Writin' Stuff

[Krika]

So, any random short story things I write can go here.

This first one was a background I wrote for a character in a DnD campaign.

-Black. All around me was black. The blackness wasn't infinite, either. It was a box around me, holding me in. It felt like stone, hard to crack. Why was I in a box? What had happened? I'm not afraid to tell you that I panicked, and started beating on the top. I don't know what happened, but it shattered into pieces the size of my fist. One blow, I tell you, that was all. I wasn't bothered by this, at least not at the moment. In retrospect, twas very odd. A that moment, I had more important things to find. I carefully pulled myself out of it, looking around me suspiciously.

-There wasn't much there. Torches were in slots in the wall, throwing flickering shades against everything. The room wasn't small, but it was large enough to hold several more of the coffins, like what I had been imprisoned in. I examined the closest one to me. A shield was carved into the lid, with a dragon's head emblazoned on it. Above it was carved a name, Aerith. Name. Did mine have one? Who was I? Going over to the box I had broken out of, I reassembled parts of it, until the name was complete enough to read. Eden. I sat back and looked at it, willing memories to come back. Nothing happened. A different sort of panic set in, feeding off of my lack of memories. Why was this happening to me? What did I do to have this happen to me? Answers weren't coming.

-I looked at several other pieces of stone. These had words on them as well, but did not relate to my name. The other boxes didn't have them, but mine did? Why? What did they say? I frowned, and assembled them together, figuring out the order of lines and words. The result made even less sense.


+Death comes quick to the full of life,
+Till the end of the road draws nigh.
+Brilliant warrior, filled of light,
+Rest here, in the everlasting night.
+When called to serve again,
+Return, and bring to the darkness eternal bright.


-The implication of this was scary. This had been someone's...no, my tomb. Which meant that I had died. And then, somehow, come back. That was...extremely frightening. I looked at my hands. Despite the overall lack of light, I could see them just fine. They were colored ashen gray, like the stone around me. A strip of a lighter grey ran up them, starting at my hand, and traveling up my arms. My body was covered in designs, as if the lines were giant tattoos.

-I froze. I had heard something. I got up, and moved, silently, and turned around. There was a door there, which I had not noticed before. I moved toward it, carefully. I flattened myself against the edge of the door, and peered around the edge, barely moving my head. Why I was doing this, I didn't know. My body was behaving like this was natural, instinctive. Maybe it was, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was unnecessary, because nothing was there. I continued onward, not sure why. But this noise was the first thing I had heard that wasn't caused by me. And I wanted to know who had done this, and if they could help me.

-I found where the noises were coming from. That I am certain of. But past that, it all goes into a blur. I remember feeling energy, which felt good, empowering, but repulsed me, in a horrible, abhorrent way. I remember glowing, the lines on my body shining brilliant light. But what I remember above all else was the running. I don't even remember why I was running, or what I was running from, or where too, but run I did. And I remember knowing that if they caught me, I would die. Again. And so I ran.

-My memory picks back up again when I get outside. And yes, there was an outside. I don't remember exactly what I ran out of, I was too busy running away from it. Looking back would have slowed me down. Focus on what was ahead, that was the important thing. I had stopped glowing by this time, but I still ran. Eventually I ran out of energy, and collapsed. My last thought before I fainted was that I had better not be found.....

-The sun was shining merrily in my face when I awoke. It was mid-day, in the woods. I stretched, and looked around. I had no idea where I was, where I came from, or where to go. With that in mind, I walked on. The hills seemed familiar almost. My feet seemed to find a path of their own, and I followed it. The hills moved by, and I went on, watching the scenery pass by. It was truly beautiful, full of life, and brilliance. I admired it for some time, before I realized that I had stopped walking. I looked around. It was forest, nothing special. Why had I come here? I closed my eyes for a moment, and did my best to let instinct take over. On a hunch, I began to dig. Three holes later, I managed to find what I guess I was looking for. It was a box, with nice workmanship. Old, very old, but still serviceable. The lock crumbled on my touch. Curious, I opened it.

-Inside were many things. A set of clothes, which I put on. Several different weapons, each of which went in a spot on my belt, although the daggers were hidden in various places on my body. Boots, thigh, armpits, you get the idea. Most everything else went in the backpack. Rope, hooks, torches, sleeping mat, and many other things. Two of them caught my attention. One was a flute, carved from wood. My fingers wrapped around it, unconsciously moved to the holes. I blew into it, tried to play it, but got nowhere. My breath flew in, and out, making a hoarse whistling sound. I sighed, and placed in carefully in a pouch in the pack that was obviously built for it. The other object was much more distinctive. It was a scale, the size of my hand. Engraved on it was a wing, outstretched along the length of the scale. It had a small hole with a string running through it, like a necklace. I held it in my hand, and marveled at how well it fit. I continued to look it over, not because it was exceptional, but because it was the most familiar thing I had seen yet. My memory was ringing. I knew that his was important; perhaps nothing was as important as this was. After a long while, I reverently placed it around my neck, slung the pack on my back, and moved off.

-I hiked through the woods. There was the village nearby. They could help me. After a couple of hours, I topped a hill, and saw a town. A medium size town, not a small village. Why had I thought there was a village here? And how did I know there was even something here? I shrugged to myself. Just two more unanswered questions in my life. I started picking my way down the hill, making for the town. I didn't know much, but I knew that it would a good place to start.

-And that's my story. Happened about a month ago. I'd been sticking around the town, called Winterhaven, learning about life, living, and the surrounding area. Soon moved here, to Fallcrest. I needed to larger town, and the wiser sages that live here. Learned a couple of things. Firstly, the symbol that was on my grave was that of the god Bahamut. So whatever I was in my past life, I probably served him. I also learned about the Raven Queen. Reading a tome on her, I learned about creatures called revenants, undead that she creates from people who have unfinished business. Now, I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure that's what she did to me. Why? I have no idea. But I know that eventually, I'm going to have to go back to where I was born. It holds the answers to who I am, and what my duty is.
-So, that's my life. What's yours?

[Scarab]

I likeit, Krika. I am seeing potential here. Might you choose to endeavour in NanoWrimo with me?

[Krika]

Heh. The funny thing is that the module I was playing was one that I had already read all of (it's available for free online), so I had to be careful not to put spoilery information into here, on principle. I might try something like that later, I dunno. I also had the idea for a semi-post apocalyptic story in journal format, inspired by D&D to some extent, but we'll see if any of that actually goes anywhere.

[Krika]

Which isn't to say no, mind you, just that I don't think I would be able to support anywhere near that level of writing.

[Krika]

Triple Posting, but this time for a reason:

I'm involved in what is currently a three-writer shared project on Spacebattles (really anyone is free to write in it, but so far it's just been the three of us). It's found here, and the FFN version is found here. This is, of course, if anyone is interested it in, but I hope that it's at least somewhat entertaining. As it's a writing project of mine, it does go here, so just making note of it.

[JRPictures]

I've finally begun on a slow trip to writing the pilot to my tv show Film School.

So far it's working well I might preview it when I've done a bit more.

[Krika]

So, I was on a skype chat that I sit on, and for various reasons, came up with the following, which I wished to save.

Three hours later, Vortex staggered away from the Dizzy Angel, a pounding headache being the least of her worries. Many spirits knew that you just didn't challenge Dizzy monsters to drinking contests - some found out the hard way, as Vortex had. Fortunately, the Roids had accepted her explanation and the return of the parts she had stolen. Unfortunately, she still couldn't remember what she'd done with the Dark Scorpions, or why the Harpie clan was currently out for her blood, and the presence of what may have been a Lswarm corrupted piece of Vylon tech, while currently not the cause of any trouble, was worrying in it's implications. As was the Chaos Necromancer that was currently following her around, who was (badly) trying to whoo her with (bad) romantic lyrics, and wasn't listening to her attempts to tell it that she wasn't interested. She also vaguely remembered slapping a kangaroo spirit on the ass, but seeing as none currently lived on the island, she hadn't the faintest idea where or how that could have happened. Sighing, she shook his head and resolutely continued trying to find someone who she could talk to - better late than never, after all.

Just wanted to make sure that it didn't get lost, because I am rather proud of it for something that I just made up off the top of my head.

[Krika]

Plot bunnies didn't go away, so....here. Psuedo-script format, as I try to get the ideas down. I'm spinning this as a Power Rangers thing, because that's just how the ideas are best put (Also, I'm rewatching the History of Power Rangers by Linkara, which partially inspired this). I've got ideas for arcs that I might post later.

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Power Rangers Ancient Quest

Some archaeologist/researcher guy discovers the entrance to a set of ruins that he says weren't there before. Breaking in, he gapes in amazement. In the meantime, three figures are conversing in a dark room, when a fourth runs in, and tells them that "it" has begun healing.

Four mid-college age students (Martin, Samantha, Joseph, Hillary) are accepted into a job helping out at a museum, under the direction of Dr. Oswin (The guy from before, now decently aged), along with Arthur, Dr. Oswin's research assistant. While they are helping to rearrange an exhibit, they find that four metal bracelets (with an obsidian, crystal, gold, and silver stone embedded into them respectively) react to them, each on lighting up when they touch them (Martin has gold, Sam crystal, Joe obsidian, and Hillary silver). Arthur sees this happening, and reports this to Dr. Oswin, who gets excited that "they" are finally here. Meanwhile, the three dark figures also realize that "the keys" have been activated, and that they can final reconstruct their legacy. They send the fourth figure, named Raahksa, to retrieve them.

The next day, the four stay late to help out, and before they can leave witness Raahksa trying to break in, only to be stopped by some sort of force-field around the museum, while Oswin goes out to talk (while staying inside the field). Raahksa demands both "the keys" and their wielders, but Oswin refuses, and says that they can't get in, and he won't give the items to them. Raahksa warns that such items represent power that a mere human cannot hope to control, but Oswin retorts that this is his life's work, and he won't give it up so easily. Raahksa leaves, swearing that he will force Oswin to give them up.

Our four confront Oswin, and ask him what the conversation was about. He leads them down through a secret elevator shaft, into an ancient super-tech archival base. There he explains that long ago there existed an ancient civilization, but a great darkness attacked them. They destroyed the darkness, but at the cost of fracturing their civilization into pieces sealed into another dimension. However, the pieces are starting to return to this dimension. He stumbled into one of them in his youth, and made it his life's work to understand their technology (quoting Clarke's third law to describe it). He knows all this because said piece that he found (also the one they are standing in) was a central information source that he and Arthur have been translating and working to understand. They managed to track down a few other pieces, from which they have retrieved many other examples of the miraculous technology, including the barrier protecting the museum.

Dr. Oswin explains that Raahksa is a lesser creature of great darkness, the same great darkness that destroyed the ancient civilization. He and his masters also search for pieces of the ancient civilization, in order to try to find the means to bring their darkness back (also from the expository database). In the past, 5 ancient warriors used "Ancient Keys" in order to fight the great darkness, and defeat it. He found 4 of them, the same 4 rings that reacted to our four heroes' presence earlier. The Keys draw their power from a universal field of energy, and can be used by people with specific signatures in the field. Because their signatures match up with the signatures of the Keys, they can use them. He tells them that they must take up the Keys to prevent the great darkness from returning (he also gets excited about discovering the "new" technology of the old civilization).

Naturally, our heroes really don't want to have much to do with this. Hillary and Martin are both the most interested, but even they don't really see why they have to get involved, and go home. The next day, they witness Raahksa leading a group of minions (named Soldroids) in a terror attack, generally causing havoc and putting civilians in danger. Changing their minds about getting involved, the run to the museum, and inform Dr. Oswin about their changed decision. He has Arthur give them the Ancient Keys, which transform into Ancient Morphers when they put them on. They head out to fight, and do a semi-terrible job of it (Martin is the only one with prior martial arts experience, although Samantha puts parkour skills to good use). They decide they need to use their Keys.

"Ancient legends, begin anew!"

Martin morphs into the Gold Ancient Ranger, Sam the White Ancient Ranger, Joe the Black Ancient Ranger, and Hillary the Silver Ancient Ranger. They manage to defeat the Soldroids, and while Raahksa isn't worried, he retreats nonetheless, saying that his masters will need to adjust their plans if they are to achieve their goals. The four new Rangers return to Dr. Oswin, and agree to help him find the pieces of the ancient civilization before Raaksha's masters do, and to prevent them from completing their plans to bring back the great darkness.

-----

So, that's the "pilot". As I said, I have ideas for several plot arcs that I may write down, but like this, they'll be really rough, and not the greatest. One of the main weaknesses this has is that I really don't have anything specific down for the actual Rangers themselves - they are very much blank slates, which isn't the greatest considering that they are the main characters. Still, rough draft, mostly getting the plot bunnies out of my head. Comments appreciated.

[Krika]

A bit more, this time on the acquisition of the second-most iconic set of devices.

-----

Power Rangers: Ancient Quest

Dr. Oswin reports that with the activation of the Ancient Keys, the rate at which the pieces are being pulled back into this dimension has increased. He sends the four to what he thinks is the nearest site, where they also run into Raahksa and Soldroids, which they fight off while the piece enters this dimension. They eventually drive off their opponents, and use a device that Dr. Oswin gave them that synchronizes the piece with their base, connecting the two, and therefore giving them access to it while denying it to their enemies.

Raahksa reports back to his masters, who are pleased that their distraction was successful. One of them mentions that the Rangers have obtained a powerful weapon, but the other assures it that what they obtained at the same time was well-worth the risk. Cue ominous camera shot over a massive vault filled with pictures, statues, stasis tubes, cages, heavily-labeled boxes, and more. It is mentioned that the only downside is that they don't have the power to activate more than one at a time, and once they activate one, keeping it under control without unleashing it will be all but impossible. "Inelegant, but necessary" one calls it.

Dr. Oswin says that the piece appears to be a locked vault, and that it's related to their Ancient Morphers somehow. He adds a small nub onto their Morphers, saying that they can see if the Rangers can open the vault with their powers. However, they get a report of a strange monster attacking the city alongside Soldroids. They head out to face the monster, while Dr. Oswin sticks around to try and see if he can figure out more about what's in the locked vault. They face their opponents, and manage to defeat all of them with some amount of difficulty. However, as the monster falls, the three figures look on, and activate some sort of mechanism. The monster is engulfed in dark energy, and grows in size.

And grows in size. And continues to grow. And dear me, it's skyscraper sized now, that's downright huge. The Rangers are staring to panic now, when Dr. Oswin radios in (the Ancient Morphers have a radio function, yes), and tells them to activate the devices he attached to their Morphers. One of them protests that now isn't the time to experiment, but he says that if he's right, it's the only way to stop the monster (which has started wrecking the set in the meantime). They activate them, which unlocks the vault and unleashes massive machines called Zords - the Black Satyr Zord, the White Harpie Zord, the Gold Minotaur Zord, and the Silver Pegasus Zord. The rangers attempt to pilot the Zords against the monster, but while they can now fight back, the monster is still too strong. Dr. Oswin tells them to combine their Zords, and they do, to form the Ancient Legend Megazord, which summarily allows them to kick the monster's ass.

The go back to base and celebrate, Dr. Oswin is excited about the chance to study the Zords, the usual. The three figures are indifferent, mentioning how the Rangers mastered the Zords faster than they expected, but still within the expected parameters of their plans, and that this was only the first of many more battles to come.

-----

You may have noticed that I changed the name, for reasons. This I think finishes up the "intro" stuff, which means I can get more in-depth now, and less expository details (though some basic character descriptions and bios will probably come up next). As before comments are appreciated.

[Victin]

I'm surprised there's no Dragon or Unicorn Zord yet Though I'm pretty sure I once was going to get a Power Rangers toy for Christmas and had to choose two out of the Red Dragon Ranger, Yellow Thunderbird-or-whatever Ranger and Green Minotaur Ranger. I picked the first two.

[Krika]

Some character information, because I don't really know how to fit these into any sort of narrative structure. So. Character bios, as it were. And don't worry. I have something special planned for a Dragon Zord.

-----

Power Rangers: Ancient Quest

Dr. Oswin: Dr. Owsin is a very determined character. He has spent the greater portion of his life working to uncover the secrets of the ancient civilization and their advanced technology, wishing to use it to help humanity catapult themselves forward. Needless to say, with more new things being discovered every week than he used to find in a decade, he's in heaven. He dumps himself into his work, generally discovered either having fallen asleep at his work from sheer I-haven't-slept-in-three-days-and-my-body-shuts-down-involuntarily, or having been pulled away from the work by Arthur. He does care about the Rangers, and while he does get excited about trying out new technology, he generally tries to have them test it in situations other than battle (Rule of Drama gets in the way of this however). Overall, his character focus is on the technology and exploring the past to advance toward the future.

Arthur: If Dr. Oswin is the mad scientist, Arthur is his Igor. A graduate student who initially started working under Dr. Oswin to give him experience before working on his Master's in Archaeological Anthropology, he eventually adapted to the archaeologist's eccentricities and the material they study, which is downright strange at the best of times. He makes sure that Dr. Oswin doesn't get too wrapped up in his work, cleans up, collates information, and generally functions as a cross between a secretary, research assistant, butler, and errand boy. He sticks to the background, and generally doesn't intrude onto Dr. Owsin's functioning overmuch, or with the Rangers outside of what social activity they have. He's obviously fond of Dr. Oswin, otherwise he likely wouldn't put up with what he does. If asked, he says that he likes that Dr. Oswin has found something that he's happy doing, and that he'll support someone doing something that makes them happy. He does, however, have a knack for figuring out the ancient civilization's technology, and thus tends to be the one dealing with the actual implementation (such as repairing/upgrading the Zords), whereas Dr. Oswin tends toward figuring out the tech in the first place, or developing it in new directions.

Raahksa: Humanoid creature with backwards hands, cat eyes, cat tail, and fangs. The executor to the three, he tends to be the one that carries out the plans, and interacts with the Rangers the most. He is competent, but not to any particular extreme - if he feels that he can't win, then he will quit the field, using the minions and/or monster he has under his command to cover his retreat.

Rhobleed: A mostly featureless humanoid, but with eyes on tentacles coming out of his head. Cautious and calculating, he does the reconnaissance and information gathering of the three. His personal minions are Dottis, shape-shifting blobs that can extrude eye/ear-bearing tentacles to spy with. They are generally not seen much in combat unless they are discovered in the middle of their infiltration. Also, they can't actually talk.

Chartos: Insectoid, generally quadrupedal, with more limbs than you can shake a stick at, Chartos is the scientist of the three. By far the most amoral and ruthless of the three, he deals with whatever technology they get their appendages on, unlocking it's secrets and using it to upgrade their troops. His personal minions are Needelrods, large bugs that latch onto people's bodies, and take control of them, using them as puppets. They are not, however subtle, being something around a meter in length, and the control is not perfect and can be resisted to some degree.

Llegr: Large and humanoid, with 4 tentacles for arms and a bird-like head (no feathers or anything, but he has a beak and a bony frill that makes it very much resemble a bird). He's the combat arm of the three, overseeing the attacks they make, and planning anti-Ranger things. His personal minions are Kindrids, which look like a hairless cross between a gorilla and an [url=masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Elcor]Elcor[/url], covered in bony armor. He and the Kindrids are generally the second-most seen people the Rangers face, although if he takes to the field he can and will wipe the floor with them. He does do this much, though, since he's somewhat lazy.


On the subject of Ranger upgrades: The Rangers can use the ancient technology because of their signatures in the universal energy field (which they take to calling the Grid). Often the technology can be used by anyone, but some of the things that they find can only be used by people with certain vaguely-defined 'things' in their signature. Thus, some of the upgrades they find can only be used by one or another of the Rangers. The plan would be that they all get at least 1, hopefully 2 unique things, whether it be a new weapon/ability, or perhaps a Zord that can be used to upgrade their Megazord.

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Comments are nice, blah blah blah.

[Victin]

Raahksa: The executor of the three, he tends to be the one that carries out the plans, and interacts with the Rangers the most.

Rhobleed: Cautious and calculating, he does the reconnaissance and information gathering of the three.

Chartos: Insectoid, generally quadrupedal, with more limbs than you can shake a stick at, Chartos is the scientist of the three.

Llegr: He's the combat arm of the three, overseeing the attacks they make, and planning anti-Ranger things.

Sorry, but I needed to ask this: three? Don't you mean four?

[Krika]

Rhobleed, Chartos, and Llegr are the three, the sorta collective major villain. Raahksa is the minion, who is not in charge.

[Victin]

Rhobleed, Chartos, and Llegr are the three, the sorta collective major villain. Raahksa is the minion, who is not in charge.

Oh ok. Still you said three when refering to Raahksa.

[Krika]

Changed "of" to "to". That better?

[Victin]

Changed "of" to "to". That better?

[Krika]

Right so, this is probably going to end up as a really badly named thread, considering it's more of a creative dumping ground for me, though so far it's basically been writing. Though that changes now, because over on the TvTropes RP fora, I signed up for a Fate (as in TYPE-MOON) RP (Sicon, incidentally, this was why I was looking for you that one time), with someone who was for a long list of reasons that I will not go into was known to be an complete scumbag GMing it. I knew this, and signed up with expressly one reason: To try and get a character in that would require the sacrifice of another player to be defeated (mostly as a fuck-you to the sorta power-gaming that happens in in said RPs, given it's competitive background). This failed, but I'm hanging onto the character, which is why I'm posting it here, because I don't trust keeping it on my computer as much, as I could easily delete it on accident or something. Also, because I figure why not throw it here, I put in a hour or two of dedicated research to work this out properly, I should show it off a little, that's what this thread is for!

One more note: This was an AU verse that actually had 10 Servant classes - the normal 7, Ruler (which was for people whose legend put them on a level with gods), Beast (which was for legendary beasts such as Cerberus, self-explanatory), and Avenger (which unlike in canon was defined as "Servants are those who were hailed as a hero despite their wishes, sacrificed for a greater purpose, were betrayed or had betrayed someone in some manner or form, or were killed wrongly."

So, this is what I came up with, in the sign-up form, though reformatted for readability here.

• Class: Avenger
• Master: Whoever. Not picky.
• True Name: Cain
• Gender: Male
• Height/Weight: Short/Skinny
• Alignment: True Neutral
• Appearance: http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/033/7/8/mark_of_cain_by_nikitajuice-d5tkzho.jpg - Yo. (Generally wears a head-band or something to hid the Mark)
• Outfits: Sticks to modern clothes only - his era had basically minimal clothing, and being essentially naked isn't to his taste given the current customs. Thus, he wears a loose hoodie and pants, in grey and red.
• Personality: He is a Atoner, desiring only to find his his deserved punishment, which he feels has been denied him (and thus is more or less permanently grumpy). Over the years spent brooding over the one action that defined his life and his legend, he has come to the decision that he fully deserves anything and everything bad that's happened to him since (and possibly before). Thus, his main motivation is to put himself in harm's way to try and atone for his sin, although if he does manage to get his hands on the Grail, his desired wish is to experience the pain he deserves for his actions, for all eternity. Also, he absolutely hates anyone who has killed a family member, and isn't as broken up about it as him (which considering his attitude is basically anyone else).
• Stats:
  • Strength: C
  • Endurance: A+
  • Agility: C
  • Magical Energy: D
  • Luck: E
• Class Abilities:
  • Vindication (C): Grants scaling boosts with injuries, up to a cap when at the brink of death. Reduced in power due to his desire to find final rest.
• Personal Skills:
  • Farming (E-) (normally B): He farmed for a living, and has strong knowledge of basic farming techniques, however his Cursed Mark of Cain prevents him from actually using any of it, causing the low effective rank.
  • Architecture (B): One of the first recorded people to build cities, he has passable knowledge of basic architectural techniques.
  • Wanderer's Endurance (A): His time spent wandering, and surviving on his own has left Cain with the ability to keep on going when others would run out of energy. He can ignore the effects of exhaustion and fatigue.
• Noble Phantasms:
  • Cursed Mark of Cain (EX): As the first murderer, God marked Cain with this. It is located on his forehead, and anyone who sees him instantly identifies him as Cain, murderer of Abel (though nothing else)(It can be covered up, which prevents this from happening). In addition, all plant-life within 10 feet withers and dies. In addition to this, it is a promise of God's retribution to any who would return his crime in kind; Any pain inflicted to him is projected back onto the inflicter at a magnitute seven-times stronger than what he experiences (this only applies to things he can feel; if the attack is otherwise painless, or he passes out in the middle of it, this ability does not function). Finally, whoever kills him is immediately killed themselves.
  • The First Murder Weapon (A) - Anti-Unit: The weapon he used to murder Abel, it appears as an otherwise completely normal stone knife. When used as a weapon, it ignores any magical protection of B Rank or below (but is otherwise a completely normal stone knife).

A bit of the reason why he wasn't accepted was that seven-fold pain projection was a considered a bit too much. Which I can see, but seven-fold is thematic, and really canon!Avenger couldn't effectively use it, and I was trying to buff it. The big reason why he wasn't accepted, however, was that "if he dies, he immediately kills the person who killed him, which in a RP-setting sense can leave him to being completely untouched since I doubt anyone would want to sacrifice one of their characters to kill him, which I'm fairly sure will force people to start metagaming when dealing with him, which is a big no-no here" - direct quote. While I fully expected it to be shot down, and haven't any real issue with that, that statement basically says "since people will know what his Noble Phantasm does because they've read his sign-up sheet, they'll start metagaming to not kill him", except that this implies that they'll be metagaming to get that knowledge in the first place. Now, I fully intended that in his first fight or scuffle, he'd get his headband knocked off or something and then everyone would know that he's Cain, and they'd be able to look up Genesis Chapter 4, and know that hurting him can be a bit of a no-no. So, then he'd become a challenge, something for the players to work around, and find creative solutions to get rid of him (such as offing his Master. Which is the obvious one, really). And in the meantime he'd be running around trying to get stabbed in the face or something, because really that's what his goal is. He's not really meant to win, just have fun with a character that's not trying to really win. Which apparently is a no-no. So whatever.

[Victin]

Reading your character sheet it makes me really wish I knew something about Chuubo's Wish-Granting Engine, and possibly Fate-Stay, to... I don't know, create a RP with the former? Chuubo's just sound so flexible so far, and even if it's roleplaying-focused, I think I'd probably end up doing something with some fighting in it. It sounds as if it'd blend well with the Fate-Stay system, but I don't have the knowledge to say.

That being said, I guess... I don't have really much relevant opinion on the moment. Your sheet also reminds me of a version I though up of Cain (and Pandora). Interested?

[Krika]

Sure, I guess. I don't know what Chuubo is, though.

[Krika]

Right, so at some point I'm going to get around to continuing Power Rangers: Ancient Quest. I've got the next bit (going over the first major plot arc) partially written, so that's in the works, eventually.

That being said, I've got another Fate Servant for you. The identity of this one is redacted, partially because it's hidden in the RP I'm using him in, and partially because this is a puzzle for you all!

• True Name: [REDACTED] (The Wandering Flutist)
• Gender: Male
• Height/Weight: Tall/Skinny
• Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
• Appearance: A handsome young man with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a set of very worn and patched clothes that seem to be made out animal hide. He carries around a backpack seemingly stuffed to the brim with all sorts of items. Attached to belt is a flute, which he often sits and plays.
• Personality: [REDACTED] is playful, and easily excited, preferring to enjoy what life he has for as long as he has it. He very much prefers to sit down and chat, trading for knowledge and tools rather than fight. Hospitality is sacred to him, and while chatting, he will punish violators without exception.
• Stats:
  
  • Strength: C
  • Endurance: B
  • Agility: C
  • Magical Energy: B
  • Luck: C
• Personal Skills:
  
  • Charisma (E): Deriving from his origins as a trader of goods, [REDACTED] has a naturally persuasive manner about him.
  • Divinity (C): The legends of him as deity of fertility and to a lesser extent music has left him with latent potential as a Divine Spirit.
  • Fertile Sense (B): [REDACTED] has a natural sense for fertility and child-birth. He can at a glance determine if a group of plants is healthy, and get a sense for how well-cared for they are. In addition, he can determine if a female (of any species) is pregnant, if they have been pregnant in the past (and if so, how many times), as well as determine if they are capable of child-bearing at all.
  • Independent Action (B): Due to his lack of a true identity, his connection to the earth, and his roots as wandering traders, as well as his strong desire to explore the world, [REDACTED] can remain in the world for a little under a week without the support of a Master.
  • Pack Rat (B-): [REDACTED]' propensity for trade, bartering, and collection means that he has access to almost any minor non-magic item on his person. Magical, or larger items have to be obtained normally. In addition, his backpack can store larger quantities of goods than it's size would indicate.
  • Traveler's Stamina (A): The traders from which part of his legend sprang often traveled long distances through the desert. He is unaffected by fatigue and exhaustion.
• Noble Phantasms:
  
  • Pelli's Bond (B): A Noble Phantasm encompassing the origin of [REDACTED] as a stylized desert robber fly. The first aspect, Form of the Fly, enables him to shape-shift into a desert robber fly. While in this form, he cannot use any his others skills or Noble Phantasms, but he gains Presence Concealment (D), and his Agility becomes C+. Transforming back and forth requires about 10 seconds of interrupted concentration, and he is particularly vulnerable while in the middle of transforming.
  • Nature's Flute (B): A Noble Phantasm originating from the legends of [REDACTED] playing a flute. It has several effects that it can produce, however in order for them to stay in effect, he must play his flute constantly. In addition, the effects only extend to at most 100 meters, and he cannot use his other skills while using this Noble Phantasm (although he can still perform any action one would logically be capable of while playing a flute).
    
    • Song of Growth: While playing this song, all plant life grows with exceptional speed, entangling and restraining anyone who [REDACTED] wills them too. The strength of the binds greatly depends on both the length of time that he has spent playing, and the plants themselves. After the song has ended, the plant's animation ceases, although any extra amount that they have grown will remain.
    • Song of Flies: While playing this song, a dense swarm of desert insects appear in the area, ravaging everyone within the area. The swarm primarily consists of desert robber flies, but other types are represented. As magical pseudo-constructs, Magic Resistance can reduce the effects of the swarm, and that of a higher rank than the this Noble Phantasm can outright ignore it. The swarm's attack consists of biting any and all exposed skin (often crawling under armor to reach it), and injecting a very mild itching poison.
    • Song of Hospitality: A song of peace, it reduces the effective Rank of any Noble Phantasms invoked for combat within it's area by one (Noble Phantasms of A rank or higher are unaffected). This also carries with it a mild Charm effect that calms those affected with it, soothing tempers (although sufficient anger or Magic Resistance of B rank or higher can ignore this).

[Krika]

Right, some very generalized stuff I pulled out for an AU of the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's anime, that I'd like to keep preserved. Originally came from a chat.

But yes, something like 5D's could have done something with that, really played with the whole "scrambling up from the bottom" thing. First arc could have introduced us to the situation, settled them as a loose gang whose better days were behind them, and then moved into them fighting a gang who was being oppressive and what-not. Second arc could have been some sort of tournament arc, something along the lines of a self-organized tournament among the Satellite peeps, with Security revealing part-way through that they are going to offer the winners a chance to get out of Satellite. Next arc could involve them having to deal with the fact that some of them want off the island, others don't, and trying to bridge the gap between those that left, and those that stayed, while trying to work against the social discrimination against them (probably set against the backdrop of the Pro League or something). At some point it could be revealed that the negativity generated by the social divide is slowly empowering the Earthbound Immortals, and then they have to defeat them, and try to bridge the gap between Neo Domino and the Satellite to achieve that (Yusei, Crow, Jack, Kalin representing Satellite, and Akiza, Leo, and Luna being from Neo Domino). Thus tying the social divide into the main supernatural conflict.

Like, Crow would definitely stick to the Satellite side, I think Kalin would leave, but get disgusted with Neo Domino and head back, Jack wouldn't look back and Yusei would try to bridge the gap. Akiza would feel more at home in the rough-and-tumble Satellite, and Leo and Luna would be firmly on Neo Domino. And Godwin would be exacerbating the divide to accomplish his plan as per canon.

[Krika]

Alright, time for the next snip, and the first of hopefully three major arcs in the plot. Not sure how well put together this will be, but here goes. I hoped to make it a single post, but laziness means that I've got this, and I want to post it so it isn't lounging in my Drafts anymore.

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Power Rangers: Ancient Quest

During a seemingly normal encounter and monster fight, the Rangers discover that the monsters are guarding a strange, beacon-like device, which cannot be moved. After our regularly scheduled beat-down of their enemies, they call in Dr. Oswin to examine it. He's mystified by it, but manages to unlock it so that it can be taken back into the lab to be examined (after an obligatory sequence in which the Rangers defend him from oncoming enemy mooks, in true defend the flag fashion).

The three are somewhat worried about this development. Rhobleed mentions that if they discover the purpose of the device, they could steal the package. Llegr resolves to protect the devices harder than ever. Meanwhile Dr. Oswin discovers that the device is emitting a specific signature, and discovers several other instances of the signal.

What follows is about two episodes of the Rangers trying to retrieve another one of the devices, and failing (in fact, this would be the first time Llegr faces them, and as mention in the bio, wipes the floor with them). They are somewhat despondent, but none more so than Dr. Oswin as he can't figure out what the device is doing.

A couple of days later, after recovering an unrelated piece of technology related to the ancient civilization's communication technology, they have a breakthrough. The devices aren't actually broadcasting anything - instead, they are calling energy to it, energy similar to what the pieces give off when they enter this world. He concludes that the forces of darkness must be trying to attract a specific piece to the world faster, and to call it to an area that they control to retrieve it easier. They decide that whatever it is, they don't want to let the three get their hands on it, so they agree to try and mess up the plan as much as they can.

The next time they attack one of the devices, they use a device which disrupts the connection, managing to destroy part of it as a result of the backlash. The three are furious, saying that they cannot lose this to the Rangers. The shard has almost shifted back into this world, and the Rangers getting their hands on it could seriously damage their plans.

And so, as the shard enters into the world, and becomes the center of a massive battle. The villains go all out in the fight, as do the Rangers (debuting a new Megazord configuration most likely, as well as liberal use of what additional powers and abilities they've collected so far). Unfortunately, the forces the three are sending against them are too much for them to fight off, although at the same time they can't quite drive the Rangers off. Unable to secure full control over the shard, their force start trying to break into it physically. They succeed, but trigger a defense mechanism that unleashes an energy blast which destroys most of their force, and weakens the rest to the point of needing to retreat, but leaving the Rangers mysteriously unharmed. Unfortunately, the shard's systems were damaged as a result of the forced entry and the energy discharge, and what is left is depleted of power, so they can't merge it with their base. They, Dr. Oswin, and Arthur engage in a salvage operation, managing to recover various pieces of tech. During the operation, however, they discover a hidden chamber, with five tubes. They aren't hooked into the rest of the systems, and are thus completely intact. They take them back to their base, where Dr. Oswin gets right on figuring out what the tubes are.

The next episode is a bit of a breather, with the team going over what's been happening to them, celebrating pulling off their victory, and generally taking some downtime after the frantic week or so they've just been through. The three are instead bemoaning the loss of such a critical resource, and beginning to enact vague plans to try and re-level the playing field. Very low-key, no action aside from flashbacks. However, at the end of the episode, Dr. Oswin calls the rangers to his base, and reveals that he has managed to figure out what the tubes are.

They are stasis tubes, meant to preserve individuals for long periods of time. He doesn't know how to work them properly yet, but he can scan them to determine who (or what) is in them.

Or, more precisely, who is in four of them, because the fifth one is empty.

The occupants of the other four? A Blue Ranger, a Pink Ranger, a Yellow Ranger, and a Green Ranger.

[Krika]

Tales of an Enthusiastic Zombie - HvZ Moments

So, we were running around, trying to complete our mission, and I noticed Nerf disks laying on the ground, which meant that some brave human was running around with a Vortex series blaster. And it's pretty brave to do this, because you're going to need to retrieve nearly every single disk you shoot, since basically nobody runs around with those. That can be hard to do, and if you don't retrieve a disk, unless you get really lucky, you're down a shot permanently.

So I saw these disks lying around, and my pack-rat tendencies kicked into overdrive. I generally collect darts, so that I can try to offload them to a needy human at some point later on, and I'd already started filling my pockets. So my pack-ratting kicked up a notch, and I started grabbing every single disk I saw - hell, if I hadn't paused for the 2-3 seconds necessary to pick up a pair, I would have gotten to use the Boomer's cone juuuuust before it stopped being valid (as it is, I slid into position just as he picked it up). I figured that it wouldn't be hard to find the Vortex-wielder, and return the disks to them.

So here I am, filling my pockets with disks. And then, while stunned and waiting to come back into play, I'm wandering around, looking for more disks. While doing so, I run across a mod who is collecting ammo, and I'm all "Hey, have I got a bunch of stuff for you!" and start unloading my pockets. I think I kinda surprised him with just how much I was pulling out of my pockets. And while I'm doing so, as I'm finishing up, who should show up, but this guy wielding a Revonix360 - the brave Vortex-wielder.

So, I hand over all my ammo, and chat him up a little, exchanging some talk about disk blasters, and such. It turns out that it wasn't even his blaster, that he'd been borrowing it from a friend, which means that not losing the ammo was even more painful - after all, you wouldn't want to give back your blaster having lost half the ammo, right? So, I felt pretty good for doing my good deed of the day, and was disengaging from the conversation, and wishing him a good death.

And then it turns out that he had just been tagged, and was now a member of the horde! The brave Vortex-wielder was now a brave member of the horde, of the family!

So props to you, brave zombie. May you have good hunting.

[Victin]

@_@ Context?

[Krika]

Right, I really wish I could spoiler block stuff on here.....

So, this is the first of a series that I may or may not finish, I'm not sure really. Mostly because I like these things, but they aren't great.

Ranas
Drow Drow paragon 3
NE Medium Humanoid(elf)
Init +5; Senses Darkvision 150', Listen +9, Spot +9
Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Gnome, Undercommon
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AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 Dex, +2 Armor, +1 enhancement)
hp 17 (3 HD)
Immune sleep
SR 14
Fort +2, Ref+8, Will +2 (+4 vs. enchantment)
Weakness light sensitivity
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Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee rapier +7 (1d6+2/18-20)
Base Atk +2, Grp +4
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5)
3/day - Dancing Light, Darkness, Faerie Fire
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 2nd)
1st -- Color Spray, Nerveskitter, Shield
0 -- Caltrops (x2), Flare, Daze
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Abilities Str 14, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 14
SQ Search check against secret doors within 5'
Feats Weapon Finesse, Master of Shadows
Skills Concentration +5, Hide +11, Knowledge (Arcana) +7, Listen +9, Move Silently +11, Search +5, Spellcraft +7, Spot +9
Possessions twilight leather armor, rapier, arcanist's gloves, bracers of armor +1, 20 gp