Talents, A fantasy based RP.

*Ripped from another forum, where the RP suffered from neglect and lack of committed players*

Intro:

A courtier entered the courtroom of Romadon with great haste. The large marble halls echoed with each hurried foot step. The slender courtier did not have time to relish in the splendor of the crimson and gold hangings, nor the slick, polished armor of the Kings Own Guard. The solders nodded to the courtier, allowing him to approach the throne. He stopped in front of the aging King, Astron the Third, and knelt at his feet. "My Lord, it is as we feared. There is indeed a Shifter in our kingdom, as is the..." He stammered, "The Death Walker, as he is called. Your person is no longer safe."

The King stood abruptly, and scratched his gray beard. "Guards. Apprehend the courtier."

The solders obey without question, placing their halberds at the courtiers neck, though the courtier shot the King a look of surprise. "My Lord?"

"If there is indeed a Shifter in our kingdom, I can not trust anyone, not even you, courtier. Take him away until we can be sure of his identity." The King ordered.

One of the guards placed a hand on the courtiers shoulder, "I'm sorry sir, the King is right. That is, if he knew where the Shifter was... Unfortunately, he is already here."

The guard drug the blade across the courtiers throat, the thick blood spilling down his chest and onto the throne room floor. Several guards swarmed into the throne room to kill the intruder. However, two other people instantly appeared in the center of the room. One wore a gray cloak, and the other wore one deathly black. Before the second guard could react, the black figure placed his hand on the mans face. Instantly the guard screamed in pain, and fell backwards. He writhed on the floor, clutching at his helm. At last he pulled it off, and the other guards recoiled in terror. The mans head was slowly caving in on itself, black cracks of corruption littering his face and skull. At last, the man stopped screaming, though his body continued to collapse, until is was nothing more than empty armor, and charred ash.

"The Death Walker...." One of the men whispered.

The two cloaked figures fell among the remaining retainers like sheep among wolves. The man in gray seemed to blink in and out of existence, and close the gaps between his enemies in an instant. Then his wicked curved blade would end their lives. One of the guards extended his hand to shoot a column of light at the gray figure. It hit the man in the arm, and began to burn away his cloak. He shrieked and began to beat the the magical fire with his free hand, before disappearing. The Death Walker approached from behind, and traced his finger along the guards exposed neck. His life was ended shortly afterward.

Meanwhile, the one called the Shifter advanced on the King, who recoiled and fell back into the throne. Terror was plain on his face.
The Shifter smiled, "My dear King. While you have the Midas Touch, it appears you have nothing to defend yourself with.You can, only transmute plain rock into gold, correct? Well, we shall see."

The Shifter grabbed the Kings shoulders. Nothing happened. After a few seconds, the guard took several paces back and began to sob. The King smiled wickedly, and rose from the Throne. "I like this body. The one I currently had was beginning to get stale. Really now, could you not find better help? Oh well, I shall try to rule better in your place."

The guard, or more accurately King Astron looked up pleadingly "You can not do this! Give me back by body, my life!"

The King motioned to his two minions. The Blinker approached the Death Walker. Very carefully, they touched with gloved hands, and then disappeared. Once they were gone, the Shifter called out, "GUARDS!"

Several more armed men entered the throne room. "Guards, take away this assassin, throw him into the lowest dungeon, but keep him alive for sentencing."

King Aston watched in horror, as another man sat in his body, and stole his crown, his body, and his live.

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Explanation of what the hell just went on:

This world is very very loosely based on the Land of Zanth novels, by some guy I don't know. I never read the books, never looked at them, and never heard about them until about a year ago. The only thing I know, is that in Zanth, everyone is born with a Talent. The talent is instinctual, meaning as you grow, you know what you power is, how to use it, and it's limitations. You are only ever born with one talent, and once a talent is possessed by someone, no other person can have the same talent, ever.

The example used is this. There once was a man who could change the color of his urine. He is the only one with that talent, and no other person will ever have that talent again. It's a crappy talent to be sure, but it is unique.

The story is set to take place in a fantasy base world, between the two realms of Romadon, and Erodeon. The group is to meet in the Border city of Grayhaven, doing, whatever their character would normally do at the time. Alternatively, I would take characters wanting to be with the 'bad guys'.

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To give you a better idea of what TALENTS really are, as they are the basis of the world, and allow for the most creativity when creating you character.

In this world, talents are often used to denote your status in the world. Commoners can change the color of their pee, have eyes in the backs of their heads, and a useless array of other talents.

Great Kings and Rulers control fire, can turn people into animals by just a thought, and King Astron can turn any rock into pure gold.

All talents have limitations, and certain limitations can give room for similar talents, but not the same. For example. Astron can turn rocks into gold, but not people. A talent may exist where a man can turn people into gold, but nothing else. All talents have certain limitations like this.

Talents featured in the introduction are:

King Astron: (Explained)

Shifter: Is able to trade bodies with anyone else by touch.
-Limitation: He must keep the man he has switched places with alive, or die with him. Can not jump to a third body, without going back to his first one.

Death Walker: Kills with just a touch.
-Limitation: The contact must be made with bare skin to bare skin. (This is a very strong talent, used for story purposes.)

Blinker: Teleports himself and anything attached to him to another space instantly.
-Limitation: He must have line of sight to the area in question. (He used windows to get in and out of the throne room, he can still pass through objects). Naturally he can not teleport well in darkness, or in a closed room.

Guard: Creates a beam of light able to light flammable materials on fire.
-Limitation: It is difficult to sustain for long periods of time.

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Lastly:

Let me know if this world appeals to you. I will put the OOC up after I get a few, YES SIRS!

This kind of reminds me of a book series I read a few years ago. Very interesting.

Yeah, it is vaguely based on The Land of Zanth, or something novels. I never read the books myself, so I have no idea how similar it is.

Piers Anthony is the writer, and I think it's Xanth (pronounced zanth) - though I have not read them in a LONG time.

I am somewhat interested - I just don't know what to do for a character yet...

I'm intrigued, but I don't know for sure if I'd join... I do have a potential character idea, but I'll still have to think about it.

-What type of characters would people be playing? Would it just be common types, or anything you can think of?
-What would they be doing in that border town? Is there a reason for it that ties into the storyline...?

Aesalon - Okay, good to know for next time. I was told they were good books, but I never tried them out.

Lara - You can have whatever sort of talent you can think of, just remember to balance is so you're not Godmodding. The only limit is your own imagination.

And yes. The Shifter, posing as King Aston is waging war against the neighboring kingdom, and this town happens to be in the way. The town only serves as a location to get involved with the story. If you have another way to tie yourself in, then that's good also.

Just to clarify, the only real connection to the Anthony books here is the one 'talent' per person, right? I don't know if I am enough of a pun master to really write something based in the actual Xanth. (Though it might be fun to try...but I don't know if FOG is ready for something like that.)

Yes, the only relation, that is intend anyways, is the one talent per person.

*This is a self bump. I am a bad, bad person*

I just want to double check on the interest. If everyone here still wants to do the thing, I'll put up the OOC.

I'm extremely interested and I think you should put up an OOC

I'm still in, though a character idea hasn't jumped out at me yet, I'm sure it will come to me though.

Quickly Robin! To the Threadmoblie!

Duhnanananananananananana ROLEPLAY!

AND THE OOC IS UP!

Once I have a few profiles and I approve, the IC will go up, like clock work.

OOC THREAD!