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Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 12:19 AM
This RP is rated M for possible violence, racism, sexual themes, strong language, substance use, and difficult moral decisions, among other things. It should be noted that many of the characters may be under the age of eighteen. This RP may include themes such as coming-of-age, questions of religion, and the true meaning of freedom. As such, if players feel that they cannot handle such material, it is best for them to steer clear of this RP.

The Reforged Saga
Prologue: Great Expectations


IC (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73899)

http://www.art-spire.com/wp-content/gallery/avril_2010/02-04-10_Robert_Brown/Robert_Brown_08.jpg

Terrestria was once home of the Shapers, the most secretive, most powerful, and most feared of the magical sects. There were many other sects. Some could forge artifacts of great power while others could rain fire from the heavens. But it was the Shapers who ruled the land, for the Shapers alone had the power to create life. With the raw essence of life beneath their fingertips, powerful magic, and arcane lore the like of which made other magical arts seem childlike, the Shapers could bring forth from nothing mighty legions of creations to do their bidding. There was no army they could not best, no land to which they could not bring life. This power made them the ultimate rulers of every land in which they walked, their creations bound to their will and the humans of the land bound to their law, Shaper Law. And for their enemies, there was only one punishment for defying the will of the Shapers: Death.

And so the Rebellion began.

An alliance of humans fighting Shaper oppression and creations yearning to be free, the Rebels harnessed dark power the like of which even the Shaper Council forbade the use of. The war unleashed horrors across the land, bringing battle from the outermost colonies of the Shapers to the heart of their mighty citadels, casting all down into the dust. Powerful armies of creations battled across Terrestria, laying waste to the land and putting countless lives to the sword. The war dragged on for years, the proud Shapers unwilling to admit defeat and the Rebels refusing to back down. It only ended when the Shattering broke the lands of Shaper and Rebel alike.

Nobody knows who did it. Some claim it was the Rebels, realizing the folly of their actions and repenting by wiping themselves out. Others claim that, near defeat, the Shapers had declared that if they should not rule there should be nothing to rule. Whatever the truth, the Shattering drew together all the Known Lands and then broke them. Mountains rose and fell. Waves swamped and then consumed entire provinces. Many of those cities that escaped the war were wiped out as fire rained from the heavens.

But that’s all ancient history.

Introduction

In spite of the destruction caused by the Shattering, some pockets of civilization survived, scarred, but wiser. The catastrophic event broke many of the cities of old, both Shaper and Rebel, but some people survived. One such was Shaper Thorin. Stumbling from the shattered remains of her research laboratories, she found a world made utterly still by the violence wrought upon it. Traveling far and wide, Thorin gathered survivors of the destruction and rebuild. Deep in the swampland now named Machit, she led the foundation of the settlement of Issei. It is where many were born and where many died. So too did you expect to live and die in this place, sheltered from whatever existed beyond its marshy extremities until the hand of fate intervened.

The Grand Academy is center of knowledge in this new Known World; your tiny known world. It is here that every child is taught the rudiments of everything they will need to know. It is here that people long graduated still return seeking aid and counsel. It is here that the seat of Thorin’s Council exists and from here that this tiny world is controlled. Here was where you have been taken and trained, all your life expecting to become one of those who would return to your village in the swamps and return to the community tenfold what you took. But the Council had other plans for you. They offered to make you a Shaper.

A Shaper. A god. What was the difference, really? In exchange for doing the Council’s bidding and upholding Shaper Law, you would be free to do anything you wish with the power that they teach you. You would be without equal except, of course, for your fellow Shapers. This great world, torn asunder, would be yours to reshape as you saw fit. The Council, though, requires something of you.

All power demands sacrifice and the Thorin’s Council demands of you a great deal in return for bestowing upon you this boon. To become a Shaper, you must gather all your strength and knowledge and skill and set out beyond the Great Magical Barrier that marks the borders of their realm. Your task is to obtain and return to them the knowledge and relics of past ages.

It will be a dangerous task, for the Great Barrier exists with good reason. Rogue creations, those creatures given life in past ages that broke away from the iron grip of the Shapers – if they were ever under it to begin with – roam the untamed lands beyond the borders, threatening swift death upon any who venture into their lands. Having consolidated their power for the past two centuries, few from Issei have ever gone so far. No rogue has ever crossed the Great Barrier, but there is no doubt that they are out there, waiting for an easy meal.

And you are not alone. The offer has been extended to every student in your class at the Grand Academy – over three hundred students. Many of the most promising recent graduates have also been included, much to the dismay of those graduates who were not. The Council has made clear that every student must be part of a group to participate. It has also made clear that the scale of each individual’s accomplishments will determine their eligibility to receive this fabled prize – if they make it back alive.

Now the students of the Grand Academy gather their supplies, make their groups, and mark the days until their departure. Even as those envious of this one chance whisper behind their backs, it is acknowledged that many of those venturing so far from home may never return.

Welcome to the Reforged Saga! The Reforged Saga is a fantasy RP set in the Geneforge universe. Geneforge is a fantasy RPG produced by the indie developer Spiderweb Software. The Reforged Saga takes place after the events of Geneforge 5, the last installment of the 5-part game series. It should be noted that Geneforge was a game of choices, meaning that there were several very descriptive and well-illustrated endings for players to choose from.

The Reforged Saga takes place nearly two centuries after the events of Geneforge 5, which was for the purposes of this RP and not necessarily canon in any endings of Geneforge 5, concluded with the Shattering. In a similar fashion there will be some expansions on what was possible in that universe, pending what is necessary to the RP.

The Reforged Saga will be a long-term RP with multiple Acts and Episodes that will chronicle the journey of the characters as they explore new lands and face new challenges, uncovering arcane lore and perhaps making a bit of their own. This thread is for Prologue: Great Expectations.

Great Expectations takes place in the swampland of Machit, primarily in the city of Issei and the Grand Academy. Here characters will be students of the Grand Academy who are preparing to set out on their journey beyond the borders of their homeland. Characters will form their groups*, plan their travels, prepare for the coming trials, and navigate the political waters of the ambitions of other students – and their teachers. This will be mostly a school RP, though the players will be focusing on developing their characters and preparing for the next Act. Mechanically, Great Expectations will introduce players to the Geneforge universe and help to explain its subtleties as well as lay the groundwork for future interactions.

* There will likely only be one group, in which all players will be. Additional groups may be permitted if there are enough players. This does, however, not mean that players have to start out their characters as planning to group with other players. They may initially plan to group with NPCs and even have loyalties to other groups, but they will end up with other players’ characters.


The World of Reforged

Locations

The Grand Academy

The Grand Academy is the center of learning in Issei and its satellite villages and the seat of power of Thorin’s Council, the ruling body of all the Known World within the Great Magic Barrier. A towering structure of stone, the Academy begins on Issei’s southernmost border and is wider than the chief city of Thorin’s Realm. Its long walls stretch deep into the swamp and its battlements are double-edged blades, looking both out and in. Without a doubt the grandest structure in the Known World, its tallest tower is a mere four stories, but its bowels dip deep into the earth and form an endless maze of rooms and corridors. Great Shaper Doors separate every laboratory and specimen containment zone while groups of creations patrol the hallways, minding anyone who enters so that they do not disturb the delicate experiments in progress. It is here that the people are educated and here that the secrets of the Shapers are furthered. Within its walls more than anywhere else, the authority of Thorin’s Council is absolute.

In the time of the Shaper Council, the road to becoming a Shaper was long and often excruciating. Prospective candidates could apply from anywhere, but only the best were taken. They were shipped out to the distant outposts of the Shapers for their years of difficult training under harsh circumstances. If they survived without being dismissed they would then be sent to a proper academy for further training. Following this, the survivors would be placed under the tutelage of a seasoned Shaper who they would follow and serve until the Shaper determined that they were prepared to take the Shaper Oath and ascend into the godhood only offered by Shapers.

Times have changed. Thorin’s Council does not rule over even a tenth of the territory that its predecessor did and has even less Shapers than that. The Shattering, and the Rebellion before it, have reinforced the principles that guided the Shaper Council which had before just been mere theory. While Shaper quality may not have been a significant factor in the fall of the old order, Thorin’s Council knows that it was neglect and some turncoats that brought the world to chaos. Thus they created a new way of raising Shapers.

In a very real way, Thorin’s Council is much more interested in not making Shapers than making them. There is no set path to becoming a Shaper as before, nor much more than guiding principles. Many who have sought to become Shapers over the years have not been turned away from the path so much as never be given the proper training or the offer to be made one. Much of the formula has become pleasing the will of the Council until they decide to make one a Shaper. The result is essentially a prolonged stage of being a graduate student and hoping that the Council will save one from an internship void.

This is not to say that Thorin’s Council does this out of cruelty or a desire to hoard their power. In reality the Council very much wants to swell its ranks. The only problem is that they have to ensure that those who are raised comprise of the qualities of a Shaper: a cool and calm demeanor necessary to manage creations coupled with the power to keep the order and the wisdom to know when to use that power. Shapers are expected to be able to operate on their own, far from support and in the midst of their enemies. They must know how to present a united, perfected front to outsiders at all times, no matter how vehemently they disagree with their fellow Shapers. Those who bear the mantle of a Shaper must be able to charm their friends and allies and terrify their opponents such that violence is a true last resort; they must be resourceful. And above all, Shapers must adhere to Shaper Law and enforce it wherever they go.

This is why the challenge offered to the students is simultaneously an opportunity and a practical test to see who will qualify. The Council will weed out the weak, the corruptible, and the malicious while gathering those valuable enough to save and information about places outside their domain. For students, it is an opportunity to prove their worth to the Council without spending years inside the Academy as a graduate student.

Although the Grand Academy is the center of Shaping and where anyone wishing to become a Shaper must go, it is not its sole purpose. Thorin’s Council requires that all individuals within its realm attend the Grand Academy at some point in their lifetime. As most people are simply too poor and Thorin’s Council holds the bulk of wealth and the control of wealth in the realm anyways, all students attend the Grand Academy for free for as long as they stay. As such, students come from all over the realm to obtain their education.

As a rule, the Grand Academy will teach anyone anything except for Shaping. Everything from basic literacy lessons to advanced math and mechanics, from swordsmanship classes to magic instruction are available for those with the capacity to learn. Lessons are generally open and taught to anyone who walks into the classroom for the day. The teachers are usually graduate students, but can be outsiders if the Academy requires it. Advanced curriculum is usually taught by Shapers, as nobody else can match a Shaper in anything. Throughout it all, the importance of Shaper Law is drummed into the students at every opportunity.

Most students attend the Grand Academy starting between twelve to fourteen years old, though many families send them before then. Students will be assigned to a ‘class’ which usually consists of a four year age range. Students within a class are all expected to graduate together when the oldest wave of students reaches eighteen. If all members are not ready by then, the entire class is held back from graduating.

Once students have graduated they are free to make their way into the world as they please. Most will return to their homes, taking with them the knowledge they have obtained in order to settle down and enrich their communities. Some will remain at the Academy, either pursuing a life as a Shaper or else just expanding their knowledge. A select few may actually obtain Shaperhood.

The Grand Academy is split between its surface and underground sections.

Surface: The Academy occupies a position south of Issei. Its massive walls of solid stone rise two stories and are manned around the clock by patrols of creations and the occasional Shaper. A great moat encases the outer walls with a river that flows from the south-east splitting around it, separating the outer walls from the inner walls as well as it does from the main land. A series of drawbridges allow the river to be crossed. Within the inner walls exists the dormitories, the primary medical station, defense creation stables, the primary mess halls, and the Council Chambers among other things. Thorin’s Tower, the highest structure in the Academy, stands at the very center, a great courtyard before it.

Sub-surface: The bulk of the Academy exists underground. This is not merely an architectural decision: it is a matter of security. In the days of the Shaper Council, much of the experimental work done and the training of Shaper aspirants took place on islands far from the main population centers. Even on those islands, which usually had populations of their own, Shaping centers were held in isolated areas. The reason is simple: if something went wrong, the results could be catastrophic. If rogue creations could not be defeated, or if the Shapers simply couldn’t be bothered, the areas could be abandoned.

Thorin’s Council has no such real estate luxuries. The swamp only permits a limited number of places to live, let alone do research, yet research could not be stopped or else the Shapers would lose their purpose. The only solution was to create a structure large enough to house all types of experiments at once and contain them for disposal if something went wrong. The result is that the Academy was built with dozens to hundreds of rooms underground, possibly making it the largest structure ever conceived of by the Shapers. Each room and hallway segment can be sealed and the river above permitted some to be flooded. It also allows people to get lost at their leisure.


Other Locations

The most sprawling city – and the only city – in Marchit, Issei is home to more than half the population, human and creation, that lives under the rule of Thorin’s Council. The city is a vast collection of stone, brick, and wood buildings that form trade lanes, marketplaces, and residential areas. Everything outside of Shaping is practiced here from music, literature, and the arts to sport and games.

Like most cities before the Shattering, Issei possesses different tiers of living. To every direction but the south, the outermost limits are made up of farms and ranches. These agricultural lands provide nearly every food product required by the population. The plants and animals – particularly ornks – are Shaped by the Shapers who are assigned to oversee them while the labor is generally done by the vast population of serviles under the watchful eyes of human overseers.

The second tier of Issei is separated from the first by distance and walls. The walls themselves are made of brick and mortar and occasionally stone. Creations patrol the area from vast stables that lie in the shadow of the inner part of the wall. Guardhouses manned by Shapers and Shaper-trained humans keep an eye on the creations while the creations keep order on the roads and walls. A deep, stagnant moat separates the outer lands from the walls. Though the walls have never been breached – indeed they have never been attacked since their construction – routine patrols are kept and aspiring and veteran guards are occasionally made to play the part of attackers to reveal possible weaknesses.

After the walls and creation stables comes the third tier, which is the visitors’ and pleasure quarters. This part of Issei consists of lively taverns, massive inns, and seedy pleasure houses. Though there are more of these places further into the city, the third tier is where you will find the majority of these places – and their customers. Known as the roughest part of the city no matter the time of day or night, the third tier is as far as most people go for their adventures. It is also the place where travelers get their first taste of the city.

The fourth and fifth tiers consist of the trade lanes and the residential areas. It is here that the majority of the city population lives and works. Smiths, merchants, bankers, and artisans all call this part of Issei home and some do not venture outside of its vast confines. Virtually anything that is not Shaping can be found here for a price.

The Citadel of Issei stands against the back south walls of the city. A massive complex of stone surrounded by a moat and outer and inner walls, the Citadel is rivaled in sophistication only by the Grand Academy itself. It is the nominal seat of Thorin’s Council, though they rarely go there. Vast spires top guard towers interspaced between strongly built walls that are worked with the mysterious magic runes of the Shapers and covered in specialized turrets. Creation stables watched over by specialized Shapers maintain some of the most dangerous creations that the Shapers are willing to make. Behind all its defenses, the foreboding and intimidating figure of the Citadel rises up to the sky.


Machit is a sprawling collection of swamps and marshlands which are typically covered in fog and mist when not drenched in torrents of rain. Stretching for as far as the eye can see even on the rare clear day, Machit is the realm within which Thorin’s Council rules over Issei and its satellite villages, making them the owners of a watery maze of channels and isolated landmasses. Only Shaper magic permits people to live in such numbers in the face of such a difficult environment, for only Shapers can make the plants necessary to support large populations. It is for this reason that few people live outside of Issei.

Another reason for living in Issei is the danger. The swamp is also home to small populations of dangerous rogues which the Shapers cannot be bothered to clear out completely. Though the Great Magic Barrier which forms the border of the realm of Thorin’s Council has never been breached, rogues already existed within the limits when it was established. Waves of Shaper kill teams have cleared out the most deadly, but for non-Shapers, any kind of rogue can be lethal. Some believe that the Shapers purposefully left some creatures to thrive in order to make the population reliant on Shaper protection.

The Great Magic Barrier marks the end of Shaper rule in Machit, though it only contains what many believe to be a fraction of the swamp’s total area. A series of fortified stone guardposts enclose and protect the powerful rune-covered pylons that make up the Magic Barrier. It creates an invisible resonance field that repels creations at a distance or else emits powerful volleys of energized essence bolts to destroy anything that ventures too close. While it is not forbidden for people to come and go through the Magic Barrier, few who have ever walked beyond its protection have returned to tell the tale.


Notable Settlements in Machit

A moderately-sized mining village near the north-western border of the Great Magic Barrier, Assence is the furthest village from Issei and the closest to that protective network. Renowned for its vast iron mine and the skill of its ironworks, Assence is considered of great importance to Thorin’s Council. However, it is this same renown that earns it a fierce rivalry with Tarin, the only other major iron producer within the Magic Barrier.

A mining village to the south-east of Issei, Tarin has a number of valuable mines including, to its residents’ resentment, the second-best iron mine in Machit. This fact drives a fierce rivalry with Assence which, though it only has an iron mine, outdoes Tarin in its ironworks.

A mining town, Yuushin is the only known location of a crystal mine in Machit. The mine makes Yuushin, otherwise an unremarkable village west of Issei, a frequent destination for merchants and Shapers alike. There is no more traveled route or more protected town in all of Machit. The well-laid travel path splits before reaching Issei, one going to the city and the other going directly to the Grand Academy. The village is often viewed with a mixture of reverence and suspicion for the presence of so valuable a material. However, the presence of crystals has grown the town such as to make it the second-largest settlelment in under the watch of Thorin’s Council.

A farming village east of Issei, Laubem is notable merely for existing as a farming settlement far from the city. As it, like all other agricultural settlements, relies on Shaper techniques to manage the land and grow the crops, many wonder why they should bother going so far away. A taste of the local distilled drink that is unique to the village dispels any reservations about permitting its continued existence though.


Shaper Society



http://rs1013.pbsrc.com/albums/af255/Raiydar/G417.jpg~c200
Pictured: The Shaper Council and One of the Five in the later years of the Rebellion.

The Shaper Council was a body made up of the three strongest representatives of the three Shaper classes for a total of nine members. Each member was voted in by their respective class and maintained their interests there. Their duty to the Shapers was to proscribe the laws and maintain the traditions that bound Shapers, outsiders, and creations. Though some Shapers took an active role in controlling the day-to-day lives of the people in the cities and settlements they oversaw, the Shaper Council rarely concerned itself with such mundane matter. Their main focus was on making sure that the Shapers obeyed the law. Though they were slow to make decisions, the Shaper Council’s rulings were iron and their mercies none too tender, a fact that earned the ire of many Shapers and the fear of all others. By the later years of the Rebellion four of the nine had been killed, though one was replaced. It is unknown how many of the six that remained at the time of the Shattering survived.

Thorin’s Council is the ruling body of Issei and all her satellite villages. Though their realm is a fraction of what the Shapers previously owned, the Council maintains many of the traditions and laws of the Shaper Council before it. Like its predecessor, the Council concerns itself with both mundane and Shaper matters, though it places a great deal more emphasis on the former than the Shaper Council had. The Council is made up of six members, but the authority of each is much less balanced than the Shaper Council before it. The majority of authority lies in the hand of the Shaper class due to Thorin herself.

Though the Shapers used magic in creation not all magic was their concern. Shaper Law dictated that, while individuals should be careful in studying arcane lore, there were no restrictions on the study of magic itself, so long as no Shaping was involved. As a result portions of the population were free to learn magic without the interference of the Shapers – so long as they used that power wisely.

In Issei magic is a deeply studied matter, even for Shapers. The major arts were divided into three sub-categories, those being Battle Magic, Mental Magic, and Blessing Magic.

Battle Magic is the use of magic in a direct offensive capacity, ranging from fireballs to charged bolts of essence, all with the goal of eliminating enemies.


Spells:
Firebolt: Casts a ball of fire at a target, causing explosive fire damage.

Burning Spray: Casts a stream of acid at a target, eating away armor and melting flesh.

Searer: Casts a bolt of poison that infects the target and causes damage over time.

Ice Spray: Casts an icy lance that impales and freezes targets.

Lightning Aura: Surrounds a target with an electric storm, causing damage over time.

Shocking Rain: Impacts an area with an electric storm, causing damage to all in the vicinity.

Acid Shower: Spews acid over a large area.

Kill: Fires a devastating bolt of pure magic at a target.

Essence Lances: Fires electric bolts at a target.

Purifying Rain: Rains fire on an entire area to incinerating foes.

Mental Magic focuses on clouding the minds of enemies and sowing discord among their ranks.


Spells:
Daze: Confounds enemies, paralyzing them and preventing them from acting. Attacking those affected diminishes the effect.

Mindshield Aura: Increases the ability of targets to resist mental magic.

Wrack: Helps allies focus on a target, increasing their effectiveness against it.

Unlock: Unlocks nearby containers, doors, and levers.

Terror: Overwhelms a target with fear, paralyzing it or causing it to flee.

Dominate: Allows the user to exert a temporary control over a target.

Essence Shackles: Slows targets with a chance to paralyze them.

Blessing Magic improves the performance of allies and giving them protection from enemy blows. Powerful auras offer a variety of effects, though only one can be active at any one time.


Spells:
War Blessing: Increases allies’ ability to land precise blows, severing tendons and smashing organs. Also increases allies’ reaction times.

Essence Shield: Creates a powerful barrier which improves the armor of allies and provides a barrier that protects where physical armor ends.

Thorny Aura: Gives reposit to all group members, damaging enemies who come too close.

Battle Aura: Enhances and poisons the blades of all group members.

Elemental Aura: Increases resistance to magical damage (fire, cold, magic, etc.)

Battle Roar: Protects, blesses, cures, and shields every friendly creature nearby. Also cures all hostile mental effects (like charming and fear).


Other Magic
Aside from the aforementioned magical categories, there were other, more obscure forms of magic practiced both by the Shapers and other magical sects. Note that this list is does not contain all magical knowledge, but these are some that could be found taught at the Grand Academy.


Alchemy was the practice of using both magical and mundane plants and animal parts (some creations) to obtain specific effects, from curing and healing to poisoning and unpleasant bowel movements. Shapers tended to turn their noses up at alchemy in general, preferring to use magic to handle ailments. They were not alone in this. Most people during the age of the Shaper Council preferred magic over alchemy as a solution. However, with the much-reduced numbers of Shapers after the Shattering, alchemy became a wider practice, particularly in villages far from Issei.

Although Shapers did not care much for alchemy, it was an essential part of the basis of their craft. Essence, the substance of life used by the Shapers in making creations, is an alchemical mixture. This was virtually the only thing that Shapers keep an eye on when it comes to Shaping, though their interest usually is confined to making sure the results they get are good – essence is useless to outsiders who cannot Shape.



Magical Forging and Enchanting are usually used interchangeably as they both involved adding magical powers to otherwise ordinary objects that does not include typically include Shaping. Magical forging specifically refers to using magic during the forging process while enchanting refers to adding magic after the item has already been completed. As a rule of thumb, magical forging results in more powerful magic being attached to the item than enchanting does.

Both magical forging and enchanting usually involved the use of crystals as a magical conduit and energy storage. Examples of magical forging include both wands and crystal weapons. Enchanting, being a much broader practice, included everything from protective gear to weapons. Magical forging and enchanting also included the use of specific magical plants or creation parts. What material used and the quality of the material used affected the resulting powers of the item once it was completed. Of course, creation parts made the matter a concern of the Shapers.

Though few Shapers bothered themselves to make anything magical, there were a few exceptions. As Shapers often work with dangerous substances, having a good supply of protective gear against poison and acid (called vat) or electricity (called grounded) was essential during work. Other Shapers made use of magical gear that protected against such things as fire and ice when working with creations, particularly fyora and their cousins the cryora. Besides this, Shapers also occasionally made Shaped materials, a sort of enchanting and one of the few enchantments that outdid magical forging.


Runecraft is the act of utilizing runes as a method of magical storage and release. They can be used to create traps for enemies or protect vital areas. Shapers usually use runes as a form of magical alarm system, alerting them when someone trespasses into an area, or on weapons and armor as advanced magical protection. However, they also use runes to ward an area against enemies, as with the Great Magic Barrier that borders the region controlled by Thorin’s Council. The art of runecraft, unlike other non-Shaping magic, is now virtually unknown outside of the Shapers as most knowledge was lost after the Shattering. Even so, the practice of runecraft was rarely used by outsiders before the Shattering, as few were powerful enough to create runes.

Shapers almost never married. Most Shapers considered the practice of marriage to be quaint but not very useful, especially in the pursuit of their research. Similarly, serviles, the Shapers’ most sociable creations of intellect, did not practice marriage. However, both the Shapers and the serviles were known to take partners, sometimes for life.

Among outsiders marriage remained an emotional and economic component, though the Shapers rarely paid any heed to the social arrangements of the lower classes, so long as they did not interfere in Shaper work or violate Shaper Law. As such, very little is known about how marriage worked, though it was included under Shaper Law.

As the fabled Saphira of legend pointed out about her own kind, those with great power rarely held beliefs in greater powers, as they were regarded as gods themselves by lesser creatures. So too was it true of the Shapers before the Rebellion and through much of that tumultuous struggle until the Shattering. For most Shapers there was no greater religion than their fanatical, and sometimes frantic, adherence to and enforcement of Shaper Law.

In the time after the Shattering a pseudo-philosophy emerged called the Legend of the Five. The Fire were known to have been Shapers, not true gods, but that does not stop many in Issei and Machit from regarding their legend with almost the same fanatical devotion of some Shapers regard Shaper Law. Three truths exist about the belief in the Legend of the Five. First, little is actually known about the Shapers. Their names, gender, and alignment during the Rebellion in which they made their legend have all been lost. Second, though they all had hands in the Rebellion, their collective legend is actually five separate legends; though their fates are unknown, no record of them ever meeting exists. Third, they commanded unnatural power, even for Shapers.

As a philosophy, many adherents debate the merits of the little known about the Five, holding that they were examples of the best Shapers, who are in turn far above all others. This interpretation usually holds that they accomplished feats of great magnanimity during their lifetimes. Some, notably outsiders, argue that the Legend of the Five describes individuals who never existed and the Legend is merely a reinforcement of Shaper superiority. Others, including the mighty Thorin, are not so sure.

Outside of the Shapers the concept of gods is not a lost thing. Even in the golden era of Shaper dominance there were local beliefs in deities beyond the power of the Shapers. Some attempted to challenge Shaper authority and were crushed while other limped on through the centuries of Shaper control. The Shattering saw the isolation of many villages, leading a rise in these beliefs, though the villages under Thorin’s Council quickly fell back under a shadow similar to the one projected by the Shaper Council before it.

In their time, the Shapers were the most secretive, most powerful, and most feared of all the magical sects. Their power to create life made their cities industrious and their prowess on the battlefield unmatched. That is, until the Rebellion.

The Shapers were made up of three classes, though all were referred to as Shapers by outsiders. Those classes were the Guardian, the Agent, and the Shaper. While training in Issei is limited for those who wish to pursue the Shaping craft, the classes remain as one can only learn so much in their life. So too should one be wary of what path they take. The classes were resurrected in Issei, though there are only a few examples of each in the population. Special training was provided for students who declared their paths.


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The Guardian was the strong arm of the Shapers. Well-trained, heavily armed and armored, the Guardian was a terrible sight on the battlefield for any foolish enough to challenge the Shapers. In youth they served as seconds to more senior Guardians. Later they would take to the field themselves, leading younger Guardians and armies of powerful creations. In their elder years, when a Guardian becomes tired of the field of battle or infirm beyond healing, they retire as formidable generals and military advisors, unmatched in their understanding of strategy, tactics, and logistics even during the years of the Rebellion.

Combat Skills: Strong
Magic Skills: Weak
Shaping Skills: Average


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The Agent was the poisoned underhand blade of the Shapers. Often lightly armored, Agents relied on stealth, speed, and magic. The most powerful spellcasters of all Shapers, Agents served under the moonlight, striking when and where the enemy least expected it. Operating individually or in small groups, Agents infiltrated behind enemy lines and, occasionally, within enemy ranks to conduct sabotage campaigns that saw leaders assassinated, defenses weakened, and morale undermined. A long tradition, senior Agents would often teach the younger ranks their craft, ever bringing fear to the enemies of the Shapers on moonless nights.

Combat Skills: Average
Magic Skills: Strong
Shaping Skills: Weak


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The Shaper was the backbone of the Shapers and what give them their name and power. Though usually the most physically frail when compared to the other Shaper classes, underestimating a Shaper was the most lethal, and often last, mistake an enemy could make. With nothing but the knowledge in their minds, essence under their fingers, and the magic imbued in their bodies, Shapers could make armies rise and cities fall. Vast numbers of creations of every shape and size and purpose bowed when Shapers passed and trembled when they went to march. They wielded nothing more or less than the power of gods.

Combat Skills: Weak
Magic Skills: Average
Shaping Skills: Strong

Before the Shattering, most outsiders, the name given to any non-Shaper, non-creation, regarded the Shapers with a mixture of fear and respect. Shapers were the backbone of civilization and the ultimate rulers of all the Known World. This meant that all people, Shapers included, must abide by their laws. These laws were created by the Shaper Council and typically addressed mundane matters. However, for full Shapers, who were above many laws in many ways, Shaper Law referred to the guiding principles that underlay their power and prevented them from destroying themselves.

Thorin’s Council holds strongly to the ways of the Shaper Council before it and has resurrected many of the old laws. Of course, only the Council and a few select individuals in Issei can Shape in any form, meaning that many of the laws are redundant for common people. However, with the coming of the offer to make new Shapers, every student was expected to learn and memorize the Shaper Laws. Some are fragmentary, though the reason for this is unclear. What is clear is that the penalty for breaking Shaper Law when it comes to Shaping has not changed in the slightest: death, swift and unmerciful.

1. All Shapers must, without undue delay and with no moral or mental reservations, engage in the observance, teaching, preservation, and execution of all Shaper Law at all times, and must, if necessary, lay the framework for the continued observance, teaching, preservation, and execution of all Shaper Law after one’s death.

2. No Shaper may reveal the secrets of the Shapers to any non-Shaper who is not a declared acolyte of the Shapers. Shaper secrets are hereby defined as the craft of Shaping and all of its associate processes.

3. All rogue creations, hereby defined as creations that do not obey the Shapers and observe Shaper Law, must be destroyed without undue delay.

4. The creation of drayks or any of its offspring, be it other drayks or creations of the making of its kind, are henceforth banned.

5. No Shaper may make any creation capable of creating other creations.

6. No Shaper may use any means to Shape themselves or anything or anybody of intellect.

7. No Shaper may deal with those demons that exist beyond the mortal realms except to see the return of these creatures to their nether realm.

8. No Shaper may perform necromancy or disturb the dead except to return the dead to their slumber.

Shapers create life. The creatures they create are collectively called creations. These artificial life forms are made when a Shaper takes the essence of a creature and bombards it with magical energy. The results are typically unstable messes that would die off naturally due to their own instability. By carefully documenting each change observed in subsequent specimens, the Shapers compile ways to make life.

There is no theoretically nothing that Shapers cannot make life to do. From pets to cuddle with beside home fireplaces to creatures of labor to beasts of war, Shapers can make life suitable for just about any purpose and just about any environment.

Creations are typically bound to obey their creators by powerful magic and, occasionally, more mundane means of taming. However, especially during the Shaping process, this is not always true. Unstable creations may turn against their masters, earning themselves the names of rogues. Under Shaper Law, there are few worse offenses than creating a rogue that cannot be controlled. Shaper Law dictates that any creations made that cannot be controlled must be destroyed immediately.

The following are known or common creations:

Giant rats are exactly what they sound like. They are also a fabulous example of why the Shapers hold onto their secrets so tightly. Once there was no such thing as giant rats. Then some clumsy Shaper let one or two loose from containment and now there are. While Shaper techniques continually improved crop production without depleting the land, the giant rat eroded chances for a new golden age.


http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/images/geneforge2/golem.jpgMassive creations, golems are creations made of some of the trickiest Shaping ever conceived, mechanical understanding beyond most Shapers, and great slabs of solid stone. Extremely rare, golems are usually used as heavy guards in compact quarters where their lack of a ranged offensive ability is offset by their excellent skill in punching things into gritty paste. Though partially creations, many Shapers argue that they are not creations at all and maintain that the Kyshakk is the most armored of the Shapers’ servants. Whether or not that is true, it is true that most Shapers had little interest in making golems during the era of the Shaper Council.

Massive livestock with the body of a cow, the features of a pig, and pink skin all around, ornks provide much of the milk, meat, and hides that drive the lowest rungs of Shaper society. Made to be suitable to virtually any environment, ornks are often overseen by servile caretakers as they live their lives grazing before slaughter. Like serviles, ornks are typically bred naturally after the initial generation is made, on account of their value-to-cost measurement.

Appearing to be much like a human skull attached to a small pig’s body, servant minds are one of the most useful of Shaper creations. Once grown, servant minds are placed in the trays which they spend the rest of their lives in. Intelligent creatures, servant minds are usually tasked to perform such roles as directing servile labor or screening individuals who wish to pass a sealed door. They also provide information and advice for Shapers who require it. As creatures of great intelligence that are occasionally provided the ability to enable powerful defenses, servant minds are bred with a strong sense of loyalty and obedience to Shapers. Even during the Rebellion many chose to die rather than betray their creators. That is, of course, assuming that they had a choice in the first place.

Serviles are probably the greatest creation of the Shapers... and their greatest bane. Typical serviles stand at about chest height to a human, though part of this may be due to having hunched backs both naturally and from a lifetime of hard labor. They often wear hooded clothes, obscuring view of their faces, never meeting the eyes of their owners. However, a notable feature they possess is an elongated nose, much like that of an elephant.

Serviles were made by the Shapers to handle menial tasks such as farm work and basic mercantile. Unlike most other creations made by the Shapers, serviles possess a rudimentary level of intelligence. They are capable (if taught) of speech and understanding basic instructions, though it may take a firm and active hand to guide their labor. They were bred to be loyal to the Shapers and totally obedient.

However, as any student at the Grand Academy who paid any attention to the extensive lessons on the Rebellion knows, it was the docile servile that started that terrible war. Where and when the first serviles rebelled against their masters is unknown, but it is known that they were part of the ringleaders of the Rebellion up until the Shattering.

Both during the war and still today in Issei some serviles remained loyal to the Shapers. Though the Rebellion is far behind them Thorin’s Council still teaches vigilance with the serviles lest their child-like intelligence spur another great war. For most people looking at the serviles, many of whom could not dress properly without direction, the thought that they might rebel seems ridiculous.

Fungi like their turret cousins, the surface-dwelling spore mines are designed to explode when things without permission to cross over them attempt to do so. Distinguishable for the sensor that protrudes from the center of their round, dinner-plate sized bodies, the leaning of a spore mine can be told by whether the sensor points towards an approaching individual or not. Those that it does would do best keeping clear.

Like defense pylons, turrets are used to guard secrets and keep things from passing areas, no matter the direction they are heading. Essentially massive fungi towers topped with a bulbous head that launches thorns, turrets can be programmed to ignore certain targets, meaning that areas can be tailored to allow some to pass. However, those without permission to pass are quickly met by deadly volleys of high-velocity thorns that can puncture armor and poison wounds.



Not dissimilar from apes with the statures of men, thad are made for light guard work and hard labor. Usually standing head and shoulders above normal humans most Thad specimens are hairy and none to clean. In combat, thad lack any sort of ranged ability and so settle for punching anything within reach. Possessing a relatively small brain, Thad are none too bright and are easily intimidated when faced with a full Shaper. Regular humans are not so lucky.


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Essentially massive scorpions, clawbugs never cease growing and can feasibly grow until their claws could snap a human in half with one swipe. Although clawbugs were made to be suitable for any environment they are most often found in deserts and near rock formations where they use their formidable claws to dig burrows. Woe to the unfortunate traveler who takes refuge in these places, for the armor of the clawbug is notoriously thick and can repel many normal weapons while their stingers can punch through armor and poison their prey.


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The Battle series, starting with Alpha, are humanoid creatures that fulfil the same role as thads, though they are mostly hairless and twice as strong. Capable of pummeling most enemies into gritty paste, Battle series creations are only ever called upon in times of great need for though they are little brighter than their thad cousins, they are difficult to control if there is not a full Shaper present.


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The hideous result of experimentation done by the drayks and their servile allies during the early years of the Rebellion, rotgharoths are less creations so much as towering corpses. Their appearances are generally those of abnormally tall humanoids, sometimes twice the height of humans, whose skin was peeled away so that the flesh beneath began to rot. A toxic cloud of poison follows where they pass and their hands spread acid on whatever they touch. Unlike other humanoid creations, it is impossible to say if rotghroths are intelligent, for they attack whatever they see and their prey has to either fight or die; conversation is not an option.

War thralls appear to be more or less like the ogres of legend. Pudgy in appearance, their bulk is all grey-hide bound muscle and they put it to good use, carrying around boulders in slings which they hurl at their enemies. A product of Shaper research put into service during the latter years of the Rebellion, war thralls are the only Battle Shaping creations who use a ranged attack as their primary mode of engagement. However, many a foolish Rebel quickly found that they are still more than capable in close quarters.



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The fyora is a (generally) bipedal fire-breathing lizard, typically of some hue of red. They vary in height, sometimes not meeting a person’s knee and other times matching the average human height. Fyora are usually kept as basic security creatures, watching doors and so forth, though they have also been known to be used as pets for their docile and easily controlled behavior.

In combat, fyora are noted for their speed and ferocity though their bright hide makes it difficult for them to blend in to surrounding environments. They typically will attack at a distance with fireballs that erupt from their mouths, though they are quite capable with grappling with foes, especially humans, at close range with tooth and claw.

Cryora are the blue-scaled, iceball-breathing cousins of the Fyora. They were made for colder climates and typically are more physically powerful than their fire-breathing cousins, though their icy blasts and make popsicles of anyone at a distance.


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Appearing to be much like a monkey that travels on four legs with the head of a dog, roamers serve as the next tier of civil order keepers. Typically brown-furred, roamers possess a lethal combination of acidic spittle for use at long range and sharp teeth at close range. Neither as dull as thads nor as cunning as some other creations, roamers are frequently found patrolling under the direction of vlish, which use their mental magic to keep the creatures under control.


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Drayks are winged lizards with bodies like blocks of muscle and bone. A fire-breathing species, drayks could range in size from chest-height to a human to head-and-shoulders above them with bodies the size of tanks. Unlike fyoras, drayks are usually slow-moving, implacable foes on the battlefield. However, it is not their ferocious nature or ability to spit fireballs or fly that make drayks so dangerous. It is their intelligence.

Drayks were banned by the Shaper Council long before the Rebellion. They feared that the cunning creatures would eventually lead to the overthrow of the Shapers’ order. Edicts went out that all Shapers were barred from making them and any existing drayks were to be destroyed. Many were, but some successfully fled.

Ultimately, the Shaper Council’s dark predictions proved true. Though it was the serviles who first rebelled, it was the drayks who helped give them power. Serviles could be mighty in close combat, but they could not Shape; drayks could. United by their common goal, the drayks led the creation of the mighty drakons from their own stock, which ultimately led to the spread of the Rebellion.

Cryodrayks are larger versions of their cousins, though they breathe ice instead of fire and have blue hides instead of green.

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Similar in appearance to a hornless rhino with a mountain ride on its back, the tan-colored kyshakk is no more or less a mobile platform of destruction. Made by the Shapers during the closing years of their struggle against the Rebels, the kyshakk was a rushed response to the terrible creatures unleashed by the Rebellion. Slow and implacable on the battlefield, what the kyshakk lacked in close quarters ferocity was more than made up by the ability to cast devastating bolts of lightning from their mouths, leveling buildings and incinerating foes with ease. The most armored of all creations, kyshakk could take an enormous amount of punishment before succumbing to the rigors of war.


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The greatest of the mistakes ever made by the drayks, the drakon were creatures of near-unrivaled power. Made from drayk stock, the drakons were towering monstrosities with the heads of dragons and the winged bodies of lizard-men. Typically bipedal where their drayk ancestors were quadrupedal, the drakons were notorious for their arrogance and their power. Capable of molding life with their bare claws, the drakons created many horrors during the Rebellion, seeking not to just throw off the shakes of Shaper rule, but to utterly remake the world in their own image.


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The Unbound are the ultimate example of why the Shapers hold so closely their secret craft. Made by the drakons during the Rebellion, the Unbound typically appeared to be drakons with translucent skin that revealed fluid interiors that glowed white with light. The truth was that the Unbound were simply mobile containers of unstable power, ready to be unleashed upon anything that crossed their path. Not content to fight the Shapers on their own terms, the drakons created the Unbound and simply set them loose upon the world to destroy everything. And they did.



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Worm-like creations, artila share much of their appearance with massive versions of venomous pythons. This is an apt comparison, for the physically frail artila primarily attacks its prey with acid from afar and is too frail to engage an enemy in close range.


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Resembling squid, vlish are used by the Shapers as mobile command and control platforms. Though a vlish cannot fight well in melee, it is capable to casting clouds of poison to slow and debilitate its foes. Some are even capable to inspiring fear in their enemies or forcing other creations to switch sides. When given a pack of lesser creatures like roamers, vlish can conduct patrols by providing direction and ranged support.


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Glaahk are some of the more strange creations of the Shapers – and the more terrifying. Like Battle series creations, glaahk are only called upon for truly devastating attacks against the foes of the Shapers, lending a literal sting to the attacks that can melt away armor and eviscerate flesh even as it slows the target.


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Made by the Shapers during the closing years of the Rebellion, the wingbolt may be physically weak, but it moves quickly and can easily overwhelm most targets with its tail-fired bolts of pure magical energy.


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Gazers are some of the most terrible creations of the Rebellion. Like their lesser cousins, the vlish, gazers were made to help control large numbers of lesser creations. However, like the drayks that birthed them, the Gazers were strong and willful. These creatures largely rebelled against their own creators, though they did not submit to the Shapers. Most gazers spent the war playing their own side, drawing in lesser creatures to do their bidding for them.

Healing Craft is exactly what it sounds like: the use of magic to heal afflictions on individuals. However, Healing Craft is not solely the realm of magic. Repairing the damage done to a living creature, be it Shaper, human, or creation, requires the use of essence. As such, the Healing Craft falls under Shaping and is so one of the primary concerns of Shapers. It is arguably also one of the most regulated, as Healing Craft is notorious for being dangerously close to Shaping individuals. Like all other Shaping, Healing Craft requires both spell energy and essence to work and is cast as a spell. Just as with all other spells, the effectiveness of a cast spell depends on the skill and knowledge of the caster, as well as their innate power.

Healing: Heals physical afflictions including cuts, scrapes, and bruising, both inside and out.

Cure Affliction: Eliminates harmful effects including mental effects, slowing, and curses.

Essence Infusion: Increases the physical resistance of a target, causing deep gashes to become cuts and reducing blows that would cause internal bleeding to mere bruising. As the name suggests, this requires a great deal of essence to work.


General gear, ranging from simple clothes to wargear, was usually made from common materials such as cotton or metals like bronze or iron. Most outsiders were forced to make due with basic technology with little help from the Shapers. However, there are some notable exceptions; things that might find their way into the hands of the people or things they might encounter.


Crystals (Material): Mined in the depths of the world, crystals are a vital part of any magical endeavor. Ranging from the ubiquitous rough crystal to the coveted flawless crystal and covering a range of colors (though usually green), crystals provide for magic users both a source and a storage for magical energy for use in both combat and magic. Indeed, they are so valuable that the Shapers strictly controlled the flow of crystal and commandeered control of any mines, taking the largest and most flawless examples for themselves in the pursuit of Shaping.

Essence: The semi-living blue goop from which the Shapers create life, essence is part nutrient material and part magic. Though closely tied with their secretive art, Shapers have little problem with outsiders owning it; it isn’t something that they can make use of anyways. It is even known for Shapers to contract outsiders to made the collect and assemble the basis for essence in the same ways thorn batons and living tools are sometimes grown by outsiders in order to free Shapers from such mundane tasks. The results are often lesser than if a Shaper oversaw the creation, but it rarely interferes with research.

Magic Items: Made from material charged with magical energy, these items provide enhancements for their users ranging from surer combat abilities to mental focusing. A very few can aid in the art of Shaping and those few are generally regulated by the Shapers, but most magic items are of no concern to the Shapers.

Shaped Items: Half-living lifeforms bred into materials by a combination of potent magic and essence Shaping, these enhancements afford the users weapons that can aid in combat and armor that is stronger possesses an ability to self-repair. Of course, only Shapers are permitted to make such materials, though any may wear them.


Box Mines: Mechanical versions of spore mines, box mines are stand-alone instruments that do not rely on spores for commands. Unlike spore mines, they can contain a variety of nasty surprises for trespassers that range from elemental damage to unleashing creations from inside. However, where spore mines detonate immediately on contact, box mines take longer to detonate. While this rarely allows a target the time to escape, it does give a window for them to disable the surface-dwelling mine. If, that is, their mechanics skill is high enough and they move fast enough.

Crystal Triggers: Another use of crystal, crystal triggers are magically tuned to effect nearby traps. They may detonate a field of spore mines or sound an alarm to draw guard creations to combat intruders. Some crystal triggers can be disabled like box mines, but not all. They typically appear as translucent spikes of crystal placed on the ground.

Crystals (Weapon): Some mined crystals are turned towards military applications. These crystals are carefully carved and charged with magical energy. The result is a single-use magical items that can be hurled at enemies with devastating effects that range from simple explosions of fire to eviscerating bolts of lightning. These are often used by those who go into conflict without a working knowledge of spellcraft, but an excellent throwing arm.

Living Tools: Essentially a mass of purple tentacles at the end of a long living body, living tools are the best friends of anyone with limited mechanical skill. They can be used to affect repairs, pick locks, and even break enchanted seals on chests and other containers. Though originally Shaped, most living tools are several generations down, being bred by those taught by the Shapers. Of course, some living tools do not survive that long, as using one for any purpose tends to kill the creature.

Thorn Batons: Perhaps the most ingenious weapon ever created by the Shapers outside of Shaped Materials. Ancient texts from the earliest Shapers recall some barbarian humans using “twigs cast from bent twigs” to engage foes at range. Whatever that strange craft was, it was quickly replaced by the use of thorn batons. Half-inanimate object, half-living creature, thorn batons use a series of pressurized air sacs within the creature to launch a variety of thorns at incredible speeds with a simple squeeze. When matched with their appropriate baton, these thorns can carry death in the form of acid, poison, and even pure magical power. In spite of being a Shaped creature that requires careful breeding, Shapers neither regulate their breeding nor their use, so long as they are not used against Shaper Law. However, Shaping new batons is another matter altogether. Most thorn batons must be reloaded after every six shots.

Wands: Similar to crystal weapons, wands are magically charged weapons. Typically limited to six uses before depletion, wands are made from mined crystals, a stick, and special herbs. The type of herb dictates the effect of the wand while the quality of the materials affects the damage it can deal and its longevity. Like crystals, wands are typically used by those with little understanding of spells, but a great understanding of missile-based weaponry and a need for something stronger than a standard thorn baton.


Control Panels: Shaping generally requires the complex use of vast amounts of purified essence, magic, and energy drawn from crystal formations as well as complicated machinery. In order to manage all of this, the Shapers created control panels. Living organisms sealed within stone shells, control panels could be attuned to any number of functions and enabled Shapers to control vast complexes. However, in addition to Shaping, they required an understanding of Mechanics, a skill that eluded many Shapers immersed in their art. They typically look like a mass of knobs and levers.

Defense Pylons: Shaper research was dangerous and Shapers often jealously guarded their secrets, as much from each other as outsiders. Defense Pylons are the highest example of that drive. While some Shapers preferred to use patrolling creations in their complexes, others made use of these half-living immobile pillars of destruction. Made from crystals charged with essence and magical energy, defense pylons were controlled by minor creations whose only function was to recognize who needed blasting with their powerful waves of pure magic and who didn’t. Few who were on the former end lived to tell the tale.

Most doors are simple constructions of wood and metal hinges, even if they are imbued with magical runes and enchantments. Of course, such frail materials will not do for Shapers, meaning that they require something more capable of keeping things out – and keeping things in. Additionally, many Shapers feel that they should not be bothered by the act of opening doors themselves; such things are beneath them. Shaper doors are the result.

Generally made of slabs of solid stone or walls of tightly-bound bricks, Shaper doors are special for being alive. Or rather, the creature that controls them is alive. A plant made of Shaping, these docile creatures can sense and distinguish individuals, determining whether or not to move their heavy burdens and open up the way.

These doors are typically adjusted to what is behind them: Typical rooms are usually made so that the door will slide down. This is so that, in the event that the plant dies, the door will open rather than seal any unfortunates inside. On the flip side, rooms that are generally permission-only access (such as laboratories) may have doors that come down from the ceiling. This is so that any death of the plant seals in rather than lets out whatever may be within. Any Shaper trapped in their own laboratory is expected to be talented enough to get themselves out. For obvious reasons, this is a practice that was rare before the Shattering. Thorin’s Council, however, has made it mandatory for all laboratories.


Mechanics of Reforged


- All RPA rules and regulations apply.
- I, Imperial1917, am Groot. Fear me.
- Momma always said dying is a part of life, so your characters will run the risk of dying in this RP, either if you play your cards wrong in the IC or make an ass of yourself in the OOC.
- No godmodding or anything of the sort. If you don’t, your character may live. If you do, I will find your character and I will kill them.
- Mind the OOC and keep it clean.
- This is the world of Geneforge, but not entirely just as Geneforge was. If you don’t know what Geneforge is, then be patient while I hash it out for you. Reading the entire OP will help that. If you do know, don’t think to challenge me on it. Suggestions can be PMed to me for consideration.
- Both your CS and your posts are expected to be of quality. Poor posts result in “the talk.” Remember to post once a week at least.
- Realism is highly encouraged in this RP. There will be gory details.
- I reserve the right to make changes to the rules as I see fit.



This is a list of suggested skills proper for the Reforged Saga. Some are taken from Geneforge while others are made for the purpose of this RP. Note that you are not constrained to this list and some skills will require greater definition when you make your CS. This is also a guide to what is categorized under what in the Reforged Saga universe.

Combat Skills
Melee Weapons
Missile Weapons
Quick Action
Parry

Magic Skills
Battle Magic
Mental Magic
Blessing Magic
Spellcraft: Increases effectiveness of all spells.

Shaping Skills
Fire Shaping
Battle Shaping
Magic Shaping
Healing Craft

General Skills
Alchemy
Enchanting
Leadership
Magic Forging
Mechanics
Runecraft


Name: Character name.

Year: 1-4, representing ages 14-18. Graduate students (19+) have to get permission from the GM.

Origin: Either you are from Issei or you are from a satellite village. There are existing villages named, but you may make your own. Keep in mind that Issei is much more populated and advanced than any of its satellites. If you make your own, include below your CS a spoiler with a description of your character’s village, including its location relative to Issei. No village may be outside the Great Magic Barrier. Different villages may produce variations in mindsets.

Age: Your character’s age. Characters will be no older than 19. Your year should match your age. If your character is below 14, you have to justify why they would be part of the class offered the chance to go abroad. If you want to make a graduate student, you may apply, but ask first and know that you need a quality CS and your writing sample must reflect an understanding of the lore. Rejection rates for graduate students will probably be high.

Gender: Your character’s gender.

Declared Class: Agent, Guardian, Shaper, or undeclared. Choose one. It will affect your character’s skill set as each declared path will have received special training from the Grand Academy to set your character down that path.

Appearance: The look of your character. You may include an image if it is accurate, but a detailed description is mandatory. Not all features must be listed, but it should be as in-depth as possible. Different villages may produce differing customs and traditions that lead to particular markings or tattoos.

Wargear: Weapons, armor, and other supplies. Keep in mind the notes about Shaper weaponry and materials. I don’t want to see any twigs being used to cast twigs at other people. Magical materials will be rare and Shaped materials are unavailable for students. Metal will be abundant enough to be obtained, but it will not be easy or cheap to get. Even then, most will have no higher than bronze as a material. Not all supplies need to be listed, as the group will share supplies.

Creations: What creations does your character have? Bear in mind that no character can actually Shape at this point, meaning that any creations were gifted from an actual Shaper. Explain in the character bio where this creation came from. If you have a creation, bear in mind that you will probably have a corresponding Shaping skill. This means that you have a greater level of ability to control these creations, not that you have skill making them.

Allegiance: What rules does your person live by (and possibly will die by)? Explain

Personality: What kind of person is your person? Hmm?

Skills and Talents: What has your character trained in at the Grand Academy? Keep in mind your class. Does your character know something that isn’t taught at the Grand Academy or something that they learned outside of it? Does your character know have skills that don’t fit above? Explain. Limit yourself to 5 and be as precise as possible. Categories like “swords” are discouraged – use something like “katanas”. Remember that these are what your character specialized in and know well, but you may have cursor knowledge of other skills.

Banes: What are your weaknesses outside of your Skills? What are they afraid of? Do they have personality flaws?

Biography: Where is your character from? What is their history before and at the Grand Academy? You do not have to post it all here in the OOC, but the full version and any secrets must be sent to the GM by PM.

RP Sample: 3 paragraph minimum to show that you are competent in using your character. It will also allow me to gauge any misconceptions you may have about the Reforged Saga universe. The quality you put into this will be what I hold you to and the deciding factor of whether you are accepted.




If you don’t know what Thorin’s Council is by the time you read this, then you should probably go back and re-read everything else.


Age: ~274
Gender: Female
Class: Shaper
Position: Retired Councilmember

Shaper Thorin is a glowing image of health, considering her age. Through unknown means, she has maintained a youthful, if somewhat matured appearance. For those who have the opportunity to see her face, it is an ovular thing topped with knotted braids of brown hair and ending in a sharp chin, her blue-grey eyes weathered by many years of life. Dark tan, almost brown skin covers her body where it is not discolored by unfortunate accidents in her laboratory. Though old, she is still surprisingly athletic in build, her age not apparent on her body. Nevertheless, years of hunkering down over pestles and Shaping equipment has given her a slightly hunched back.

Though she appears youthful, Shaper Thorin has long since passed into the matriarchal stage of her personality development. She treats many students with a firm, but kind, hand and is as apt to laugh at mistakes made as reprimand them. This makes her a favorite of many students, though they can never shake the feeling that she expects great things from them in return.

As far as Shaper Thorin is concerned, her life is split into two chapters: her life as a Shaper and her life as the leader of Issei. The first chapter neglects to say where she came from, instead starting with her entrance into the ranks of the Shaper aspirants at a small recruiting event held in a long-destroyed village called Vitage. Due to unforeseen circumstances, she and the other aspirants would remain there for over a year before being shipped out to a proper academy for their training. During this time she accomplished many deeds and left behind many treasures in that place. She also left behind many of the aspirants.

Like many aspirants, Thorin was shipped out to a distant outpost of Shaper territory for her proper training. In this case she took up residence on an island known as Tess at the very frontier. There she would learn the ways of the Shapers and become deeply immersed into the art of creation. Eventually she would find her way back to Terrestria, where she would fall under the tutelage of Shaper Harken. Under his guiding hand, she would travel much of the land, eventually making her way almost everywhere, except back to Vitage. It would be in his manor that she would take the Shaper Oath and so seal herself to the Shaper cause.

During the Rebellion the Shaper Council tasked Thorin with developing new variations of existing creations for their fight against the Rebels. As a result, she spent much of the war cloistered in her laboratory, working on experiments. Remaining in this fortified outpost proved to be her salvation when the Shattering occurred.

After the Shattering Thorin set out from the ruins of her laboratory to gather up what remnants of society she could. Traveling far and wide of her home, she found that much of the world remained in turmoil, the sort that only an event like the Shattering could produce after a war as devastating as the Rebellion. While creations ran amok and people lived and died violently, Thorin found that the overall tone of the world was a mute, stunned silence; a world reeling in shock from the violence of the war’s end.

Eventually Thorin founded the settlement of Issei with the help of several surviving Shapers that she had recovered. She gathered outsiders and those creations that could be saved. She helped to construct the mighty Great Magic Barrier and create the Grand Academy under the watch of her own Council, an echo of the Shaper Council. Since then she has spent her time ruling and teaching. She has since stepped down from the Council that bears her name, but all know that she truly remains the ruler of Issei.



Age: 37
Gender: Male
Class: Shaper
Position: Unassigned Councilmember
Like other members of his class, Shaper Praco usually wears a hooded cloak or robe, meaning that little of him is visible. However, others tend to do this as a choice of fashion; Praco does it to hide his youth, which is nonetheless apparent. His skin is something of a reverse tan, with the years of swamp-gas filtered light coloring slowly lifting from his body after over a decade and a half spent mostly indoors. His face still shows the rounded cheeks of youth and his eyes are a dark blue, as one would find in the deep sea.
Shaper Praco is a brutally direct man who is impatient with anybody that is not worth listening to, which generally encompasses anybody who is not a Shaper. In this way he reflects the Shaper attitudes of old, sharpened by his youthful pride. In spite of this, he is still a duty-bound man who adheres strictly to Shaper Law, some say even more so than Shaper Uthain.
Shaper Praco was born in the swamplands of Machit in the village of Assence to the west of Issei. Like many of the children from there, he was sent to the Grand Academy with the expectation that he would be educated and then return to the village to help in the mines. This was an expectation that he grew up resenting in spite of the fact that he came from the village’s wealthy merchant class. He resolved early on to study hard and escape this future, leaving it to his siblings instead. This determination estranged him from his family so that by the time graduation occurred, his siblings went back home bringing news that he would not be coming.

Since that day Praco could be found almost exclusively within the confines of the Grand Academy premise, for he rarely left. His poor skills were offset by his persistence and he earned the respect of many others, including Shaper Uthain. The senior Shaper had taken Praco under his wing during his pre-graduate years and in the early years of his graduate years, he gave Praco room to grow that others envied. The birth of Tancin put an end to all of that though Uthain still attempts to keep the junior Coucilman within reach.


Age: 73
Gender: Male
Class: Guardian
Position: Head Councilmember
Shaper Uthain is built much like one would expect a Guardian to be: tall and bald with broad shoulders and muscles that can snap tree trunks with ease. His ancestors had been of light skin, though that may have simply been due to many hours inside of a laboratory, but he has skin colored not unlike the muck of the swamps of Machit. His advanced age does not trouble him in the slightest, though he claims not to be as fast as he formally was.
Shaper Uthain appears to most people as one with either the personality to a gentle giant or that of a drill instructor. Much to the chagrin of many a student at the Grand Academy, he has the latter. He takes his role as director of the Academy and head of Thorin’s Council seriously and is firm, but fair with the distribution of justice, both within and without its walls. He is as quick to offer genuine (though rare) compliments for jobs well done as punish those who defy Shaper Law.
Shaper Uthain is the one of the two children of the Shapers Tessria and Massis, both now deceased. This makes him the continuation of a long line of Shapers down from those who originally helped Thorin found Issei. As such, he was nearly destined for the role of a Shaper since his birth. It was a role that he embraced early on, rising through the ranks to become Thorin’s right-hand man. When she left the Council, he opted to remain. In spite of this, the two of them did have one child together: Tancin Jass.


A fifty-nine year old Guardian, Quartis stands at the middle of the pack in terms of age. A hulking figure that towers over even Uthain, Quartis is what most students wish Uthain was: a gentle giant. Known for his genial nature and sportsmanship, Quartis hails from Assence, the same village as Praco. Unlike the younger councilmember, Quartis may enjoy his work, but he also is determined to return home, as he was when he graduated. Since then, he has risen to Councilmember in command of the creation stables of the Academy. He also frequently goes out to visit troubled villages that are having trouble controlling their creations.

A seventy-four year old Shaper, Wetan is Head Councilmember of Shaping at the Academy. He is also one of the few people Uthain regards as a true friend. Having graduated in the same class together, Wetan is a close advisor to Uthain on all matters. He is known, sometimes with disapproval, for his humorous disposition, even in the face of Shaping accidents.

A sixty-nine year old Agent, Ulrika is the only one of her class on Thorin’s Council, a fact that she finds distressing, especially given the importance of Agents for the Council. In spite of this, she finds no shortage of friends on the Council including the ear of Uthain. A woman of a fiery temper, she serves as the Head Councilmember of Magic at the Academy.

A slightly flighty thirty-six year old Shaper from Issei, Yantan is the youngest currently serving Councilmember. Her official position on the Council is Head Councilmember of General Education with a focus on leadership and mechanical training. Though she graduated at the same time as Praco, the two had very little interaction due to Praco’s isolationist lifestyle. In spite of this, she still teases the socially awkward Shaper whenever the opportunity arises. She also is known for being quite popular with the students in ways that make some Shapers hide little smiles.


Though few in number, not all Shapers are on Thorin’s Council. These are some of the more notable figures in the Shaper ranks, though there are others.
A fifty-seven year old female Guardian from Yuushin, Yuthan is an oddity for choosing a path usually taken only by males. Nevertheless, the mild-tempered Yuthan is well-respected for her bladework, earning her the distinction of teaching combat skills at the Academy.
A forty-four year old Agent from Issei, Erane is renowned for her stealth and tracking abilities. Fiercely proud of her craft, Erane is the main drive behind pushes to increase the number of Agents on the Council, by adding a new seat if necessary. In spite of this, the Agent only receives lukewarm support from her fellow Agents, a fact that infuriates her. Her fury at this makes her irritable at the best of times and downright terrifying for her pupils at others.
A sixty-four year old Agent from Laubem, Irane is as well known for her dexterity and skill with ranged weapons as Yuthan is with melee weapons. As a result, the two share a friendly rivalry as they run their students into the ground, allegedly trying to improve them.



Domonic Saigo is a graduate student at the Academy where specializes in mechanics and forging and is the Master of the Forge. He is married to Essel Irane.
Sister to Shaper Irane, Essel is married to Domonic Saigo. She is a graduate student at the Academy and is the foremost expert on magical forging and enchantment.
A graduate student at the Academy, Taupin is Head of Alchemy at the Academy.


Name: Tancin Jass
Year: Graduate Student
Origin: Issei.
Age: 20.
Gender: Male
Declared Class: Guardian

Appearance: With a sharp, angular face, sky blue eyes, and brown hair, Jass appears every inch an imposing noble on the way to becoming a Guardian. Broad shoulders top a slightly thin, but strongly-built body with stout muscle that is clean of excess fat. Born in Issei to a pair of Shapers, Jass’ only oddity is his light skin borne of less time in the swamps as a part of life so much as training for the tasks ahead.

Wargear:
- Steel sword with leather sheath
- Bronze armor (complete set)
- Machete

Creations: None
Allegiance: “I am not afraid to spend lives, but I never waste them.”
Personality: Dour-faced, Jass’ Shaper upbringing and Shaper future has drummed into him a heavy sense of responsibility, duty, and honor. He believes in the sanctity of keeping Shaping knowledge from the masses and keeping good the Shaper Laws. However, his also pragmatic in the extreme and will not allow his emotions or beliefs override common sense. Nonetheless he is also a firm devotee of the Legend of the Five.

Skills and Talents:
- Fire Shaping: As a Guardian, Jass has focused his attention on the Fire Shaping part of Shaping. As a graduate of the Grand Academy and a child of two Shapers, Jass was given to limited experience on actual Shaping in this field, even if that is more than others. Nevertheless, he has obtained a proficiency at calming and controlling Fire creations that teetered on becoming rogue.

- Katana Proficiency

- Leadership: Jass was born with a silver tongue and can charm people into getting things done.

- Pathfinder: Although Jass has never ventured out of the Great Magic Barrier he nonetheless is knowledgeable or skilled in all manner of survival techniques. From recognizing good places to camp to finding easier paths to a goal, Jass has at least a theoretical understanding of these things. Of course, all of his practical experience outside of the Grand Academy took place in the swamp.

- Learned: Long years of training and study have revealed much knowledge to Jass that is not readily known by others, if it is readily available for them at all.

Banes:
- Headstrong: Although Jass does not flaunt either his knowledge or his heritage, he is nonetheless sometimes disagreeable due to a lack of hesitation in correcting people when they do tasks wrong. His intention is to help them, but the result is not always good.

- Lawful: Having been brought up so close to Thorin’s Council, Jass has a strong belief in the Shaper Laws, almost to a fanatical level.

Tancin Jass was born the only child of Shapers Thorin and Uthain. He was the only child of that pairing. By outsider standards, those that practiced marriage, he was a bastard. However, as such unions are common Shaper practice – where they choose to engage in such things at all – Jass found little difficulty in his life. It probably also helped that his parentage was not a widely known matter.

Jass’ childhood was odd, even by the standards of the Shapers. Thorin was a kind, but ultimately distant mother who had an air of having done her duty for family and nation, setting down into a quiet retirement. Part of this was probably that Uthain was not the first partner, Shaper or otherwise, that she had taken down the decades. Uthain, on the other hand, was getting elderly, but was nonetheless drawn to improving his son. He had something between the affection of a father and the toughness of a drill sergeant who was readying his soldiers for battle, or in Jass’ case, Shaperhood. There was no prouder a day for Uthain than when Jass declared his intention to become a Guardian.

While Jass had the benefit of a Shaper upbringing he also shared in the education provided by the Grand Academy. However, he was forever marked by two differences, no matter how popular he became. First was his uncanny knowledge of everything taught and his familiarity with the Shaper instructors as well as graduate students. Second was his ultimate path: while others would return to their villages after graduation to take up their parents’ trade, Jass would live among Shapers. Even that being his parents’ trade did nothing to dispel the feelings of distance for other students, especially as graduation neared and talk of returning home filled the halls

Jass stayed on as a graduate student in the Academy after graduation, studying deeper into the mysteries of the Shapers. Though he had always intended to be a Shaper it was only now that his mother’s Council hesitantly let him dabble in Shaping. Some graduates grumbled that he got special privileges, being able to begin true Shaper training while more senior students still had to study by written theory. The truth was that his mother was indifferent and his father was determined to see his son rise on his own. Therefore the Council’s decision was actually more based on the fact that Jass’ high potential raised the possibility that he might sit among them someday, even possibly replacing his father.

Nevertheless, Jass’ permission to study such advanced techniques caused a stir in the Grand Academy and a great deal of resentment. The Council began to discuss what to do about the problem, some even proposing to take away the privileges. Jass was opposed to this, but knew that there was little else to do about it. Before they came to a consensus though, Uthain proposed the challenge for the students. And then he appointed Jass leader of the last group to form.

Early morning in the Grand Academy was always quiet. The long hallways of the dorms and laboratories were deserted of most students, many of whom would be lying awake now, torn between catching a few more minutes of sleep and resuming their studies. It was during this time that Jass liked to pace the empty corridors, ordering his thoughts.

It was cool inside the Academy this morning, as it was every morning. The air inside the well-vented hallways was not quite the crisp one would understand though. Swamp air tended to be muggy, as many a villager with pneumonia soon learned. Within the educational institution, however, the air was constantly filled with the static feel of magic in the air. The result was a unique combination of cool temperatures and swamp air singed by magic as it singed the ozone. For Jass, it was the smell of home.

Pressing on, he stood aside to let a servile pass. The figure was clothed in the thick robes favored by its kind. A hunched figure, Jass could only make out the almost skeletal fingers that protruded from its baggy sleeves and the elongated nose that seemed to spring from the darkness beneath its hood. One of the fingers on its left hand was missing, probably during a work accident. It paused for a moment, looking at him standing at the side of the hallway. He did not recognize it, but, like most people, he did not pay enough attention to serviles to tell them apart. He did think that he caught the flash of blue eyes in the hood though. They were the same dull ones as he had seen time and again, but he thought he saw a flash of something... else. Probably just his imagination.

The servile eventually passed and Jass continued his walk. Not that much further down the hallway, he met a junction and a strange sight. To his left was a Shaper Door. The heavy stone slab that of the port was held tight by a vine-like plant, its tendrils covering its face. Jass was too far away from it to activate its air feelers which would trigger it to bring the slab down into the floor, opening up the way. However, the door opened anyways. On the other side was a fyora.

This fyora was not unique in any way that Jass recognized. At its full height, the small fire-breathing lizard would rise to his mid-thigh. Sharpened claws and razor teeth filled out its figure, giving it a powerful combination of attack. However, at the moment the patrolling creation seemed less than inclined to attack anything. It looked scared and confused, its normally fierce eyes, filled with the predatory instincts built into it by its Shaper gone.

It spotted him and trotted up to his foot, looking up at him with lost eyes. This puzzled Jass. Normally less intelligent creatures like fyora would be led by a more controlled creature like a Vlish in order to provide it guidance. The ferocious lizards, along with roamers and thads, would follow the floating creation around, following its orders as it followed the path and instructions given to it by a Shaper. That was how patrols worked. This fyora had clearly gotten lost.

This was dangerous without a doubt. Creations were typically very strong physically and could unleash a great deal of destruction, but they were less mentally capable. The only exceptions to this were serviles and many, many banned creations. A lost creation would slowly go rogue and attack anything that came near except for other rogues. Skilled Shapers could make their creations with more specific instructions and stronger mental strength to prevent this, but such could be dangerous and it would only stave off rogueness for so long. It also took a great deal of skill and resources to do. And, of course, if it went rogue anyways, it had to be destroyed if control could not be restored.

Fortunately, this little fyora was not there yet. If Jass was not mistaken, it had a great way to go before it got to that point and here in the halls of the Grand Academy, someone would resolve the problem before it got to that point. In this case, that meant him. Kneeling next to the creation, he extended a hand. Almost immediately, the creature moved into his embrace and against his chest. It purred contently. Just for a moment, Jass could tell why some people kept fyora as pets, even if he regarded the practice as frivolous and dangerous. He couldn’t tell who had made the fyora, but he vowed that he would have words with the Shaper.

Eventually the shaking creation settled and he let it go. He was glad that his experience was enough. All Shapers made their creations to be obedient, but it was never a guarantee. The fact that Fyora were Fire creations, the type he specialized his skills in, helped. Rising, he looked down at the creation and said, “Come on. Let’s go find your master.” He started walking and cast a look back to make sure that the creation was following. It was tottering behind him.

He also noticed that the servile had been watching the whole time, though it moved off when it saw that he had seen it.


Minkasha - Kira Zobel (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73747&page=3&p=2524966&viewfull=1#post2524966)
Megilwen - Jade Koller (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73747&page=2&p=2523409&viewfull=1#post2523409)

Megilwen
06-11-2015, 12:49 AM
Okay...read through most of it. As mentioned in the interest thread...so making a character. So I'll get started on one :)

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 12:54 AM
Looking forward to it.

Snotgirl
06-11-2015, 02:34 AM
I'm considering joining.

Kicks
06-11-2015, 02:40 AM
Looks like you've already gotten some interest!

But just in case...

The RP of the week (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=59571
), as I am sure you are aware, is a resource for players to see what kind of RPs are spotlighted for the week! These RPs are featured on the homepage of RPA! Just send in a request to your friendly staff member, including a banner which you can get help with over at the banner shop. (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18912)

RPG Directory (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=40645) is another great way to draw in more players! Head on over if you're looking to interest more players!

You can also have your game featured in the Tribune! (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18026) This is RPA's awesome newsletter!

Last but not least, you can ask any of the staff to feature your game in their signature!

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 03:43 AM
@Persona
Good to know

@Kicks
Thank you.

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 03:43 AM
@Persona
Good to know

@Kicks
Thank you.

Snotgirl
06-11-2015, 03:52 AM
I'm not overly familiar with the world, so I'm going to take some stabs here. Is it alright to make a one trick pony sort of mage? As in, one specializes in say, the Kill spell? Of course, they are trained in other uses but I plan for this character to be a glass cannon of sorts, with only one real spell of consideration in the tank.

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 04:18 AM
Geneforge is a relatively obscure RPG, so I can forgive people for not knowing it.

The spell lists are ordered from top down with the simplest spells on top and getting more complicated going down.
As such, Kill is a very high-order spell. In the game it would be something that you encounter towards the end.

That being said, I'm going to have to say no. It would be akin to giving somebody a bazooka at the beginning of the game while everyone else is rocking .22s. I don't necessarily require characters to be balanced in any way, but Kill is one of those spells that would drain all the spell energy out of most undergraduates of the Grand Academy on its first shot. This isn't true for everyone, as spell energy reserves vary, but the majority would start with simpler spells and work their way up. That also means that not having a working knowledge of other spells is very unlikely.

If you want to have a character who specializes in Battle Magic with an emphasis on Kill that is fine, but what I mentioned about undergraduates and spell energy still applies. The more of your skills you focus into the Battle Magic category, the greater spell energy you will have, but being able to use it as readily as, say firebolt, is highly unlikely.

Did that answer your question?

Snotgirl
06-11-2015, 04:30 AM
Actually, that works even better than ever. If it drains that much, it's far better suited as a last resort/finisher attack. Working knowledge on the other spells is a requirement, I see. I just plan on my character having a higher than normal proficiency with the spell.

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 04:43 AM
Higher than normal proficiency in using Kill is acceptable, provided that it works with what I have said.

King of Swords
06-11-2015, 04:50 AM
I'll write up a CS.

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 04:53 AM
I'll write up a CS.
Good to hear.

Megilwen
06-11-2015, 05:34 AM
Year: 4

Origin: Yuushin

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Declared Class: Shaper

Appearance: Jade is a petite girl, standing at about 5'1'' and weighing about 105lbs. She has long blond hair that falls to just below her shoulders that she just allows to fall around her face and a bit over the right side of her face. She has sad blue-grey eyes, full pink lips, and sparking white teeth, if she chooses to smile. She's physically fit, but has a plethora of scars on her body. Jade has scars on her hands the left hand only up to her wrist, the right hand all the way up her her elbow. Her right leg was scared as well and the right side of her face had slight scars as well, which he'd keep hidden behind her hair.

Wargear:
*Leather armor
*Long bladed knife - Mostly used for a tool when enchanting or for defense, is not skilled enough to be able to put up a decent defense or to attack much more past haphazardly stabbing.

Creations: None

Allegiance: Knowledge is power and can lead to the solving of any problem.

Personality: Jade is quiet and typically withdrawn from her fellow students. She's also highly intelligent and quick to pick up on new magic, especially now that she's in a setting appropriate for learning spells instead of learning from her mom who wasn't knowledgeable in how to appropriately teach magic. Jade was still friendly and willing to help her fellow students, if they could work up the courage to ask as long as she able to keep her scars hidden around them.

Skills and Talents:
*Battle Magic - Jade focused slightly on battle magic and knows the following spells at varying levels, with Firebolt being her strongest. Firebolt, Burning Spray,
*Enchanting - Specializes in Enchanting wands with Battle magic. Being from Yuushin, Jade has always been around the crystals and has felt an affinity for the material and so when getting to the Academy she took to Enchanting like a duck to water.
*Shaping Control - Jade has always had an affinity for fire ever since the accident and so focused on Fire Creation Control

Banes:
*Enchanting Limits - Can only enchant crystals and spells with the magic that she knows
*Scars - Jade hates her scars and keeps them hidden underneath her clothes and her hair. She's hates the sympathetic stares, just as much as she's afraid of letting someone too close in case they were to see the scars. Jade doesn't want to feel that level of disappointment again, of feeling betrayed when someone she thought cared saw the scars and left.
*Withdrawn - Related to her scars and her past, Jade finds comfort in her studies, but at the nearly complete withdrawal from all social interaction, if at all possible.

Biography:
Born in Yuushin, Jade was the daughter of a crystal miner and a mage. Her mother had gone to the academy to learn magic in order to help the town with the mining process. She focused solely on the firebolt spell as such explosive power could be used to help clear rocks quicker in the mines.

Growing up Jade's play toys were crystals that her father had brought back from the mines. The lights catching in the facets were always something that fascinated her. As she grew older, her mother told her stories of the academy, of the Shapers, and that's all Jade wanted to do when she was old enough. So much that she begged her mother to show her the firebolt spell. At first, her mother was reluctant saying that Jade could learn all that when she attended the academy at 12.

After much wheedling and whining, Jade finally convinced her mother to start teaching her arguing that it would give her a head start and help her to become a shaper. Her mom started her out small. Just on the theory, but that wasn't enough for Jade. At first she couldn't get it to work and it took 2 years learning the theory during the day and attempting to make the spell work in secret. At 10, she finally made the spell work, but it was a disaster. The bolt was explosive knocking her back into the wall and unconscious while setting the table on fire. She barely made it out of the house alive.

Over the next two years Jade was withdrawn. Hiding in the house, refusing to hang out with her old childhood friends and when she did went out she'd make sure her body was covered hiding the scars. She grew out her hair, so that it could hide the ones on her face or she would wear a veil over her face to cover them. Due to her scars, her parents didn't think Jade wanted to attend the academy. She been so excited to go before the accident and she'd never reminded them of their promise to let her go at 12. It was two more years before she finally decided she was ready.

At the acadmey, Jade continued in her emotional and social withdrawal. Being the silent one, many student left her alone and those who didn't found it difficult to draw her into conversation but not impossible. In the academy, she combined her studies into the two things with which she was familiar, the crystals that her father mined and the battle magic that was her mothers. Though she studied it more loosely and not so focused as her mom. In her fourth year, she was excited to hear about the Shaper trials and signed up immediately despite knowing that meant working with a team.


Jade sat at her family's kitchen table. She was so close to getting the spell to work. She could just feel it. Trying again to cast the spell, she finally managed to succeed. Though not how she thought it was going to go. The spell was powerful, much more than she'd expected and she shot backwards hitting her head against the wall behind her, efficiently knocking her out. She woke up minutes later, her head aching and throbbing to someone screaming her name.

"JADE! JADE!" It sounded like her father's voice, but she couldn't tell.

She opened her to yell out for him only to start coughing. Blinking her eyes, she squinted around. What she'd thought was just blurry vision from hitting her head was actually smoke. The house was burning around her, apparently the Firebolt spell had caught on something.

"JADE! JADE!"

"Here..." She said coughing while getting up and stumbling toward the door covering her face with one arm. The little wood frame of the cabin creaked as the wood grew weaker. It wouldn't stand up much longer. As she got nearer to the door she saw that it was already blocked she wouldn't be able to go out that way. Jade started to panic. How was she going to get out of the house. There wasn't a backdoor. Suddenly the sound of shattering glass drew her attention.

"JADE THE WINDOW! GO OUT A WINDOW!"

The window was more clear than the door, but she'd still have to get past some burning pieces to get there. Adrenaline rushing, Jade took a running leap to jump over some burning debris that had fallen from the ceiling and could feel a burning sensation as the flames licked at her legs. There was pain, but in the moment it was minor compared to her need to get free. In front of the window were burning curtains and in order to get out she'd have to pull them down. She couldn't see anything that she could use and as part of the ceiling fell in behind her she knew she didn't have much time left. Reaching up with her bare hands, she pulled the fabric away, biting hard at her lip as a burning shot through her hands and one arm as the fabric fell onto her arm. Beating it off, she jumped up to catch hold of the window in order to pull herself out, she could feel the glass biting into her palms as her dad helped to pull her through. Outside, safe from the fire, she was able to feel all the pain that her body had been ignoring before and she passed out from the pain.

~*~

In her dorm at the Academy, Jade woke up her scars throbbing in pain. She'd had the dream again, about the night of the fire. With a sigh, she stood from her small bunk and shuffled over to her cabinet grabbing the salve that she kept to soothe her scars. They still bothered her eight years later. Noticing the light coming up outside, she decided to just go ahead and get ready. There was supposed to be some kind of meeting for those wishing to further their studies as Shapers. This was what she'd been working for since she came to the academy. This was her lives purpose.

Minkasha
06-11-2015, 05:33 PM
Working on a CS myself.

Few questions if you'll be kind enough to answer, they would definitely help with character creation :):

1. So there are no actual guns, just the sharper biological weapons?

2. What level of technology are the conveniences? This I wasn't sure about because I'm assuming Shapers didn't make everything (things like entertainment or hygiene, medical etc)

3. Are there any open prejudices among the population that isn't Shaper related? (Race or something else?)

4. How many ethnic minorities exist after the shattering? Can we call them as we want? (I'm assuming an African wouldn't be called an African in this project)

5. How does this society deal with the disabled and handicapped?

6. Socially speaking, how do women and men relate to ea ch other? Equal footing or is there an advantage or place of power one has over the other?

7. What is the currency they use?

8. What type of criminal system do they use and what methods or punishment or rehabilitation do they use?

9. Are there any addictive drugs, natural or otherwise that people can get addicted to? If so, what are the social opinions of these drugs and how frequently abused are they?

Megilwen
06-11-2015, 06:30 PM
Are there a name for the crystals?

Imperial1917
06-11-2015, 11:58 PM
@Minkasha
Before I answer your questions, I would like to note that the game was very expansive, but also very focused on the Shapers. Certain matters were covered while others had very little depth. This is, of course, part of RPing in a set universe: you see the lackings and a GM will usually fill them in. So some of these answers are from the universe and will make perfect sense while others are things that I have to adjust for, as they are absent or otherwise only hinted at.

Factors that may be included in discussions include:
1. Differences between Shapers/non-Shapers (AKA outsiders)/creations
2. Location factors
3. Before/after the Shattering, during the era of the Shaper Council/Thorin's Council, respectively

1. There are no guns, no. This is strictly fantasy in that sense. Ranged weapons in the game were limited to javelins, thorn batons, wands, crystals, and magic (spells). Of course, you can throw other things if it suits your character, though you probably won't be creating bows anytime soon.

There was a small faction in the first game (actually, they are relatively important) that may have used bows (twigs to cast other twigs), as they did have a ballista. The ballista isn't named as such and is only described as it belonged to a non-Shaper faction. The technology of the ballista itself was not recognizable to Shapers, as such things were simply not made or used by them.

2. Hygiene: Soap is common. Shaper facilities are generally kept clean, especially the laboratories, in order to avoid accidents during experiments or the spread of Shaping-related problems. Outsiders live in a very feudal-era hygiene world. Serviles may be used to clean public venues though. Establishments like shops may have to pay the Shapers for servile labor. Bear in mind that this game is starting in a swampland, so the hygiene level won't be outrageously high.

Medical: As was noted in the OP, medical aid comes in the form of either alchemy, provided either by Shapers or outsiders, or Healing Craft, provided by Shapers. Things like Germ Theory existed on a certain level, as Shapers were well aware of the threat of small organisms, but advanced technology that involves any kind of electricity is non-existent unless it is otherwise powered by crystals, which are used pretty exclusively by Shapers.

Entertainment: Shapers are generally consumed in their work, meaning that other entertainment doesn't hold their attention. Shaping is dangerous and not used for entertainment, interesting though it may be. However, some fyora are kept as pets. While servile labor helped free many outsiders to pursue their own interests, the Shapers never took the time to write down what they got up to. Things like games weren't Shapers' interest. However, there are always the carnal houses in Issei.

If you have any other specific "conveniences" categories I would be willing to answer them.

3. In a word, no. Pre-Shattering, there were people of different shades, but no obvious conflict. Post-Shattering may involve some rivalries between settlements (particularly Assence and Tarin), but most keep a lid on their prejudices under the watchful eye and none-too-tender mercies of the Council.

4. Yes and no. There aren't real minorities as ethnic differences might exist, but ethnic divisions between them do not. There is a great deal of ethnic mixing due to close proximity in the swamp, meaning that most of the settlements are ethnically homogenous in their diversity, so to speak. The main divisions that exist outside of the Shaper-outsider-creation paradigm are between settlements, as with Assence and Tarin. There are minor cultural differences between tribal traditions in the settlements, but nothing major.

5. A high degree of freedom from resource scarcity means that most outsider settlements will take care of the disabled and handicapped for the remainder of their lives. Shapers, on the other hand, will preserve the physically handicapped to retain their power and wisdom while mentally handicapped Shapers may be killed in order to ensure that their powers don't run amok.

It should be noted that physically disabled and handicapped are rare for both outsiders and Shapers. Alchemy and Healing Craft means that most physical ailments can be fixed and any illnesses that cannot are almost universally fatal. For Shapers, their craft usually means that any accidents in a lab are usually fatal.

6. Legally and socially, men and women are equal both for Shapers and outsiders and even creations (which pretty much just means serviles with respect to this matter). The only gendered division is that Guardians are usually male and Agents are usually female, though the Shapers will hardly bat an eye at a reversal of the two. In a sense, Shapers have their heads up in the clouds contemplating their experiments too much to care about gender issues and outsiders causing issues about gender or otherwise, is annoying and annoying a Shaper usually results in death.

7. Shapers use coins for currency. Though there is a premium on gold and silver and the like, coins are pretty much made from any metal with equal value regardless of what they are made of. Of course, the Shapers make sure that they are not made counterfit, though they don't pay much attention to money matters.

8. If you want to know what laws Shapers are specifically held to, check the OP. Other laws, to which both Shapers and outsiders are held, are pretty standard: don't kill, don't steal, etc. Laws are enforced by the Shapers, either through human guards or creation patrols, but almost universally by force. Agents usually concern themselves with direct violations of Shaper Laws and privileges (specifically the prohibition on outsiders Shaping), but may also serve as secret police against those who break more mundane laws. Punishments themselves usually include one of four things: a fine, imprisonment (in a cell or stockade), lashing, or death.

9. There will be an addictive substance of sorts revealed later on, but for now alcohol is the main drug, usually coming in the form of ale, beer, etc. Of course, once I get some of the other substances (mainly herbs) up on the list, players are free to have their characters smoke them and see what happens.

@Megilwen
To which crystals are you referring? The weapon crystals?

Minkasha
06-12-2015, 12:16 AM
Thank you for answering my questions, but alas I have more!

1. Will the project take time over (in story) years? (Meaning, will we see characters age and mature?)

2. If there is little ethnic diversity and the characters mentioned are white (yes?) does that mean everyone is for the most part, white?

Megilwen
06-12-2015, 12:24 AM
Yes the weapon crystals that are harvested in Yuushin.

Imperial1917
06-12-2015, 12:31 AM
Thank you for answering my questions, but alas I have more!

1. Will the project take time over (in story) years? (Meaning, will we see characters age and mature?)

2. If there is little ethnic diversity and the characters mentioned are white (yes?) does that mean everyone is for the most part, white?
1. Possibly, but unlikely. The adventure part of this RP was designed to be part survival, which means that most of it will be done day by day, with week timeskips at the most. However, that isn't to say that larger timeskips are not possible. I can think of a number of ways in which there can be longer time lapses, though those will probably be used between Acts.

2. Perhaps it was poorly explained, though admittedly this one is a bit far for this RP. Basically, most people will be a decent shade of tan to begin with. The color of a character's skin is more reflective of their vocation than their ethnic background. Lighter skins means more time indoors while darker skin means more time outdoors, that sort of thing. Ethnic physical structure will be mixed, meaning that players can make their characters' physical builds to their preference.

@Megilwen
There are crystals which are thrown and wands which cast specific effects. They have no special names.

Megilwen
06-12-2015, 04:06 AM
So you mentioned that some of the crystals could be thrown. I'm assuming they have to be enchanted first before they can be thrown? As in they don't come out with the different types of crystals having different properties?

Imperial1917
06-12-2015, 05:05 AM
All crystal weapons are enchanted. You can, of course, thrown a regular crystal, but then you might as well be throwing a rock and a bunch of money at someone. Specifically speaking, crystal weapons are either made of crystal or of rock that is enchanted to have a particular effect, almost all of which are very violent, hence 'weapon'.

Crystal weapons are made by combining the crystal with a particular magical herb or creation part to produce a certain affect. A crystal weapon is only a single-use weapon; once unleashed, it cannot be recovered. A similar process is used when making wands, in which crystals are combined with a magical herb or creation part plus a stick (for obvious reasons) to produce a multi-use (usually 6 uses) weapon.

Megilwen
06-12-2015, 05:11 AM
Okay just checking :)

Imperial1917
06-12-2015, 05:10 PM
So obviously Geneforge is a bit on the obscure side and there are a lot of questions going around. I can't cover everything at once, so some things I will answer as they come up. Here are few bits of information that may help you create your CS.

1. Shaping is NOT hereditary, nor is it innate. The craft of Shaping is knowledge-based; you have to learn it in order to do it. While it might be possible to do the very basic process of Shaping on one's own, actually making viable results is next to impossible. One is not born knowing how to Shape.

Similarly, having Shapers for parents does not mean one will become a Shaper any more than not having Shapers for parents bars people from trying to become one. In addition to this, Shapers' children who do decide to become Shapers may not necessarily follow their parents' classes. For example, a Guardian and an Agent could have a child who decides to pursue being a Shaper. As far as the Council is concerned, it is up to the individual to decide their own path. The Council's concern is whether one can actually accomplish being a Shaper, not keeping hereditary lines.

On a related note, the Shapers are a sect that believes in a society separate from outsiders and individual achievements. As such, when Shapers are addressed by outsiders they are addressed as "Shaper" and whatever personal name they have. This is because Shapers will usually take their personal names with them when they ascend to Shaperhood and leave behind their familial connections, becoming part of a greater (and separate) society from what they were a part of before. Some Shapers may retain their family name for the sake of sentimentality, but this is not the norm. Within the Shaper ranks Shapers may refer to each other by their Shaper class (Guardian, Agent, or Shaper) and their personal name, though this is a personal preference matter.

2. In case it was not clear from the OP, Shaping is a very volatile and dangerous practice, for everyone involved and even people not directly involved. Altering lifeforms generally means that most will end up horribly disfigured if they have any life at all. Sometimes creations will come out so unstable that they only live for a short time while in other cases they possess undesirable or even dangerous qualities. Many a Shaper had been killed when they created something so mutated that it slipped from their control and killed them. This is part of the reason that many research outposts were established far from civilization on distant islands during the time of the Shaper Council: if something went wrong that the Shapers couldn't control or just couldn't be bothered to clean up, they just Barred the island, prohibiting travel to it on pain of death.

That being said, the process of creating new variations on existing models is a long and excruciatingly slow process. There is a great deal of trial and error involved as Shapers make new models, gauge the outcomes, and record what seems to work while discarding what doesn't. Existing creations are the products of months, years, and possibly decades of careful work. The Shaping techniques that are the result are long and intricate, requiring careful study to avoid creating something that dies horribly or else causes others to die horribly. This is just one of the reasons that Shaping is not taken lightly.

Yet there is always a drive to create new, better creations and research goes forward. Experiments to create variations on existing creations that are better suited for one use or another or just for the sake of knowledge are always in progress. In particular, serviles, which provide a great deal of labor in Shaper-dominated societies, are constantly being adjusted to better suit their work. Some will be made for chopping wood while others will be made for farming; some will be made suited for swamps while others might be better suited for colder climates.

It should also be noted that most creations are made sterile when they are Shaped. The reason for this is that, in the event that creations go rogue and escape containment, making them sterile prevents the problem from getting larger than it already is. There are few exceptions to this, notably the seviles and ornks. Shaping is laborious process, meaning that creating new serviles every time the need for labor grows would be impractical. So instead the Shapers made serviles fertile and breed them. Ornks, of course, are the same matter, though ornks are livestock and are bred for obvious reasons.

3. The edicts of Thorin's Council, like its predecessor the Shaper Council, are absolute, but that doesn't mean that there aren't internal politics. Shapers can be like gas particles; the further they are away from each other and able to do their own thing, the better. Of course, that isn't an option in this new, Known World. There is limited space and so people will jockey for the best positions. All Shapers are free to do whatever they wish so long as they do not break Shaper Law - except when the Council tells them to do something. In that case, they are required to obey. That includes being posted to certain areas. However, sometimes it is the Shapers who want to be posted somewhere.

Yuushin, the only source of the all-important crystals used in Shaper research in the Known World is an example of this. Competition for such a posting is fierce and, though Shapers will never let their internal struggles show to outsiders, they will go to nearly any length to get into the good graces of the Council in order to obtain a posting there. Though things like assassination are possible, things like spying on others and reporting violations of Shaper Law to the Council are preferred, as then the Council will deal with the unfortunate.

Other settlements will have similar politics. However, it is a carnal sin against the Shapers to show any kind of tension between members to outsiders. On the outside Shapers are expected to be models of calm, collected and collective behavior at all times. They must be perfect at all times.

Aro
06-12-2015, 05:55 PM
Name: Peri Kansler

Year: 4

Origin: Issei

Age: 18
Gender: Female

Declared Class: Agent
Appearance: Dark Brown Hair, Hazel Eyes, Slightly Pale Skin, Height: 5'4, Weight: 120 lbs, Heart Shaped face with slightly blushed cheeks, Slim bodied- fit and curvy

Wargear:
Weapon: Longbow (handcrafted not shaped) and wooden arrows with crystal/stone arrowheads (Enchanted w/ Poison)
Gear: Long black robes with red trim. Sleeves come to elbow length, no longer. Mage robes come with an attached red hood and a pair of black leather shoes. (Not tennis shoes, Lol)
Supplies: Several small knives, Canteen full of water, Tomahawk

Creations: None currently

Allegiance: Peri pledges her allegiance to the Shaper Rule. She respects that the rules set by the Shapers was for the best of Issei's people, and Peri tries her hardest to uphold these rules and influence others to do the same.
Personality: Positive, Independent, Friendly, Calm, Willing to Learn, Curious, Loves to help people, Generous, Slow to anger- but when she IS angry....

Skills and Talents: Skilled in long range attacks (Archery), Skilled in the use of a Tomahawk for Self Defense, Finished last year her skill in Mental Magic, Enchanting, and Runecraft. This is her last year of school in which she is studying Magic Shaping.

Banes: Has self esteem problems, sometimes. Becomes worried and concerned very easily. Usually cares too much about the smallest things and becomes attached when she shouldn't.

Biography: Peri's family reside in Machi. Her mother, father, and her little sister Wimm. Luckily the college allows people to go there for free or else Peri would have never gotten an education, because her family is poor. And her going to college to become an Agent brought optimism to her once doubtful family.
Her family respect the rules of the Shapers' but there are several things that the Kansler Family doesn't agree with the council on. Which lead to her father training her at the age of 12 to use her trusty bow and her tomahawk to defend herself in her time of need, and Mr. Kansler teaching her not to depend on the council for anything.

(RP Sample to come via PM)

Imperial1917
06-12-2015, 07:30 PM
@Aro
Welcome to the forum!
Thank you for submitting a CS and RP Sample (via PM). They have been reviewed.

Your CS has been rejected.
The overall quality of the CS is not in line with the basic expectations of this RP. Please refer to the GM Character located in the OP for a guide on CS formatting and an example of what is expected of players' submissions. The Reforged Saga is a RP based in the Geneforge universe, which is a relatively obscure universe. It is expected of all players to carefully read and understand the prepared OP material as well as any supplementary material provided in posts by the GM throughout the OOC.

Your CS was lacking in, among other items, explanation of your character's behavior, descriptions of your character's skills, and an acceptable bio. The overall length of your CS sections prohibits quality explanations and contains unacceptable grammatical errors. The CS as a whole does not demonstrate the expected effort necessary for this RP.

Particular points of interest include:
- Bows do not exist in Shaper lands.
- Skills and Talents are supposed to be listed with descriptions where necessary.
- Machit (incorrectly referred to as Machi in the CS) is the vast swampland that comprises much of the Known World. All characters reside there, making the assertion that the character's family lives there redundant. A specific location is necessary.

Frankly, it is felt that you did not read and understand the entire OP including the quality expectations, the least of which is exemplified in the quality of the GM Character section. If you wish to resubmit your CS for reconsideration after extensive revision and improvement, you may do so.

Minkasha
06-12-2015, 09:18 PM
How may players are you looking for before you start? :) If there comes a shortage are we able to portray multiple PCs or would we just share a bunch of NPCs or what? :)

Imperial1917
06-12-2015, 09:32 PM
There isn't really a floor for player numbers so much as a cap. The cap is 7-8 before we have to start creating more than one group. Obviously we need at least 2 people (the GM and one other) to get the RP started. This RP itself will be rather short and is meant to serve as an introduction to the world. I don't really like the idea of a player having more than one character in a group since it will be rather crammed if that happened. Since we don't have a real floor on players, we can make do without having NPCs in the coming Acts.

Minkasha
06-13-2015, 02:34 AM
Name: Kira Zobel

Year: 2

Origin: Yuushin

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Declared Class: Agent

Appearance:

A lithe built girl standing five foot three inches she is at height to the girls her age. Her jet black hair parts down the right, flows in waves to her mid back, covering most of her left eye if not styled back. Her skin is of an olive tone, small incision scars linger on the insides of her elbows, her left middle finger is missing and her right pinkie as well. Her face shape is oblong, giving her a tall but proportioned face with a rounded jaw.

Her lips and eyes show signs of her youthful feminine features with long, bold lashes, thick but arching black brows, and thin yet pout lips. Her eyes seem to have an almost unnatural hue of hazel that comes off prominently golden in color. Her pupils are naturally dilated, a very intense look that turns any casual glance into a possible uncomfortable encounter.

Often she binds her chest for increased mobility in combat and comfort.

Wargear:

-Fyora leather scale (complete set)

-Leather hand wraps studded with jagged pebbles.

- Three iron daggers (two hidden on her and one held on the left side of her hip)

Creations: None

Allegiance: “Destroy the fallacy”

Personality:

Kira keeps away from herself. Naturally she is an escapist and her means to do so are through bonds with others or physical activity. Being forced to sit with her own thoughts, simply being by herself, has always made her uncomfortable and resentful for reasons she doesn’t understand. Her ability to interact with people has been a constant struggle that she attempts to overcome, but her intentions have not been for the benefit or consideration of others. They are part of her distractions, living distractions. Kira naturally keeps conversation about herself minimal, if nonexistent and promotes others to ramble about themselves because she knows no other way to keep people in her life.

Socially, Kira feels handicapped and her mind is against her. Though she doesn’t mean to, she has been caught staring at boys. She has always found them fascinating and most of all Kira has wished to assimilate with them.

Through her youth Kira has asked herself why Shapers continue to exist if the threat of their power is so great. To this day she has not found the answer to this burning question.

Skills and Talents:

Acrobatic Agility – Kira can move at exceptional speed while being able to keep a balanced center of gravity. Tied with natural cunning she has expressed through her education, she can be a rapid and constantly moving melee opponent.

Martial Proficiency – She is skilled using singled handed dagger fighting and hand to hand combat.

Body Mimicry – Kira has an exceptional bodily intelligence that has helped her grow in physical skills at an unparalleled pace. Non magical actions displayed by her peers and educators have quickly been replicated. This has also been used to her advantage to quickly understand her educator’s bodily movements and attacks, making her extremely adaptable.

Perfect Vision – Kira has 20/20 vision and has an easier time seeing in very dim environments than anyone else she has known.

Understanding of Magical Theory – Though her actual practice is minimal, her father had ensured she read on arcane lore.

Banes:

Malfunctioning Hand Coordination – For all her agile graces, Kira seems incapable of using both hands simultaneously for rapid actions (fighting with two hands, clapping quickly, etc). To do so causes her right hand to become spasmodic and a sharp pain shoot in to the left side of her brain. (This could be caused by something as mundane as writing with her right hand and drumming her fingers hastily with her left).

Social Dysfunction - Her natural expressions of emotion are not in sync to others. At its worst it can be a sneer when the girl is trying to smile or appearing bored in moments of defeat or sadness. This often makes her seem mischievous and unusual more so than she is.

Obsession – When in a fight it is difficult for Kira to stop herself unless her target is incapacitated in some way. She becomes so focused on her opponent, analyzing their every detail that it becomes a compulsion for her to succeed. It is not an expression of rage or aggression, but another avenue of her mind that is set against her at times.

Magic Overload - When bombarded with heavy magic, either boon or bane, Kira’s health quickly dives. From the inside out her body begins to hemorrhage, the first signs being of her coughing up blood from serrated lungs. Even healing magic must be used cautiously or only cause more harm. (Overload is defined by levels of magic that she could not ward off or resist with some difficulty. Meaning, as she becomes more magically knowledgeable and stronger it becomes more difficult for her to become overloaded)

Shaper Thurman's Will - Kira is unable to disobey her father's instruction. She doesn't know why.

Biography:

Kira Zobel was born of the parents of Teresa Kyles, a young Yuushin woman and Shaper Thurman Zobel. Her hands had two deformed fingers, the middle finger of her left hand and the right pinky being nothing more than stubs. Her mother and father had never said a thing about them, her earliest years of childhood content as they raised her.

By the time she was able to have her first memories she knew her father wasn't around much anymore like he had used to and her mother was drinking frequently. At this time she was moved back between Yuushin and the Grand Academy. In Yuushin she had nothing more than her mother and a small residence, often sitting around listening to the sounds of rain and the ambiance of the swamps. In the Grand Academy she had her father who always found her interesting, and a few acquaintances she knew on and off as she was growing up.

By the time her education was becoming the greatest aspect of her life, her social inability was turning those acquaintances into bullies. As a little girl she was picked on for her deformities, called 'little fingers'. The Grand Academy full of heavy stares and cackling at her expense. It was in this stage of her youth, six bordering on seven, that her darker feelings started to turn inward. It manifested sharply when she mutilated her mutilations, chopping off the stubs that were her deformed fingers. Her parents told her nothing was wrong with her. Though their reassurances didn't help push away a whole peer group of judgment and teachers that eyed her with suspicion.

At twelve years of age her mother passed. Father had told her a rogue creation had killed her, though he wouldn't tell her whose and how. He said it was appropriate for her to be sad now but it was when Kira had begun to ask why? For her life, her differences, for the Grand Academy and the Shapers. Why did it all exist? Ever since her mother's death, her father had also been around less. He had told her it was for Shaper duties, their encounters little more than the times he took to give her medical checkups.

Kira’s gifts in the martial fields had drawn mix results. Fascination and unnerve. She was fast, maybe too fast. She was weird, maybe too weird. Her father told her she was magnificent, but she never saw it. At fifteen she lives singularly in the Grand Academy, but that was all to change now that she had been extended the opportunity of a life time. Kira had been resistant, but when her father told her she would do so, and she found herself preparing for the unexpected.

Megilwen
06-15-2015, 02:50 AM
If a character was a fourth year about how far would they have learned down one or more than one of the magic sub-categories (i.e battle magic, mental magic etc)?

Imperial1917
06-15-2015, 07:05 PM
Sorry I've been out for a bit folks. My brother graduated college over the weekend, so I had to go see him.
The IC post is a WIP. When it does go up, read carefully, because there are some nuances to the universe that you will want to catch onto that are somewhat difficult to represent otherwise. It will also introduce a number of characters. I will put it up most likely today or tomorrow, depending on my schedule and when I complete it. Anyone who wants to join can join at any time during the RP.


If a character was a fourth year about how far would they have learned down one or more than one of the magic sub-categories (i.e battle magic, mental magic etc)?
That depends mainly on two things:
1. Broadly, how focused they were on one type of magic. The rule of thumb is that you will learn more for one, but have to let others go a bit to neglect.
2. Whether your character declared a class intent and which one. While becoming a Shaper was never an exact science in the Academy, people could claim their way to Shaperhood all they wanted. If the class in question (say, Agent) thought they had potential, they might take a vested interest in making sure said person had specialized training for the class. Since the announcement of the challenge, this has become a prerequisite to participate and specialized instruction is standard for all participants.

Specifically speaking, magic is listed from top-down in order of easiest to hardest, but also has matters of degree. For example, a person might know Unlock, but they can only succeed with simple locks and not complex ones. This is seen broadly, especially across the Mental Magic and Blessing Magic sub-categories. By fourth year any aspirant who specializes in magic broadly should be aware of the magic theory of all spells, even if they can't work them. It could take years to master even casting a firebolt.

The following are where I would expect someone to be fairly competent with a broad specialization in magic to be by their fourth year. Understand that if they can effectively work all the spells listed here for one category, that means that they probably don't know as much of the others.

For Battle Magic, Firebolt, Burning Spray, Searer, Ice Spray.
For Mental Magic, Daze, Mindshield Aura, Wrack, and Unlock.
For Blessing Magic, War Blessing, Essence Shield.

If you think the list is a bit short, keep in mind the degrees and the fact that not everyone going to the Academy is looking to be a Shaper. Most will go in just for the standard education in mundane things like reading, writing, etc. Where it is true that there are no bars to people attending classes on magic, such classes are carefully taught and rigorous. Unless someone has declared their intent to be a Shaper, they would probably only treat magic as a kind of elective class.

Snotgirl
06-17-2015, 01:36 AM
In answer to your VM, Imperial, I still hope to join but I have RL stuff going on right now. So I may not be able to put up a CS straight away.

Imperial1917
06-17-2015, 01:48 AM
In answer to your VM, Imperial, I still hope to join but I have RL stuff going on right now. So I may not be able to put up a CS straight away.
Very well. Hope all is well on your end.

Minkasha
06-17-2015, 01:50 AM
Hyea, I haven't gotten an answer if I've been accepted or not :)

Imperial1917
06-17-2015, 01:52 AM
Hyea, I haven't gotten an answer if I've been accepted or not :)
Accepted. I was going to update the OP in a bit with some odds and ends when I posted the IC.

Speaking of which, the IC should be up today... or tomorrow, depending on how much more I add to it.

Megilwen
06-17-2015, 01:53 AM
There are just plain mages right? Mages who didn't become shapers or didn't want to be shapers yes?

Imperial1917
06-17-2015, 03:09 AM
There are just plain mages right? Mages who didn't become shapers or didn't want to be shapers yes?
Yes there are. Some are washed out Shaper aspirants while others learned on their own. The Shapers did not prohibit people from practicing magic for the most part, but there was a registry system so they could keep track of these individuals. They were generally not concerned about the matter because individual mages usually only got so powerful and the Shapers, by experience, knew that their own craft was one of the most powerful. However, it is important to note that things like spellbooks, even for something as simple as Firebolt, would have been rare. The Shapers were very secretive and would have been hesitant to put down the information anywhere that an outsider could get their hands on it.

It should be noted that even during the time of the Shaper Council (Pre-Shattering), there were only so many of these, especially since Shapers come into their own right could potentially outdo any hedge mage. After the Shattering in the current era, there would more like to be shaman-like individuals in the villages as formal knowledge of magic is mostly kept by the Academy and the Shapers.

Bear in mind that the Academy does teach magic and you do not have to declare your intention to be a Shaper to join the classes, but the curriculum is complex and intensive. Those who show promise may be offered places in the Shaper training programs and those who pass the approval of the instructors may be given certificates for their skill. All, however, would be required to register as mages.

Megilwen
06-17-2015, 03:13 AM
But there could be people that studied magic and just didn't aspire to be shapers and were happy stopping at just learning a specific spell or magic?

Imperial1917
06-17-2015, 03:25 AM
But there could be people that studied magic and just didn't aspire to be shapers and were happy stopping at just learning a specific spell or magic?
Certainly, assuming that they were skilled enough. It takes a great deal of know-how to work magic, meaning potentially years of dedicated study just to learn something as simple as Firebolt. Just keep in mind that the lists are ordered top-down from least complicated to most, so learning something at the bottom without any knowledge of what came before it would be like making steel without knowing how to work iron.

Megilwen
06-17-2015, 03:29 AM
Okay :)

Imperial1917
06-18-2015, 01:23 AM
The IC is up (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73899).

Minkasha
06-18-2015, 02:41 AM
Wonderful! Would you be willing to put my CS on the first post please :)?

Minkasha
06-18-2015, 03:52 AM
Her narrative is much smaller, so there wasn't much to add, for now.

*EDIT*

Also, I wanted to leave the classroom undefined because I wasn't sure how you wanted to go about the other students (either there be none or NPC)

Imperial1917
06-18-2015, 04:08 AM
Basically it will be like the tavern concept in which people slowly fill the classroom, which will be empty to begin with. At this point it would be just three until Persona gets her character in. Future characters who join the Prologue will meet with Jass separately. I'll give Persona some time, but I am mainly waiting on Megilwen to finish her CS and get her first post up.

Minkasha
06-18-2015, 04:29 AM
Got it!

I'm sensing Thanic and Kira may have some conflicts!

Megilwen
06-18-2015, 07:26 PM
Okay I think it's complete.

Imperial1917
06-19-2015, 12:08 AM
Okay I think it's complete.
Put the sample in a spoiler. Otherwise, accepted.

Minkasha
06-20-2015, 06:32 AM
I didn't want to keep repeating the same information with the characters that Jass clearly explained, nor continue a path of introspection so I thought I'd just hop into it!

Imperial1917
06-20-2015, 06:49 AM
Jass isn't in his armor atm. He is in a Shaper cloak and other such items. The only thing that I noted of his current setup is his vat boots, which would be appropriate for a laboratory.

Minkasha
06-20-2015, 07:19 AM
Alright, I will go fix this. I thought they were to depart now. Is the armor being carried? That would also be heavy, no?

Imperial1917
06-20-2015, 07:56 AM
That is a matter of decisions to be made. The function of this RP was to be a short introduction to ease people into an unfamiliar universe and allowing them to make plans for departure. Hence why it is called the Prologue. This was stated many times. If all the players are comfortable with proceeding without future preparation then when Jass brings it up in the next post they can do so. I will, at that point, create the next Act of the RP.

Megilwen
06-20-2015, 05:54 PM
Imp would you be against me adding a staff to her list of war gear? Again, not something she's terribly skilled in, maybe took a little bit of class in, but something she mostly just uses for support when walking if it's needed.

Imperial1917
06-20-2015, 07:02 PM
No, you can add it. Just remember that you are carrying all of this.

Megilwen
06-20-2015, 07:09 PM
That's fine, she doesn't have much in the way of gear. Do you want me to list enchanting items as gear too? or enchanting materials?

Also I edited her ages a bit/like when the accident occured age entered the academy etc, just based off our conversation we had.

Imperial1917
06-21-2015, 12:12 AM
What items are we talking here? She isn't going to be hauling around a forge on her back...

Megilwen
06-21-2015, 12:17 AM
No of course not. Just a few crystals she'd enchanted and/or wands. All of lower powers.

I didn't think enchanting would require a forge so much as the right materials and magical ability. Hmmmmm...I may have misunderstood what I had read the first time....don't worry about the materials part. Maybe just equipment for collecting materials in case she runs across any magical plants/etc that she or others at the Academy could use.

Minkasha
06-22-2015, 03:50 AM
The map displays swampland in all directions, is there any direction that the swamp land is the shallowest? How about which direction Rogue attacks are less common place from? Of course this type of information has to be filtered through Kira and she might know...nothing.

Imperial1917
06-22-2015, 04:58 AM
The map shows the Known World inside of the Great Magic Barrier, all of which is swampland. There really isn't a 'shallow' portion - there are only places where there is more land, which itself is usually artificial. Assume waterways in all directions, but more land in the direction of Yuushin.

No rogue has ever crossed the Magic Barrier, but there are rogues inside the Magic Barrier. Rogues are less frequently seen to the east in the direction of Yuushin due to Shaper interests flushing a lot of patrols through the area. They are also less frequent along the way to Tarin due to how close it is to Issei and its relative importance. Most villages (not all of which are named) are like Assence and Laubem: they are relatively isolated from Issei, so patrols are more scarce and rogues more abundant.

Based purely on background, there is a good chance that Kira has never left Issei since beginning her schooling. Classes on Machit and the Known World do exist, but whether she takes them is another matter. People also come from all over the Known World to Issei and the Academy, but knowing what they know would require asking.

Minkasha
06-22-2015, 02:52 PM
Could I argue she'd know of the Yuushin information, having come from there?

Imperial1917
06-22-2015, 09:19 PM
To a certain extent, yes, though you made her a bit of a cloistered individual.
Go as far as you dare; I'll let you know if a line is crossed.

Megilwen
06-22-2015, 09:25 PM
If Kira doesn't know much then Jade will, also being from Yuushin.

Imperial1917
06-22-2015, 11:31 PM
If Kira doesn't know much then Jade will, also being from Yuushin.
Also having lived cloistered in her house quite a bit. XD
If I recall from her bio correctly, Jade was active outside until her incident at 10-12, after which she withdrew from contact with people outside of her family.

Megilwen
06-23-2015, 12:45 AM
Lol that's probably true

Minkasha
06-23-2015, 01:17 AM
So, basically, both of us know nothing. Lol we are so useful.

Megilwen
06-23-2015, 01:17 AM
We make the best party ever!

But on the plus side, this will make things interesting because our characters can well and truly grow. :)

Minkasha
06-23-2015, 01:20 AM
Alright, time to make an ignorant post! yea!

Minkasha
06-23-2015, 05:56 AM
Go ahead and post Imperial, it seems natural for him to reply first.

Megilwen
06-24-2015, 04:15 AM
Imp I'll wait until you respond to Kira's question before posting

Megilwen
06-24-2015, 05:15 AM
Yeah I'm terrible about names XD. If there's a Shaper "language" maybe we could use a translated word or something along those lines

Imperial1917
06-24-2015, 05:21 AM
There isn't. Geneforge made mention of runes and such, but the game was all in English. The depth was in the concepts, not fancy script.

Minkasha
06-24-2015, 05:36 AM
At least we are in luck, we could use real life rune systems should it ever been specifically required :P

Megilwen
06-24-2015, 05:39 AM
Mhmmm. It could come in handy later, though did anyone take the classes for runes :P. I remembered it mentioned in the list of classes, but if no ones taken them we'll run into the same problem as the knowledge of the World.

Also are we going to time-skip to leaving? Or go through the whole getting ready part?

Imperial1917
06-24-2015, 05:47 AM
Honestly, this RP was originally designed to cover the preparation for departure and therefore was supposed to be much longer in an urban environment. The purpose was to help situate people in the lore. However, there are not too many players and I have just given us a two week journey before the actual journey begins, departing from Assence. I may actually end up ending this leg of the RP after we finish preparations in Issei and then make the next Act of the RP start in Assence where we will hopefully pick up more players. Our three will arrive on one of the regular shipping barges that transports goods to and from Assence from Issei. The rest of the players can have arrived on their own.

Minkasha
06-24-2015, 05:50 AM
Alright. I'm okay with this :) I think Kira said a good punchline LOL

Megilwen
06-24-2015, 05:52 AM
That's fine I was just wondering. :)

Imperial1917
06-25-2015, 05:01 AM
I'm prepared to retire this RP and move on to Act I: New Tides. Actually, I have already made that thread (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73979). Please repost your CS there. Notify me of any changes to it. I'm going to ask a moderator to retire this RP thread and the corresponding IC thread. Anything to say before I go ahead and do that?

Minkasha
06-25-2015, 05:03 AM
Nope! Got it! :)

Megilwen
06-25-2015, 05:04 AM
Nope Do we get a completed the RP trophy from it XD?

Imperial1917
06-25-2015, 05:10 AM
Nope Do we get a completed the RP trophy from it XD?
I do not know. We'll see.