Māchina ex Deō [Open-- PM for details]

Well, either you start this off soon, and you've got roughly two weeks of me (I know ! Lucky you !) or I only jump in later, and if then only if my muse deigns to gallivant about in my head.

Name: Liam Fry

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Appearance: Liam stands at about 5’6”, and has a medium sized build, neither scrawny nor built. From his years living in the Turokai Desert, Liam’s skin is rather weathered and well-tanned, which offers a stark contrast to his bright green eyes. His hair is a light brown color for all the sun exposure, and is usually kept at a medium, although untidy, length. His clothes usually consist of pieces of whatever he can find, usually brows and greys with numerous patches, pockets, and straps. Liam also has a pair of goggles to protect from the bright sun.

Origin: Liam was born into a semi-large band of Scavengers, about 200 in all. Like all Scavengers they roam Tuokai and the ruins of Valkyria in large caravans, only going to settlements to trade for water, supplies.

Profession: Liam is a scavenger, but he also tries to find a bit of work as a tracker and guide when his band stops in towns.

Bio/History: Liam had an objectively hard childhood. He wasn’t really allowed to enjoy it much, because his parents and the entire band for that matter needed another body to help with the caravan and scavenging. By the time he was five, he was already expected to be relatively grown up, and he was even expected to go out and scavenge, although at least he had to go with an older member of the band. This led him to get a tiny bit crazy. He quickly found that danger excited him, so when he first was allowed to go by himself he started to take unnecessary risks while in the ruins. This was a sure way to get himself killed, but Liam always managed to get away relatively unharmed. He just had a kind of luck with it, although that didn’t prevent all injuries. Over his years of scavenging, Liam ended up breaking many bones, and was even shot once, but since then he has found ways to get the excitement of adventure in slightly safer ways. He had always tried to provide different services to people in towns when his band made a stop, mainly ending up tracking for someone, but Liam eventually thought of something much better.

Around the time he was 19, Liam thought up a rather interesting idea. He decided it would be an interesting adventure if he offered to guide people into the ruins of Valkyria with promises of riches and essence crystals. His little “business” caught on rather quickly, and Liam began guiding people into the ruins on a regular basis. It still gave him an adventurous outlet, while not sending him on a road straight to his grave. He actually became quite a good guide rather fast, and the injuries his clients sustained went down significantly. Unfortunately, many members of his band started to complain that the people Liam was taking into the ruins were taking away important scraps from real scavengers, so Liam was eventually forced to change up the way he guided or face potentially being kicked out of his band. So, regrettably, Liam went back to the drawing board of how he guided people.

Liam eventually settled on guiding people into rather swept over sections of the ruins, beginning to publish the adventure side rather than the riches. It decreased the amount of people who were interested, but Liam was still able to continue running the business and get his thrills in the ruins. From there, Liam began to try something that was actually quite risky. He started to explore some of the underground levels of the ruins, never digging too far for fear of demons and a lack of real digging technology, but his personal treks into the lower sections were rather exciting, and rather profitable. He actually ended up finding quite a few interesting scraps and even two complete machines. Liam always needed something slightly more, though. The tours and the trips to the lower sections of Valkyria were exciting, but they were beginning to become slightly mundane, so Liam decided to spend a bit of time in a moderately sized town to see if he could hear of anything more exciting. That was where he first heard about the Council’s little hunting project.

Liam had always considered demon hunters as a little bit dumb. Sure, he enjoyed danger, but fighting demons with normal technology was a bit dense, in his opinion. This, however, sounded much different. The hunting groups would be supplied with University tech. They would actually have more than a slight chance of even killing a demon. Hell, they would probably be rather successful for there had always been rumors that University technology was the only thing that rivaled magic as a good way to kill demons. This entire idea was rather exciting to Liam, so without putting terribly much thought into it, Liam quickly searched for a way to get on one of the hunting teams, and once the opportunity to join a team presented itself, he jumped for the opportunity.

Personality: Liam had to grow up awfully fast, so often times he likes to act quite immature and childish. Some just call it quirky, but he uses it as a way to cope with his accelerated childhood. Outside of that, Liam is quite the risk taker, as defined by his history. He enjoys the thrill even if what he’s doing could get him killed. Also, when he chooses to, Liam can be a rather charming guy, although he doesn’t feel the need to turn on the charm very often.

Skills: Liam could be considered rather good at finding things, due to his background as a scavenger and a tracker. He is also very, very familiar with a good bit of Turokai and the ruins of Valkyria, and he can also make small repairs on technology that came from Valkyria or the Council. As for combat, no one could say that Liam is particularly talented in the field, but he learned quite a bit about essence based firearms when he discovered it was necessary to use them to protect his band. He's pretty adequate in a firefight, but up close he can't really do much. He's been in several fist fights, but nothing really very serious.

Equipment: Liam has a habit of carrying basically everything he needs for any situation. Currently he has water, a compass, a clock about 3 inches in diameter, extra food, a blanket, a few coins from various settlements as well as several scraps of machinery in his various pockets. He also has a pieced together essence based weapon. It’s basically just a small pistol. Not the greatest essence weapon out there, but it does the job, and Liam likes it much better than conventional weapons. One other thing he currently has in his possession is a small essence crystal. It’s effectively useless, and Liam doesn’t like the idea of using magic, but it was the first actually valuable thing he found in the ruins of Valkyria and he keeps it as a memento.

I've been out of town for a few days, so I haven't really been thinking about this; however, I'm going to start developing the character I have in mind over the next few days.

I'm going to be gone this weekend, but I'm taking along my laptop. My character will definitely be done by Monday night (though probably a good deal sooner. He's almost finished already).

Finally got it done. Huzzah!

Name: Alfred Doyzen
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Black hair, pale skin, 6'1" with a fairly thin build.

Origin: He was born to a Professor Ezekiel Doyzen, on External Research Duty at the time, and an Entrencher woman in a compound known as The Pit. It earned it's name from when the founders dug into the mountain some twenty years prior and hollowed out the chambers that the citizens inhabited, only to discover a massive pit in the middle of the mountain. Later exploration revealed it to simply be a massive cavern, but the name stuck and the settlement became known as The Pit. When Alfred lived there, it had a population of a hundred people or so-- not small, but it wasn't anywhere near Opala's level at the time.

Profession: He's a wanderer. Most recently, however, he was employed as a Sanguine Legionnaire-- a personal assistant to the Fleshless Goddess. The Grim Lady (more often Maria than Ul'Ghahet) occasionally requires the aid of the living for various missions that neither her acolytes nor her armies can cope with-- be it diplomacy, administration, or simply the elimination of a target that has prepared itself for an undead assault. Attending to these is the duty of the Sanguine Legionnaires-- soldiers which have proven their loyalty to the Grim Lady and her goals.

Bio/History:
When Alfred was in his 8th year, The Pit underwent a massive famine. Many blamed the Legion of the Fleshless Goddess, which had just started operations in the area. Just before his 8th birthday, a shipment of food arrived at the gates of The Pit, escorted by soldiers of the Legion. They offered the food to the people of The Pit in exchange for their unconditional surrender-- promising in addition that the citizens of The Pit would be unharmed and be allowed to remain in their home. The only change they required was in leadership: The Pit would have to be held accountable to the will of the Fleshless Goddess.

The people of The Pit refused, and there was great suffering. Finally, after six more months had passed, the founders had all passed away and the remaining citizens-- all twelve of them-- voted Alfred's father into power. He accepted the Legion's offer, but his University contract prevented him from pledging loyalty to non-University powers without the University's express permission and was summarily expelled from The Pit, leaving Alfred in the care of his mother with only a handful of keepsakes to remember him by.

To the young Alfred, The Legion seemed to be heroes-- glorious warriors of light that the old regime had been unable to embrace due to backwards thinking. He trained incessently in hopes of catching the eye of the administrator that had been assigned to surpervise the revitalization of The Pit-- a Sanguine Legionnaire by the name of Edward Cross. Cross was a grizzled warrior, hardened by decades of death and war, but he was also a generous soul-- a trait that made him suitable for an administrative postion in the first place. Under his leadership, The Pit gained a reputation of being both a humane and secure place to live, and those immigrants who were willing to accept the Fleshless Goddess in exchange for safety flocked to it.

When he was ten, Alfred's goal was achieved, and he caught the eye of Cross whilst fighting off a small demon incursion in the area. It wasn't his skill that garnered the attention, for Cross first spotted him just in time to rescue him from an imp's fireball, but rather it was in Alfred's persistance that Cross saw potential. Even as the battle turned against the small force, Alfred continued to reload and fire his small crossbow until it jammed, at which point he drew his sword and rushed the nearest demon with all the enthusiasm a ten-year-old can muster-- and all the skill as well. This was when Cross' sheild was required to save Alfred's life as he arrived on the scene with reinforcements. After the battle, he took Alfred under his wing-- training him in both combat (where he showed talent) and magic (where he... did not). At the age of 18, Alfred was deemed ready for duty by Cross, and a recommendation was sent to the Fleshless Goddess. He had become quite proficient at most forms of melee combat, an expert with most Essence firearms, and... a man capable of making most Essence Crystals explode from even the slightest attempt at magic. Despite his magical shortcoming, the Grim Lady accepted Cross' recommendation and gave Alfred a test to see his skills for herself. He was told to lead a team of Revenants-- skeletal soldiers of considerable experience-- in the destruction of a demon-worshipping cult that had been proving troublesome for her plans.

He destroyed the cult with ruthless precision, but couldn't bring himself to kill those who didn't fight back-- he saw the families cowering in their rooms, and was reminded of his own people and how they had accepted any power over them just so long as they were safe. When he reported back to the Fleshless Goddess, she explained to him that he had made the correct choice: Neither Maria nor Ul'Ghahet endorse pointless slaughter. Maria is human, and the action repulses her; Ul'Ghahet is a demon, and the prospect of wasted food enrages it. Alfred, who had feared that his refusal to kill the Grim Lady's enemies would mean he failed his mission, was greatly relieved to hear this, and stepped happily into his new life as a Sanguine Legionnaire.

In his eight years of service, Alfred saw much of the world, and desired to see much more. This desire burned and grew within him until it consumed him-- he wanted to see beyond the Khara Wastelands, to see new places and meet new people. The Grim Lady sensed this within him, and called him to her, telling him that his contract with her was null until he had sated this wanderlust. She told him that the path he was destined to walk would lead him against many powerful enemies, perhaps even those he once called friends. She told him that he should feel no guilt in fighting them, even if he was to fight against her own Legions, for the actions he would participate in were important in the larger workings of the world. But most importantly, she gifted him with two of his father's old keepsakes that she had personally modified enchanted for his journey. They have served him well in his two intervening years as a wanderer.

Personality:
Alfred is not a calm man, but not overly belligerant either. Put more simply-- he's fairly slow to anger under normal circumstances, but his "fuse" is considerably shortended under pressure, and hehas a few triggers that can take him from zero to murderous with surprising speed. These generally have to do with the low public support of the Legion: people slandering the Fleshless Goddess, general dislike of necromancy from those who do not understand it, etc. Basically, he gets ticked when people are narrow-minded with regards to the Legion and its operations.

Only one other major sore spot plagues him: he considers his inability to perform magic to be a massive flaw, and is extremely sensitive about it-- if he detects even a hint of a jibe regarding it, he's likely to become defensive and flustered very quickly, before those emotions give way to ire.

Alfred is, at heart, a jaded idealist (when he's not flipping out). His youthful dreams and whimsies have given way to a more mature grasp of reality, albeit a much more depressing one. He believes that humans are inherently corrupt-- this doesn't make them evil, it is simply the human condition and plans must be made with this fact in mind. He believes that the demons and the humans could theoretically be made to coexist, with only massive cultural differences interfering-- namely, the desire of humans to cling to life and desire of demons to devour it. He believes there are goals worth fighting for, but also believes none are worth dying for-- for in dying you sacrifice all further potential to fight for the goals you defend. Even the minions of the Fleshless Goddess cannot reclaim the full potential they had in life, nor are they as driven towards their goals as they were before.

Skills:
During his career as a Sanguine Legionnaire, he was often sent on solo missions to scout or sabotage. As a result, he is strongest striking as an assassin, able to quickly devastate enemy forces while they are still unaware of his presence, but even in open combat he is passible. He is quite skilled in the art of combat, specializing in ranged combat and guerrilla tactics-- although he can hold his own in a melee, if the need arises. His weakest point would be a straight fight where he has been forced into melee-- without the advantage of surprise, his close combat skills are rather lacking, and he can be quickly overwhelmed.

Fortunately, he is skilled at evading and escaping enemy detection, allowing him to apply his skills to greatest effect in most situations.

As far as machinery goes, he has a knack for it but has had no formal training, meaning that he can understand only the simplest devices.

He has a deep understanding of magic as an art, but not as a science. To him, magic is about gracefully sweeping bodies of energy and swirling masses of power-- not a matter of numbers and statistics and rules to follow. While his theoretical understanding of magic is incredibly thorough, he lacks ANY practical skill-- every attempt he has made to directly use an essence crystal has ended with the crystal overloading and exploading. As such, he can devise strategies of coping with enemy spells, and relay them to his allies-- although, most won't understand his instructions due to his fundamentally different perception of magic.

Equipment:
Haven-

Haven is a powerful essence-fueled shield, one of the items gifted to him by the Grim Lady. It carries a very large crystal in it's front, and can be activated to create a magic-denying field about six yards in diameter and lasting for about a 30 seconds. The crystal, however, will be entirely consumed in the process and is too large to be easily recreated using portable tools-- doing so takes Alfred the better part of a week. With the facilities of the University, he can replicate the crystal in a solid day's work, but even so they are too bulky and fragile to carry spares.

Reaver-

The Reaver is the other gift the Grim Lady gave to Alfred. It's a sword with an essence crystal in it's core, containing the spirit of one of the previous leaders of the Skeleton Chamber, an organization of magic users closely affiliated to the Legion. The spirit is of a woman named Priscilla Thrace, and can be released to advise and assist Alfred as needed-- however, the sword itself is useless for a short period before and after, as he must free the crystal from the metal casing that gives the sword it's cutting edge to do so-- requiring him to work several latches and recite a brief chant.

Aegis of the Legionnaire-
This is a cape of plain grey cloth that he typically wears to the side, covering his left arm and coming down to his ankles. When he requires the use of both hands, he simply brings his hand out of it and, with a sweeping motion, moves it to lie primarily on his back and shoulders. It is a symbol of his office as a Sanguine Legionnaire, and the cloak itself has no useful application other than recovering from almost any damage (given enough time) by using ambient magical energies to mend itself. It's clasp contains an essence crystal that provides power to teleport its bearer short distances-- about 10 yards cumulatively before he needs to fumble with the clasp and replace the crystal.

“Can any man become great without a soul?

No.

But no one says it has to be your own.”

-excerpt from the 23rd Journal of Lochter the Traitor, surviving pages.



Name:
Christopher Lorraent

Age:
27

Gender:
Male

Origin:
Chris was born on the evacuation fleet and grew up on the evacuation fleet. The son of senior council member, there was never really any question as to where his destiny lay. Bright and eager, his teachers knew he would go far, but they never suspected how far. He was enrolled at a fairly young age into the University, and quickly surprised all of his teachers with the tremendous rate at which he learned. Not satisfied with the slow pace that his peers learned at, Chris spent much of his time in the University library, pouring over research that should have been far above his head. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge, never forgetting a thing and able to nearly memorize a page of text at a glance.

By the time he was eighteen, he knew as much about his lectures as his teachers did, and delighted in letting them know it. By twenty, he had his own research grants, and began questioning some fundamental concepts of both crystal theory and the channeling of essence energy. Chris slowly began to become more and more unstable as essence addiction began to catch up with him, and his experiments slowly became more and more destructive. This led the Council to “volunteer” him for the task force before he destroyed something really vital. Chris agreed because he saw the potential for live demon subjects in the new initiative.

Profession:
Chris is a professional researcher, though the methods he uses are sometimes less than savory. Alternately, Chris would describe himself as a “Demonologist” or “Essence Thaumaturgist”.

Bio/History:
This diagram appears to place values on the abstract concepts of the human soul. The measurements in question are quite precise- down to the fourth decimal. One has to wonder what, in fact, Lochter was measuring, let alone measuring it with! The sheer number of calculations seems to suggest exhaustive research into a single individual, while the variation in values implies differences in reaction from this same individual. If only the research notes had not been discarded, we could still learn so much. Surely, however, something can still be gleaned from these materials, even if it is only a proof of concept.

An angry shout tore Chris from his notes on Lochter’s records. Glancing across the library, he saw professor Leary storming past endless rows of books, and furious expression written across his features. The man always seemed angry at Chris for some reason or another, and commonly talked of stomach pains. Curious how that had started after the University had put him in review of Chris’s experiments. Leary strode to the table Chris sat at and leaned forward on his palms, his face only inches from the young researcher’s. His knuckles, Chris couldn’t help but noticing, were white as he gripped the table, and shook with the intensity of his rage. Chris smiled pleasantly back at the man.

“Could you please try to keep your voice down? We are in a library.” Chris kept his voice to a conversational level, and looked up at the older Professor through his thick spectacles. Leary was a professor of Essence Mathematics that had the unique distinction of never having contributed a single iota of original thought to his field. He also had a particularly thick moustache, which Chris despised. The man didn’t even have a particularly firm grasp of some of the more complex theories that made up some of his more advanced classes. The man and his moustache might intimidate his students, but the effect was entirely wasted on Chris.

“What,” sputtered Leary, his voice tightly controlled “In the Hells do you think you’re doing?” The Professor’s glare would have been piercing if Chris had cared a single whit for the man’s opinions. As it was, the stare simply hit him like so much water and slid right off.

“Currently? I am looking at some of the more obscure of Lochter’s diagrams and attempting to decipher some of their meaning. I plan to take my research in new directions, mostly thanks to this illustration. I suppose I should apologize for my initiative in breaking new scientific ground?” That was personal for Leary. The man really just wasn’t all that bright, sadly. Chris wouldn’t have minded so much if the Council had set someone that actually mattered to watch over him.

Leary looked about ready to chew rivets.

“Not that, you little brat. I’m talking about-“ Leary carefully lowered his voice to an angry whisper. “I’m talking about your experiment yesterday. Or did you think the Council wouldn’t find out about this little episode?” He said that last with something almost like a grin. Chris was, of course, in trouble again.

What Chris had thought was that Leary wouldn’t have enough backbone to clue the council in and possibly have Madame Lorraent rake him over hot coals. Well, he supposed he had misjudged Leary after all. The man’s toadying nature had won out over his cowardice after all.

The experiment itself had gone off without a hitch, for once. Unexpected results that he was still pondering, but there had not been even a hint of Essence feedback or resonance interference. The subjects had performed their duties admirably and then been disposed of with care. What was the man griping about? Chris had never had a smoother experiment. Perhaps he might have broken a law or three, but just look at what he had accomplished! His mother always said you couldn’t argue with with results, and Chris had certainly gotten those. His hand unconsciously went to the necklace hidden under his shirt. It wasn’t as if he had torn another rift.

“Not only did you not submit a theory through proper channels, and test without proper supervision,” Leary hissed. That meant that he should have been there. Leary did like to take credit for other people’s work. “Not only that, but you used live human subjects to create something that can only be described as an Abomination!”

“Murderers.” Chris retorted. “Criminals. They were already scheduled for execution. You make it sound as if I simply took random people from their cabins. I was quite careful in the selection of subjects.”

“Live subjects.” Leary repeated. His moustache twitched. “And you breached almost a century of protocol. Again. There are proper channels for this kind of thing, Chris! The Council is not happy.”

Chris rolled his eyes.

The council always liked whatever he brought them, though they generally weren’t too happy with the way he had obtained any of his results. They loved new developments, however. This latestexperiment might have had a few casualties, but he had made something never before seen, a triumph of modern science. He had decided to call the thing the Angel’s Tear, and he wore it on a chain under his shirt. The black iron fist he had fabricated holding the perfect sphere dug into his flesh a little bit, but he liked the aesthetic of the thing.

Eight murderers bound into an essence crystal. He had been extraordinarily careful keeping demonic influence from the tear, placing the crystal catalysts directly in the chest cavities of his subjects. Then it had been a fairly simple matter allowing them to be consumed in the condensation process, and he had been fascinated by the results. There were still things he didn’t understand about the Tear, but for the most part, it acted like a fairly normal essence crystal. In tests, the wonderful ache of magic still pressed through his body and mind, begging to be used. True, human souls were quite a bit weaker than demonic counterparts, but they also didn’t try to influence or possess you. That was one of the major benefits. The other…

Human souls were of Terra, and couldn’t flee back to their own plane as the demons did. Demons just tended to free themselves after a while, but these could simply be used. And reused. They seemed to regenerate. After a time, the Tear seemed to work its way back to its full strength. While that was less than a normal essence crystal, it was just so much more consistent. And extremely desirable.

There were still tests to do, of course. The Tear was exceptional in a number of other ways, and the process was hardly ready for full production. Instead of the more common translucent blue of demonic crystals, the Angel’s Tear had become an opaque, blood red. And it seemed to press to be used for violence. The Tear practically jumped to do harm to the animals he had supplied for testing. That had been a leap of faith, a barely-supported test of some of Lochter’s more obscure writings. But still extremely promising.

Chris had no idea why the Tear might revel in the senseless violence it did. The only theory he had been able to supply is that it held some vestige of the murderers themselves. They had been tremendously brutal folk. Chris had been quite thorough about that. It was certainly odd that even bound, the Tear might retain some of that instinct. Without a better word, Chris had labeled the predilection for mayhem a Habit, but that hardly seemed like a final working term. More testing would be required, and he would have to bring that little fact to the attention of the Council.

For some reason, Leary was smiling now. Gloating, almost. “I have been instructed to inform you,” The professor said, evenly “That the Council has…volunteered you for duty with their new surface-based initiative. Your mother believes it may teach you some discipline, and perhaps make you work better with others. You are to report to barracks tomorrow morning at sunrise for outfitting and training. And with that, you’re finally out of my bloody hands. Have a nice life, Christopher.” Leary stood, rubbed his hands together, and walked calmly away.

For the first time in his life, Chris was speechless.

Military duty? On the surface? They couldn’t do this to him! His mother was a council member, she would fight this! But apparently, she hadn’t. This wasn’t a slap on the hand, this was practically a death sentence. Hadn’t he given them all he had to give? He’d supplied some of the most promising developments of the generation, and he was just getting warmed up! On the surface, there were savages and wild beasts and Demons! Demons!

Demons.

A smile slowly spread on Chris’s face. What would he risk to study a live demon, not just these useless essence stones? Would it be worth risking his life for that kind of data?

Of course it was.

Appearance:
Chris is a combination of what appears to be many mismatched parts. He seems a little uncomfortable in his own skin, even at 27, and never really grew out of the awkward adolescent phase. He is a klutz, constantly tripping and bumping into things, then staring very hard at anyone who laughs. Dark brown hair sits on top of his head in a constant state of disarray, and he very often pushed spectacles that are obscenely thick back up his nose.

Chris is just a little bit shorter than the average fleetsman, though he still somehow manages to radiate arrogance. He is also entirely incapable of growing facial hair, which he has tried on several different occasions. The best he can manage are patches of odd growth. His armor had to be fitted specially, as his shoulders were not quite wide enough for the standard uniform, and his dispersion vest gives him the illusion of being a twig wrapped in armored leather.

Ask him about Demons or essence crystals, though, and his face will take on a strange insensity. He is never more animated then when he is lecturing.

Personality:
Chris is something of a problem for the council to handle. While he is a brilliant mind, one of the best of the most recent generation to come from the University, he seems to lack many vestiges of common sense. His most famous experiment involved him putting holes in the heads of test subjects so that demons could be allowed inside and let back out with minimal damage to the host. It did not go well. The subject had to be put down before further damages to University facilities were sustained.

Simply put, Chris is a man of many ideas. They may be good ideas, they may be bad, but they are almost always nearly impossible to test. From the experiments where Chris tried to materialize demons (with some little success), to the experiments where he attempted to recreate the essence stone process with other objects (with a great amount more success), Chris’s career has been rife with catastrophic mess after mess.

The problem is, he’s really good at making messes. And he knows he’s good at it. His grasp of essence theory is second almost to none, and he makes his instruments mostly by hand. He won’t suffer people that he thinks are of lesser intellect than him, which is pretty much everybody.

Chris also has what some might call an unwise fascination with Lochter the Traitor. Not in public, of course, but he is certainly willing to admit a certain jealousy. The man not only revolutionized science, but brought forward an entirely new field of study, and then showed everyone just how little they actually knew by proving it to them. Directly. Of course, he was the cause of more than a few deaths, but blood is almost always the price of progress.

Skills:
Chris is a practitioner of several important arts, including the channeling of magical energies. As a mage, he generally uses different approach than many others, due to his laboratory background. Instead of spurts of fire or blasts of force, Chris prefers ribbons of void that cut more deeply than razors. He attributes this to laboratory tests in which he has had to separate ingredients without moving them or heating them. While the method is unorthodox, it does seem to be effective, and training personnel encouraged the ability rather than replacing it. It gives a certain edge in some situations. The void that he creates seems to sit just on the edge of something truly possible, shifting back and forth as it slices through a material. In this way, it is the material itself that does the cutting. It simply slides apart, after it loses the strength to hold itself together.

As to actual military matters, Chris is somewhat more limited. When he has access to time and laboratory equipment, most of what he dreams becomes a reality, but he is unaccustomed to the improvisation and compromise needed in the real world. At athletic activities, he is very slow in growing, and he is a very poor shot. Many in his training class considered themselves better soldiers, and resented Chris for the gap in skill.

Equipment:

Christopher Lorreant, inventory notes

Essence pen: Mainly used for notes, this is the result of my experiments nearly a decade ago. While the pen is entirely functional, the ink inside is composed of a solution with suspended essence solute, while the pen itself is gold leaf painted over carefully composed conductive material, allowing an essence charge to go directly through it. The result is a small amount of focusable essence energy in a fountain pen. Less useful then I might have wished, but certainly worth keeping around. As a class 7 essence item, the charge it holds is barely worth mentioning, but it is still more than nothing. As mentioned before, it is also a functional fountain pen, which may actually be more important. Kept with sketchbook. These notes were, in fact, written with this same ink.

Armored Vest This is standard issue to most guardsmen in the fleet. The principle behind the armor is simple: layered leather pads with metal plates under the breast serve to keep essence- powered projectiles and weapons from penetrating the armor. The leather itself is protection against most slower-moving archaic projectiles, and even most bladed weapons, while the armor is less layered in places that need bending, such as joints. It fails to protect the neck adequately, though I experimenting with materials that might mitigate this. It is stiff and uncomfortable for extended drills, and comes with the silliest-looking helmet I have ever seen. It is also impossible to wash, and always smells less than savory.

Shield Gauntlet: I discovered this artifact in the University vaults and took it out on loan before leaving. This item is mostly an extremely simple, fairly common make, with a class 2 essence crystal embedded in the back of the gauntlet. The gauntlet itself is a prototype, though still of the most common configuration now available. The crystal I have appropriated is fairly powerful, though not quite to the specifications of some of the class 1 crystals. The gauntlet is of a fine-woven lightweight mesh with copper guides extending up each finger, ending at the fingertips. The make is simple, but the principle behind the item is not. The crystal is attuned to create a shield which nullifies essence energy, usually at a 1:1 ratio of power, by drawing from the essence crystal. I have modified the prototype gauntlet to take advantage of the greater purity of crystal sample contained within it. Instead of nullification of energy, it now cancels and then creates an equal and opposite charge. This should be quite effective against small-arms fire, as projectiles fired reflect off of the shield. Unfortunately, this use of the crystal promises to be quite energy-intensive. I will have to look into redirection rather than nullification.

Angel’s Tear:While I was technically supposed to hand in this unique crystal for further study, I managed to convince the council that this object would benefit from field testing, and I was the most viable candidate. They were reluctant to agree, but I am probably the only person even close to understanding any of its intricacies. The Tear is mostly useless except for combat situations, where it seems to enjoy doing as much harm as it can as quickly as it can. Other than that, it seems to resist use. Recharge time on the Tear seems to be anywhere from 6 to 20 hours, based on amount of use. Aesthetically, I have had it placed in a molded black iron hand. As the Tear itself is roughly the size of a marble, it is perfectly wearable as a pendant. I am wary of over-testing the Tear. As it begins to reach the limits of its abilities, the outside veneer of red seems to crack, and it heats against my chest. I do not know if catastrophic failure is possible, but I would prefer that it did not happen to the prototype of this unique crystal.

Bolter Mk. III: This is the standard issue weapon in the fleet, though I’ve managed to increase the capabilities of it somewhat. The essence crystal inside of the firearm discharges in order to release a blast of magical energy into the target. Currently, I am a poor shot, though I am working at it. My current bolter had been modified to fire shots of the same void I have experimented with as a physical medium. While they seem to do little actual damage to objects, the penetrating power of the bolts is greatly increased by my modifications. Unfortunately, they seem to have little real stopping power, though they are quite effective at putting small holes through things.

You still have that bit about the soul being indestructible in the bio... >.<

Souls are perfectly destroyable. They are energy; energy can be consumed. Sure, a soul can heal with time, but it can still be completely consumed.

Mmmk, so, do we have anyone else who's still drawing up a CS? Or should I be going on an IC?

sooooooo... is there gonna be an IC, or what?

Yes, yes, I'm working on it. You can't rush art/science/me.

...Okay, fun times update. I've spent a fair amount of time the last few days working on the IC, and NOW my handy-dandy proofreader friend has pointed out a... well, I don't know how glaring it would be to anyone but me, but *I* find it a glaring consistency flaw between how things work in the opening I'd planned and how things work in the ending I planned. Which means the opening needs some fundamental restructuring, and I'm getting ready to go off to college so I can't guarantee I'll have time to be doing that quickly. Ideally, it'll be less work than I think and I'll have it wrapped up this weekend. Hypothetically, however... this could take much longer than I planned.

So, just trying to give you guys a heads up. Sorry about all this!

Gah... triple post, tsk tsk, I know. BUT, it's more efficient than a PM and doesn't really relate to the previous post, so, BAH!

The IC is up. You check it out HERE!

Yes, yes, It's pretty small, I know. But I wanted to start BEFORE the briefing rather than at the beginning of the briefing, and that kinda limits the amount of stuff I can write about without getting VERY boring.

Anyway-- no hurry on the first posts, just whenever you have time.

Count likes very much. Veeeeery much.

Will edit/repost as necessary to add my bio to the mix. Be patient with me, though, because if it's not done tonight it could take a very long time to do because of IRL troubles, and I won't actually be able to post for another week. That said, though, feel free to judge it on harsh standards or ask pesty or annoying questions.

Also this background is annoying for copypaste. Oh, website coding, you so silly.

I would like to join, but would also like to point out that settlements really only become settlements after people build buildings. If they get wrecked every couple months, there wouldn't be more than three or four buildings to be wrecked unless we are going with roof over a hole shanty like buildings. Also, on the same note, food production takes a year or two to get going so, I have few logical problems here.

I have a simple solution that 'villages' are groups of people growing food with maybe a blacksmith and a 'general' store that are small clusters of like 100-200 people in a couple square miles that are more terrorized then destroyed for food, like cattle pens? Then anything that's bigger than a food community gets wrecked. Also, it wouldn't be like they don't get destroyed occasionally but are too small to be bothered and too valuable for food to be actively vindicated against? This seems more like your original intention to me. I would like some clarification here, because it seems like a good story element for a couple years without getting into the whole entrencher theme.

The buildings themselves are mostly done with magic-- anyone with a crystal and an ounce of experience can raise some rudimentary stone walls and refine from there.

As far as food is concerned, I pictured two basic incomes:
1- Hunting/gathering: Probably the most common food source, especially if the settlement is relatively distant from other settlements. I don't think I really need to explain it. xD
2- "Reclaimed" fields: Due to the situation the world is in, cleared fields are highly valuable, and destroying them is striking a blow against civilization in general as opposed to just the targeted enemy. As such, most of the organized groups consider it a low blow to destroy the enemy's fields-- especially when leaving them intact means they'll have a new food supply once their enemy is eliminated. Hell, even the various demonic factions would rather not drive their new food source into extinction. Fields would still be destroyed on occasion, (by a rogue demon, crazed mage, or whatever else) but by and large, the fall of a settlement wouldn't necessarily mean the fall of any/all fields it worked. Any surviving settlements would be free to reclaim the fields.

On a related note, I believe I said that it wasn't uncommon for them to be destroyed in such a small timeframe, but I don't think I said that it was a huge majority. I can't seem to track down the paragraph I'm looking for, and I have a bit of a headache, so...

Mayhaps I'll find it later, but for now I'll just try and clarify. The bigger a settlement is, the less likely it is to be attacked by rogue forces, and the more likely it is to attract the attention of an organized opponent. So, the ideal settlement is in the sweet spot between the two-- large enough that an wandering demon doesn't decided to huff and puff and blow it to hell, but small enough that the various leaders don't see it as possessing any strategic value. Additionally, by aligning with one of the factions in the world, settlements can further increase their survivability. So, while I don't picture any settlements growing very large (other than those noted already), I think that a town with a leader who possessed the savvy to align themselves correctly and keep their populace safe could very well survive for some time-- it wouldn't be a cushy life, because whatever faction is protecting them is also probably taxing them to hell, but as long as they kept their heads down they'd be okay, I imagine.

Hopefully that helps clear up any misconceptions. If you want, you can PM me any progress you have on a character, and I can try and work him/her into the story. That's, of course, assuming that other people get their posts up before you finish your character sheet, which could easily be a misguided assumption. xD We'll see how things play out.

ON THAT NOTE: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS' POSTS?

Name: Markus Albright

Age: 26

Gender:Male

Appearance: Markus stands 6' tall with short mud brown hair shaven close with a knife. He has quite a few scars on his body, but only two on his face. A crude slash across his forehead gives him the appearance of continually having furrowed brows, and gash from his left temple to his cheek. His nose has obviously been repeatedly broken, and darkens his already dark gray eyes. He has remarkably a full set of bright white teeth, and roguish smile that is more of smirk due to a old injury from a dislocated jaw.

Origin: Son of a moderately famous and intelligently heroic hunter who died in a similar fashion, Markus has spent most of his formative years on the road or the nearest settlement to his father's death, a small settlement in the moderately close to a stronghold of the Grey Council. Considering it was a taxed heavily, it had an official name that no one remembered, and was simply called Mudhole.

Profession: Moderately well known jack of all trades. Last job was a tracking mission into Valkyria, which led him into contact and trying to develop a lucrative contract with the Fleet.

Bio/History: Markus was born the son of Alfred “Kr'athen-Slayer” Albright. Alfred was a fairly intelligent hunter driven to a rather insane addiction to vengeance after his own parent were slain by a rogue demon. Heading up a band of ten to twenty Hunters (depending on recruiting and survival of members), Alfred traveled quite a bit for money and blood/energy-lust against demons. Realizing his own limits was his greatest strength; ambushing minor demons in a significant group raised the success and survival rate to an almost unheard of level to hunters. Due to that notoriety, Alfred managed to spread his personality, such as it was, to many other hunters, especially the more naïve female ones. Markus is the inevitable result.

Alfred toted his young son into the field rather recklessly, leaving him to survive, or cower in fear in cover alone, while on assignments. Alfred managed to teach him several survival lessons from hunting and tracking game to hunting and killing minor demons with “overkill is underrated” methods. An encounter with a not so minor demon with a partner lead to an atypical result, Markus was the only one to survive. Alfred had managed to take down moderately powerful demon “Kr'athen” through a surprise and then relentless assault. Then another demon showed up and half-massacred the rest of the band. Showing a surprising stubbornness to give up, the remaining three men managed to almost kill the minor demon before mostly dying. One woman survived by managing to flee gallantly (she took Markus with her) and they ended up in Mudhole. At the tender age of 9, the two managed to find shelter with a local mechanic. One through hard, and mostly free, labor, and the woman by... other means.

By the age of 14, Markus was fed up with his mostly slave-like life. Lo and behold, a minor demon showed up to ravage the town. Markus considered this to be quite lucky as it gave him a chance to ransack the first victim's house, the mechanic, for back-pay and came up with some serviceable loot, including a few essence weapons. Recalling his father's tried and true method of backstabbing the demon while it slaughtering someone else, he managed the fairly heroic feat of getting lucky and wounding the thing enough to get away from the typical irritated demon reaction of trying to eat him. A few nearby Gray Council magicians managed to kill the demon. It was wrecking one of their more profitable tax bases. They made notice of Markus's bravery and took him along with the monthly taxes. No one objected as the mechanic was dead, and the woman who brought him there had left several years before.

Three years of training with them managed to round out his fairly broad education and inspire a great disliking of being under someone else's command. While he did not quite desert, he did run away right before they could induct him. No one came in persuit, as Markus was lucky again. Demon attacks were great methods for disappearing from view; command just assumed you were devoured or obliterated.

Generally adrift without having a purpose in life besides being his own boss, Markus discovered the joys of adventure, being hungry, cold, and no prospect of gaining money. Deciding that this was also not his destiny in life, he became a traveling handyman using his fairly extensive education. Odd jobs included hunting minor demons, “Over kill is your best friend, and money is mine,” repairing less complicated machines, “Part A cannot be Part B, but with some hammering it comes close though,” and other assorted missions, developed a fairly decent reputation for getting the job done if possible. If it wasn't possible, Markus politely pointed towards someone more suicidal or knowledgeable, depending on what the request was.

Personality: Markus actually lives up to his last name by being quite intelligent, if highly unmotivated. He dislikes being under strict authority, but is fairly easygoing if he isn't. He dislikes using magic unless necessary, as he believes the immense pleasure is some higher being's way of controlling him, but will use it as the opportunity necessitates. He is a loner and doesn't talk very much. Enjoys fighting and board games, both of which he is very good at.

Skills:

High Fighting Skills- Adept at using a bow and sword and shield. Decent ambush ability with magic. Highly skilled at reading opponents' level of power and taking appropriate actions.

Moderate Mechanical Skills- Can repair moderately complicated machines if given the necessary parts. Can maintain complex machines if necessary for short periods of time.

Moderate Survival Skills- Can survive on his own for a few weeks if necessary. Can track and hunt decently. Can make fairly high quality arrows.

Basic Magic Skills- Can construct simple, rather overly defensive and crude buildings. Can use a basic spell to deflect low level evocation magic. Can cast a decent fireball and lightning bolt but needs some preparation time. Adept at casting the magical equivalent of a flashbang grenade to run away.

Equipment:

Longsword- moderate quality with the ability to withstand basic enchantments.

Shield- moderate quality modified to maintain a constant basic enchantment.

Longbow- High quality recurve warbow, 200 pound pull, synthetic string
Arrows- 20 field point, 20 with small game point, 10 enchanted with various elements

Dagger- High quality and found in Valkyria, seems to have been heavily enchanted at one point but currently lacks the knowledge to reactivate, 9 inches long and serrated on the back edge.

Armor: Decent quality cuirass with mail arms and leather armor for legs. High quality leather boots with steel toes and heels.

Small field hatchet/pick and a small field shovel.

Multi-tool – High quality leatherman equivalent. Well maintained and looted from first foster father.

Pillow- Embroidered with fantastical creatures and is the only thing he has left from his original family, made by his mother. The Pillow contains his favorite board game- Go.

Grey Counsel Amulet- Preserved for just in case.
Grey Counsel Satchel- Durable and contains separate 'hidden' compartments for crystals and money.