Demens Chosen [PL: Into the Abyss - CLOSED]

[Cerillium]

Im expecting some dice rolling and some other stuff.

Naw. The only time I roll is when things are so close that it comes down to pure luck. Odds and evens.

We might do mechanics based gaming in the distant future. I usually refer players to G-Tech's games to learn the nuances. His RP are geared for it. Awesome stuff, if you're ever in the mood to play a mechanics game.

[Holy Lykos]

Cer, should we get Sid and Amaranth to the meeting? Or would you just want Sid there? I'm sure Amaranth would know what's going on even if not manifested.

I think Bran and I were waiting on Myra too, unless I missed a cue to have them just keep talking.

[Chedastan]

Speaking of the meeting too, should Paper Romy make an appearance too to represent his absent real self?

[Cerillium]

NA, yes. Move them along.

@ALL. Please move your characters to the dining room. If you're currently frozen, drag that person along with yours. I've frozen some of you due to the flu and trying to knock out the things necessary for the meeting.

@Ched, sure, if you'd like. It would allow them to brief their counterparts once they return home.

[Primordial Luxa]

NA, yes. Move them along.

@ALL. Please move your characters to the dining room. If you're currently frozen, drag that person along with yours. I've frozen some of you due to the flu and trying to knock out the things necessary for the meeting.

@Ched, sure, if you'd like. It would allow them to brief their counterparts once they return home.

What about those of us with those characters in other planes of existence?

[Tiltjuice]

rightoz Cer.

[Saldinado]

Also, please move your characters to the dining room if they aren't already there. It's alright to move mine along with yours, Torr.

ALL:
There are a bunch of character roles I didn't define. I've got to work them into Nes' briefing. For example, Septimus isn't listed. He's our resident politician and ambassador, which makes him a specialist. He might have his own little office somewhere in the Building. Let me know what roles you'd like your characters to fill as staffers (hospital, gardens, motor pool, researcher of XYZ, etc) or team personnel (fighters, combat medic, intelligence, etc).

Oh my...Well then let's see...
Henry seems like the more researcher type. Specifically the research of plant and animal life; mainly the latter. He's more of an idealist so a researcher of life is his field of expertise.

And as for combat, he is knows little to nothing about it so that's a no-no. Though knows how to shoot a bow and arrow pretty well due to archery lessons.

[Cerillium]

NA, yes. Move them along.

@ALL. Please move your characters to the dining room. If you're currently frozen, drag that person along with yours. I've frozen some of you due to the flu and trying to knock out the things necessary for the meeting.

@Ched, sure, if you'd like. It would allow them to brief their counterparts once they return home.

What about those of us with those characters in other planes of existence?

You have a Paper Aegis and a Paper Primordial handy.


Henry and Sid should put their minds together for the betterment of the garden.

[Tsuyoi Tekikoku]

So I'm assuming Tsu has been dropped in?

[Holy Lykos]

Henry and Sid should put their minds together for the betterment of the garden.

Totally, Kale too when she returns. I think Kale would be able to see Amaranth yeah? Being a magic user who works with plants especially.

[Tiltjuice]

Chrys - frontline fighter
Luce - planning/training
Cuisine & MB - welcome committee
Mathias - magical ingredients
Calani - funding, recreation, PR, perhaps more

[Holy Lykos]

Venla - Research, Organization, semi-frontline if needed.
Sid - Soldier training, Support fighter/semi frontline, Guerrilla warfare. Not much of a commander
Maghrl - Jedi skillz, healer, Trader/negotiator, frontline and support.

(Since they're still somewhat around as NPCs)
Sterling - Organization, General help around the building, Welcome committee if needed, Med team aid.
Sakarias - Building, Survivalist training, Funding through his store

[Tsuyoi Tekikoku]

Tsu-Frontline Support, heavy armor and strength allows her to to wield just more then her sword.

[Saldinado]

Henry and Sid should put their minds together for the betterment of the garden.

Totally, Kale too when she returns. I think Kale would be able to see Amaranth yeah? Being a magic user who works with plants especially.

Ah so basically the geek squad?

[Holy Lykos]

Totally, Kale too when she returns. I think Kale would be able to see Amaranth yeah? Being a magic user who works with plants especially.

Ah so basically the geek squad?

Geek Squad with plants

What's henry's backgroundagain?

[Saldinado]

Ah so basically the geek squad?

Geek Squad with plants

What's henry's backgroundagain?

Background?

Well to sum it up its basically a riches to rag where he was a rich little kid that had everything that he could've asked for yet was always this shy, insecure, and anxious child that put up a facade of being a charismatic and charming playboy all his life even when he and his family lost all of their money and started from the bottom up using his intellect and skills to reach his goal to become of a zoologist.
Also has a natural gift when it comes to animals. Like communicate with them yet not actually talk to them so he prefers working with them instead of people.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Some thoughts on roles within the roles:

Amanda

• lawyer
• Most of the ISTAR roles (everthing but target acquisition, I think). Indeed, the long story of Ascalon's gritty underside was to help her understand she needed cloak-and-dagger skills to achieve her ends there.
• Intelligence
• Some combinations of the above; she's not against being a deep agent, so long as the rewards of operation justify being apart from Sandy for so long. Lawyer, or the few other mundane professions she's qualified for, make good cover.

Sandy
Now that he's been deposed as leader of the healers -- yet another reason to love the lizard, I suppose -- he has plenty of time on his hands. Well, assuming he doesn't get his skinny white ass killed in Alexandria. But enough character development...

• A number of support roles: historian, teacher, healer. Summoned elephants are good for any number of purposes, too.
• Some cloak-and-dagger work; he does have a potent shapeshifting spell.
• When he's less brittle -- he's working on that -- he might take the field:
  
  • Support spellcaster/medic
  • Strike-team spellcaster (A few elephants make a nasty surprise, but really using them to bring down the pain is something for large combat operations, and requires the help of other spellcasters and ideally armored folks with FT weapons.)
  • Aerial operations (I think we made that work just fine; we just need more practice and better equipment to take on more interesting foes.)

[Swith Witherward]

So I'm assuming Tsu has been dropped in?

I added her just now.

I'm sorry the posts are weak, Tsu and Torro. I'm ready for bed here, but wanted to get you both moving along.

[Tiltjuice]

Every now and then, despite what people would like to tell you, every sophont had to make a pit stop. It was a fact of life. Food came in, was digested, passed out. The practical upshot of all of this hubbub was that the Building's main supply closet was often restocked with Charmin ultra soft on the daily.

By and by, it was used and refilled, and a routine fell into place. Dull, but predictable. Important, when dealing with toilet fodder.

And on the day that there was suddenly no toilet paper, people searched high and low. Mezran grumbled something so deep it was inaudible, but likely had to do with a veritable song and dance about the dishonor of pilfering those cushiony white squares. Sterling bemoaned the loss of the base material he was going to give to Willow to use as papier mache. Naomi fretted over the disappearance of her Halloween gingerbread house decoration.

Everyone looked at MB. The rabbit was, for once, at a loss. He, too, was hungry for his favorite popcorn snack; and he sulked in the garden.

By and by, the Residents realized that the smell of sulfur hung heavy in the air. Suddenly, everything was clear; and the whole building beat a path to Hans' door.

Chrys sat outside on the threshold, nose to nose with the fire-breathing disco-tortoise she'd adopted so long ago.

And then there was a mass polka, because reasons.

[CAT XIII]

Going to try to get Oto's app revamp up today (hopefully it won't need as much editing as last time)!

[CAT XIII]

Going to try to get Oto's app revamp up today (hopefully it won't need as much editing as last time)!

Got most of it finished, will probably get it up between tomorrow and Tuesday.

[Tsuyoi Tekikoku]

I should mention,on other website. I'm in two rp communities similar to the old people but with more plots and major arcs such as a end of the world arc in which heroes must step up and defeat the villain to save the planet.. One of them I'm a co-owner in, so those will require my attention.

[The BranRiech]

Just edited my post, sorry NA!

[Nezperdian Chaos]

I apologise if I have filled any of the application out incorrectly. I was unsure what the rules concerning image urls meant, so if you would like me to change the format in any way then I shall.

#PLAPP

(Image)
PERSONIFICATION LIFE
CHARACTER APPLICATION 2.0

---

PLAYER INFORMATION
NS nation nickname: Arty

Skill Level: Intermediate RPer; Beginner P2TMer

How often can you post? Multiple times per week.



CHARACTER PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Character First Name: Steingrímur

Character Surname: Magnússon

Character Title: None

Character Gender: Male

Species : Human (specifically, Arthurian)

Age: 29

Appearance:
Tall, at 6 ft 1 in, and broad-shouldered. He is not particularly muscular, though he might be called 'toned', for his body appears to have been worked out not through dedicated exercise so much as constant use. Like most of his countrymen, Steingrímur is pale of skin and blonde of hair. His eyes are not the stereotypical dazzling Nordic blue but are tinted with flecks of grey. These are set in a far-away gaze which seems to always be searching the horizon even when it is clear he is deeply focused on the object of his intent. His jaw is pronounced, structured around a strong chin. His expression would look like one of indifference, were it not for the thought (or sensitivity, perhaps) in those eyes. He rarely smiles; when he does it is a simple curve of the lips, albeit genuine.

Despite his size and relative braun, Steingrímur stands as if shy. His demeanour is restrained and he avoids eye-contact unless he is communicating with someone else. When not engaging in any activity he is still, never restless. When he does move, though, Steingrímur is fluid; he would not be called 'light on his feet', but neither is he clumsy. His movements are efficient. In short, he is graceful.

He dresses conservatively and neatly when not outdoors. His usual outfit would be a polo-shirt tucked into a pair of belted chinos (ironed, of course) with a smart pair of derbies. Often he might wear a Nordic jumper over the top, the right sleeve rolled up. When outdoors Steingrímur would appear the scruffy naturalist. He would wear whichever items would be most suitable for the conditions, but in almost any location he would keep on him a well-worn woollen cable-knit jumper - a keepsake from his mother.

URL to Character Picture, if any: Steingrímur Magnússon

Character Occupation or Specialty: Naturalist and Researcher


Character's biggest strength: Thoughtfulness. This has two aspects: (1) Steingrímur can act as a counsellor to others, or a mediator between them; and (2) he can form 'out-of-the-box' solutions to problems around him.


Character's worst flaw: Hesitance to act. Steingrímur does not like to speak or act until he is committed fully to doing so. Once decided, he will do all he can in a specific situation, but this may come too late. In other words, he is too cautious.


OBJECTIVES AND GOALS


Primary Objective: To overcome the torment of a lost love. Though he may not appear it from the outside, Steingrímur is suffering from the anguish of having walked away from his one love. He will not speak of it, for he cannot understand why himself. Before he can truly be at peace he must know himself, and only through doing so can he have a chance of discovering why he acted the way he did. Achieving this objective manifests itself in a deep interest in philosophy, particularly of the existential kind but also that of the East. It also explains in some part his detachedness in social situations - Steingrímur is hard-shelled when others first meet him precisely because of this vulnerability, but through persistence he can form deep bonds of affection.

Relatedly, his work as a naturalist revolves around trying to define 'human nature' and what differentiates humans from other beings. He pours much effort into this, especially through empirical observation of fauna. His true interest in the field of natural history, however, is tea, which he has connected to the above-mentioned philosophical studies to shape his world view.

Minor Goals: To distract himself from his torment by pursuing hobbies and making friends. Steingrímur's primary objectives are emotionally draining for him, so his minor goals are far more mundane in order that they can allow his mind to settle. He therefore seeks to make friends and to do those things which calm him: long walks in rugged countryside, cross-country skiing and writing his journals which combine poetry with free-thoughts.


MUNDANE SKILLS

List Mundane skills here

• Speaks Arthurian (interchangeable with Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Faroese);
  
• Plays the violin;
  
• Is a reliable forager;
  
• Is an apprentice tea-master; and
  
• Has academic training.

SPECIALIZED SKILLS AND TALENTS

• Ability 1 and Points Spent: Skiing (downhill and cross-country) - 3
  
• Ability 2 and Points Spent: Research skills - 4

OPTIONAL SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Ability 1: N/A
  Power Level:
  Strengths: (what it does)
  Weaknesses: (what counters it)
  Restrictions: (limitations or other factors that hamper it/the character)

MAGICAL OR SPECIAL ITEMS

• None

EQUIPMENT

List: Steingrímur has on him only the clothes on his back, his diaries, his notebooks, some Arthurian money and an old, slightly battered pocket watch.


BACKGROUND

Education or Training:

• University of Vestmannaeyjar, MSc Natural History & Biology (1898 - 1902)
• Federal College of Tea (1904 - 1905)
• University of Hjörsey, Lecturer in Natural History (1905 - 1908)

Character Background/Biography:

I was born to a widowed mother in they year 970, by Arthurian Reckoning (1880 AD). Our existence was simple for we had no riches and lived only in a small fishing village on the shores of Hellisey. My mother fed and clothed us by mending nets and, in the longer days of summer, baking black-loaves for the fishers; she would have joined them on the seas if she had not me to worry about. My greatest consolation in those days was that I was an only child and so the attention of må - as I called her - was never wanting.

In those youthful days I would love going to school. It was here where I could enjoy the simple pleasures of friendship. But as I grew to love the place, so I was able to enjoy the learning it stamped upon me. My favourite lessons were always the outdoor ones; I remember one day being led outside by the teacher - the old and kindly Søren Kristianssen - and being sent off with the other children to pluck just one flower (it could not be any more than that, for from nature we were taught to take only the precise resources that we needed and no more). My classmates naturally rushed to the grassy field in search of the brightest blooms. I wandered over to a rocky tumble by the side of a mountain road. I plucked a single edelweiss. Though he could not say it, old Søren deemed it the best find of the day. 'No-one else', he said, 'could have thought to search for a blooming flower in a desolate pile of rocks'. The edelweiss is still pressed firmly in the first page of my notebook, the flower that began a lifetime of study.

When I reached 17 years old I began looking to the future. Søren had died years ago, but we had a new teacher. Freyja Arnarsdóttir was not so kindly, but her discipline was directed towards an end. For me, in whom she saw less promise than other of the children, she wanted simply to send off to be apprenticed. Under her tutelage my interest in most subjects withered. But of natural history I had developed a deep commitment. I continued to study it in my free time, filling notebook after notebook with scrawlings and diagrams. Most, I have come to learn, were either incorrect or tremendously incomplete. From this blissful period of self-study I was interrupted by news that Freyja had achieved what she had set out to do - she had found me an apprenticeship with a local cooper. He was indeed one of the best around, and it proved that Freyja wanted the best for my abilities, but it also showed that she had underestimated me all along. A few days with the cooper - Hans Vasegaard - and he had figured out my true ambition did not lie in barrel-making.

I was lucky. Hans, as the best at his trade in central Arthuria, had contacts. He wrote to a raft of philanthropic clients (these were the days when brewers, his chief customers, were trying to 'give back' in an attempt to improve their image - the age of advertising had arrived in Arthuria only just by this time). Of them he asked for donations to allow 'a poor but gifted child' to be released from his apprenticeship and sent to university. Most pleas went ignored. Two weeks after he had sent the last of his letters, though, Hans received a sealed envelope at the cooper's shop. I was there when he opened it. It was from Loftur Sæmundsson, the owner of the Southern Tropics Tea Company. He was in need of new botanists, of which few within the Arthurian Isles were adequate quality. He was willing to fund a course of natural history at Vestmannaeyjar in exchange for a career in his company. I leapt at the chance; the stories of those tea-hunters were the greatest adventures of the day. Alone or in small expeditions they would explore lands untouched before now, in search of new plants, new wildlife, new tea cultivars. Their scrapes on the way were but an entertaining sideshow to be written about in the national papers. I accepted. Preparations were made for me to leave Hellisey - I had my national service deferred, I was booked a ticket on the new East Brandur Railway, and I packed all that I had in a small rucksack. My mother wept. Hans was kind enough to send me off with some extra Aurares. My life was truly about to begin.

Vestmannaeyjar was at once wonderful and terrifying. The education was of no worry to me, for I loved it and thrived off the university atmosphere. It was everything that lay elsewhere which worried my mind. I settled into a group of friends who would spend days at a time tramping along the hills and mountains to Vestmannaeyjar's north-east. When back in the city we would congregate in the tea-parlours to debate the issues of the day. I say 'we', but in these discussions I was merely a spectator, thinking myself too much of a rural fishing boy to have anything important to say of national politics. I lapped it all up though, and from it I gleaned a particular way of thinking. To keep my body in shape I signed up for the university's rowing club. I was found wanting, and placed in the novice boat, but I sought not glory and so was happy to spend time with my teammates and take some fresh air out on the water.

In the midst of this physical and mental development came perhaps the hardest period of my life. I fell in love - or at least I experienced an attraction greater than any I had felt before or have felt since, for I do not know truly whether it was love. On this topic I cannot speak too much, for it is difficult to comprehend and even harder to bear. All that can be said is that against everything my heart told me, I had to walk away. On the outside I did not change much - I did the same things I had always done and I continued my studies - but there was now a scar within me. Like the marks on a tree it only grew larger with age, and I have borne it ever since. I admit that it has hardened my demeanour so that they call me 'distant' or 'sombre'. This does not concern me, for if that be the price I pay for having once loved then so be it.

I was lucky, however, that I was soon to be distracted. University had allowed me to defer my national service, but it could not stay the law forever. A week after a graduated from Vestmannaeyjar I arrived at my depot, back in Hellisey. I was assigned to the 5th Antarktïen Brigað in Æðey and immediately shuttled to the south. The seas were rough and this was the only time I can ever remember being sea-sick. Like all conscripts in Arthuria, we weren't expected to go to war, but we were the outward manifestation of inviolable sovereignty and so we had to look as though we were ready to fight whenever the call came. Manoeuvres, they called them. That is what we did for 18 months, made harder as we were stationed in the Antarctic. I traversed more mountainside in that year-and-a-half than I have done in my entire life since. The benefit, I suppose, was that I learned how to ski. I became good enough at it that they made me a scout and sent me off ahead of the column. This suited my solitary mind. My rifle was never fired in anger, though we were drilled weekly until we could, as a unit, unleash more lead into our targets than a typical unit of double our size. This side of my national service - the military element - I found uninteresting, though it did confirm in me that were I asked to I could wield a weapon against a foe without moral qualm.

I was finally released from this peculiar interlude in 994 A.R. (1904 AD). I continued my studies under the funding of Loftur Sæmundsson, this time at the Federal College of Tea. The studying was far more rigourous here, though it left some time to venture out into the wilderness to continue my notes on natural history. It was around this time that I learned, partly through self-study and partly through the College's courses, how to forage for food. I kept this skill up not so much out of necessity rather than enjoyment.

I graduated from the College a year later and was immediately offered a part-time position as a lecturer at the University of Hjörsey, an isolated place that suited me for I could study its often unique flora and fauna. As I still had obligations to Loftur, though, I was allowed to take time off for expeditions or research projects. In the end, the only expedition I did make was with a team from the South Tropics Tea Company. They were headed deep into the Antarctic. Publicly it was billed as an attempt to reach the South Pole, but there was more science on this journey than on most so-called 'scientific expeditions'. We set off in two ships from Holbæk in 996 A.R. (1906 AD). There was a great crowd seeing us off - the Arthurian public were desperate competitors in the race to the Pole.

The journey did not go well. Even in the easier early stages we suffered from snow-blindness, ice cuts and sunburn. The huskies proved inadequate and the ponies died in the mountain crevasses so we were forced to man-haul the sledges on skis. We did make the Pole, but too late, and all of the five of us remaining were weak. It was an awful place, and the coldest march I have ever made. The way back was worse, for we were now disappointed too. Thor Stoltenberg fell behind us about half of the way back, on the Transantarctic Mountains, and when we turned back to find him he was almost manic with frostbitten hands exposed and clothes dishevelled. We got him into a tent, but he fell into a coma and died that same day at half-past after midday. We buried him in as deep a grave as we could manage and left a cairn with a basic cross above it. Four of us returned to the ships, though we had collected 35 lbs of scientific samples.

And that has been my life so far. There have been difficulties and pain, certainly. But there is always the desire to continue learning, to continue developing. If I do nothing but follow those leadings then my life will not have been wasted.

OTHER GAME MECHANICS
URL to Apartment Picture and description: Apartment

Link to RP examples:

• On Tea
• On Sorrow
• The Karasian War
• The Other Guys

IMPORTANT FINAL STEP:
One paragraph that sums up your character. This paragraph is what we'll use on your player tab on the first page of the thread. This MUST be brief. Your tab will contain a link to your application so people will have full details.
The nickname you go by on NS: Arty
Character Name: Steingrímur Magnússon
Character Image Link: Picture
Brief Description for Bio: Solitude, without / the anguish of loneliness. / Like a gentle oak.

Beautifully done, Arty. Approved. It will take a few days before I can code him into the archive. Working on wrapping up the P2TM awards this weekend. I'll drop an intro for him in our IC thread now.

Edit: *grunts* Forgot I was logged into my new puppet. Apologies.

- Cer

[Cerillium]

Also, Discord. https://discord.gg/cBbNU