(M) The Echoes OOC

[SikstaSlathalin]

Rated M for possible mature content including sex, violence, language, graphic situations, and drug use.

The Echoes





The break the deafening silence, the voices of the oppressed must unite and bring down the corrupt.

The IC is live!

Story: One day you're scavenging through some rubble, just a day like any other. Hoping the food you find won't be more maggot than meal and avoiding the magic wielding wardens that stomp up and down the ruined streets. More so than usual your mind wanders, you look up at the glistening castles of the Imperium Managers. Your mouth waters at the thought of the great mounds of food they must be enjoying. Your stomach lets out a vicious growl and you rip your eyes away from the skyline, next and a bit unexpectedly you find yourself looking over the forlorn remnants of the old Pier Amusement Park. For as long as you can remember it's been there even when the rest of the buildings around it had fallen into the encroaching seabed.

Your eyes linger on it, you've seen it all your life, but it seems different today. More ancient looking and you feel a nagging in you head or rather you hear a song. At first it's so quiet you think you must be imagining it, but the longer you stare at the old park the louder it becomes. It's some soft metal song you remember hearing years ago. It continues for a couple of minutes until you can begin to distinguish the words, you find yourself singing along right up until a cloaked individual appears from the shadows and motions for you to follow them, curiosity getting the better of your judgment, you follow.

In silence you follow, and soon you are led towards the fortified looking entrance of the amusement park. Everyone you've ever talked to has told you to never go into the park, wild gangs, unstable buildings, wild animals. You never knew the real reason, but the false ones were usually enough to keep you far away. Fear filled your spine, as more songs seemed to be flowing like a river through your years mashing into a big scream of noise making your eyes wince with pain, but you were compelled to keep following the cloaked figure. They led you through the ruined broadwalk and out of the corner of your eyes you see more dark figures darting around the old rusted out rides. You finally begin to look for an escape route, but your path is blocked by more mysterious figures with more music vibrating your body. You finally stumble through the door of the park's office and all the raging songs are instantly silenced leaving your head swimming and your ears ringing.

As you recover you find your guide is gone and an open door is before you. Inside you see a single ceiling light illuminating an old wooden table and two chairs. A pale man with a single eye is sitting across from the entrance wrapping his ringed fingers against the glacier colored body of a sharp looking electric guitar that glowed with icy runes. With no where else to go you enter the room, the door slams shut behind you and you hear the distinct jingle of what you'd swear is pot and pan lids. The man motions for you to sit and you do so looking around noticing more figures in the twilight realm outside the dull yellow glow of the lamp. You can't make out many features, but you notice some instruments and the genders of those around you, a pair of boys behind the one-eye male have identical looking guitars, a girl has a flute holstered like a pistol, another girl has what looks like a violin in a sling at her hip, and the guy by the door seems to be wearing a suit of lids of varying sizes with a pair of glowing white drumsticks spinning expertly in his fingers. The man at the table whistles softly bringing your attention back.

"I know you must have lots of questions, but first how do you think the world ended?"

"I don't know, I don't think anyone does." You say shrugging.

The pale mam nods smiling lightly.
"I figured as much, but the thing is we do know how it ended."

"Both times." The Lid Knight said from the door.

The man nods.
"Yeah, both times. Guess it's time for a history lesson." Leaning back in his chair the speaker picks up his guitar and begins strumming it gently, the air temperature drops at least ten degrees and his voice softens as if he's about to sing. "The world officially ended around 200 years ago, America...what this land used to be called was going to hell. Politics were flipping...notice I said flipping not changing. Politics never really change, they just switch stances, anyway the whiny and oppressed were gaining power and instead of being equal like they wanted they just took revenge on the upper crust and everyone who wasn't like them. As the rest of us dealt with the hypocrisy the corporations who already ran the world took advantage of the upheaval and bent over backwards to appease the new powers turning their backs on the new minority. The companies grew in power and eventually turned the entire globe into an oligarchy of CEOs, they had all the power and decided the new majority had out lived their usefulness and the Purge began." A silence fell over the small room, even the chilly breath of the pale man seemed to still. "Anyone deemed undesirable in both the Majority and Minority were killed and fed to the sea. More than half the population was deposed of and the ruins you see around you were all that was left. Many decades later when anarchy was the rule of the day my friends and I came onto the scene. We were a group of kids simply looking for a warm place sleep and food to fill our bellies."

You look around at the others seeing a few of them wipe their eyes. Waiting for you to look at him again the pale man continues his narrative. "In our day robots roamed the streets and the rich had all the good technological toys. Well as the days rolled on, my friends and I had enough of living like dogs in the gutter. So we bound together with other groups and decided to fight back, slipping our way past the robots and rich mercenaries we got to the heart of the city and found out the secret to the Corporations power... magic." He lets the word sit in their air between you two for a few seconds before continuing. "I know, sounds ridiculous, but it's true. Our small band of revolutionaries had found a well of magic that had given them all their power and we took it."

"And blew up downtown sending all the pent up magic across the globe like a giant volcanic eruption." Says the girl with the flute, a soft Irish accent showing up in her words.

The pale man nods his fingers still strumming the guitar strings.
"Yea, that was a fun day, and it was also the day the world ended a second time. After that, we took our leave to let the world fix itself, but the other groups weren't so nice. Like the corporations did before them, they appealed to the weak and systematically destroyed the strong. And now that the old weak are the new strong, and we have returned to this ruined city. The Imperium Managers are looking to break the loop of revolution; they learned that the words of the weak gave them their power so they've been silencing anyone and everyone. You ever wonder why no one around you spoke above a whisper even in their owns homes?"

You sit back shocked and look back on your life determined to prove this conspiracy wrong. But you can't, even when your parents were mad at you they only spoke in whispers. The shock must be apparent on your face because the pale man nodded strumming his guitar a little louder. "That is because words are power and that power attaches itself to people that destiny has deemed worthy. The magic users, people like you, people like me, and people like the Managers. Sadly people with no magical powers are trapped in the middle of it all, people who are innocent and just want to live to the next sunrise. You're just lucky we heard your Soul Song before the Sounders did."

You quirk your eyebrow again.
"Heard my what before the what now?"

With a soft smile the man strums a quick scale on his guitar.
"Soul Song, do you remember the rock song you were hearing before you were brought here?"

You nod.
"Yeah, some soft metal sounding thing."

Another nod and another set of higher scales.
"That is Steel's soul song, it's what distinguishes a magic user from a mundane." He nodded back to the boy on his right. "Every magic user has a different song, some are skull splitting death metal songs." He pointed to himself. "Others sound like a spring rain over the fields of Ireland." He nodded to the girl with the flute.

"And others sound like monkeys beating the hell outta some trash cans right Alleyway?" Says Steel aiming his head towards Sir Lid who simply laughs and does a quick rim-shot on one of his makeshift armor plates, the pale man chuckles again. "Yes Alleyway's drum has marched to it's own beat since before he was born. Soul Songs only start when someone's powers are about to awaken and while we're pretty quick to find others the Sounders are quicker. You know the cops that patrol the city? Well those are the Sounders, the secret police of the Managers. They hunt down magic users and give them a choice, join the organization...or die." Alleyway shifts uncomfortably his armor rattling loudly. "Some resist, but most choose life over death and joining the group with the most power and the largest collection of Singers in their ranks makes it hard to say no."

"Singers?" You ask looking around at the shadowy room looking for an example of what's so bad about Singers.

"Yes Singers, those with the most powerful magic. The rest of us need instrument to channel our magic." He emphasizes this by drumming his guitar's body. "But Singers need only their voices and they can hone in on any magic user within two miles of their present location. And considering we can only hear Soul Songs when they're in actual earshot of us they have quite the advantage. Luckily Singers are rare and often too valuable for the Managers to send out hunting, but the Sounders are hard enough to beat on their own. They use devices that record and amplify magic so they don't need to actually play an instrument to use magic. They can fire off spells quicker and meaner than us, the only advantage we have is we can use magic longer."

"And darkness is our friend." Says the formally silent girl with the violin, her voice grim and almost sad sounding.

The pale man nods one final time a roguish smile crossing his face before he holds his hand out to you.
"Yea, that too. I am Professor Frost and I am formally offering you a place with the Echoes. We need the numbers and we have to break the silence before it consumes us all. Will you join us?"


Plot: Well if you didn't get it all from the above story this is a revolutionary story where music is magic and magic is the only way to free the world. You will be playing a member of the Echoes, a group of magic using young rebels who are fighting to free themselves and their city from the clutches of a group of evil wizards who are looking to impose silence upon the whole world and ensure no one will be able to rise up against them. Either join the ruling power or die.

Not much of a choice, but as always there is an option C. The Echoes and some other groups like them are free magic users that have the power and ability to fight back using the power of their music and their magic, they are fighting an uphill war, but it is a war that must be fought. With a combination of skill and luck they roam through the streets of the Ruined City saving undiscovered magic users and slowly chipping away at the power of the Imperium Managers until they can find a real chink in their armor, tear in, and get at the vitals of the corrupt powers that be. But how will a group of young people fight an organization with more power than any one of them can claim? That answer will lie in their words because words have more power than all the weapons mankind has ever made.

Creation Nuances: Ok, in this RP we will all be playing young adults with magic powers. This magic lies in our Soul Songs, the seed of magical power bestowed upon us by fate. We will only play humans and our magic can only be channeled through the power of music. Each player will have one Soul Song, one type of magic, and only one instrument that can bring their power to the surface. The rest of our abilities will lie in mundane skills like Parkour aptitude, street fighting, etc. Think of our magic like weapon enhancements from games like Oblivion or Skyrim. Our Power Instruments are runed with a single kind of magic that gives us control over that discipline. Like Professor Frost's magic is ice and his guitar acts like his wizard staff allowing him to fire ice shards at enemies or create an ice shield to protect him. The magic abilities are limited because no one has formal training and had to pretty much teach themselves how to use the power.

Each player will need to be between ages 18 and 30 and have been on the streets most of their lives. Remember the rich and powerful are generally the bad guys and anyone coming from such a background would be mistrusted throughout. Also most of the world's population has been wiped out so no one will have much especially since the world is in a kind of magical post apocalyptic wasteland with massive derelict cityscapes falling in on themselves butt-up against sparkling new castles made from magic and scrap materials pillaged from the city. Working tech will be hard to come by if not totally absent, but some kinds of knowledge remain and are as valuable as any kind of currency. One such kind of knowledge lies in the creation of instruments, most of the instruments the Echoes use are scavenged or repurposed items found in various parts of the city, but there are always rumors of real instruments found in the deeper parts of the city made by old defective robots from before the second revolution. But going after them would be a borderline suicide mission without more people, so for now we must allow ingenuity to guide us.


Magic: As was said above magic for us will be limited to only two abilities tied into one school of magical discipline like one of the Elements, Necromancy, Restoration, Illusion etc. OP magics will be outlawed though so no Living mind control, no time magic, no Blood Magic type stuff. And while we all have the magic we can only use it when we activate our Soul Song and when we use our instruments so needless to say we all must be able to play some instrument well enough to string a song together perfectly.

To activate the Soul Song we must sing a few words even if we must make up our own words because we chose a purely instrumental song and play the first few cords, then we must keep the song playing in our minds to keep the magic flowing, once again because of our lack of real training, so our focus must be sharp or rely on the old fashioned ways to handle things which can just as easily get us killed as anyone else. Our Soul Song doesn't need to have the magic in it, but it must suit the nature of the power i.e. Ice and Fire would have loud and powerful songs birthing them, Necromancy would have Gothic music or Death Metal birthing it, soft instrumental stuff would usually align with Water or Air, and Earth would have a slow country song like feel. Granted these aren't the only combinations out there, but I will be looking to see how well the song suits your character and their chosen abilities.


Character skeleton

Real Name:
Age (18-30):
Gender(M/F):
Stage name and reason for it:

Appearance (pic and/or description):
Mundane Skills(limit of 4):
Mundane Gear:

Soul Song:
Instrument and it's name:
Magic Discipline:
Magic Abilities(limit of 2):

Personality:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Background:

Other:

Character List

1: Professor Frost by Siks
2: Hotaru by Splat
3: Heart by LexiZone
4: Dirty Harry by Kayser
5: Dawn by CryoStorm013
6: Joshua by He Qie
7: OPEN
8: OPEN

1. All Mature RP and RPA Rules apply.
2. I made this a mature RP for the reason of creative freedom, anything goes for the most part as long as none of the rules are broken.
3. I am the GM and as such I have the last say in issues.
4. Any issues between players deal with in PMs.
5. If the problem persists send me both sides and I'll see if I can help.
6. If I help and it continues ask a mod or get out.
7. Be active and post at least a paragraph a post.
8. Ignorance of the rules won't save you if you break them.
9. Be smart, have fun, and no modding or powerplaying.
10. Any new RP ideas are welcome just run them by me and we'll see about working them out.
11. Inactivity will be punished by the death of your char.
12. The GM is the only judge of inactivity, when the RP is going well it's a week unless you send me word of your inactivity then I'll pull you along but after two weeks your character will be on the chopping block unless you have a good reason for not being around. And after three weeks they die no matter what.
13. Reserves will only be held for a week before you lose it.
14. Keep all magic disciplines, abilities, gear, and skills sensible and not OP.
15. Be sensible and realistic with your instruments, you can't haul around a big ass Kettle Drum all the time and a shoebox with some strings tied to it won't work like an electric guitar.
16. Magic is very limited in this RP, no one is going to be a Master Spellcaster, at best we'll all be illegal Hedge Wizards and Witches.
17. Limit of one char a player.
18. Songs must make sense for powers and characters. The Soul Song is a reflection of the very spiritual nature of our characters.
19. If you've read down this far, add a good in-character at least 2 paragraph scene in the Other section of the sheet.

*I reserve the right to add, delete, or change any rule at any time.*

Feel free to ask questions and post ideas in the OOC.

[Splat]

SHOOOOOOOT

dang it siksta why you gotta make such cool sounding rps when i'm too busy to join

but i might just make a character anyway cause this is pretty awesome

[SikstaSlathalin]

Cause you may magically find the time, if the awesomeness is high enough.

[Splat]

But if I do make a character, I'll probably spend all of my efforts simply picking a song xD

[SikstaSlathalin]

That's a key part of the story so that'll prolly be ok this time around.

[SikstaSlathalin]

Spoiler: Professor Frost 

Real Name: Martin Gratty
Age (20-30): 30
Gender(M/F): Male
Stage name and reason for it: Professor Frost, because he teaches others to try and control their powers and because of his own powers over ice.

Appearance (pic and/or description):

Spoiler: Frost 

From a wisp like young man to a pale panther, Frost is 6 foot even and weighs a quick-punching 160 pounds of taut muscle. His once tanned healthy skin has paled from long hours avoiding the sun and the piercing eyes of the Managers. And with the nature of his magic his once black hair has turned stark white, all the really remains from his youth is his one deep blue eye which has lost it's distant stare, now it is keen and focused to the point of looking fake. His other eye was lost in the first revolution under the patch it is as dead and white as snow.

His clothing is usually the above, but with a long silver jacket he wears on long trips. He does not worry about the cold much plus too much clothing gets in the way of his guitar sometimes.

Mundane Skills(limit of 4): Leadership, Teaching, Survival, and wicked guitar skills.
Mundane Gear: A six inch solid build knife with a straight tanto blade, a pen, a water proof notebook, matches, and his guitar pick made of aluminum.

Soul Song: Fearless by For Today
Instrument and it's name: A shredding electric guitar he's named Hoarfrost.
Magic Discipline: Elemental- Ice
Magic Abilities(limit of 2)

Shard: An offensive attacks that launches razor sharp and steel hard spikes of ice of about a foot in length that can punch through the side of a car.

Blast Shield: A defensive ability that turns Hoarfrost into a kite shield of ice that can stop some kinds of magic and melee attacks, but firebolts can easily punch through after a few shots.

Personality: Though jaded after years of fighting in wars they never seemed destined to win Frost remains a soft-spoken and thoughtful individual. In fact his voice only rises in tone and volume when performing his Soul Song which comes from a band that used their own voices to fight against the dying of light in the old world. And though almost all notions of any kind of organized religion died out many years ago the raw power of the music fills the man's heart with the ruthless power of a blizzard. Though outside of fighting for his life he can be quite the Big Brother to those younger than him.

Likes: The Echoes, Metal, intelligent people, fighting for freedom, having a full stomach, and writing his own songs.
Dislikes: The city, the Managers, the Sounders, being hungry, silence, and a cloudy sky.

Spoiler: Background: 

Like most people in the Ruined City Frost was born to extremely poor parents who worked double and triple shifts just to keep their crappy two bedroom apartment. Young Martin was left alone alot, but found comfort in the books his father managed to scav during his job as a Prospector. With the education system being shut down and most people not having the time to bother with them books had little to no value outside of starting fires.

But Mr. Gratty was a teacher and knew their value was more than just quick fire starting materials. He saved all he could and educated as many young people as he could, it was nice, but it wasn't meant to last. The Corporations swept in and like all his friends made Martin an orphan, this was at age twelve and this was when he found his second family. Just a group of kids hiding from the bots and search lights. His education made it easy for him to fall into the role of leader and with it he taught the young people who came to him the same way his father did. Life...while far from comfortable was better than living in the streets where things far worse than gun-toting robots roamed. But as the years marched past things got worse and worse until a change was needed, and this is where the first revolution began. Martin and his friends along with other gangs joined forces and fought to bring down the establishment.

Many died, but in the end they won and in so doing released a power that would both save the world...and enslave it all over again. Magic was free and the small band of freedom fighters were the first ones to feel it's power, they were each blessed with potent magic and great power. Martin and his group were the only ones to step back from the promise of living at the top of the heap. They just wanted to live their lives freely, so they left the Ruined City and sought out a new home and a new place to free. The rest of the revolutionaries though had wanted power for so long they refused to leave it for someone else to claim and so they picked up where the Corporations had left off. Taking over the Ruined City and forcing their own ideas of law and order upon the huddled masses, only this time the people found they had the power to fight back. Magic users began springing up and threatening the new ruling body, but we always learn from history so the former freedom fighters became the tyrants that had just brought down.

Martin and his group heard the grim tidings coming from their old home and after trying to fight it from the outside for a few years took deep breaths and dove back into the fray. From the smoking remains of the other gangs came the Echoes. And Martin, like before became the leader taking the name Professor Frost to reflect his new found might and readying the people for a second revolution. Now the Sounders had replaced the cop-bots and now they were actively hunting down anyone who showed signs of magical power. Many fell to their clutches, but the few the Echoes saved became new members of Frost's second family each of them watching the backs of the one in front of them and fighting tooth and nail for each inch of ground against the Fascist Managers and their attack dogs. Like before they will fight to the bitter end, all Frost hopes for is another miracle allowing them to win the war.

Other: Sitting atop the grandstand staring at the broken sky. Frost was quietly strumming a tune on his guitar. It wasn't his Soul Song, but it was a song he remembers from his youth. It's been so long since he played it he can't even remember the name, but that's the wonderful thing about music. While the name is important sometimes, it's the sound itself that lives on forever.

The pale man often sat up here when he couldn't sleep which unfortunately was often. Sighing deeply Frost looked down from the grandstand, making mental notes where the rest of the Echoes were sleeping. Over the years his new group has rebuilt and fortified much of his old gang's hideout. Pyro's workshop still had singe marks on it, Mama Silver's Health Station was mostly intact and being used as a med station again. It saddened him every time he thought back on the old gang. After the revolution nearly all of them either died from their wounds or just wandered off for a better city. He hopes they found one, but outside this devastated cityscape there was only wastes as far as he could see. If you spend a long enough time in one place it feels like home, even if it's a living hell where you spend your days running and hiding.

Shaking the sad thoughts from his mind he began playing another song on Hoarfrost. It was far softer than the icy axe was used to playing, but it felt fitting for Frost's mood right now.

[Splat]

Okay, I've bowed down and done it. I tried to make the instrument a little less common since I figured there'd already be a guitar person and a drums person and all that. Hope she looks good so far.

Spoiler: CS WIP 

Real Name: Naomi Akamine
Age (18-30): 24
Gender(M/F): F
Stage name and reason for it: Hotaru - The Japanese for "firefly", this was a nickname given to her by her father, and she decided to keep it out of sentimentality.

Spoiler: Appearance 

(ignore the hair in this pic)
Naomi's face does not betray her mixed racial ancestry- she has kept most of the Japanese features given to her by her dad, however she is taller than most Japanese women. She has a slender form, but her naturally pale skin has darkened with age. Jet black, almost blue-ish hair rests in a neat, shoulder-length bob that has been cut shorter in the back (think Motoko from Ghost in the Shell).

Mundane Skills(limit of 4): Strategy, karate skills, fluent in Japanese, shredding the shamisen
Mundane Gear: A stiletto concealed in her boot, parts of a first aid kit (some bandages, disinfectants, etc), a metal bachi (pick for a shamisen)

Soul Song: The Trooper - Iron Maiden
Instrument and it's name: The shamisen, a traditional three-stringed Japanese instrument. Naomi's is called Nageku, the Japanese for "lament".
Magic Discipline: Pyrokinesis (fire)
Magic Abilities(limit of 2):
Firebolt - Sends a large fireball hurtling towards her target.

Wall of Flame - Pretty self-explanatory. Conjures a wall of fire in front of Naomi that is painless to her allies, but damgerous to her enemies.

Personality: Almost like her own instrument, on the outside Naomi is soft-spoken and reserved, and people who don't know her might mistake her silence for shyness. But once you get to know her, she is a wild spark of imagination and is very outgoing towards the select few that she trusts. She loves to share ideas and passions with her friends and sharing her musical knowledge with others.
Likes: Japanese culture, all genres of music, her close friends, birds
Dislikes: the Managers, ignorance, those disrespectful of tradition, the smell of smoke
Background:

Other:

[LexiZone]

I love the idea of music being part of a power to save the world..
Would you mind if I joined..?

[Dnafein]

Special thanks to Hayabusa for the banner.
RPA is alive with the sound of muuuusic... I wanted to drop off some tomes to help you gain interest in the RP. Let me know if you have any questions or need help, and have fun RPing!

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[CryoLilly]

This sounds quite interesting, and while I have quite the busy schedule at the time, I may try to put something together. I figured I would express interest in the meantime. My biggest question is regarding the instruments. Do the characters start with some skill? If so, how would they gain such skill without any real instruments? Anyway, I have an idea for a character (odly enough, it came from hearing a song in my head) and I'll try to cobble her together and see if it's anything to go on. If you'll have me, of course.