Jonathan shocked at what happened.

Cigarillo's life just went downhill from there, he couldn't afford the rent and was kicked out, and that's not even getting into the fact that after moving south, his town was destroyed. Now he's living in an abandoned shack with the goal of finding the man in the purple suit.

But, what will happen next for Johnathan? Who was the purple-suited man?

Misc. Johnathan smokes five different brands of cigarettes.

Johnathan's text color is purple.

Timescale still probably doesn't work

Edited by Heehee47 on Jul 9th 2023 at 10:33:23 AM

Mina is accepted.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Jul 9th 2023 at 6:45:05 AM

As for Jonathan...I don't even know where to begin here. It doesn't really fit. The time scale doesn't work. You are not playing as the Chosen One. Let me repeat that. You're not signing up with the main character, or anywhere close to it.

Kat is accepted.

• Name: Veda Valentine
• Gender: Male
• Age: 20
• Appearance: A bookish young man with brown hair.◊ Stands about 5'9". His magic has changed his eyes to a deep purple.
• Personality: Someone who always looks forward. A visionary, who believes that magic is a resource that should be understood and utilized by all. He’s possessed of a level of intelligence that allows him to realize how little he knows, and as such is quite humble and kind. He enjoys both learning and teaching, and is happy to explain things to people if they don’t understand. Maintains a cautious optimism, no matter the circumstances. At the same time, is pragmatic enough to understand the need for violence in some cases, though he doesn’t actively enjoy it.
• Skills and Tools:
  • A highly adept problem solver, mathematically minded, and easily a doctorate level academic.
  • Additive Augments: Out of habit, Veda enchants all his clothes to enhance his physical abilities to moderately superhuman levels, primarily focusing on protection. In particular, his ear studs project a thin, invisible forcefield over his body to reduce damage from impacts. Not invincible, by any means, but enough so he won’t instantly die if hit by something. His shoes allow him to walk on walls and water.
  • Visionary Violet: A simple-looking violet armband is Veda’s magnum opus. Allows for the projection of solid energy constructs within a few meters of the wearer. The constructs can take virtually any shape, and can be made to hover in the air or move as Veda wishes. The strength of the construct is inverse to its size; something that would fit in your hand is stronger than steel, while something like a small wall would be more like stone, and anything bigger than a few meters across would basically be cardboard. Upon leaving Veda's range, the constructs will vanish after a few seconds, though in that time they can still be launched as projectiles at speeds up to those of a handgun bullet. The constructs appear to be made of glowing purple energy by default, though Veda can change the coloring as he pleases, he just prefers purple for thematic reasons.
  • Outstanding Oculus: Veda’s glasses are concealed magitek: they enhance his vision to superhuman levels, allowing him to zoom in on far away objects, see in the dark, identify magical energies, and even see 360 degrees around himself. As added benefits, they magically stick to his face (so as not to fall off when physically active), and act as a smartphone, including being able to connect to other devices and take pictures.
• Magic Types: Magitek, Transmutation, Enchanting
  • Veda’s magic is slow-acting and low in immediate power but broad in application. He focuses on the creation of magical objects, and the manipulation of materials in order to bring about the former. He is capable of changing the shape of matter, transmuting one material into another, storing energy inside objects, and applying various properties to objects. These generally take time to do, proportional to the scale of the effect.
  • Put simply, Veda can do a lot of useful, small-scale things, which he can then stack together for greater effect. An incredibly versatile utility mage.
• Unique Magic Type: Analysis
  • A kind of superhuman intuition. Whether mundane or magical, he has an abnormal knack for discovering how things work and why. His understanding is not instant or perfect - like the rest of his magic, the more time he spends on something the better his analysis becomes - but he can learn and decipher things much faster than any normal human.
• Backstory:
  • Born to poor parents in rural Kentucky. Veda was bright from a young age, and his parents fully believed he’d buck the family’s blue collar traditions and strike out on his own. Growing up with the advent of the internet, he took a keen interest in tech, which his mother told him would carry him far away from their little town. From then on, Veda always seemed to have stars in his eyes when he thought of the future.
  • The stars didn’t stop shining, even when his father died in a mine collapse. His mother was distraught, but Veda made his peace with it. When she started drinking more, he didn’t bring it up. She started missing work, and Veda had to make up the slack to help them both survive. Eventually Veda’s aunt stepped in, offering to take him away. His mother was happy. She told him to live his own life, and never come back to the boonies. Veda left, never to return to his hometown.
  • Sandfield was marginally less boring than Kentucky, or so Veda thought. The sudden revelation that magic was real changed that equation rather quickly. As did the militia takeover. His aunt had been killed in the initial violence, but rather than wallow in grief, Veda pushed forward, awakening his own magic and beginning to plan. Converting his aunt's basement into a suitable bunker, Veda kept himself mostly hidden, focusing on understanding the power he'd unlocked and refining it as much as he could, coming out only occasionally to acquire resources.
  • With the looming threat of Green Wall, he is finally ready to start working against the militia in earnest.
• Misc: Theme song.

Accepted!

Let's give it a shot.

• Name: Ross Chase
• Gender: Male
• Age: A month away or so from 18.
• Appearance: Tall, of average build. Dark blonde hair, green eyes. Insists on trying to grow a beard, the keyword being "trying". Usually dresses in warmer colors, mixing darker pants with pastel tops.
• Personality: Ross ties a lot of his confidence to his automobile. It's like, it's like 1 and a half tons of a safety barrier. Of tough metal sitting between you and all the threats the outside world has to offer. Inside his vehicle, he's self-assured to the point of overconfidence. Outside of it, he's timid and unsure of himself. Regardless of that, however, Ross is innately curious, and holds freedom in high regard.
• Skills and tools:
  • Ross has been driving (not always legally) since he was 13, and has done enough stupid things behind the wheel to control the car better than years of experience would indicate, and his knowledge of the local roads and offroad trails is excellent; it especially improved after getting involved in smuggling for the resistance.
  • The vehicle of choice is a banana yellow 1984 Toyota Pickup 4x4. A capable off-road pickup truck, passed from generation to generation. Has all the cool offroad bits - a lightbar, all-terrain tyres, one of them offroad skidplates to protect the oilpan from bashing on the rocks the vehicle drives over, there's even a snorkel for fording deeper water.
  • Ross is reasonably athletic; he was chased on foot on more than one occasion; As such, he's especially good at running.
  • Being raised by a car mechanic, and being even more curious as a child than now, Ross has a reasonable mechanical skill. While he never had to perfect that skill, due to having a mechanic father as a backup, he won't be completely clueless if faced with machinery.
  • Ross' curiosity has gotten him into fair share of trouble. From that, he learned how to appear innocent, how to phrase his excuses, how to appear as if his actions were "an innocent mistake", "an understandable oversight", "just an accident", or "something you had a right not to know about", "a learning experience", and other such events that warrant a warning and not any serious punishment. Most of that is in subconscious, and Ross isn't aware of the body language stuff he does to make his words appear trustworthy. It helps that as a "quiet kid with good academic performance", he's given some leeway, some benefit of the doubt.
• Magic Types:
  • Earth Magic: Ross' unique magic relies on a rather non-portable focus object. As such, efforts were made to teach him magic independent of that. He was taught control over earth, which he mostly uses to enhance his mobility (create steps where there are none, bridge a gap that can't reliably be jumped over, make mud more easily traversable), to impede the movement of others, and to form defensive barriers. There are offensive uses, but Ross doesn't have much experience with those.
• Unique Magic Type:
  • I’m in Love With My Car: As you might have guessed, this "non-portable focus object" is the banana yellow Toyota truck. Starting with an accident that left child Ross believing that the vehicle was alive, it started responding to Ross's requests, to the magic he channels through the truck. Now, it is possible the truck is indeed possessed by an outside entity. It is also possible that the animacy it has is a thoughtform created by Ross in the aftermath of the accident, or by his father or grandfather when they were pouring their love into the truck. The magic might also be just innate to Ross, limited by his belief that it's about the Toyota. Whatever the case, Ross has a remarkable control over it. It listens to simple commands. It can share its proprioception with him, letting him know the innate limits of the car, and which parts "hurt" and need to be repaired. If Ross needs extra speed, he will get extra speed. If he wants the car to be more durable, it'll toughen up just for him. If fuel is scarce, it'll make the legends of 100 mpg carburettors come true. With some convincing, the car can even change its licence plate numbers and color. This power is very versatile, and isn't limited to the above. It is however limited to this specific vehicle; Ross wasn't able to make other cars listen to him this way. This specific vehicle is also kind of capricious. It likes being showered with love. It demands proper detailing once in a while, has occasional cravings for premium fuel, and will get jealous of other cars.
• Backstory:
  • Ross Chase was born in a gearhead family. The family car was the Toyota Pickup, bought new by Ross' grandpa. It was now a secondary car, since there were kids an a family, and the primary car was expected to have more seat. Nevertheless, it was never sold, and dodged the Cash for Clunkers program.
  • So, let's cut to the Chase back when he was 8. He was left alone in the Toyota for a moment. He decided to see what that lever behind the gearstick does. Well, the car was parked on an incline, so when the handbrake was released, the car started rolling down the hill with Ross inside. It picked up speed, going past parked cars, dodging pedestrians and traffic. It was approaching the busy intersection, and Ross was begging it to stop. He closed his eyes, and then he felt the car levelling out, and coming to a stop. He opened his eyes, and there it was, the busy intersection, the Toyota stopped right in front of it. "Thank you," Ross whispered to the car, as a commotion formed around him. I mean, why would he not. The car listened to him. It stopped, just like he wanted to.
  • After his parents received a very stern talking to due to leaving Ross alone in the car, Ross's father decided to teach him about the workings of the automobile. He felt that if Ross knew how a car worked, his curiosity about one would not bring harm to him. It definitely helped. And it got Ross closer to the truck. They were able to develop an understanding and a bond. He knew the truck wanted to be driven, and so he took it on a spin or two even though he was too young to drive. His skills and knowledge grew, as he and the truck engaged in more and more adventures.
  • And then, the circumstances changed. Sandfield is less than ideal place to live right now. While Ross's extended family is split when it comes to allegiance, his direct family is firmly on the resistance side, especially after they found out that their child is one of the magic users. Ross is now involved in transporting contraband between the various resistance factions.

Edited by JackCossack on Jul 10th 2023 at 6:10:18 PM

Accepted.

• Name: Pablo Martinez Olivares
• Gender: Male
• Age: 16
• Appearance: Pablo is quite the image of a jock. Tall, muscular, not half bad looking even if apparently grumpy. Dark skinned, with rather long dark brown hair and gray eyes, recently has started to leave some stubble. Normally wears darker colors, and shows off his arms pretty often.
• Personality: Pablo is generally seen as a scary guy, with his imposing figure and resting glare, but he is ultimately a good hearted guy, even if he feels like he doesn't know what he is doing half the time. With recent experiences, he feels more responsible than ever for the people around him, and he worries about how he will stay true to himself with all that's going on. He hides a lot of impatience and frustration for the way things are right now, and feels the need to make himself useful after the inactivity he has been through.
• Skills and Tools: Pablo is a fairly decent mechanic, at least able to keep a vehicle running, a strong brawler, highly athletic even without magic and is getting experience with some weapons.
  • He mainly carries a special dagger, made from some powerful beast. Pablo is ignorant of the history and actual properties, but after mixing his blood and magic with the power within it to create his strongest weapon, the Beast King Excalibur.
• Magic Types: Body Enhancement: Pablo's basic use of magic has been to make himself stronger, faster, make his body tougher, among other things. Most often, his basic use of magic involves him punching or kicking, although he manages some other stuff.
  • Unique Magic Type: The Wild Armory: Pablo developed several magical constructs, weapons based on animals with different powers each, with a swing unleashing their powers.
• Backstory: It's incredible how life can change so quickly for a man. Pablo was just living his life, studying, training, helping in his house and working for his uncle in an auto shop. His simple plans of getting into a pro sports team or even just getting a scholarship for college were derailed when he ran into a group of schoolmates discussing something shocking and then being pursued by something he wouldn't imagine. Walking into the whole magic business, he just intended to pay a debt and go back to his own business, but the world collapsing around him derailed all that. For now, he is concerned with saving as many people as he could, and to not lose himself in all the chaos.

Accepted.

Name: James North

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Appearance: James is still quite a nondescript young man, standing at about 5'11 in height with short brown hair and greenish eyes. The conflict and training he has been through since the beginning of the investigation have resulted in him becoming noticeably more toned.

Personality: Under ordinary circumstances, James seldom seems to put much effort into anything. He tended to drift through personal interaction, not offending anybody but not winning over any people either, and perhaps goes with the flow a little more than he ought to. In confrontations however James reveals a strong if somewhat naive sense of morality, and views the exploitation of others with strong disapproval.

Skills and Tools: James has in his possession a magical spear formerly owned by a worshiper of the Magic God Odin. It lost much of its power before coming into James' possession but it still serves well as a magical focus. He is also in generally good shape and has a pretty solid understanding of magical theory for somebody who only discovered all this stuff a few months ago.

Magic Types:

• Construct Magic: James can summon weapons and similar objects out of mana. This facet of his magic has been somewhat neglected in favor of more direct offensive spells, but he can still call upon it to some extent.

• Fire Magic: Essentially what it sounds like. James tends not to use this form of magic separately.

• Holy Magic: Like fire magic, this isn't generally used separately.

Unique Magic Type:

• Alabaster Flame: James can conjoin his light and fire magics, combining their heat and luminescence to produce a bright white fire. James uses this almost solely for offensive purposes.

Backstory: James' mother left him when he was very young, leaving him in the care of his father. While divorce settlements did force her to pay some money, the meager salary his father made as a librarian made for some rough times for them growing up. It didn't help that James was a restless and careless youth, who spent far more time wandering the woods that surrounded Sandfield than working on his academics or indeed socializing. It seemed he was destined to live an ordinary and honestly rather disappointing life until Tom Winters; one of his few real friends, vanished. James was naturally at first quite resistant to the idea of the supernatural, but soon couldn't help but acknowledge the evidence that was at hand. He found himself surprisingly excited by the introduction to the magic world that Matthew gave them, rapidly becoming invested in learning more, as much out of curiosity as the desire to save his friend. After successfully freeing Tom with his comrades, things were looking up for James; that is, until the Militia finally made its move. In this time of war its become far too easy for James to lose all vestiges of his former life. Even his relationship with Tom has become strained as of late due to moral differences between the two young men.

Misc: James' text color is Gold

Accepted

• Name: Heather Smythe
• Gender: Female
• Age: 16
• Appearance: A fake mean girl.◊ Though with the months spent cooped up in the safehouse, the roots of her hair have started to reassert a more natural brown.
• Personality: Heather is a person with strong ideals, grand ambitions and a nerd streak she tries poorly to keep hidden. What started out as a desire to be the school's popular alpha bitch has grown as her scope of the nature of the world has and now she sets her sights on the moral quandry of the gods: She hates the cruelty both the Light and Dark gods enact or at least encourage in their followers so clearly she must put a check on their power and influence. If that requires becoming a god herself? Well she knows she'll be one with a solid base of morals at least.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Generally fit.
  • Decent at taking photographs using her phone.
  • Thinks she can sing well.
  • Able to laugh off most things that would scare others.
• Magic Types: Heather's proven to be a little bit unable to form a belief structure that works for regular magic. She's by no means physically incapable and some of the basics are there, but she puts far more focus into her own unique (though she hopes teachable) branch of magic.
  • Unique Magic Type: Totemic Magic; the means by which a mundane object can act as a focus for one's magic, guided by the archetype (or usually, just a fictional character) related to that focus object. Heather invented this variety of magic in a moment of desperation and has been trying to push the boundaries of it and also teach the practice to others. Given the only requirement of Totemic Magic is a mundane object and knowledge of what it could be in reference to, it's a surprisingly versatile and easily hidden variety of magic.
• Backstory: 2016 has been a wild year so far. What started out as an attempt to get into the upper echelons of the school pecking order became a whirlwind adventure of learning that gods exist and are practically unilaterally terrible, discovering her own variety of magic, rescuing someone she legitimately never met before he was kidnapped and then the town got invaded. And then she spent several months cooped up in a safehouse. And that didn't do her any good mentally. She's thrilled to be out doing things again and intends to solve any problems she can, crush the power of these cults and militias and generally prove that humans can be good and kind and that being good and kind is enough to save the world.
• Misc:
  • Somewhere in Sandfield are the members of the Monroe High Mock United Nations and the League of Noble Detentioneers. While the former was a diverse and sometimes divisive group kept in line by the guidelines of the regular United Nations, the latter are a more ragtag bunch who do what is right even if that means breaking school rules in the process. Heather really wants to find the latter and teach them Totemic Magic so they don't fall into the trap of following a God for power.
  • Her laughter has been described as a 'hyena cackle'.
  • Oh yeah her only combat Totem at the start of this story has a mind and identity of its own, when invoked it physically takes Heather's place and when that ends Heather returns in the same state as she was before lacking any memory of what happened. Said Totem is also a dragon.

Edited by Pentigan on Jul 12th 2023 at 11:35:20 PM

Accepted

• Name: Rebecca "Becca" Weathers
• Gender: Female
• Age: 18
• Appearance: Becca wears clothing that covers just about every part of her body, consisting of a wool hat, winter coat, scarf, gloves, long pants, winter socks, and waterproof shoes. The only parts of her that she keeps visible shows that she has black brown hair, light blue eyes, and skin too pale to be natural.
• Personality: Becca is incredibly determined, and once she sets her sights on a goal, she won't stop until she achieves it. Unfortunately, she's also something of a perfectionist, meaning she'll go through incredible lengths to meet her high standards, even to her detriment. However, this also makes her incredibly self-assured about her own skills. While she won't be goaded into an obviously one-sided fight, she can be blindsided after underestimating those closer in power to her. Becca is also a bit of a loner, being incredibly reluctant to accept help from others, though she'll do it when she truely can't handle a situation by herself.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Swordfighting: Becca has learned non-magical combat to fight with, though she uses magic to summon her blade to her hands.
  • Weathers Tome: A book of magic that the Weathers family has passed down through generations, containing various spells and information on the magical world. Becca has learned all she knows through this book, and has marked certain pages she looks at often.
  • Mana Charms: Becca's near constant magic use means her own mana isn't enough to sustain her. As such, in order to function properly she's acquired charms that give her a boost of magical energy when she needs it.
• Magic Types:
  • Ice magic: Becca has spent years studying ice magic. She can use it to create constructs, like swords and barriers, or can shoot it out and control it in flight. Her practice with it has also affected her other magic powers, such as her defense enhancement spells taking the form of layers of ice forming on her body.
  • Weather magic: Becca can control the temperature around her, making it much cooler. This helps her make larger and longer lasting ice constructs, and as such she makes the air around her cooler practically non-stop, though this is also due to health reasons she refuses to go into details of.

• Unique Magic Type: Tome Connection. Becca has a magic bond with her family's tome, the Weathers Tome. This allows her to summon it to her hand at any time, and if she needs to find a spell quickly, she just needs to ask for it, and the book will open itself to the required page, provided it exists.
• Backstory:
  • Becca's family is a long line of magic users, with each Weathers' child learning magic from the Weathers Tome and passing it down to their children. Unfortunately, the Weathers would use this magic purely for their own selfish benefit, and while the entire family wasn't one known for aims beyond making their lives as easy as possible, Becca's parents would instill in her the idea to never have to rely on another for help.

  • Beginning her magic training at age 10, Becca was an eager student, never trying to skip lessons and always finding workarounds whenever something got in the way of her training. However, her perfectionist tendencies meant that said obstacles included her own limits, and the workarounds she took proved to be detrimental for her in the long run, with her parents providing less assistance as she got older. The true extent of the cost is something she refuses to tell anyone outside her family, but her usual attire is to cover it up, and she now must use spells daily to keep herself from getting too warm and to simply move around.

  • Becca ended up in Sandfield simply due to it having the closest store she could purchase a charm she needed, with her home being northern California. Unfortunately for her, she came at the worst possible time, and got trapped inside when the Green Wall got set up. Now, she's been hiding out on her own, fighting off Gibbs's militia whenever she encounters them, unconcerned with whether they survive or not.
• Misc:
  • Becca's greatest fear is losing her powers, due to believing that not using it at this stage could kill her.
  • Becca has an incredibly dull sense of touch and pain. This can both help and hinder her, as in particular she has to give herself an examination for injuries after every fight she gets in.

Accepted!