ArQane
With blood comes life, with life comes death.
The First Occurrence: Reaper
It had been a quieter morning for the man. He had been strolling down a long pathway, no cars or people in sight. It was still too early for most, and being that it was a weekend, many have chosen to stay in their dwellings and sleep in. For him, it was a ritual to take a morning stroll. He never liked sleeping much, so clearing up his mind before the day begun suited him more.
He found it strange that there would be figure in front of him, especially one bearing the apparel that it had. Long black drapes covered its body completely, and a hood casted a shadow over its face. It was facing directly towards the man, which sent a shiver down his spine. Most surely, it was observing him.
By now, any sane man would have ran, or at least a half sane one would squeal. He did neither, rather, approached the figure at a steady pace. He wondered why. Perhaps it was his curiosity, or maybe it was just that fact that the man didn’t mind his body to be found dead in the middle of the sidewalk later in the day. Life had already been dead in this man’s eyes for a while, and he longed for change. Something that would invigorate him. And if it killed him, so be it.
As he approached, he was able to make out the figure’s visage. It was a man, or at least resembled one. Its physiognomy was skeletal, and its skin tone was darker than an average human’s. It appeared to be bald, but was unclear due to the cowl that covered its head. If it didn’t have its bright yellow eyes, he might’ve thought it was dead. The vibe it emanated was chilling; if felt like death. As it came in view, it… smiled?
“Ian Larkan. Yes, you are the one.”
That even made him freeze in his place. It knew his name. It had been waiting for him. He stood there surveying the figure, his brain screaming for him to run.
“One of what? How do you know my name?”
The figure smiled. “A man can only learn so much in a short life. Pick one.”
Ian looked confused. Pick one?
“You have asked me two questions.” The figure continued. “I will answer one of them.”
Ian’s brain raced. The figure in front of him spoke as if it was going to kill him. So what would he want to know right before his death? He cleared his throat. “In a life like mine? I surely have time for both.”
The figure’s smile widened, delighted. “So you do. Of course, I knew you would say that.” It glided over to him, with no sign of movement of feet. “Ian Larkan, I know your name because I am you.” It drew out a bony hand and pointed its long index finger towards his chest. “ I am the manifestation of your life force. A familiar. You are the one who has summoned me to this world. I am your servant, and your blade.” It finished, drawing out a long scythe that seemingly appeared from behind him. It was much too large to have been concealed beneath his robes all this time.
“And if I don’t want a servant?”
The figure smiled. “You don’t have a choice. The minute I came to being in this world, our souls have been bonded by the chains of death. If either of our bodies were unable to sustain ourselves, the other would surely have its life drained too. Tell me Ian, have you ever felt what it’s like to lose a soul?” It paused, but Ian didn’t speak. It grinned and continued, “it’s worse than death.”
It extended its hand out, as if expecting a handshake from him. “Here’s my last piece of information. We must continue to supply souls to mine in order to sustain it. If it means killing your peers, killing your family, so be it. Of course, their deaths can only do so much… We gain the most by killing the others— the other familiars and their keepers. They have the strongest souls, the anima. If we encounter them, I will fight. If you are attacked, I will protect.” It leered inhumanely. “So, Master, isn’t this what you wanted? The meaning of living? The thrill of death?”
Ian clasped it’s hand and chuckled. “Yes. I think it is.”
The Isthmus of Souls
Anima is the life force of any living object. Without it, a being wouldn’t be dead— it would cease to exist altogether. Each individual beings have varied levels of anima, but no one has enough to sustain a familiar for more than a couple of days.
Familiars are considered a paranormal phenomenon. They manifest spontaneously when anima surges occur, but the anima quickly is consumed after the summon (lasting only at most a couple of days). In order to stay in an existing form, familiars will link their soul to another, thus establishing a bond that draws anima from a keeper. However, the creation of familiars will forever remain a mystery.
A familiar is created by their keepers themselves, in a manner of speaking. Since keepers are humans with unordinarily high levels of anima, a newly summoned familiar will manifest in the vicinity of that keeper. As soon as they are created, their survival instincts immediately allows them to identify their keeper, and they gain access to the following information;
“In order to survive, I need anima— others’ souls. The one in front of me is my keeper, and the one that can keep the two of us alive. If either of us die, the other follows.” or something of the variant. The thought process will vary depending on the personality of the familiar itself.
There are two methods used to harvest anima itself. Firstly, you can kill other keepers or their familiars. This is the most effective method since other keepers have the most anima. Note that the more anima that other keeper has harvested, the more that is translated to the victor. Since either enemy can be killed to eliminate the other, keepers are often more vulnerable than their familiars. This disadvantage can be lessened through proper training and awakening the Isthmus (see below). Bear in mind that not all battles results in a death for a keeper, and there could be a variety of reason why the fight could lead to a stalemate.
The second option is to kill other people. Though there is less to gain from killing bystanders, and morality comes into question, enough murders can allow a keeper to sustain for a short duration or time. In the eye of the unsuspecting, your actions (should you choose this path) are often reported to be murders on local news, etc. Note that this allows other keepers to identify you quicker. On top of that, both your keeper and your familiar aren’t immortal, so an investigation of the police on these ‘serial killings’ might result in the cornering of your keeper, which will lead to your inevitable death.
Each familiar has unique combative skills (passive and/or active). Their attributes and abilities are expected to define their fighting techniques. When a familiar is summoned, they have a basic understanding of their capabilities, but their abilities will improve as they practice in and out of combat. Familiars’ weapons can be pretty much anything; guns, swords, magic… but they are expected to be aligned with the familiar’s characteristics and skillset. Their abilities are expected to be the same.
A familiar and its keeper can also develop a bond known as the “Isthmus”. The Isthmus allows a keeper to inherit combative properties from their familiars, allowing them to be useful in combat as well. Forming an Isthmus is very difficult to master, and often won’t trigger unless the situation calls for it (an adrenergic effect). Keepers can also train or learn to improve their performance while their familiar’s are in combat, if it involves evading the enemy or supporting their familiars. They can also pressure the enemy familiar to defend their keeper instead of focusing on offense.
Keepers are always required to be present for the killing. When a person dies, their anima erupts from their body and lingers in the area. Keepers can harvest this anima to increase the time to be able to sustain their familiar. In other words, harvesting anima is like getting fuel to keep a familiar alive. The more they have, the more time they have before a resupply of anima is required. Since keepers naturally have the most anima, and potentially have a surplus from the souls of others, they are ideal targets for harvesting.
The keepers are the hunters and the hunted, and the familiars are their weapons. They must hide when they need to hide and kill when they need to kill. In order to survive, both the keeper and his/her familiar needs to be constantly alert. Both the keeper and the familiar starts off as novices. They develop will their skills together and develop a mutual relationship with one another as they interact in the world. Both of them need to be present when killing other keepers; the familiars are required to combat each other, and the victor keeper has to be near in order to assist their familiars or collect the anima.
Character Guidelines and Additional Info:
Note that your character, in the midst of the fighting, used to lead a normal life. You can choose to sacrifice this life altogether, but it’s more common to see keepers attempt to juggle their old life with the new one that have been forced upon them.
Godmodding and Mary-Suing a character (as always), is prohibited. You will not be allowed in the RP if your character is deemed too powerful or unoriginal by the GM. In the roleplay itself, your power will be regulated and you are expected to make mistakes and create a personality for you character. Nobody is perfect, and your character is not exempted from that.
The character sheet is more of something for me to reference rather than a set boundary for your character. I want to be able to picture your character once I finish reading your application. Other than that, your character development is more reliant on your posting material itself. Note that your character can and is expected to change in personality, etc. as the RP unfolds.
Each player will undergo selection and balancing before permitted into the RP. If the RP gains enough interested players, registrations will open that asks for interested players to create both a keeper and his/her respective familiar. This RP will include PvP, but note that consent of the other character is needed to kill their character. If the writer does something that I (or any other future GMs) might consider crazy, we will warn the player of impending death sentences.
Character Sheets:
Keeper Name, Age:
Self Explanatory. Don’t make a super awkward name, though; you live in a modern setting. I’m not too nitpicky about the age, but make sure it is reasonable. Too young of a character probably won’t survive long, and we wouldn’t be seeing a old geezer running and lightning speed along the battlefield.
Keeper Personality, Appearance, and Characteristics:
Not everyone is Prince Charming, but everyone is their own unique snowflake. There’s nothing wrong with not having the handsomest or most beautiful character in the world. Don’t butcher their appearance, but don’t stray too far into the unrealistic.
Keeper Backstory and Background:
Jobs? School? Not everything needs to be listed in this category, but include anything you can think of. Some things can be introduced as the story for your individual develops. This is the most important part of your evaluation, so do a good job. You are expected to include important factors (such as family) that could be major influences to you character. If I have a better understanding of your character, I can judge your application more accurately.
Familiar Name/Alias:
Refer to above. Age, for Familiars, is negligible.
Familiar Personality, Appearance, and Characteristics:
Some familiars are intentionally made to look a certain way, etc. so this category requires no regulative measures. Be creative.
Familiar Skillset:
Can be extremely broad for now, but I expect one to elaborate and develop this ability the further in we go. Please include weapon skills, magical abilities (passive or active), etc.
It had been a quieter morning for the man. He had been strolling down a long pathway, no cars or people in sight. It was still too early for most, and being that it was a weekend, many have chosen to stay in their dwellings and sleep in. For him, it was a ritual to take a morning stroll. He never liked sleeping much, so clearing up his mind before the day begun suited him more.
He found it strange that there would be figure in front of him, especially one bearing the apparel that it had. Long black drapes covered its body completely, and a hood casted a shadow over its face. It was facing directly towards the man, which sent a shiver down his spine. Most surely, it was observing him.
By now, any sane man would have ran, or at least a half sane one would squeal. He did neither, rather, approached the figure at a steady pace. He wondered why. Perhaps it was his curiosity, or maybe it was just that fact that the man didn’t mind his body to be found dead in the middle of the sidewalk later in the day. Life had already been dead in this man’s eyes for a while, and he longed for change. Something that would invigorate him. And if it killed him, so be it.
As he approached, he was able to make out the figure’s visage. It was a man, or at least resembled one. Its physiognomy was skeletal, and its skin tone was darker than an average human’s. It appeared to be bald, but was unclear due to the cowl that covered its head. If it didn’t have its bright yellow eyes, he might’ve thought it was dead. The vibe it emanated was chilling; if felt like death. As it came in view, it… smiled?
“Ian Larkan. Yes, you are the one.”
That even made him freeze in his place. It knew his name. It had been waiting for him. He stood there surveying the figure, his brain screaming for him to run.
“One of what? How do you know my name?”
The figure smiled. “A man can only learn so much in a short life. Pick one.”
Ian looked confused. Pick one?
“You have asked me two questions.” The figure continued. “I will answer one of them.”
Ian’s brain raced. The figure in front of him spoke as if it was going to kill him. So what would he want to know right before his death? He cleared his throat. “In a life like mine? I surely have time for both.”
The figure’s smile widened, delighted. “So you do. Of course, I knew you would say that.” It glided over to him, with no sign of movement of feet. “Ian Larkan, I know your name because I am you.” It drew out a bony hand and pointed its long index finger towards his chest. “ I am the manifestation of your life force. A familiar. You are the one who has summoned me to this world. I am your servant, and your blade.” It finished, drawing out a long scythe that seemingly appeared from behind him. It was much too large to have been concealed beneath his robes all this time.
“And if I don’t want a servant?”
The figure smiled. “You don’t have a choice. The minute I came to being in this world, our souls have been bonded by the chains of death. If either of our bodies were unable to sustain ourselves, the other would surely have its life drained too. Tell me Ian, have you ever felt what it’s like to lose a soul?” It paused, but Ian didn’t speak. It grinned and continued, “it’s worse than death.”
It extended its hand out, as if expecting a handshake from him. “Here’s my last piece of information. We must continue to supply souls to mine in order to sustain it. If it means killing your peers, killing your family, so be it. Of course, their deaths can only do so much… We gain the most by killing the others— the other familiars and their keepers. They have the strongest souls, the anima. If we encounter them, I will fight. If you are attacked, I will protect.” It leered inhumanely. “So, Master, isn’t this what you wanted? The meaning of living? The thrill of death?”
Ian clasped it’s hand and chuckled. “Yes. I think it is.”
The Isthmus of Souls
Anima is the life force of any living object. Without it, a being wouldn’t be dead— it would cease to exist altogether. Each individual beings have varied levels of anima, but no one has enough to sustain a familiar for more than a couple of days.
Familiars are considered a paranormal phenomenon. They manifest spontaneously when anima surges occur, but the anima quickly is consumed after the summon (lasting only at most a couple of days). In order to stay in an existing form, familiars will link their soul to another, thus establishing a bond that draws anima from a keeper. However, the creation of familiars will forever remain a mystery.
A familiar is created by their keepers themselves, in a manner of speaking. Since keepers are humans with unordinarily high levels of anima, a newly summoned familiar will manifest in the vicinity of that keeper. As soon as they are created, their survival instincts immediately allows them to identify their keeper, and they gain access to the following information;
“In order to survive, I need anima— others’ souls. The one in front of me is my keeper, and the one that can keep the two of us alive. If either of us die, the other follows.” or something of the variant. The thought process will vary depending on the personality of the familiar itself.
There are two methods used to harvest anima itself. Firstly, you can kill other keepers or their familiars. This is the most effective method since other keepers have the most anima. Note that the more anima that other keeper has harvested, the more that is translated to the victor. Since either enemy can be killed to eliminate the other, keepers are often more vulnerable than their familiars. This disadvantage can be lessened through proper training and awakening the Isthmus (see below). Bear in mind that not all battles results in a death for a keeper, and there could be a variety of reason why the fight could lead to a stalemate.
The second option is to kill other people. Though there is less to gain from killing bystanders, and morality comes into question, enough murders can allow a keeper to sustain for a short duration or time. In the eye of the unsuspecting, your actions (should you choose this path) are often reported to be murders on local news, etc. Note that this allows other keepers to identify you quicker. On top of that, both your keeper and your familiar aren’t immortal, so an investigation of the police on these ‘serial killings’ might result in the cornering of your keeper, which will lead to your inevitable death.
Each familiar has unique combative skills (passive and/or active). Their attributes and abilities are expected to define their fighting techniques. When a familiar is summoned, they have a basic understanding of their capabilities, but their abilities will improve as they practice in and out of combat. Familiars’ weapons can be pretty much anything; guns, swords, magic… but they are expected to be aligned with the familiar’s characteristics and skillset. Their abilities are expected to be the same.
A familiar and its keeper can also develop a bond known as the “Isthmus”. The Isthmus allows a keeper to inherit combative properties from their familiars, allowing them to be useful in combat as well. Forming an Isthmus is very difficult to master, and often won’t trigger unless the situation calls for it (an adrenergic effect). Keepers can also train or learn to improve their performance while their familiar’s are in combat, if it involves evading the enemy or supporting their familiars. They can also pressure the enemy familiar to defend their keeper instead of focusing on offense.
Keepers are always required to be present for the killing. When a person dies, their anima erupts from their body and lingers in the area. Keepers can harvest this anima to increase the time to be able to sustain their familiar. In other words, harvesting anima is like getting fuel to keep a familiar alive. The more they have, the more time they have before a resupply of anima is required. Since keepers naturally have the most anima, and potentially have a surplus from the souls of others, they are ideal targets for harvesting.
The keepers are the hunters and the hunted, and the familiars are their weapons. They must hide when they need to hide and kill when they need to kill. In order to survive, both the keeper and his/her familiar needs to be constantly alert. Both the keeper and the familiar starts off as novices. They develop will their skills together and develop a mutual relationship with one another as they interact in the world. Both of them need to be present when killing other keepers; the familiars are required to combat each other, and the victor keeper has to be near in order to assist their familiars or collect the anima.
Character Guidelines and Additional Info:
Note that your character, in the midst of the fighting, used to lead a normal life. You can choose to sacrifice this life altogether, but it’s more common to see keepers attempt to juggle their old life with the new one that have been forced upon them.
Godmodding and Mary-Suing a character (as always), is prohibited. You will not be allowed in the RP if your character is deemed too powerful or unoriginal by the GM. In the roleplay itself, your power will be regulated and you are expected to make mistakes and create a personality for you character. Nobody is perfect, and your character is not exempted from that.
The character sheet is more of something for me to reference rather than a set boundary for your character. I want to be able to picture your character once I finish reading your application. Other than that, your character development is more reliant on your posting material itself. Note that your character can and is expected to change in personality, etc. as the RP unfolds.
Each player will undergo selection and balancing before permitted into the RP. If the RP gains enough interested players, registrations will open that asks for interested players to create both a keeper and his/her respective familiar. This RP will include PvP, but note that consent of the other character is needed to kill their character. If the writer does something that I (or any other future GMs) might consider crazy, we will warn the player of impending death sentences.
Character Sheets:
Keeper Name, Age:
Self Explanatory. Don’t make a super awkward name, though; you live in a modern setting. I’m not too nitpicky about the age, but make sure it is reasonable. Too young of a character probably won’t survive long, and we wouldn’t be seeing a old geezer running and lightning speed along the battlefield.
Keeper Personality, Appearance, and Characteristics:
Not everyone is Prince Charming, but everyone is their own unique snowflake. There’s nothing wrong with not having the handsomest or most beautiful character in the world. Don’t butcher their appearance, but don’t stray too far into the unrealistic.
Keeper Backstory and Background:
Jobs? School? Not everything needs to be listed in this category, but include anything you can think of. Some things can be introduced as the story for your individual develops. This is the most important part of your evaluation, so do a good job. You are expected to include important factors (such as family) that could be major influences to you character. If I have a better understanding of your character, I can judge your application more accurately.
Familiar Name/Alias:
Refer to above. Age, for Familiars, is negligible.
Familiar Personality, Appearance, and Characteristics:
Some familiars are intentionally made to look a certain way, etc. so this category requires no regulative measures. Be creative.
Familiar Skillset:
Can be extremely broad for now, but I expect one to elaborate and develop this ability the further in we go. Please include weapon skills, magical abilities (passive or active), etc.
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