b*****d Swords in Hover Cars - notes for an RP

[Kerrigan_dragon]

b*****d Swords in Hover Cars

Unfortunately, this is just notes for an RP that some ATGers are in, that's not occurring here.

The long and short of it:

The Short

The world is sci-fi medieval. The normal timeline of our world split when some time travelers came to the world around 1589. The world has had some significant changes because of that, and there is magic. And gods. There is a quantum mechanical reason for that, but suffice it to say that because people believe there's magic, there is magic.


The Long

The year is 2219 A.D. This is a world similar to ours. In fact, it has an identical history, up until 1589 A.D. On that auspicious day, something happened to change the fabric of reality forever. People in strange garb came before the people, curing disease with needles poking out of glass tubes, bringing down animals by the dozens with advanced blunderbusses that could see in the dark. These people claimed to be from the future. Time went on, with more people from the future encroaching on the past, until one day they just stopped coming. No one knows why. Many people from the future were stuck in the past, and much of their technology and knowledge stayed with them. They bred with the people of the past, and spread learning and technology across the lands, blending the two cultures together... This is history as everyone knows it. Clothes and mannerisms haven't changed all that much since the future dwellers arrived. People still wear tunics and dresses, with a sword at the hip if they be a noble. They trade for food at the local market, scanning ident keycards to confirm their identity when making a particularly high-risk transaction. Hover cars have effectively replaced the horse as primary transportation. For jobs, you have your scientist, your baker, your lazer gun maker, all the necessary things to keep society running. Genetic engineering is possible and commonly used, though much of that technology is quite secretive. Robotics is quite advanced compared to our world, with some countries delving into dangerous and strange experimental robotics.

In actual fact, gods are the collective consciousness and hopes, emotions, dreams, prayers, and aspirations of the people that have formed consciousness and sentience. They are what the people wanted them to be. A healer, a god of weather, a god of dreams, of death, of song, of love, etc. But the people have no knowledge of this. The gods have taken on a life of their own, and have their own minds, but if the people stopped believing in them, they'd die. The same principal exists for magic. Magic formed because people perceived that magic was possible.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

Characters

Pickles - Ryanne Luta

A lady-in-waiting to the princess, Ryanne also serves as her bodyguard and body double. A commoner by birth, she was picked up by the royal family as a child for her resemblance to the princess, and educated in the courtly ways. In addition, she was trained in swordsmanship and in magic. Ryanne always carries her sword, Osil, as well as several other weapons hidden on her person, in her clothing and sometimes in her hair. All of her weapons can be used as conduits for the small amount of elemental magic she is capable of performing.
Very few people are aware of Ryanne’s past and her duties. These people include the King and his advisors, the princess and a few of her other ladies-in-waiting, and Ryanne’s own family and close friends. She considers the royal family to be a second family to her, and is thus very loyal, completely willing to lay down her life for the Princess or any other member of the family. She has been with the princess since she was 7, and is now 23 years of age.
While posing as the Princess, Ryanne is polite, refined, demure, and various other traits befitting a Princess. While herself, she is sarcastic, sharp-tongued, and speaks her mind whenever she pleases. Her loyalty to her friends is almost as great as her loyalty to the royal family, but if her loyalties should ever clash, she would almost certainly choose the royal family.


Roland - Sedgar Merric

Age 26. Sedgar went into the military at 18. He comes from a family of military weapon makers, so it came naturally to him. After a few years of service, in which he saw no action, he retired and became a civilian weapon smith. Despite this, he still gets contracted for special jobs from the military. Shortly after he retired from service, he was robbed in the night. His shop was cleaned out, his left arm crushed by a warhammer he crafted, and he was hit in the face by a magic fireball as the crooks escaped. He wears his hair the way he does to hide the scar from the fireball, and his left arm is held together by pins and plates around the bone structure. Needless to say, he is right handed, and now has a distaste for magic.

His main weapon is a flame sword. The sword, while in one piece, is actually comprised of two separate swords, one next to the other. In between them is a device similar to that of a gas stove, which shoots out gas that is ignited by a spark. The result is a flame shooting between the two blades from a hole about 1/2 the width of an average pencil. The blade is a bit heavy, but manageable. Though he doesn't much like magic, he realizes the need for it, and hired an assistant mage at the shop for magical augmentations. The sword will not melt or warp from the fire as a result.

Sedgar is not limited to his flame sword. As a weapon smith, he has access to a lot of weaponry. Most of the little things, he carries around in his messenger bag, so you never know exactly what he's going to pull from it.

Rica - Shaylia

Shaylia is the daughter of a famous hero who's also the granddaughter of the dead god of murder.

Age- 32

Race- Half-elf Bhaalspawn

Eyes- Right: Red Left: Light Blue

Hair- Black and straight.

Weaponry- Bow that materializes 'laser arrows'. Sword that can send a blast of air at her enemy.
Bow that, like the other, materializes laser arrows but damages her when used. Falchion that releases a flash of energy that damages both opponent and user.

Equipment- Cloak that helps her hide, boots that help her move silently.

Magic- Spells very healing and nature based.

Abilities- Knows her way around, great surivival skills and does quite well with animals, to the point where she could stop one from attacking. Easily picks up on quiet noises and hidden things in her area.

History- She is the daughter of a great hero Abdel Adrian and his lover Lady Jaheira. While running from the Bhaalspawn Wars (which was basically a attempt to destroy all bhaalspawn) she eventually witnessed her own father's defeat and death, which caused her to lose her memory for 12 years. She spent those years relearning about life and spending time with a small group of companions. She has only recently got it back after meeting up with her mother once more. With the return of her memories came the return of something darker as well, the blood of her grandfather Bhaal, the God of Murder, awoken with her memories. Now she fights to control her own bloodlust and the monster that threatens to rip it's way out and kill aimlessly. As such she left her group for their safety.

Rica - Japhie

Age- N/A

Race- Sprite

Eyes- Dark brown

Hair- Chocolate brown

Weaponry- A small fairy bow and a small shortsword about the size of a toothpick.

Equipment- Thieves Kit, 'Love' Powder (makes a person fall in love with the first person that see).

Magic- Can turn invisible

Other- Well versed in many languages.

History- Lived the normal fairly carefree life of a normal sprite until her home and fellow sprites were being attacked by a troll. Shaylia and a small group of companions saved her and now she enjoys her days with 'Shay Shay', having not allowed the half-elf to NOT take her along.


Kerri - Liam Dracos

An alcoholic swordsman, and best friends with King Heildric of Germany. He is actually a master swordsman, with a light blue earring in his left ear proclaiming him to be so. A touch of magic runs through his family as well, and as such he is a minor mage. If he uses too much magic (good magic, rather) he starts coughing up blood. However, if he resorts to the dark arts, he is restored. Liam is relatively young for such an accomplished swordsman, only 26. Liam has post traumatic stress disorder from a number of bloody skirmishes and assassinations he performed years ago, though he hides it behind his alcoholism and flamboyant mannerisms. He dresses like a fruit, a colorblind fruit, when clashing colours and swishing robes in the most hideous of combinations. He dresses to offend instead of impress, and to make people underestimate him. Flirting is one of his favourite passtimes.

Lin - Corinthian

Corinthian (mostly called Cor or Corinth) is a Steampunk Bard. Big drinker, smooth talker; gunblade. He has that sonic weapon, but his way of words let him kind of manipulate his way in and out of situations—like, telling a mob to attack.

The character, in function and in battle ability, if that ever happens, is a Bard, a true jack of all trades, a master of none. Well, except for his tongue. It's not that he's selfish or totally out for himself, but he's also not the type to follow authority if it gets in the way of his plans. When situations get him down, he generally follows a Robin Hood-esque way of living.

When it comes to history, his life grew up whimsical, but not without its challenges. He was born in the ranks of lesser nobility, but was a b*****d child. Yet his Noble parent was kind enough to acknowledge the b*****d child as part of nobility because he was born a boy, meaning that if push comes to shove he can flaunt his status, though he rarely has a need to. The boy grew up in a small village where a gang of bandits were fighting for a better equality between nobility and working class, and the noble parent was a supporter (hence the, er, flash of passion)

He isn't a bard per-se, but embodies the general spirit of what a bard was. Never really knowing his father--and less caring about his actual rank in society--he learned much being with the bandits. His sword skills were never the best, but his ability to distract with prose and witty quips have given him many spectacular--and audience-amusing- -victories.

The current head of the bandit gang realized his potential for dueling, but was concerned with the boy's aptitude with battling multiple opponents. In fact, if he couldn't run away using words or feet (he was speedy to boot), he'd often get pummeled during a multiple-man sparring session. Still, he was valuable not only as a good (enough) fighter but as a person that can link them with the nobility. His status gave him his rights.

In all respects, his body is mundane. The only magic that he really has is in his weapon, Guildenstern, a magitech-enhanced one-handed gunblade. The weapon is essentially a Gunblade capable of releasing a burst of sonic energy of a pitch controlled by my character. Standard gunblade stuff: slash, shoot from a distance (though not as accurate as a normal firearm. Has the same range as a pistol though), slash-n-shoot. The sonic energy burst only deals subliminal damage--meaning it can't kill but it can debilitate or knock out. It was meant to simply aid the character escape by debilitating as much as possible. It's activated by slashing the air in front of him, and bursts out in a cone. It's definitely newer tech, and while the magic part and the slashing part works as expected, the gun part can jam.

Clothing wise, think more cowboy: cowboy hat but not ten-gallon, holster for the gunblade, vest, jacket, tie, slacks, polished boots. It's a khaki-coloured ensemble of white, khaki, and some red accents on the tie and other appropriate places Oh, and glasses. If I had to summarize my character in three words: Charismatic, Dextrous, and Gunblade. The outfit is probably similar (to Squall), but younger. And Blonde hair with fringe covering one of his emerald eyes. Did I mention hot as nails?

Jimmy - Hickory

"Hickory" - Once a mild-mannered citizen of Austrio-Hungary, now a cold, heartless once-human brain placed in a robotic shell. As a human, once called Haley, he acted as a teacher and academic of math, science, and physics. Around the time of his transplant, he was possibly around fifty or sixty years old (he's since forgotten). Afterward, he went back to teaching, with time on his side now, and a lack of a need for money, he was able to teach many other windups all that he knew (common practice in old Windup society), to the point where his knowledge was no longer needed, and so he turned to more physical labor to occupy his time, becoming a woodcutter. Eventually the Windups turned to war with all those surrounding them for unknown reasons; Hickory marched with them, but found killing to be rather disdainful. He was one of a minority who jumped ship before all of their kind died. He now wanders the world, as all the other deserters do for reasons they don't quite understand, doing what he pleases where people will let him.

Hickory stands at seven feet tall (but hunches most of the time), and has four slender arms and two long legs. His torso is squat and bean-shaped, and only mostly covers his moving, grinding insides made of brass and steel. His cylindrical head is carved like a jack-o-lantern, where the eye and mouth holes glow with a soft orange color from deep within. He wears a ripped-up piece of canvas over his body to hide his moving parts, but carries with him no equipment. His winder is hidden in the leg-joint in his right hip.

He comes from a place where the whole country was supplanted into robotic bodies. The goal was to make the populous immortal, invincible, ever-working and immune. They either didn't think, or just didn't care that they were basically ending their own gene pool though...

It was a voluntary surgery that was supplemented by magic. Those who refused to undergo surgery were politely forced to leave the country. The bodies they were put into are actually powered by powerful springs that must be wound about once a month by a special key specially made for each citizen.

The people of the country didn't actually get malicious until a couple years after the turning. They started wars with just about everyone they could touch for reasons that they still won't do more then allude toward. Some people think they just went crazy after robbing themselves of their own humanity. As a result most of them are dead. Their people come few and far between, and have mostly spread far out across the world. finding one of these people is kind of like a novelty. They tend to gather crowds, of curious onlookers, or rioters. Crowds either way.

No two windups are the same really. All of them are vaguely human-shaped. My guy has four slender arms coming off of a bunched-up torso, and two long legs. Altogether he's about seven feet even, but he hunches most of the time.

Before he became Windup, he was an intellectual; a well-schooled man of various arts and sciences. After his surgery, he became a woodcutter.

All windups changed. They all had things they wanted to do that weren't what they were capable of. The poor unable to learn, the educated mostly underestimated. After receiving their new bodies, they were suddenly all equal, and had the time and capabilities needed to do anything they wished.

Pisces - Alec Heartshorn

Age 67. Alec is a wise, old inventor with solid grey eyes, snow-white hair, and a surprisingly agile figure, though he walks with a cane to give the illusion of helplessness. Schizophrenic by nature, he is prone to switching between a cryptic, silent wise man and a giddy, half-crazed lunatic. His hands, worn soft and intelligent over the years of use, are unmatched masters of craftsmanship. With the proper concentration, the proper tools, and a bit of luck, he can make just about anything. His most prized possession is a pair of leather gauntlets, which he wears at times to protect his hands from heat or harsh metal work. They've also been worn smooth, shining glossy brown in even the lowest light. In his youth, his father granted him the gauntlets as a gift, claiming that they'd bestow upon him the power to overcome death only a single time in his life.

He has grown up working with his hands in everything from alchemy to clockwork, shoe peddling to sewing. After a slight miscalculation when performing a dangerous alchemical spell on evening, he was knocked unconscious by a piercing white light. When he came to, he could no longer see. As a result, his remaining sense have heightened, giving him the ability to move about unhindered in nearly every environment. After the accident, Alec vowed to perfect his alchemy, and has since worked to do so. The chaotic nature of science causes him to make mistakes every once in a while, but on the whole, he has complete control of the elements.

Alec lives by a simple mantra: "If it cannot be touched, it cannot be owned. And if it cannot be owned, it should not be disputed." He is a simple old man of simple pleasures, and prefers to be kind to everyone, regardless of the circumstances.


Kusa - Seth Moore

Profession: Apprentice Mana Mechanic. Can harness magic to repair, or alter weapons and tools.

Appearance: 6'3" Thin but muscular, with curly red hair. Has deep blue eyes.

History/Background: Seth was son and apprentice of Andre' Moore, who was a Master Mana Forger. The craft was handed down the generations from father to son, and can be traced directly to one of the original Time Travelers.

It was unfortunate that none of his family were considered "Royalty" and the hardships Seth had to endure as a result of his status caused him to be very focused on honor, and liberty. Will not sell wares to people focused on power or control.

Was recently sent away from home to finalize his apprenticeship, by establishing his own craft.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

Character pictures - optional

Shaylia



Japhie



Ryanne



Sedgar Merric



Alec Heartshorn



Liam Dracos



Nerius Heartshorn



Seth Moore

 

[Kerrigan_dragon]

Location, Location, Location



Many of the countries are the same or similar in this world. Germany is currently the world power, and in Southern Germany is where our plot takes place.

The overlaying colors of this map show where different places are now one country.

Pinky purple is Iceland, Greenland, Norway, most of Sweden, and the northern tip of Finland; the upper yellow is the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Normandy, now known as Britannica; etc.


The more important focuses, though, are Germany including the Netherlands, and the Austrio-Hungarian Alliance.

The Austrio-Hungarian Alliance is Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, part of Germany, and Slovakia. It is the nation that has made all of their people into robots (see Jimmy's character description for more information).



This is the castle where King Heildric of Germany holds court (a very important plot point); Neuschwanstein Castle.

In modern Germany, it is located here:


It's relatively close to the border of Austria.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

The Story Thus Far...
_________________________An overview of the general story

Under Construction  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

So The Story Goes...
_________________________Longer Plot summaries

Session 1 - Crash Landing

In the middle of the night, a knock was heard on Alec Heartshorn's door, then a sword punctured it and a voice commanded he open it in the name of the King. The voice belonged to Liam Dracos, companion and best friend to the King, and current errand runner. Alec and Sedgar Merric - a weapon's forger of great skill - were summoned to help with a secret mission to help save the kingdom. Using forbidden technology from the Austrio-Hungarian Alliance to implant mind-control chips in people, the Swedes were kidnapping Germans for experimentation, and using these chips to slowly turn people into human bombs. King Heildric has requested that Alec and Sedgar put their brilliant minds together to save the people, with Liam being dragged along to supervise. They fly off to a secret lab in the Alps, but due to Alec's taunting and Liam's temper, Liam broke the controls to the hover car they were in, causing the group to crash land into the side of a mountain. Meanwhile, inside that very mountain, Ryanne - look-a-like bodyguard to Princess Sonja of Germany - was being held prisoner by these very same Swedes. They thought she was the Princess, and were going to use her for political leverage in the war they intended to start. Silly extremist rebels should have stayed with their clocks and chocolate. As Liam and Sedgar recovered from the crash, with Alec unconscious, soldiers poured out of the lab they'd landed on. With the clever distraction of Liam shouting a curse and running, they were able to draw the soldiers away from their companion, and take down a few too before being captured. They were taken to a holding area that held Ryanne and a young girl named Wilma, and thanks to Liam's magic and Sedgar's technological skill, they were able to escape. As they left the building, Liam sensed that Wilma was not all she seemed, and slammed a door shut so Sedgar and Ryanne could not get in, then took the girl-bomb deep inside the base before she blew up. He escaped narrowly by chance; the King's soldiers had come exactly then to rescue Ryanne. Together they all flew back to the palace and had a strange encounter with our esteemed Majesty. When the others left, Liam accused King Heildric of knowing exactly what had been going on the whole time, then left the country for a few months to calm down.

Session 2 - A Treasured Declaration

__A year and a half later

Life goes on, much as it has this past age. People come together, work together, fight together, live together. Not much has changed. Oh sure, since we were kids there’s been new amazing technological advances. The Common Cold had finally been eliminated. However, the FrequentSlightly-Chilly- Feeling has sprung up in its place. Not that it affects people as more of a passing annoyance anyways. And for all that the people in the world and life itself hasn’t changed that much, the world has changed. There’s something in the air that smells of adventure, but to the people of the city of Newantsen, shadowed by Castle Neuschwanstein, this is caused by the fervor of a great party. King Heildric has invited the people of Newantsen and its lands to come to the castle for a great celebration and revelation. No one knows what it’s really about, of course. That secret is kept locked up more tightly than the prince’s chastity belt. (Yes. Prince. Not Princess. Not that all princes are required to have one, but this prince tends to get rather carried away.)

The city has been a-bustle and abuzz about the celebration for little over a month, and the day has finally come for people to find out what the fuss and commotion is all about. This is the story of those people who find themselves wrapped up in events far greater than they could have dared to think or imagine.

---

On Liam's birthday, King Heildric made an announcement to the people, proclaiming that he had the cure to all the ails of the kingdom in the form of one desirable thing: treasure. A dragon had been spotted to the north, and where there were dragons, there was sure to be treasure. A sum of one third of the treasure was promised to whomever could find it, and drought and famine would no longer plague the kingdom with the resources they'd be able to buy. Our group of adventurers, Liam, Sedgar, Ryanne, Alec, and newcomers Corinthian and Shaylia, joined forces to search for this treasure. Piling into Alec's hover car, they flew off to search for it, suspiciously finding a cave clearly labeled, with neon lights, saying "TREASURE HERE, THERE IS NO DRAGON, AND IF THERE WAS IT WOULD NEVER EAT YOU". The group approached suspiciously, and upon entering were shut into the cave, sealed by doors engraved with anti-magical runes and a rock slide cascading over them. Onward lay their goal.

Session 3 - Delve into the Depths

Finding themselves sealed inside the cave, our adventurers pushed on, walking through the darkness of the cave. They encountered a goblin or two, the tomb of an ancient lord, and a sword that called out to Shaylia. She took the sword, which sung to her of death and power, and the group went on, to find themselves stuck in a loop. They returned to the very same tomb, and a shade appeared before them, spreading fear, despair, and depression in their minds. Those who were susceptible to depression found themselves feeling overwhelmingly worthless, and the shade fed off their hopelessness, gaining power to take form, and tell them that it desired "payment". Alec presented an offering of music to the lonely shade, and it accepted the peace it gave, and let them be free to proceed. The bout of of depression that Liam had been subjected to, however, set him off on a flashback of his time as a prisoner of war, and he attempted to kill his companions, thinking they were his captors. Shaylia punched him across the jaw and he snapped back to reality, apologizing to the others, and at their request told them a little bit about how he'd been tortured in the war a few years back. Through joking and sympathy, they got him feeling well enough to continue investigating the cave.

They entered a giant cavern, filled with gold and treasure that mostly covered a sleek airplane, and atop the giant pile of gold was a dead dragon. The group investigated the treasure a little, and a young man named Seth Moore who worked in the secret base where the treasure was located, decided to check how his project, the plane, had fared being witness to battle against the dragon. He stumbled across our adventurers, but it was innocent enough until his master - who happened to be Liam's master as well - came into the room. Rogan was the man's name, and he, in turn, was ordered to order Liam to kill all in the room. (Very confusing indeed, but just think how our adventurers felt about it.) Liam proceeded to brutally attack the members of his party, apologizing for his actions as he cut down Alec, but they prevailed and killed Rogan to stop Liam's attack. Alec was already dying, and could not be saved. Shaylia, granddaughter of the god of Murder, in reaction to the atrocities being committed around her, changed to a Ravager, a powerful form capable only of destruction. Liam used himself as a distraction to get the others to safety, accidentally sacrificing a squadron of soldiers to Shaylia's bloody rampage. But the girl turned back to her human form, and Liam, barely able to function at this time, began slowly carrying her out of the cave. He didn't make it far. His friends - and Seth - however, came to the rescue in Alec's hover car. As they loaded everyone into the car, Seth went to destroy his precious and powerful creation, the secret spy plane that would have been completely undetectable, but was instead being blown up. The group fled to the castle, and upon arrival, were knocked out by tranquilizers. They woke up a couple days later, with Alec in a coma, to a conversation with the King. He thanked them for their discovering the spy plane, and was surprised that there was indeed a treasure and dragon; he'd made that whole thing up. Liam swore to set his face on fire.

Session 4 - A Midnight Excursion

Liam is nothing if not a man of his honour. Three days after waking up in the hospital, he figured it was time to fulfill his promise to the King of setting his face on fire. He roused Ryanne and Sedgar from their sleep and took them to the King's library, where Heildric was reading about crops from the last two hundred years. Liam shut the King's book, then lit his bear aflame, and Heildric chased Liam about the library with a roar. After being caught, Liam removed the magical flames, then gathered his friends to go to bed. Laughs were had at the King's expense, and all was well.

Session 5 - Proposition for Adventure

(Coming soon)

Session 6 - Terrible Transylvanian Tour

(Coming soon)

Session 7 - Children are the Future

(Coming soon)