The World In The Aftermath (Formerly A World Less Magical)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Voltron64 »

He's basically Tenchi Masaki and his grandpa rolled up into one character, I take it?

And has Ashuha ever have any interaction with the Lasters and/or the TSV Adventure, besides Captain Mystic?
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:27 pm He's basically Tenchi Masaki and his grandpa rolled up into one character, I take it?
With a bit of Starfox rolled in.
Voltron64 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:27 pm And has Ashuha ever have any interaction with the Lasters and/or the TSV Adventure, besides Captain Mystic?
Yes. :twisted:
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Voltron64 »

Davies wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:30 pm
Voltron64 wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:27 pm He's basically Tenchi Masaki and his grandpa rolled up into one character, I take it?
With a bit of Starfox rolled in.
So the Yusei are the Juraians combined with the Eternals? Well that definitely a point towards my Olympian offshoot prediction.
Davies wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:30 pm And has Ashuha ever have any interaction with the Lasters and/or the TSV Adventure, besides Captain Mystic?

Yes. :twisted:
Now all he and Logan Stormstrider have to do is meet each other and they'll be like two peas in a pod.

(Come to think of it, he probably knew Logan's late mentor Eflas as well as Yurusha Elaynu and the man who become the Grand Inquisitor.)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by MacynSnow »

I'm honestly more intrested in how the Senshai & their Uplifted faction would react to the man's A.I.Ship .....;)
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

The Uplifters would try to steal it, and be confused when the ship's personnel fight to defend Ashuha.

Anyway, next week we go back to the World More Sorcerous to meet the Princesses of the Universe.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Kazino Asaru, Lady Fuurin
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Generally speaking, the arrival of a new Ascendant at the gates of Pandiomon -- the great city that some call Heaven -- does not come as much of a surprise to any of the immortals there. While the Ascendants are not all-knowing, there is little that they do not see in the world which they are sworn to protect and guide, and so they are generally well aware of those who might earn their burden of glorious purpose. Even beyond the great deeds that every Ascendant accomplishes in order to become worthy of the mantle of immortality, every one of them has a patron who has been guiding those deeds -- and usually talking their candidate up as much as possible while doing so, basking in their reflected glory.

So when Kazino Asaru of the land of Teyangu, known to her followers as Lady Fuurin, considered the Incarnation of the Minister of Winds and Rain, arrived at those gates as the newest Initiate of the Sphere of Time, it was a double surprise. Not only had she no great deeds to her name, as her post as the Incarnation was a politically decided one, but no one had spoken of the possibility of her Ascension. And she herself was in no position to explain anything, as she initially believed that this entire episode was a somewhat confusing dream, and not until she found that she could not wake up did the reality of her situation dawn upon her.

Nothing in Asaru's life had prepared her for any of this. When her mother died only a few years after she was born, and her father remarried another woman with daughters of her own, she was sent to reside with the mountain priests of the Temple of Winds and Rain, as her father was not cruel enough to let his only daughter become a servant for his new family. Within the temple, she demonstrated a genuine gift for the wind magic that was their blessing, but proved to be a trial to her mentors in nearly every area. She was a poor student, a clumsy martial artist, and possessed of highly visible emotions instead of the serenity that she was expected to cultivate.

As she reached adulthood, Asaru's mentors began to despair. How were they to solve a problem like her? She was, despite everything, very popular within the temple for her kindness and sweet nature, but what sort of role could she be expected to play in their work? The notion of installing her as the new Incarnate began as a joke, but swiftly took on a life of its own. She would have only ceremonial duties that she could be coached into not fouling up, and largely be separated from anyone who might realize what an embarrassment she was. The former Incarnation was happy to retire and go get married, and so Asaru found herself installed in the role, as the current Lady Fuurin. Faintly bewildered by this development, she lay down that very night to sleep and found herself on the highway to Heaven.

It was soon discovered that Asaru did have a patron, but this discovery raised more questions than answers. She had apparently been granted Ascension by Celune, an Empyreal of the Sphere of Time who had been fascinated by the moon. But Celune had disappeared centuries earlier, with most having assumed that she merged with the substance of her home plane or been consumed by one of the Eaters of Worlds. She didn't respond to any attempts to communicate with her now, either. The Hierarch of the Sphere of Time, Khoronus, took charge of Asaru's education in Celune's place.

As the most senior -- by a few weeks, but that counts -- of the small group of Ascendants who have recently joined the struggles of the cosmos, and as the pupil of one of the Hierarchs, Asaru has found herself in the unenviable position of the group's leader. While this doesn't sit well with some of the other members of the group, Asaru has avoided making any serious errors in the few years since she began her vigil. She is probably closest to her fellow of the Time Sphere, Arkadiyye, who is also someone she knew when she was just a child, but she genuinely wants to be everyone's friend. How well she can balance being everyone's friend and being their boss remains to be seen.

So far, the majority of the group's assignments have seen them active in the Dragon Empire of Atelaine, frequently running into a very annoying rogue called Ezra Blake. So far, he hasn't yet figured out that the young women who keep crossing his path at odd intervals are Ascendants, which is good. Not so good is the fact that he doesn't take Asaru all that seriously, and keeps calling her 'Saru' -- "Monkey". The lack of respect, for an Incarnation (who is dodging her duties and letting one of her Servitors pose as her) and one of the Princesses of the Universe (whose existence he's not supposed to know about), is unbelievably frustrating, especially coming from someone who is not at all handsome or charming! And his stupid cat is even worse!

Meanwhile, Khoronus, as a time traveller from the far future of the World More Sorcerous, believes that most of the mysteries surrounding Asaru can be explained by her being the product of someone's manipulations of the timeline. As no one other than him is supposed to be manipulating the timeline, he intends to get to the bottom of this, and hopes that this isn't going to be another case where it turns out that he did it himself. Regardless, he suspects that at least a part of her strangeness comes from the fact that her mother came to this world from a land known as Japan ...

Kazino Asaru, Lady Fuurin -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR
1 | STA 3 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 5 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 4

Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Time), Standard Action - 15 points
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Wind Magic: Array (18 points)
  • Air Bubble: Sustained Immunity 4 (pressure, suffocation, vacuum), Affects Self and Others in Cloud Area, Dynamic - 2 points
  • Blinding Gust: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 9 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Impaired, Disabled, Unaware), Limited to Vision - 1 point
  • Lifting Winds: Move Object 9 - 18 points
  • Summoned Wind: Summon Air Creature 6, Independent - 1 point
  • Whispering Wind: Communication 4 (auditory, air), Subtle - 1 point.
  • Wind Burst: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 6 (Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 point
  • Wind Lash: Ranged Damage 9 - 1 point
Wind-Riding: Linked Flight 8 (500 MPH); Linked Sustained Protection 9, Impervious 6 - 31 points

Advantages:
Benefit (Incarnation), Connected, Equipment 4, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Language 3 (Akelo, Atelane, Koine, others [Teyango is native]), Ranged Attack 3, Ritualist.

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 10; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Infirmary, Isolated, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System - 15 points.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+8), Expertise: Magic 8 (+12), Expertise: Religion 8 (+9), Expertise: Society 8 (+9), Insight 8 (+12), Intimidation 5 (+9), Persuasion 7 (+11), Ranged Attack: Wind Magic 6 (+8), Perception 8 (+12), Treatment 5 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +3
Unarmed +5 (Close Damage 1)
Wind Lash +11 (Ranged Damage 9)
Blinding Gust +11 (Ranged Affliction 9, Resisted by Dodge)
Wind Burst -- (Ranged Burst Area Fortitude 6)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 7, Fortitude 6, Toughness 12/3, Will 12

Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 71 + Advantages 15 + Skills 34 + Defenses 18 = 184 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. A Bit Clumsy and A Bit of a Crybaby. Secret (immortality.) Vexing Person Who Is Not At All Cute (Ezra Blake.)

Air Creature -- PL 6

Abilities:
STR
1 | STA 2 | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 4 | INT 0 | AWE 3 | PRE 1

Powers:
Air Control: Array (16 points)
  • Wind Blast: Ranged Damage 8 - 16 points
  • Wind Binding: Ranged Affliction 8 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Strength; Hindered and Vulnerable, Immobile and Defenseless), Extra Condition, Limited Degree - 1 point
  • Wind Lift: Move Object 8 - 1 point
Elemental Constitution: Immunity 10 (life support) - 10 points
Gaseous Form: Flight 1 (10 MPH); Visual Concealment 4, Partial; Insubstantial 2, Permanent - 14 points

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Favored Environment (Flight), Improved Initiative

Skills:
Expertise: Planar 4 (+4), Ranged Combat: Air Control 2 (+4), Deception 2 (+3)

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +4 (Close Damage 1)
Wind Blast +4 (Ranged Damage 8)
Wind Binding +4 (Ranged Affliction 8, Resisted by Dodge)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 3, Toughness 4, Will 4

Totals:
Abilities 28 + Powers 44 + Advantages 3 + Skills 4 + Defenses 11 = 90 points
Last edited by Davies on Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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MacynSnow
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by MacynSnow »

Out of curiosity, what's Benefit(Incarnation) give?
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

It's her Status advantage; when she reveals herself as the Incarnation of the Minister of Winds and Rain, she'll receive the preferential treatment normally accorded a religious leader. (The downside is that she'll have to come up with a story explaining why she's wandering around outside of her cloister.)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Phosta
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Born in one of the many petty kingdoms of the Far North, Loran Phosta was unfortunate enough to be born a sorcerer in a time and place where it was taken for granted that any such individual had made dark pacts for their power. Knowing that she could not maintain the deception for very long, she ran away from home when she was sixteen, traveling south to lands that seemed more sane. She followed many paths in the years that followed, sometimes a sage, sometimes a soldier, but most often an adventuring mage, testing her power against opponents.

As she grew older, Phosta increasingly took comfort in her belief that her power, far from being the product of the Ruinous Powers, derived from the Sun Prince, who was born from light before there even was a dawn. Yet it seemed to her that there was more to the light of the sun than met the eye. Through experimentation and study, she discovered the existence of the sorts of light that would be dubbed 'infrared' and 'ultraviolet' by the scholars of another world, and strove to master these sorts of light as well.

After long years of study, she achieved her goals ... and collapsed, for her achievement really had taken everything she had, and death drew near. Yet she heard a voice urging her that this was far from all that she was meant to do, and Ascended as an Initiate of the Sphere of Power, finding herself on the road to Pandiomon, and running towards its gates with the enthusiasm (and, she was pleased to note, the body) of the young girl she hadn't been in quite some time, certain that she was about to meet with the Sun Prince.

Well, she did, eventually, but Phosta was rather startled to find out that he was not her patron. Instead, she had been guided, all her life it seemed, by Valerias, the Patron of Love and Romance -- two things that had she had never had any time for! When she babbled out her lack of understanding, Valerias had said something nonsensical about faith being the belief that all power can't be seen, and then something a bit more plausible about how all her life had been consumed by her love for her magic. Still bewildered, Phosta yielded to her patron's guidance and joined forces with the other Initiates who'd arrived around the same time as herself.

Out of all of them, Phosta is probably closest with Gebure, even though she thinks that they couldn't be more opposite. Their spheres are opposed, and where Phosta is a sorcerer who struggled to become a soldier, Gebure is a soldier who stumbled into sorcery. Yet the two of them work rather well together, much as their respective patrons do. Not just like them, though. While Phosta is coming to understand how much of her life was (in Valerias' opinion) wasted because she never sought romance, she's much more interested in finding an everlasting love instead of her Patron's constant hopping from relationship to relationship. Most of the time, at least.

Of all of the Princesses, Phosta is probably the most concerned about events on the continent, specifically those in Galantri, where she lived for much of her mortal life. She hopes that they'll be able to do something about the madness that has lately engulfed the land, and is consequently somewhat impatient to be done with their adventures in the the Dragon Empire. That Valerias, of all people, keeps urging her to be patient is almost more irony than she can stand. It doesn't help that her identity as one of the Ascendants has been exposed to a vampir who's also come here from Galantri, one Ethan Grimaldi, who seems to be interfering with her activities out of petty spite. That he apparently became a vampir through making dark pacts is just the cream of the jest.

Phosta -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR
2 | STA 3 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 5

Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Power), Standard Action - 15 points
Enchanted Breastplate: Impervious Protection 5; Removable (-2 points) - 8 points
"I Walk With the Light, and the Light With Me": Environment 1 (Bright Light) - 2 points
Light Magic: Array (21 points)
  • Blast of Light: Ranged Damage 10, Accurate - 21 points
  • Blast of Unseen Light: Ranged Damage 10, Subtle - 1 point
  • Blinding Burst: Perception Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to Vision - 1 point
  • Burst of Light: Ranged Burst Area Damage 7 - 1 point
  • Ghostbane Burst: Ranged Burst Area Damage 9, Affects Insubstantial 2, Limited to undead enemies - 1 point
  • Light of Healing: Ranged Energizing Healing 5 - 1 point
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Speed of Light: Enhanced Defenses 10 (Dodge 5, Parry 5); Flight 7 (250 MPH) - 24 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Attractive, Equipment 4, Fearless 2, Improved Initiative, Language 2 (Alven, Galantrian, Koine, Zwergen, [Dannic is native]), Power Attack, Ritualist, Taunt.

Equipment:
Staff (Strength-based Damage 2, Reach 1.)
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 10; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Gym, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System - 16 points.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7), Athletics 4 (+6), Close Combat: Staff 4 (+10), Deception 7 (+12), Expertise: Magic 6 (+11), Insight 4 (+6), Persuasion 4 (+9), Ranged Combat: Light Magic 5 (+8), Sleight of Hand 6 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 2)
Staff +10 (Close Damage 4, Reach 1)
Blast of Light +10 (Ranged Damage 10)
Blast of Unseen Light +8 (Ranged Damage 10)
Blinding Burst -- (Perception Area Afflction 10, Resisted by Dodge)
Burst of Light -- (Ranged Burst Area Damage 7)
Ghostbane Burst -- (Ranged Burst Area Damage 9)

Defense:
Dodge 12/7, Parry 11/6, Fortitude 4, Toughness 8/3, Will 10

Totals:
Abilities 52 + Powers 77 + Advantages 12 + Skills 22 + Defenses 13 = 176 points

Complications:
Upholding Good--Motivation. Easily Distracted by Romance. Nemesis (Ethan Grimaldi.) Patron (Valerias.) Secret (immortality.)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Gebure
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In her youth in Al'Aram, Nehi Maschif was told, by her old grandfather, that she was the last of a family whose roots stretched back to the time when the land had been ruled from the lost city of Umbar, and indeed been ruled by the founders of her family. She generally considered that this was the least likely of the claims that the old pervert made when he was in his cups, since everyone knew that the people of Umbar had had horns and hooves, as their descendants did, and were not to be trusted. Still, she strove to carry herself as the heir to something great, even though her family was only slightly less desperate than most within the Emirates, barely holding onto their lands.

As she grew older, Nehi found herself increasingly aware that the Emir and his court were increasingly squeezing not only the poor and the merchant classes, but also the lower orders of the aristocracy, such as her family, for all they were worth. If they had been using that wealth to spread the word of the Way of the Desert Rose, that dream of gardens in the desert sand, that would have been one thing, but they were largely expending it on their own luxuries. Angered at this, and remembering the legends her grandfather had told her, she determined that she had a duty to do something about it.

So she became a bandit, under the name Gebure ("severity") and soon found herself commanding a band of desperate folk. They robbed from the rich to feed the poor -- themselves among them -- and thwarted the schemes of those who sought personal advantage within the Emir's court. She obtained the enchanted scimitars which were and are her trademark during this time, and sought to master them. All the while, she feared that her small army were nothing more than a nuisance to the Emir.

Perhaps that's why, when a grand melee was proclaimed, where fighters from across the Emirates would come to compete to determine the finest among them, with the victor to be granted their heart's desire, Gebure decided to enter. Ostensibly, there was a truce on so that anyone, even a bandit, might take part in this competition, but she chose not to fall into that rather blatant trap. Instead, she disguised her scimitars and entered under her real name.

Pushing her skills to the utmost, Nehi found herself surviving encounter after encounter, but also found herself feeling weaker and weaker with each moment that the fight lasted. When it was over and she found herself the last woman standing, she was honestly stunned, then horrified as she realized that the healing that had been promised to those who took part was nowhere to be seen. Instead, those who had fought had been left to die of their wounds, their life essences stolen by the woman who had organized this atrocity, now revealed as some sort of serpent woman who was using them to empower a weird circle of fire.

There was no time for thought, no time for clever plans. Nehi flung herself into the circle of fire, using her scimitars to smash the ruby red gem within it, fully expecting to die but hoping that her life might save at least one of the others who'd fought in that battle. There was a roar of flame and the scream of the serpent woman ... and then Gebure found herself somewhere else, in the presence of a mighty figure who was looking down on her with a skeptical eye. He congratulated her on her victory, pyrrhic though it was, and on her Ascension as an Initiate of the Sphere of Matter, under the patronage of Tempus, Patron of Battle. "That's me," he added.

Dizzy at the notion that the deaths of all those people had been arranged so that one of them might possibly survive, thwart the scheme, and earn Ascension, Gebure nevertheless accepted her new situation. Being immortal was not the greatest change that she'd endured, for the flames had twisted her so that she was no longer a Helasian woman but rather of the Flamen people of the Dragon Empire, and blessed with their fiery sorcery. She has striven to master this talent, though she prefers to fight hand-to-hand whenever possible.

As an experienced war-leader, Gebure was disturbed and angered to be placed under the command of an untried and untested figurehead like Lady Fuujin. She was not shy about expressing this dissatisfaction, and finally the other Ascendant offered to give Gebure the chance to demonstrate that she could, in fact, do the job better. The result was almost a disaster -- while Gebure was a talented commander of soldiers, only one of the other Princesses had ever been a soldier, and their obedience to her commands was hesitant and often half-hearted. Further, she didn't know their capabilities as well as she thought she did, and found herself asking things that they weren't able to do. Lady Fuujin saved the operation by taking over and demonstrating a better understanding of their logistical and strategic situation than Gebure expected, but the mission was only a marginal success.

Since that time, Gebure has confined herself to muttering about the situation and making smart aleck comments, but only when they're not actually engaged in battle. In that situation, she uses her talents to conduct activities with complete deference to Lady Fuujin. There may come a day when she is ready to challenge her for leadership once again, but for now she's going to just wait and watch. She definitely doesn't like the other Ascendant. Not even a little bit. Anyone who thinks that is crazy. She definitely doesn't watch her at all times, especially not when she doesn't think the other woman is looking at her. Nope.

Regardless, she recently learned that the serpent woman who was involved in her ascension, despite failing on that occasion,recently managed to ascend as part of the Sphere of Entropy, and definitely wants revenge. As Gebure has a fairly strong desire to hold her old foe accountable for all those deaths (even if they were apparently part of her own patron's scheme, something she doesn't like to think about) having a nemesis is just fine by her ...

Gebure -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR
2 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 4 | FGT 6 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 1

Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Matter), Standard Action - 15 points
Enchanted Scimitars: Strength-based Damage 3, Accurate, Affects Insubstantial, Split Attack; Easily Removed (-2 points) - 4 points
Fire Magic: Array (18 points)
  • Flame Arrow: Ranged Damage 9 - 18 points
  • Flame Breath: Cone Area Damage 9 - 1 point
  • Flame Shapes: Ranged Shapeable Area Fire Damage 3, Concentration Duration, Selective - 1 point
Heat of the Moment: Enivronment 2 (intense heat, light) - 2 points
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Touched by No Lesser Flame: Immunity 11 (cold, fire effects) - 11 points
Wings of the Phoenix: Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2); Flight 6 (125 MPH) - 16 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Assessment, Benefit (ambidexterity), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Equipment 4, Improved Critical (scimitar), Inspire, Language 2 (Atelane, Koine, others [Helasian is native]), Leadership, Skill Mastery (Intimidation).

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 12; Features Combat Simulator, Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Gym, Isolated, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System - 18 points.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9), Athletics 5 (+7), Close Combat: Sword 4 (+10), Expertise: Military 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Fire Magic 7 (+11), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 8 (+9), Persuasion 5 (+6), Stealth 6 (+10)

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 2)
Scimitars +12 (Close Damage 5)
Flame Arrow +11 (Ranged Damage 9)
Flame Breath -- (Cone Area Damage 9)

Defense:
Dodge 10/8, Parry 12/10, Fortitude 4, Toughness 7/2, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 70 + Advantages 18 + Skills 29 + Defenses 16 = 179 points

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Nemesis (Lady Hiuchus.) Not-Relationship (she does not care about Lady Fuujin, got it?) Patron (Tempus.) Secret (immortality). Temper.
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Arkadiyye
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Though the island of Teyango was long a province of the Empire of Troas, the Troatians generally left it to itself, content to treat it as one of the breadbaskets of their empire and making no attempt to impose their own culture on the Teyanjin. Over the centuries, a handful of Troatians settled there, generally operating self-sustaining estates that lasted no more than a few generations before the descendants of the founders returned to their homeland for whatever reason. But that only addresses the humans of Troas, and they were not the only ones who investigated the land.

Arkadiyye (ar-KAY-dui-e) was born in the forests of Zrchev in the western parts of Troas some three hundred years ago. She will not argue with those who refer to her as a dryad, though she has never had anything to do with oak trees, and prefers the term ' napaead'. Despite human paranoia, she was not born from any romantic encounters that her mother might have had with males of their kind, but from a union between two napaeae whose roots intertwined. Hidden in the valley where she awoke for the first time, she did not see humans until she was well into her second century.

She was less than impressed by what she saw. By that point, the wood elves of Zrchev had stopped fighting human expansion into their homeland and started trying to gradually make an elf-like human culture of the immigrants. Most of the fey spirits at least passively accepted this program, and some supported it as best they could. Arkadiyye, young for one of her people, found it harder to do this, and her mother encouraged her to travel a bit and gain some perspective.

So she did, learning just how much worse things could get for the fey in other parts of the Empire, which regarded the wilderness as something to be feared, subdued and possibly destroyed. She was starting to hear the wisdom of her ancestors, but then her wandering ways brought her to the sea, and she heard its siren song, choosing not to go back but to keep traveling. And so she came to Teyango.

Here, the people treated their wilderness with greater respect than they did in the mainland, but with no less fear. Despite this, Arkadiyye felt a comforting presence here, especially among the cherry trees, and so decided to remain for a time. She even tried to communicate with the local humans, learning their language, but they regarded her as a spirit to be propitiated, not one with whom they could ever become comfortable. She slowly got used to the idea that she would always be viewed as a dangerous being, something to be feared.

And then a four year-old girl challenged that belief, when she and Arkadiyye met as the child wandered further into the forest outside her father's estate than she should have. Asaru seemed to regard her new friend as just a different kind of person than anyone she had met up until that point, and treated her with all the kindness that she expressed to everyone who did not annoy her. Arkadiyye did not have a heart, as such, but parts of her emotional landscape that had been cold and dreary grew warm and cheerful in Asaru's presence.

When at last they were separated, with Asaru packed off to live in a temple, Arkadiyye decided that the time had come to move on as well. Yet where she had been wandering aimlessly for so long, now she had a plan and purpose. She would become the immortal and transcendent being that people imagined her to be, and teach others the lessons that she had learned in the process. Where most of her comrades stumbled into Ascendance without really knowing what they were getting into, Arkadiyye pursued it with deliberation and forethought.

Like them, though, she was a bit surprised when she met her patron, whom she assumed would be one of the other fey who had won Ascendance in the past. In fact, Petra, one of the founders of the civic religion of Troas, had been a very human woman, and her followers had often fought against the fey as threats to humanity. But immortality had broadened her perspective, and she approved of Arkadiyye's ambitions and wished to support them. Arkadiyye is still not sure what to make of this, but welcomes Petra's aid and tries to serve her interests as best she can, while serving among the Princesses, among whom is her first and truest friend. She backs Lady Fuurin to the hilt, but isn't above teasing her leader for her more childish moments.

More troublingly, she has also acquired a nemesis, in the form of Baba Suten, a fiendish entity who claims to have been an oni in mortal life, and to have fought against the human invaders of Teyango in a time two thousand years in the past. That causes Arkadiyye a certain amount of moral discomfort, for she recognizes that situation as not unlike her own dissatisfaction with the human invasion of her homeland. But Baba Suten is a cruel and vicious being, and whatever similarities Arkadiyye might see, she will not let the oni's bloodstained path continue any longer than she has to.

Arkadiyye - PL 10

Abilities:
STR
9 | STA 4 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 6 | INT 0 | AWE 3 | PRE 1

Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Time), Standard Action - 15 points
Human Disguise: Morph 1 (human form) - 5 points
Plant Creature: Immunity 3 (need for sleep, starvation, suffocation); Impervious Protection 8, Noticeable; Regeneration 10; Visual Concealment 4, Limited to while in vegetation - 32 points
Plant Powers: Array (20 points)
  • Green Network: Remote Sensing 5 (all senses), Medium (plants) - 20 points
  • Pollen Cloud: Cloud Area Affliction 10 (Resisted by Fortitude; Fatigued, Exhuasted, Incapacitated) - 1 point
  • Root Transport: Teleport 10, Extended, Medium (plants) - 1 point
  • Tanglevines: Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile), Extra Condition, Limited to Two Degrees, Requires Ambient Plant-life - 1 point
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Speak For And With The Trees: Comprehend Plants 2; Senses 4 (postcognition), Limited to while in vegetation - 8 points

Advantages:
Daze (Intimidation), Equipment 4, Language 3 (Atelane, Koine, Nuhari, Teyango, others [Akelo is native]), Power Attack, Startle

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 10; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Habitat, Isolated, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System 2 - 18 points.

Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+10), Expertise: Nature 8 (+8), Intimidation 8 (+9), Perception 4 (+7).

Offense:
Initative +1
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 9)
Entanglement -- (Burst Area Affliction 10, Resisted by Dodge)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude 6, Toughness 12, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 85 + Advantages 14 + Skills 12 + Defenses 15 = 178 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Alien Perspective, Inhuman Appearance. Nemesis (Baba Suten.) Patron (Petra.) Secret (immortality).
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Rassa
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The dwarves of Felsenheim do not, as a general rule, like magic. (The blessings granted those among them who work for the sanctified priesthood of Kagyar are, of course, not magic, and it would be an unforgivable faux pas to refer to them in such a matter.) Those among them who develop sorcery typically end up outcast and exiled, and they don't even try to maintain any lore about the subject. Magic is for other peoples, not them.

Which is part of the reason that Rassafrassa Herrjim (usually just Rassa) was such an oddity in their culture. There are plenty of dwarves who are more interested in the theoretical rather than the practical, and during her initial education she seemed likely to become a great scholar. But she was fascinated by what little she was able to learn about the magic of the human, elves and even the gargun peoples, and wanted to know more. She believed that it could become a tool for the dwarven people which would enhance their lives in many ways. And all this was despite not having a drop of magical talent herself.

Eventually, she had to leave Felsenheim in order to continue her studies, but she will insist that she wasn't exiled, but left voluntarily. Rassa became an assistant to several human sorcerers, with a preference for those who engaged in adventures rather than solitary study. She learned much of what she wanted to know, but there was always more to be discovered. Eventually, her experiments in creating items that contained and channeled magical energy started to succeed more often than they failed, and she became known as a talented crafter.

While accompanying a group of human adventurers on a quest, Rassa discovered a horrific artifact that drained magical energy from the world, converting it into a strange form of sickening energy. Her friends all died from this emanation, and Rossa felt an unaccustomed anger. For the first time, she found herself working out how to destroy something instead of build it. She fully expected to die in the conflagration she unleashed, and was stunned when she found that she'd Ascended instead.

And doubly stunned to find out that her patron was Ithas! Ithas, the Great Trickster! Ithas, who stole fire from heaven! Ithas, who featured in every single cautionary story about the dangers of magic that Rassa had ever heard! She'd always dismissed those stories as nonsense, and now here she was meeting the source of them, and suddenly they made a lot more sense.Regardless, Rassa cheerfully lent her talents as a warrior and sage to the (somewhat bewilderingly named) Princesses of the Universe, and has helped them out of several jams with her inventions. (And has only gotten them into one with them once so far.)

If there's a major source of unhappiness in her life, other than the fact that she routinely has to do the bidding of a complete jerk, it's that she's in a rivalry with one of the other Immortals of the Sphere of Mind, one Skuravati, an Initiate who's probably going to be promoted to Temporal status soon. Skuravati is a sweet, kind, and gentle being, who has worked tirelessly in the defense of life and the living ... and she is also completely convinced that Rassa, and the approach she has to magic, will doom the world. And the fact that Rassa works for Ithas means that she can't quite dismiss the possibility that Skuravati is right about this ...

Rassa -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR
5 | STA 6 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 8 | INT 7 | AWE 4 | PRE 1

Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day); Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to planes of the Sphere of Mind), Standard Action - 15 points
Hammer of Smiting: Linked Strength-based Damage 3 and Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted by Fortitude; Vulnerable, Defenseless), Limited Degree, Accurate, Affects Insubstantial; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 10 points
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points
Seven-League Boots: Speed 12 (8000 MPH); Removable (-2 points) - 10 points
Superior Toughness: Immunity 2 (disease, poison); Impervious Protection 6 - 14 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Close Attack 2, Diehard, Equipment 4, Evasion, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Instant Up, Jack-of-all-Trades, Language 2 (Atelane, Dannic, Gargun, Koine, [Zwergen is native]), Move-by Action, Ultimate Effort (Toughness checks).

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 12; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Isolated, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System, Workshop - 17 points.

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+9), Close Combat: Hammer 2 (+10), Deception 7 (+8), Expertise: History 4 (+11), Expertise: Magic (INT-based) 5 (+12), Insight 8 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+9), Technology 6 (+13).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 5)
Hammer +12 (Close Damage 8 and Fortitude 8)

Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 8, Fortitude 8, Toughness 12, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 74 + Powers 50 + Advantages 20 + Skills 22 + Defenses 10 = 176 points

Complications:
Discovery--Motivation. Reputation (eccentric, possibly mad.) Patron (Ithas.) Rival (Skuravati.) Secret (immortality.)
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Ezra Blake
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Ezra
Image
Nekoshee (Art by beekakke.)

By rights, Ezra Blake have lived the life and one day died the death of an anonymous peasant in the dimly lit streets of Sunnswall, capital city of the Dragon Empire. He was born of ordinary human ancestry and without any sort of sorcery, and so started life with two strikes against him, then earned the third at fifteen when his father and mother's restaurant offended the Guild of Hospitality. The Guild expressed their displeasure by hiring a sorcerer to burn the building to the ground, who then threw in burning his parents in the street when they had the audacity to escape. Ezra only escaped the conflagration by virtue of visiting his grandmother, a housekeeper for one of the city's temples to the Minister of Winds and Rains.

Of course, his grandmother could not take him in, which left him no real option except to join one of Sunnswall's gangs and begin descending through the ranks of the underworld. He was a talented thief, but the anger he felt over the fate of his family often led him to take risks in order to do greater injury, whether material or physical, to members of the fifteen Guilds. This attracted more heat than most of his fellows wanted, and so Ezra found himself increasingly isolated even within the supposed family of crime.

And then, two years after his family's death, while engaged in what was supposed to a confidence game in which he posed as a witch in order to extort money from some noble half-wit, the strangeness began. What was supposed to happen was that he'd say some sort of mumbo jumbo and one of his partners would bring about the miraculous appearance of some sort of phantasmal creature (faked up, of course.) What did happen was that Ezra said the mumbo jumbo, felt a sudden heat in the middle of his head, and then saw, where the 'phantasmal creature' was supposed to appear, some sort of cat appear from nowhere -- then look around in abject confusion, then say, in oddly accented Atelane, "What in the world just happened?"

The cat, whose name was apparently Nekoshee, had somehow been called from one of the Upper Planes by whatever it was that Ezra had done, and was now bound to his service. He was less than enthused about this situation, and became even more unenthused as he found out that Ezra was not a good-hearted sorcerer, as most of those who called upon his services had been, but a rather callous rogue and ne'er-do-well. Since Ezra had no way of sending him back whence he'd come, Nekoshee thus found himself somewhat forced into a role as the young man's moral adviser, trying to steer him onto a better path.

It's actually working. Ezra has started to confine his depredations to those members of Sunnswall's society, whether guilded or not, who have committed serious offenses against others, rather than just those who annoy him. The downside is that he was glimpsed by a keen-eyed witness, who was able to describe him well to a sketch-artist employed by a rather clever thief-taker, and so now there's a bounty on his head and his face is well known. He's responded by going out in disguise, generally, and has also been taking more and more jobs outside of Sunnswall, where the lawmen aren't quite so well-organized.

Ezra's powers are as much of a mystery to him as they are to anyone else. Things just happen, generally to his benefit, but sometimes in a way that hinders him. He can't count on them, and so he's focused on training his skills as a thief and swordfighter rather than exploring the limits of this strange power. Understandably, the thought that he's some new type of sorcerer really disturbs him.

It's not that he hates sorcerers; that would be stupid. He's gotten a lot of help from those five sorceresses who keep showing up at odd moments, and quite enjoys their company. (Especially the one who calls herself Gebure; when he talked about how his family had ended, he thinks he saw her regarding him with, and wonders whether she might have gone through something similar.) Of course, they are all way, way, way out of his league, and so he doesn't have any sort of romantic ideas about them. Or at least Nekoshee keeps telling him not to get any sort of romantic ideas about them, and he tries to follow his cat's advice. Not all that well, sometimes.

Other than them and Nekoshee, Ezra's closest tie is still with his grandmother, now very elderly and semi-retired as a housekeeper. She has some idea about what he does for a living, and doesn't really approve, but also thinks that he's started to go back to being the sweet-natured child he was before her son and daughter-in-law died. The cat probably has something to do with it, though she doesn't know that Nekoshee is more than just a cat.

(Nekoshee, as it happens, has more or less figured out who these young ladies are, and is absolutely petrified at the thought that the Ascendants are showing this much interest in a simple mortal boy like Ezra. Which would suggest that he's not all that simple or possibly not all that mortal ...)

Ezra Blake -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR
3 | STA 3 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 6 | INT 3 |AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
HOW-DID-YOU-DO-THAT?: Variable 5, Uncontrolled - 30 points

Default:
Odd Coincidence: Perception Range Damage 8, Subtle - 25 points

Advantages:
Equipment 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Sidekick 24, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Sword (Strength-based Damage 3), Throwing Daggers (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1), Armor (Protection 3).

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7), Athletics 6 (+9), Close Combat: Sword 4 (+10), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Criminal 6 (+9), Expertise: Magic (INT-based) 4 (+7), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+9), Perception 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Throwing 4 (+8), Sleight of Hand 4 (+8), Stealth 6 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 3)
Sword +10 (Close Damage 6)
Throwing Daggers +8 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude 5, Toughness 6/3, Will 7.

Totals:
Abilities 60 + Powers 25 + Advantages 30 + Skills 27 + Defenses 15 = 157 points

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Family
(grandmother.) Sarcastic. Wanted Criminal.

Nekoshee -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR
-2 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 1 | FGT 5 | INT 2 | AWE 3 | PRE 2

Powers:
Claws and Teeth: Strength-based Damage 2 - 2 points
Exalted: Immunity 11 (aging, life support) - 11 points
Gaseous Form: Linked Flight 5 (60 MPH); Linked Insubstantial 3 - 25 points
"Not All Who Wander are Lost": Senses 1 (direction sense) - 1 point
Speak with Animals: Comprehend Animals 2 - 6 points
Tiny Size: Permanent Shrinking 8 (Dodge +4, Parry +4, Stealth +8, Strength -2, Speed -1); Speed 0 - 9 points

Advantages:
Acrobatic Feint, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Jack-of-all-Trades, Move-by Action, Set-up, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7), Close Combat: Claws and Teeth 3 (+8), Expertise: Magic 7 (+9), Insight 5 (+8), Perception 5 (+8), Stealth 3 (+15).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Claws & Teeth +8 (Close Damage 0)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 9, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/2, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 38 + Powers 54 + Advantages 8 + Skills 13 + Defenses 7 = 120 points

Complications:
Benevolence--Motivation. Friendship (Ezra.) Sarcastic.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
MacynSnow
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by MacynSnow »

This is a neat way of doing Tenchi Muyo crossed with Sailor Moon.....
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Actually, there's not much Tenchi in this. Ezra is partially derived from two of the main characters of Fairy Tail, with a bit from Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos and a bit of the protagonist of Persona 5, mixed with, yes, Sailor Moon's Tuxedo Mask ...

... and even as I'm typing this, I realize you might be talking about the similarities between Rassa and Washu! Unintentional on my part, she's based on a character from the Dragon Age franchise.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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