Demens Chosen [PL: Into the Abyss - CLOSED]

[Reventus Koth]

Let's brighten things up and breathe life back in!

Koth: Is the glass half empty or half full to Zan?

Zan Kraken is a man who hit rock bottom as a slave to a regime that turned what he once loved against him. Things used to look very bleak for him, he felt alone in his suffering and like a traitor against his own people. One day he snapped, something overtook him and he ran as far as he could. Now he's a renegade trying to find anywhere he can put his skillset to use for the better...and so far its worked out for him.

One day he may find that being Chosen was the best thing that could have happened to him. I'm not sure. But the fact of the matter is that he's here because someone looked him over and said "yes, that's the sort of material we need". So yeah, the glass is half-full for him at the moment.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Suggestion copied from Discord DM:

Team Velum (from the Latin word for veil): they're the equivalent of the Men in Black containment crews, covering Demens' tracks by cleaning up after missions, carrying out rescues, and if need be recovering dead characters. They're a behind-the-scenes team, like the groups that grab new characters, mostly Klaus' Men but also one of Minerva's Lads to stop time. They should be retconned in, because they should always have been there.

This came up because Baron P and Sandy have stuff in their dorm rooms near the Mouseion that should be made to disappear when they leave Alexandria. And, um, Other Plot Reasons which shouldn't be revealed yet.

[Northwest Slobovia]

@Cer, @Swith: we're all a bit confused about when we're gonna reboot, even those of us who were in the voice chat. Could you remind us tiny-brained PLanimals?

[Swith Witherward]

@Cer, @Swith: we're all a bit confused about when we're gonna reboot, even those of us who were in the voice chat. Could you remind us tiny-brained PLanimals?

I thought we had until next weekend (Friday) to wrap up stories.

Clarifying... I'm not too certain. Everything hinges on me, and getting stuff done.

[Northwest Slobovia]

@Cer, @Swith: we're all a bit confused about when we're gonna reboot, even those of us who were in the voice chat. Could you remind us tiny-brained PLanimals?

I thought we had until next weekend (Friday) to wrap up stories.

Clarifying... I'm not too certain. Everything hinges on me, and getting stuff done.

And that's why we're asking.

It matters a lot to Prim, Fvaar, and me: if we're not going to reboot this weekend, we don't have to kill ourselves trying to frantically write a crappy ending to the story. Buuuut, I think that means that next possible reboot date would be in three(?) weeks, when Cer is back.

[Swith Witherward]

That's why I suggest getting things done by Friday.

[Primordial Luxa]

That's why I suggest getting things done by Friday.

I'm happy to kill myself before Friday.
My biggest issue is getting reapped in a way that works for me.

[Swith Witherward]

The Premise

Problem: Scale
The God War worked in the beginning because the average character was potent as fuck. They were, themselves, capable of killing gods (if not gods already). It was possible for the god characters to go up against Agents and Minions and come away a bit unscathed. PL wisely toned itself down to a reasonable sort of game, ergo the GW is just too OP to be entertaining or feasible.

Solution: We're dialing it back. It will mean mentally redacting, or the group itself accepting that parts of established canon are no longer canon. Our characters will still know there are Greater Beings (ie Demens, Pearlelei) but we will redact canon laid out since the last damn residents' meeting.

1. We are no longer training for the God War. There isn't a God War, as far as our characters are concerned.
2. We are still "Chosen", but our purpose is different.

---

The Game

Episodes
Episodes are the missions, but also the downtime. The purpose is to get in, get out, move on. Characters grow and evolve through action and realization. Yes, we'll see some antagonists. They may or may not tie into the overarching plot... meaning they serve as a means for character growth, not necessarily story growth. These will be OP-run.

For player-run segments: No long stories with side stories inside of side stories. Think of Min's "Booze-Run". Very simple story. Had players been active, we could have knocked it out in 2 weeks or less.

Seasons
This is the over-arching story unfolding. Each episode brings us closer to a season finale. (NOT a game finale.) If you've ever seen B5... this is how Cer runs his RP. There are a myriad of different stories each episode, but they all somehow tie in to the overarching plot. Romance, a character struggling to find himself, friendly rivalries between characters, political shit back home... you don't really think of it as building into something greater... and then you begin to see the patterns, and hear rumors of upcoming strife, and discover secrets which all point towards something terrifying and potentially game-ending.

Players will NOT be given advance insight into the season. This is where the fun comes from. So, no, you the player do not need to know what the future holds. Trust your OP.

You see, this is where things went south in both Epic and Abyss... players demanded to know shit in advance "so they could plan". When shit got changed due to other players tweaking their story elements or setting, or because I was unable to worldbuild in time, confidence was lost in the OP. "You said it would be this, and now it's that!"

---

Player-Proposed Concepts

1. A Men in Black concept
"They are the best-kept secret in the universe. Working for a highly funded yet unofficial government agency, the Men in Black are providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on Earth." We have a lot of characters from Earth, so this concept could work. Think of Galli as MiB HQ, where all the weird shit is stored.

2. Warehouse 13
"Agents are whisked away to a covert location that houses supernatural objects that the Regents, an Authority above and outside any government, have collected over the centuries. Their new assignment: retrieve lost objects called "Artifacts", seemingly harmless items that can posses immense power, and investigate reports of new ones." Same thing as above, not limited to Earth. I personally love this one.

3. Doctor Who-esque
"The Doctor often finds events that pique his curiosity as he tries to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only his ingenuity and minimal resources...The Doctor frequently collaborates with the international military task force UNIT when the Earth itself is threatened."

4. Bielefeld!
"The story goes that Bielefeld does not actually exist. Rather, its existence is merely propagated by an entity known only as THEM (SIE in German), which has conspired with the authorities to create the illusion of the city's existence.

The theory poses three questions:

Do you know anybody from Bielefeld?
Have you ever been to Bielefeld?
Do you know anybody who has ever been to Bielefeld?

A majority are expected to answer no to all three queries. Anybody claiming knowledge about Bielefeld is promptly disregarded as being in on the conspiracy or having been themselves deceived."


Culmination
I personally like the "operative" and "conspiracy" angles. Now to answer the "5W+H":

• Who: the Residents
• What: function as operatives charged with securing artifacts, preventing nefarious forces from harming people or changing history, or acquiring information
• When: on a continual basis
• Where: from a covert ops location (which may or may not exist!)
• Why: for the benefit of the Omniverse, under the direction of Demens,
• How: using Gates that allow them to slip in and out of time and dimension

Forget about the Greater Beings for a moment. Remember when I mentioned pantheons and red tape? Imagine you belong to one. What do you do when you need something taken care of quickly, quietly... without getting your own hands dirty? How do you reclaim what belongs to you without starting a war with the pantheon that stole it? Where do you go when you just don't have what it takes to answer a prayer or solve a disaster?

Demens. He's full of conspiracies.

Operatives (or Agents or whatever term we settle on) will not just be in the field. We'll need our doctors/healers to analyze stuff, our tech gurus working on stuff, our magic users developing or analyzing stuff. They'll probably end up in grouped in an oddly-yet-appropriately named department.

[Northwest Slobovia]

That's why I suggest getting things done by Friday.

I'm happy to kill myself before Friday.
My biggest issue is getting reapped in a way that works for me.

We'll give it the old college first university in the world try. No promises on quality or even grammar, though.

[Northwest Slobovia]

1. A Men in Black concept
"They are the best-kept secret in the universe. Working for a highly funded yet unofficial government agency, the Men in Black are providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on Earth." We have a lot of characters from Earth, so this concept could work. Think of Galli as MiB HQ, where all the weird shit is stored.

2. Warehouse 13
"Agents are whisked away to a covert location that houses supernatural objects that the Regents, an Authority above and outside any government, have collected over the centuries. Their new assignment: retrieve lost objects called "Artifacts", seemingly harmless items that can posses immense power, and investigate reports of new ones." Same thing as above, not limited to Earth. I personally love this one.

3. Doctor Who-esque
"The Doctor often finds events that pique his curiosity as he tries to prevent evil forces from harming innocent people or changing history, using only his ingenuity and minimal resources...The Doctor frequently collaborates with the international military task force UNIT when the Earth itself is threatened."

I like all of these. I wouldn't mind mixing and matching from them, either making a new idea out of parts of each of them, or alternating between them in some way.

Something to steal from MiB, even if we don't otherwise borrow ideas from it: an actual weird-shit-o-meter, just so we can pin the needle from time to time.

[Northwest Slobovia]

[Tiltjuice]

Do people prefer to blitz through MS on Friday afternoon/evening or over this week?

[Mincaldenteans]

Do people prefer to blitz through MS on Friday afternoon/evening or over this week?

I can go along with it through the week, but blitzing on Friday alone, likely not.

[Monfrox]

I like the new angle, Swith. Suspenseful and tasteful (though instead of Warehouse 13, I'd personally rather go for Hangar 51 but it's the same thing, different polish).

It reminds me of the old Medal of Honor games. I would love so dearly for this to be a thing. But for all that, the one problem I have is the posting of twice a week. I've got a lot going on behind my scenes and I can try to get a post worked out usually once a week, but I don't know about twice.

[Chedastan]

Do people prefer to blitz through MS on Friday afternoon/evening or over this week?

Over the week maybe? I'm quite busy for most of the week though and will probably be fried by the time I get to trying to plost, and of course Friday nights are too busy for me.

[Tiltjuice]

Looks like everyone's busy; I'll move them all back on Friday.

[Breisgau-Lorrach]

#PLAPP

PERSONIFICATION LIFE
CHARACTER APPLICATION 2.0

---

PLAYER INFORMATION
NS nation nickname: Breisgau

Skill Level (beginner, intermediate, advanced): Intermediate

How often can you post? Once a day on average.



CHARACTER PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Character First Name: Alexandria

Character Surname: van Brettin

Character Title: MBA

Character Gender: Female

Species : half-Humanoid Elf/half-Human

Age: 28

Appearance: Dark caramel skin, loose curly long light-brown hair, Hazel-Green eyes, 5' 6", Curvy/Slightly chubby but otherwise athletic build.

URL to Character Picture, if any: http://dotcomm.asc.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p.txt.jpg

Character Occupation or Specialty: Former Investment Banker looking to work in Operations Logistics, Data Analysis and/or on-field Dealbreaking & Contracting


Character's biggest strength: Intelligence. Can quickly process data and create extensive plans for long-term operations and make split-second decisions in a crisis. Has a broad knowledge in omniversal geopolitics, command operations, strategy, and non-human entities which is beneficial.


Character's worst flaw: Narcissism. The character may become overconfident in abilities and make highly risky decisions. Unchecked ego may snowball into a major crisis that would render her inactive. May interfere with long-term social relations.


OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

Primary Objective: FInding a higher calling within life, as she is unsatisfied with only the material wealth she has acquired. Looking to do so using the elven roots her family has been hiding for centuries, thus re-awakening the magic of a people thought to have gone extinct.

Minor Goals: Improvement of magical abilities, Reaching an administrative rank, Increased proficiency with ranged and gunpowder weapons, Finding humility and emotional balance


MUNDANE SKILLS

List Mundane skills here

• Drive a car
  
• Cook food from scratch
  
• Play the Violin
  
• Speak dialects directly derived or similar to English and German
  
• Do Interior Design work
  

SPECIALIZED SKILLS AND TALENTS
(These are specialized skills that set you apart from the average person. You have 7 points to spend here, no more than 4 points in each skill or talent. Examples are swordsmanship, sniper, coercion, medic, spellcraft, piloting helicopter, manipulate water, etc. You must take a skill pertaining to a supernatural power if you plan to use that power.)

• Ability 1 and Points Spent: Advanced Driving (Sports and Light Armored) (1 point)
  
• Ability 2 and Points Spent: Weapons Handling (2 points)
  
• Ability 3 and Points Spent: Persuasion (1 point)
  
• Ability 4 and Points Spent: Elite Education (Geopolitics, Logistics, Executive Leadership & Economics) (3 points)

OPTIONAL SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Ability 1: Animal Transformation
  Power Level: 1
  Strengths: Allows the character to transform into an animal for a period of time for speed or camouflage reasons.
  Weaknesses: Any magical detection spell/system
  Restrictions: At current level can only turn player into a European cervine for 10 minutes.
  
  
• Ability 2: Weapons Enchantment
  Power Level: 3
  Strengths: Increases weapon accuracy, damage & range.
  Weaknesses: Magical shielding, cloaking, interference spells
  Restrictions: Drains the character of a moderate amount of energy every time a weapon has to be enchanted, enchantment lasts for only 4 minutes. Only bows and rifles can be enchanted.
  
  
• Ability 3: Silver Tongue
  Power Level: 3
  Strengths: Dramatically increases the persuasiveness of the character for a limited period of time.
  Weaknesses: Minor decrease in effectiveness if the character is a sexual orientation not attracted to her, major if the character holds same trait or other communications traits.
  Restrictions: Lasts only for the conversation, requires a day to recharge.

List:
[*]Animal Transformation
[*]Weapons Enchantment
[*]Sliver Toungue


EQUIPMENT

List:
Beretta 9mm
Wallet with 300 NSD, ID and Business Card/Security Entrance Card
Laptop
Smartphone
A Pen
Briefcase

BACKGROUND

Education or Training: Trained Weapons Skills and Animal Transformation using family techniques, Silver Tongue, Persuasion and Analytical Abilities trait honed from her former line of work, Intelligence and knowledge range comes from elite higher education.

Character Background/Biography: Despite having magical abilities and a mystical family history, my life was pretty average, well above average to be honest. I grew up in a quiet, boring, human suburb in the Great Lakes region of North America. My family tried to hide anything out of the ordinary, including our "special" abilities. I had the upbringing of every W.A.S.P girl from the Midwest, went to a nice school, had middling popularity, got good grades, went to a nice college to make mommy and daddy proud that they don't have to keep funding me forever, that sort of shit. But there was always something that felt... empty from all of this. Now money almost never solves these types of things but hey, maybe I was the 1 in a million that it would work for right? I went into banking, work my ass off, got a big fat paycheck but nope. Still felt hollow. Now cut to me 28, due for a promotion to VP in a week, in the middle of an existential crisis in my 30th floor Downtown Chicago condo. What was my purpose in life, a supernatural being stuck as a cog in the machine of the financial industry, surrounded by meaningless frivolities for her lifetime?

That's when something came to me that there's always another direction to take. That's when I began to search for this place.


OTHER GAME MECHANICS
URL to Apartment Picture and description: http://hhomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Wood-and-earthy-colour-palette-modern-apartment-by-Manson-Hsiao-of-Hui-yu-Interior-Design-04.jpg
2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,050 sqft modern apartment. Large living room(pictured) with medium sized kitchen, soft lighting inlays anf updated appliances.



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.
Former banker and legacy student of elven descent looking for a higher calling than material possessions. Intelligent, charismatic and attractive yet narcissistic, privileged and not familiar with on-field operations work. Specializes in weapons handling, logistics, strategy, and diplomacy.

The nickname you go by on NS: Breisgau

Character Name: Alexandria van Brettin

Character Image Link: http://dotcomm.asc.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p.txt.jpg

[Giovenith]

Looks really solid to me so far, Breis! Our OP will get to it as soon as he can!

[Tiltjuice]

OOC meme for a bit of lightheartedness.

Use RNG to pick a character (from here or the Archive) and come up with something completely outlandish and not relating to what they already do.

E.g. Dan becomes a live-action cigar store Indian.

[Mincaldenteans]

OOC meme for a bit of lightheartedness.

Use RNG to pick a character (from here or the Archive) and come up with something completely outlandish and not relating to what they already do.

E.g. Dan becomes a live-action cigar store Indian.

[Chedastan]

I'll make a note here since I've mentioned it on Discord:

Quest with Romy: "Suit Shopping"
Details: Determinable after we figure out this reboot first
Basic Premise: Romy needs a new set of powered armor and needs to find and acquire an upgraded set somewhere, who knows maybe in the very depths of hell or the Warp itself if he's that desperate.

[Northwest Slobovia]

I'll make a note here since I've mentioned it on Discord:

Quest with Romy: "Suit Shopping"
Details: Determinable after we figure out this reboot first
Basic Premise: Romy needs a new set of powered armor and needs to find and acquire an upgraded set somewhere, who knows maybe in the very depths of hell or the Warp itself if he's that desperate.

The Bielelfield Wilh*mart has them on sale for only $19.95.

[Cerillium]

#PLAPP

(Image)
PERSONIFICATION LIFE
CHARACTER APPLICATION 2.0

---

PLAYER INFORMATION
NS nation nickname: Breisgau

Skill Level (beginner, intermediate, advanced): Intermediate

How often can you post? Once a day on average.



CHARACTER PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Character First Name: Alexandria

Character Surname: van Brettin

Character Title: MBA

Character Gender: Female

Species : half-Humanoid Elf/half-Human

Age: 28

Appearance: Dark caramel skin, loose curly long light-brown hair, Hazel-Green eyes, 5' 6", Curvy/Slightly chubby but otherwise athletic build.

URL to Character Picture, if any: http://dotcomm.asc.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p.txt.jpg

Character Occupation or Specialty: Former Investment Banker looking to work in Operations Logistics, Data Analysis and/or on-field Dealbreaking & Contracting


Character's biggest strength: Intelligence. Can quickly process data and create extensive plans for long-term operations and make split-second decisions in a crisis. Has a broad knowledge in omniversal geopolitics, command operations, strategy, and non-human entities which is beneficial.


Character's worst flaw: Narcissism. The character may become overconfident in abilities and make highly risky decisions. Unchecked ego may snowball into a major crisis that would render her inactive. May interfere with long-term social relations.


OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

Primary Objective: FInding a higher calling within life, as she is unsatisfied with only the material wealth she has acquired. Looking to do so using the elven roots her family has been hiding for centuries, thus re-awakening the magic of a people thought to have gone extinct.

Minor Goals: Improvement of magical abilities, Reaching an administrative rank, Increased proficiency with ranged and gunpowder weapons, Finding humility and emotional balance


MUNDANE SKILLS

List Mundane skills here

• Drive a car
  
• Cook food from scratch
  
• Play the Violin
  
• Speak dialects directly derived or similar to English and German
  
• Do Interior Design work
  

SPECIALIZED SKILLS AND TALENTS
(These are specialized skills that set you apart from the average person. You have 7 points to spend here, no more than 4 points in each skill or talent. Examples are swordsmanship, sniper, coercion, medic, spellcraft, piloting helicopter, manipulate water, etc. You must take a skill pertaining to a supernatural power if you plan to use that power.)

• Ability 1 and Points Spent: Advanced Driving (Sports and Light Armored) (1 point)
  
• Ability 2 and Points Spent: Weapons Handling (2 points)
  
• Ability 3 and Points Spent: Persuasion (1 point)
  
• Ability 4 and Points Spent: Elite Education (Geopolitics, Logistics, Executive Leadership & Economics) (3 points)

OPTIONAL SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Ability 1: Animal Transformation
  Power Level: 1
  Strengths: Allows the character to transform into an animal for a period of time for speed or camouflage reasons.
  Weaknesses: Any magical detection spell/system
  Restrictions: At current level can only turn player into a European cervine for 10 minutes.
  
  
• Ability 2: Weapons Enchantment
  Power Level: 3
  Strengths: Increases weapon accuracy, damage & range.
  Weaknesses: Magical shielding, cloaking, interference spells
  Restrictions: Drains the character of a moderate amount of energy every time a weapon has to be enchanted, enchantment lasts for only 4 minutes. Only bows and rifles can be enchanted.
  
  
• Ability 3: Silver Tongue
  Power Level: 3
  Strengths: Dramatically increases the persuasiveness of the character for a limited period of time.
  Weaknesses: Minor decrease in effectiveness if the character is a sexual orientation not attracted to her, major if the character holds same trait or other communications traits.
  Restrictions: Lasts only for the conversation, requires a day to recharge.

List:
[*]Animal Transformation
[*]Weapons Enchantment
[*]Sliver Toungue


EQUIPMENT

List:
Beretta 9mm
Wallet with 300 NSD, ID and Business Card/Security Entrance Card
Laptop
Smartphone
A Pen
Briefcase

BACKGROUND

Education or Training: Trained Weapons Skills and Animal Transformation using family techniques, Silver Tongue, Persuasion and Analytical Abilities trait honed from her former line of work, Intelligence and knowledge range comes from elite higher education.

Character Background/Biography: Despite having magical abilities and a mystical family history, my life was pretty average, well above average to be honest. I grew up in a quiet, boring, human suburb in the Great Lakes region of North America. My family tried to hide anything out of the ordinary, including our "special" abilities. I had the upbringing of every W.A.S.P girl from the Midwest, went to a nice school, had middling popularity, got good grades, went to a nice college to make mommy and daddy proud that they don't have to keep funding me forever, that sort of shit. But there was always something that felt... empty from all of this. Now money almost never solves these types of things but hey, maybe I was the 1 in a million that it would work for right? I went into banking, work my ass off, got a big fat paycheck but nope. Still felt hollow. Now cut to me 28, due for a promotion to VP in a week, in the middle of an existential crisis in my 30th floor Downtown Chicago condo. What was my purpose in life, a supernatural being stuck as a cog in the machine of the financial industry, surrounded by meaningless frivolities for her lifetime?

That's when something came to me that there's always another direction to take. That's when I began to search for this place.


OTHER GAME MECHANICS
URL to Apartment Picture and description: http://hhomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Wood-and-earthy-colour-palette-modern-apartment-by-Manson-Hsiao-of-Hui-yu-Interior-Design-04.jpg
2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,050 sqft modern apartment. Large living room(pictured) with medium sized kitchen, soft lighting inlays anf updated appliances.



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.
Former banker and legacy student of elven descent looking for a higher calling than material possessions. Intelligent, charismatic and attractive yet narcissistic, privileged and not familiar with on-field operations work. Specializes in weapons handling, logistics, strategy, and diplomacy.

The nickname you go by on NS: Breisgau

Character Name: Alexandria van Brettin

Character Image Link: http://dotcomm.asc.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p.txt.jpg

This looks very good, Breisgau. You've left her plenty of room to grow.

Weapons enchantment

I can see accuracy and range, but not damage. That really should be two separate enchantments (one for the weapon and one for each arrow/round). However, if she works to grow this ability, I can foresee her eventually being able to enchant a magazine filled with bullets - and the enchantment lasts a week or so, if you catch my drift.

Silver Tongue

This is a clever one, but she'll also be limited by how other species perceive her. For example, regardless of how lithely she sweet talks Ocho - an alien with little regard for humans in general - her gift won't be very effective. We have several machine and cyborg species that may not be easily beguiled due to their processors. And, of course, the ability to pull this ability off rests in your ability as a writer.

All-in-all, this will be a good character to add to the mix. I'll approve her, if you don't mind the additional limitation on the weapons enchantment.


@ALL
Time to wrap things up for the reboot. BRII people, we'll just going to do a Scooby-doo "and then the ship picked us up and took us home" transition behind the scenes. Slo, I know you're almost done with Raiders. NA and Ched, where do we stand with your stories. Sadly, our dining room people are a bit frozen.


If you all need an extra day, that's fine. Let me know. Swith's done a lot of worldbuilding yesterday and today, after being sick all week, but she's not quite finished yet. (You can take a peek at the new archive here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=424752. There's more to it, including the premise. Just not in print yet.)

I should have the IC and OOC up tomorrow evening. We can transition then, or else transition on Sunday. Whatever works best for the group.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Cer, Fvaar and I are collabing the conclusion of Raiders as we speak.

[Chedastan]

NA and Ched, where do we stand with your stories.

AoA and LC are both done and open for possible part 2s later on, and have their groups returned to the Building.

Angels might see a rehaul if we deemed the setting suitable enough to return again, we'll see.