Talents: Fall of Erodeon

OOC is up, biatches! I hope it lives up to everyones standards.


IC Thread


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 guard 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.

---

The concept:

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.

---

Talents:

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 here 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.

---

Profile:

User name:
Character name:
Age:
Gender:
Description: (including weapons and clothes, no pics please, unless you did it yourself)
Personality:
History:

Talent:
Strength: (needs at least one)
Limitation: (needs at least one)

---

Rules:

1: Follow all FoG rules
2: Follow all my rules
3: No godmodding, ect. ect.
4: Be nice to others, no killing unless asked, ect. ect.
5. Be creative
6. Have fun
X. In case I have more, they'll go here.

Oh, and try to all start in or near the same town. I shall name it... Grayhaven. (Damn, names are hard sometimes.)

If you have a better idea, run with it. I can trust the people on this board to make things work.

Once I accept you, post a short - medium intro, and I shall progress the plot. If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve this RP, or some plot ideas, please shout me a PM.

This will be updated as the story progresses.

Places and People of Note:

Places:

Romadon:
- Romadon is the country in the eastern lands ruled by King Astron. He was a kind ruler, but has lately turned his mind to war. (I wonder why). The country consists of mostly farm land, and is some distance from the mountains of Teratriff, so they have little in the way or ore, or stone. Many river cut across the landscape, making this country rich and fertile. The rivers lead to the sea, which marks the end of Romadon's boarders.

-Romadon city: Resides in the country of the same name, and is the ruling seat of King Aston. It is the largest city for miles, and it's wall remain uncontested.

Erodeon:
-Also called the valley kingdom. Erodeon rests in a valley created by the Teratriff Mountains. They ring the land, eventually flattening out on the western side, opening up into a vast desert. The country is fertile enough, receiving plenty of irrigation from the mountain runoff. However since there are few natural lake, or river, irrigation is carefully managed, or else the soil will dry and turn to dust, much like the desert.

-Grayhaven: Resides in the kingdom of Erodeon, although just barely. They see themselves as mostly independent, and dignitaries rarely visit, so long as their taxes are paid. The city lays between two of the highest peaks, called The Snowy Brothers. The two mountains create a natural crevice, where the city was built. The formation provides shelter both to the harsh winds, as well as invading armies. Both to the east and west of the city are two narrow roads, which slope downwards, so any army will have a height disadvantage.


People:

King Aston: The rightful ruler of Romadon, though his body is currently being occupied by an unknown person. He is currently in prison in the City of Romadon.

Oh right! This! *derp derp derp*

Accepted. However, if you think that a vision may greatly affect the story, PM me the idea first. You may also receive PM's with *uncontrolled* visions.

That sounds fine. I will be looking forward to this role play. :3

I hope to has one or two more people. Though I suppose I could make it a 1v1...

But that would be less fun. Aes said he has interested, and I can always boot kick Inerio to join. She does what I say.

I will have one posted by Monday - I am starting to get an idea of what I want to do.

User name: Alphariusthemad
Character name: Michael Foster
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Description: Michael is a great lumbering bull of a man, wide-shouldered and heavily built at six foot four... not that this is an attractive look, you understand. He suffers from male pattern baldness, so he keeps his head and beard carefully shaved to hide it, though this still leaves a few shaving cuts most of the time; if you catch him before he's shaved, his nine o'clock shadow is blond, and the eyes a dull grey regardless of whether he's shaved or not. He has a few bumps and scrapes visible, too - nothing grotesque, but enough to show he's a veteran warrior. In terms of attire, he tends to wear black scale armour wherever he goes - it's expensive stuff, might as well use it all the time - over a padded shirt, with boring cloth trousers and stiff travelling boots to match. His hands tend towards having black gauntlets on and a knife at his belt, and somewhere on his person (not necessarily in battle-ready places) there's always a black open-face helmet, an unmarked black shield, and a large, heavy mace. Mercs don't make a whole lot of money by not being equipped after all.
Personality: Mike is boistrous, over-the-top, large, in charge, and bloody well knows it. People naturally fall in line when he starts barking orders, encouragement, insults, whatever it takes to get them motivated. It doesn't take much to get him angry, but he's also quick to forgive; it doesn't take much to get him into a girl (or a boy...) but he's also quick to abandon one conquest for the next, and makes no secret of the fact. He's frequently found drinking in any alcohol-giving establishment he can find, and indeed, if you hadn't talked to him privately there you wouldn't know he even had an indoor voice. He also exhibits masochistic tendencies, although we don't know whether those are inborn or a coping mechanism for the biggest drawback of his power.
History: Michael grew up in one of the farming villages near Greyhaven, son and probable successor of the blacksmith. He was always known as one of the bossier kids, and others fell into line for him, which helped his prospects rather a lot; surely the 'boy without a Talent' couldn't be all that useless if everyone naturally wanted to follow him. He was actually really happy when he got old enough for weapons training every Sunday, and soon became extremely proficient with what are now his favoured weapons, a mace and a shield. So proficient, in fact, that - bearing in mind he had a younger brother who actually wanted to slave away at a forge, and could take up the family hammer - Michael joined a mercenary company that was stopping by. Pity they weren't especially organised; but for the fact they took legitimate work only, you might have mistaken them for a bunch of brigands, what with the lack of uniform or heraldry and the reliance on personal magnetism and power rather than rank and discipline. It was in this environment that Mike served and grew and fought for the next twelve bloody years, while others joined and left at a whim (whether deserted or dead or simply too wounded to continue). The whole arrangement pretty much fell apart when the leader guy, Nick Chandler, was killed by a brigand's arrow while protecting the taxman's wagon; after sticking together long enough to win the battle, Chandler's men broke up, some striking out alone, some forming their own little bands. Michael came to lead the largest of these little bands... still only nine men plus himself, but a squad was better than nothing.

Talent: ...Call it crowd control.
Strength: As mentioned in the Personality section, when the chips are down, Michael can start barking orders and expect them to be followed; furthermore, no one who might be affected realises the sudden compulsion is supernatural, whether or not they resist it.
Limitation: First, he cannot use this ability to order anyone who knows and doesn't like him (e.g. an ex who's bitter that he didn't stick around) or anyone who is obviously hostile (e.g. enemy soldiers in the middle of battle). Second, it only works on people who hear him speak and understand what he is saying. Finally, about one or two people every few uses simply isn't affected (this proviso is only here so players don't need a good explanation for their characters to not be affected).

Username: Magix
Character Name: Scion
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Description: 5'9", 200 lbs (on the heavier side but theres muscle there aso). He dresses like the average person for the most part. Pretty casual,colors differ depending on his moods. He always wears a vest and his pants are usually cargo pants. He needs to have tons of pockets. He also wears black fingerless gloves all the time to hide scars on his hands. He carrys around throwing knives in his various pockets and two swords worn at the waist.
Personality: His personality ranges all around. At times he sadistic and homicidal, at other times he is the kindest person one could meet. It sometimes get's so bad people thought he may suffer from split personality disorder. How he acts with certain people depends on his mood and who the person is.
History: Scion grew up alone. His parents were highly respected (for their talents) and had so much wealth Scion's great great grandchildren wouldn't ever want for a cent. However they weren't exactly there for him. Alone he was able to train himself and hone his powers. Two months after his 17th birthday Scion's parents went to go meet an old friend but were tragically murdered. The cause of death was undetermined. Scion took his families wealth and left his hometown eventually finding himself in Grayhaven. He's been living there since.
Talent: Scion can manipulate the shadows.
Strength: Scion can do whatever he wishes with the shadows. He can turn them into weapons, solidify them and even manipulate the structure of his body to become the shadows. This allows him to fight and move into places that not even bugs can get to.
Limitation: At night or in the dark his powers are great. However in the light or during the day he is severely weaker and it sometimes even causes him pain and imobilizes him. If the light get's bright enough it could even kill him.


Mind If I join?

Alpharius and Magix, you are both unexpected, but very welcome editions to the group. I was afraid that there was only going to be three of us. I like the creativity of your powers, all of you. Once Aes puts his profile up, I'll put mine up, and we can get started.

-User name: Aesalon
-Character name: Hallas Ventronis
-Age: 22
-Gender: Male
-Description: 153 pounds, 6'1" - Hallas is a lanky and somewhat gawky young man. He has a prominent nose and a long angular face that tapers to a somewhat pointed chin. His hair is black and worn shoulder length, and always seems to be somewhat oily. Eyes are brown, though they almost appear golden in certain lights, giving him a hawklike appearance. Hallas wears soft leather armor, over his cream colored farm tunic and is never seen without his quarterstaff.
-Personality: Hallas is friendly and outgoing, and when needed will always attempt to diffuse explosive situations if that seems possible. He tends to look for humor in even the most dire circumstances, and is an almost annoying optimist.
-History: The Ventronis family has farmed the same land on the frontiers of Romadon for 8 generations. Over the years, Hallis began to feel that he was not meant to be a farmer and set out on his own, he has spent 2 years wandering the known world, selling his services as a caravan guard while trying to find the meaning of life.
-Talent: Hallas, well...he glows in the dark - a soft amber glow most of the time.
-Strength: Hallas can occasionally 'pump up' his talent to nearly blinding levels - this flash will blind anyone within 20 feet who does not shield thier eyes.
-Limitation: His power cannot turn off, making anything stealth related almost an impossibility.

I've decided that I won't need to put up a profile, now that I have 4 players. You're accepted Aes. Now I'm putting the IC thread up, and I'll post a intro-intro post. Once that's done, feel free to establish your character. There'll be some time before the shit hits the fan.

IC Thread

Heh, I didn't notice, but it looks like Scion and Hallas shouldn't be near each other in a fight...this could get tricky.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. This could be both tricky and interesing. That makes teamwork really important. I have a feeling Scion's screwed xD.

I think it'll be interesting.

Hmm... For some reason I'm having trouble starting in this one. I'll get it soon though.

As soon as Magix posts, I'll advance the plot a bit, then leave people to their own devices.

Magix, detail you missed while writing your post. Possibly it was my use of funetik aksent that caused you to miss it.

Mike never said he didn't think at all that they could win. His exact words were, in fact: "And I wouldn't be so sure that we canna pull a win outta this" meaning he DOES, in fact, think it's possible that Erodeon can win outright without any "evacuate and explodey time" tricks.

Whether he's correct is another matter, but he's probably planning to evacuate anyway as the backup plan.

Dammit...

Yeah the accent threw me for a loop lol

Gimme a few and I'll edit

There you go, all fixed up.

XD

I missed that too. :p

I'm wondering if i should move this along without The Literate Angel.

Unless she's reading this, in which case, she can post. :p

How big is Greyhaven? I thought I'd got a reasonable estimate of its resources, especially given plotwise 1) you have to ridiculously outnumber a castle's defenders to break in by force; 2) the city's probably meant to lose the fight.

I dunno if the city will win or lose the fight, it depends on your planning.

*evil DM grin*

Yeah, that's a pretty reasonable estimate. They're a medium sized town. You can expect around 500 hundred men there to defend the city, whether they are citizens or merc's called in. The Mercenaries are more likely to have useful powers. I'll give you a short list of those powers in the OOC when you get closer to the fight.

*Sigh*
It seems this is dead before it really even got good

I'm afraid it looks that way.