Post by: Flying Dice on September 16, 2012, 03:58:12 pm
Edge of the Abyss
The countless spires of Ildhina glow orange in the light of Voror, the primary moon. They descend, widening and thickening, into the earth. Thin lines of polished stone dive into the depths of the Abyss, gradually fading into the rock of the cliffside. In the low-hanging clouds of the Middle Depths, buildings of brick, brass, and wood rise, vast, sprawling towers and roofs shrouded in water vapor. Still lower is the Hive, that vast network of shanties, narrow alleys, hidden courtyards. Level after level, each built with the last as its foundation, descending into the depths of the Abyss. At the very bottom, nearly a kilometer below the clouds, there is the Warren, an immense space formed by the massive support columns of the city above, filled with heaps of scrap and ancient cisterns with vaulted ceilings.
At every level there is life, from the solitary magos in a lofty spine of stone and steel to the feral, desperate scavenger scraping out a meager existence in the heart of the Warren. Ildhina is an old, old place, home to hundreds of generations and still ever-growing. Airships ply the skyways above the Abyss, carrying cargo to other, lesser cities. Small, darting windriders carried through the endless sands of the surface by light sails, bringing exotic spices and metals from lands far away.
Virtually everyone has some magical ability, but only the rare few manage to find the time and funds to train properly, and even fewer possess either enough inherent strength or enough dedication to study to truly master the art. Many have some small scrap of talent for day-to-day use. Rumors persist of some sort of magic cancelling ability found in those far across the great desert, but the average magos completely denies such foolish thoughts.
You are one of the millions that live in Ildhina, true, but who are you? An ambitious apprentice to a magos, hoping one day to rise to true power? A downtrodden worker in the vast hydroponic farms, skin pale after years with only artificial light? A member of the crew of a merchant vessel stopped over for a few days? A wild survivor of the Warren, clad in rags and armed only with your fraying wits? A member of the Watch, trying to avoid thinking about the rampant crime beneath the clouds? Choose, then, and cast yourself to the winds of fate.
Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)
So then. I think I’ve developed things to the point where I know exactly what I need to do to keep from being frustrated on every front. One RTD with lots of man-behind-the-curtain work is enough for me to run. There aren’t going to be many rules here, mainly just standard d6 for actions. I’d like things to work like this: every turn, everyone gets to do one or two cool things. So in other words, do a thing or maybe two if they could be reasonably chained together.
I’m not going to impose hard-and-fast restrictions or anything, but it would be greatly appreciated if people respected that. Nothing kills my interest in a game faster than continually having to deal with attempts to shoehorn ten minutes of pre-scripted action into a single turn, especially if people are doing things to other players and just assuming they’ll get away with it. Also, trying to do patently impossible things. Difficult, yes. Unlikely, yes. Improbable, possibly if you roll really well. Pulling a moon out of the sky from sheer force of will (without being supercharged with divine power or something), no. If you want to try BS like that, it’ll get shut down pretty fast. I like this world and I want people to enjoy playing in it, and I’m more than willing to make it fairly brutal if that’s what it takes to stop That Guying (http://1d4chan.org/wiki/That_guy). Thanks ahead of time for not being That Guy. :)
I’m going to be taking a more descriptive stylistic approach (as opposed to a game-y one), so enjoying RP to some degree will probably be a plus. If you’re only in it for the chance to smash lots of faces in, you probably won’t enjoy this very much.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Six players. I promise this one will keep going, both because it'll scratch a writing itch for me and (hopefully) because it will be fun to run.
Spoiler: Players (click to show/hide)
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on September 16, 2012, 03:59:22 pm
My sheet will come tonight, though.
EDIT: Here it is!
Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)
Post by: Flying Dice on September 16, 2012, 04:07:49 pm
Post by: Caellath on September 16, 2012, 04:10:21 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: CrimsonEon on September 16, 2012, 04:14:41 pm
EDIT: And here it is
Spoiler: Charsheet (click to show/hide)
Post by: anailater on September 16, 2012, 04:20:22 pm
Post by: kilakan on September 16, 2012, 04:22:57 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: mesor on September 16, 2012, 04:43:06 pm
Health : Excellent.
Skill : Electrical based magic ( Shock , Lightning and such ).
Inventory : Small book of electrical based spells.
Age : 27
Gender : Male
Description : 6 Ft tall and very broad. Wiry muscles deceptively strong. Long red hair. Dark red eyes. He was a quiet child and became a quiet man always more interested in he's work and honing hes skills then in socializing with people.
Background : As a young child he was shocked many times over by electric currents and as he grew he came to find that he had a higher then average ability to control spells using this kind of energy. He served a magos for a time hoping to learn and for a while he did but he found the magos had disturbing views of hes place in the world and so fled from him and joint the watch hoping to put what he knew to good use protecting the people below and to this day still believes in that cause.
Post by: CrimsonEon on September 16, 2012, 05:01:19 pm
Post by: Maxinum McDreich on September 16, 2012, 05:09:03 pm
Post by: Flying Dice on September 16, 2012, 05:20:59 pm
Let me know if that fits alright into your settingLooks great. :)
PTW, since by the time I can get my act together (daaays), the slots would have all been taken. I always enjoy a more serious RTD :)There's still a slot open if you want to reserve it. ;)
(People who end up on my ignore list are going to have trouble playing, for obvious reasons.)
Post by: Maxinum McDreich on September 16, 2012, 05:25:45 pm
Post by: Flying Dice on September 16, 2012, 05:27:34 pm
Post by: mesor on September 16, 2012, 05:31:48 pm
Post by: Flintus10 on September 16, 2012, 06:28:19 pm
Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on September 16, 2012, 06:51:18 pm
Post by: Flying Dice on September 17, 2012, 08:20:11 pm
Post by: Flying Dice on September 20, 2012, 11:37:16 am
Alani's fellowship is one of the oldest and most revered in Ildhina; with no light of the Sun down below, the only reliable way of marking time is with highly precise timepieces, intricate constructions of clockwork and time magic. Still, Alani (like many of her colleagues) is slightly nervous away from the ticking of the clocks. At the moment she is heading down one of the thousands of staircases in the Middle Depths, accompanied by Lilem Strob, an apprentice from her branch office. The Watch post is two levels lower and slightly west, perhaps four minutes away.
"This is rather exciting, Mistress. I can't say that I've ever seen the Setting Rites performed on a Watch 'piece; they're very impressive, aren't they? I heard from one of the other 'prentices that they're made from designs created by the Grandmaster himself!"
____
Eunh is hanging around the edge of the Warren, searching for something that could serve as a replacement weapon. Though dangerous, the Warren is still the ground level of Ildhina, and the primary access to the thick forest of the Abyss, save for a few exits at the outer rim of the Hive.
To boot, the Warren has massive piles of scrap and abandoned rubbish, often with cast-offs from those who are more well-off, not to mention the occasional dead scavenger. At the moment, Eunh is looking down at one of the massive scrap-heaps from the edge of the garbage shaft leading all the way up to the city surface. It looks safe enough (or as safe as a pile of jagged metal, splintered wood, and more than a few decaying corpses can be), but there are always those who are better at hiding and stalking. Faint whirring echos through the open space; noise carries very far indeed through these shafts.
____
Aldyn is trying to avoid dozing off as the Sergeant of his post rambles on about some notice about missing people. Hah, as if that was anything unusual. Only this time the son of a wealthy merchant and the apprentice of one of the Master Magos have gone missing around the same time, in the same district. Normally, they'd do a simple patrol, but the magos in particular was putting a lot of pressure on them. The magos was one of the independents, and the place where her apprentice went missing was the Unity district, of all places.
Unity was strange, even by the standards of the magos. There are 70 Master Magos in Ildhina, 37 independents, and the rest belonging to the major magical factions. Unity consisted of eight Master Magos with some sort of mental link and insect-based magic, and they have an unusually tight grasp on their district. The factions each have their own branch of the Watch, with the Public Watch representing the independent magos and the city as a whole. Each of the faction Watches are fairly devoted, but the Unity Watch is almost eerie. The people in their district are the same way, as if they always know what the others are seeing. Rumor has it that the Unity magos sometimes even address people through the mouths of their Watch.
And to cap it all off, some rotten bastard smashed the timepiece in Aldyn's post a few nights ago. Supposedly some Keeper Mistress was going to be around to tune the new one, but those loonies were hardly reliable sorts. More than likely they'd completely forget about it, lost in the cacophony of ticking in their Guild office.
____
Jacob is lounging around near a Watch post, smiling at bit at the uproar their Sergeant was in. It was always risky to stick around in Watch volume, especially when they were looking for a scapegoat, but the Public Watch tended to be better than most of the factional ones. Not like the bloody Piecekeepers who'd take your feet off for walking too loudly in the Hall of Time, or those Unity freaks.
In any case, Jacob was bored, and boredom (as is usual) tends to lead to either sitting around or making poor decisions.
____
Sarek is having a rather pleasant day, putting on a small show in the lower Hive. Normally, dressing as well as he did would be an invitation for a knife between the ribs. A thin-bladed one, of course, to avoid damaging the tunic too much to sell, and to keep the bloodstains small. As an entertainer, though, Sarek was safe in all but the Warren; stage magicians are towards the middle range of such, but anyone capable of taking the mind from the harsh reality of life is well-liked in the Hive. A skilled bard can command attention and respect from virtually anyone, even to the point of influencing the decisions of the crime bosses that control many of the lower districts.
Those organizers of sub-legal business are, indeed, quite often the only stabilizing force at all. They can be brutal, but they also provide a sort of stability. On the other end of things, those of the Public Watch that value their lives stay far from the Hive; they aren't well-liked, so they stay away, so they are hated even more. That particular cycle has been going for far longer than most of the current residents have been alive.
This area, though, is almost directly below the Unity district, occupying a sort of dead volume in the city where only the most desperate live. There are always the rumors about that particular group of magos. The rumors, and the corpses.
____
((Apologies for the late start. Been a bit busy, and I wanted to have the framework for the first plot all down in my mind before I started.))
Spoiler: Character Status (click to show/hide)
Post by: Caellath on September 20, 2012, 12:31:58 pm
So far his efforts while searching for a replacement have been in vain, but it's either hunting or starving. And to hunt he needed a new weapon, leading him to the terrible situation he was stuck in. The atmosphere itself would be nervewracking to most people, but Eunh was already used to worse. His hunts took him into the Abyss, and even if lost his weapon, his mind was still intact.
His gaze shifted from a place to another, trying to spot a suitable tool for his hunting purposes...
Search for replacement weapon.
Post by: kilakan on September 20, 2012, 12:45:05 pm
Listening for just a few seconds to perhaps catch the name of a criminal or last known location Jacob decides to set off towards the market district. At best he could find someone needing a little job (legal or otherwise) done, or maybe have a good old day of pick-pocketing fact rich people.
Listen for any possible leads to criminal groups or crimes before going to the market district. Keep eyes and ears open for interesting information and possible blackmail material as well as asking about if anyone needs anything done.
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on September 20, 2012, 01:05:06 pm
Alani, stares nervously down the stairs, worrying about...well, everything. She looked back at her apprentice and flashed a quick smile, before going back to her nervousness.
She continues down the stairs towards the 'Watch'. It's really the only thing to do right now.
Post by: CrimsonEon on September 20, 2012, 01:38:49 pm
The mention of the district made Aldyn's skin crawl. He normally felt no ill will towards magic, sometimes imagining the life of a magos with a certain awe and wonder, but the descriptions of Unity gave him an image of just how strange and terrifying magic can truly be. If both of these missing souls just so happened to disappear in the Unity district, Aldyn had no intention of finding them.
Unfortunately, the sergeant made it sound like there wouldn't be a choice in the matter. He mentioned that there's probably going to be a fully coordinated search in the Watch's near future. Aldyn felt like groaning, but stifled himself. If a job must be done, it must be done well, Aldyn reflected. Just because the job was in the Unity district didn't mean he had to fear it.
He would have to check in on the tuning of the new timepiece near his post, but Aldyn couldn't leave his next potential assignment in the dark. Once the Sergeant finishes, Aldyn would Ask the Sergeant for more detail about the missing people
"Sir, just who were these two that disappeared? Do we have any information that links the two together at all?"
Post by: Flintus10 on September 20, 2012, 07:15:42 pm
Then with a clap the sparks flew down towards the magician. As they reached his face he opened his mouth and had them disappear, feigning as though he had swallowed them he gulped and then puffed out his cheeks. Now members of the audience looked shocked, those with seats edged forwards while others placed hands over their own mouths. They were exactly where Sarek wanted them. The magician began to wretch before looking up towards the sky and heaving. A bright shower of spark and flame exited Sarek's gaping mouth, accompanied by loud gasps and cheers from the audience.
Turning towards his crowd and bowing extravagantly Sarek spoke, "And that, my grateful audience is the final part of today's show. Be sure to turn up to my major demonstration next week with whatever money you have. That trick is just the beginning."
There were excited rumbles of conversation as the audience began to separate and head off in different directions. Sarek merely chuckled and packed his thing away. Some people came up to discuss his tricks, others asked him for more. Sarek merely deflected their questions with good humor as he made his way down the streets with a beaming smile across his face.
'They love me, they really do. I could really start charging more for these shows and I don't think even these meager folk would complain.
Making his way through the crowded streets Sarek heads towards the nearest tavern in search of news and rumors that are currently circulating.
Post by: Flying Dice on September 22, 2012, 03:50:02 pm
[4]
He finds the blade of a shortsword, apparently snapped off at the hilt. A short distance away, he pulls a stout wooden staff and a length of leather cord from beneath a shattered table. With a bit of work, he could make a decent spear from it. Not as reliable as something made by a professional, perhaps, but certainly serviceable enough for the time being.
____
Jacob causally strolls past the Watch post, trying to listen in on their conversation.
[2]
He can't hear much of anything. One of them notices him lingering nearby and glares; Jacob hurries away, heading for a nearby market. He goes down a small side-stair towards an open pocket of space two levels below.
[6]
He arrives fairly quickly, moving out into the slightly more open space crowded with hand-carts and small tables. In his haste, Jacob nearly knocks over a man dickering with a trader over the price of a bit of turquoise.
"Watch where yer goin', you goatish swag-bellied lout!"
____
Alani answers Lilem without saying much of anything, distracted by her own concerns. Continuing downward, she [4] quickly reaches the Watch post. Upon arriving, a short, foul-smelling man with truly astounding muttonchops—apparently the post's sergeant—greets her rather hastily, "Ah, excellent, excellent. You'd be the Keeper, then. Just on time, eh? The 'piece is in the next room, the man on duty can show you to it. I've got an Important Duty to do, making this lot do their job properly, find them missing persons, donchaknow? It's terrible business an' all. Come on you sods, get a move on!"
____
Aldyn barely manages to shake himself awake as a grey-haired woman and rather excited young man entered the post; from what they said to the sergeant, she was apparently the Keeper. As the sergeant ordered the assembled Watchpersons out, Aldyn decided to ask for a bit more information on the people who had gone missing.
[3]
"It's just what I said, didn'tcha listen? Them two is the ones what went missing in the Unity district. There's others, but they ain't got people that care about 'em, eh? Now get going."
The sergeant leaves the post, and the other seven of your coworkers filter out behind him.
____
It was always a pleasure putting on a good show, Sarek reflected as he slipped through the crowded street, heading towards one of the closer hole-in-the-wall taverns. Maybe he could pump someone for fresh news, decide where would be good for another quick display.
[1]
Sarek's vision starts to fade, and he faintly notes that others around him have collapsed just moments before he slumps to the ground, eyes being pulled shut against his will, something clouding his mind. Some time later, he groggily wakes, a nasty taste in his mouth. As he climbs to his feet, Sarek notices that a few people he saw before going under are gone, despite the fact that nobody else in the street has woken yet.
____
Spoiler: Character Status (click to show/hide)
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on September 22, 2012, 04:05:00 pm
...I didn't know 'SkullDuggery' was a skill.))
Alani glares at the man as he walks away and shuffles quickly to where the Piece was being kept. She asks the nearest person about its history.
Post by: Caellath on September 22, 2012, 05:11:02 pm
Try to assemble a spear.
Post by: CrimsonEon on September 22, 2012, 05:36:26 pm
The rest of the watch piles out of the room, no doubt to carry out the search for the missing two. Aldyn would soon join them, but for the moment he was far more interested in watching the tuning of the new timepiece. It wasn't often he would get a chance to see any sort of magic up close, let alone time magic. Stepping out of the office, Aldyn heads over to Watch/Assist the Timekeeper.
Post by: kilakan on September 23, 2012, 04:30:41 pm
Post by: Flying Dice on September 29, 2012, 02:43:03 pm
[1]
Huh? I reckon that's the one we just got, what with the old'un being all smashed up.
____
It wasn't much, but it would have to do for now. Eunh settles down beneath a ledge, trying to make the scrap into a workable spear.
[6]
He splits one end of the staff with his skinning knife, carefully working it into a larger groove on the edge of a stone. Once he has a deep enough split, Eunh carefully aligns the blade with it, leaving about ten inches of bare iron above the end of the staff. Thankfully, the base of the blade is fairly dull, but he grinds it down to a noticeably flat edge before tightly wrapping the cord around the split, binding the staff to the blade. The end result is a short spear, potentially useful for stabbing or slashing. It feels light enough to be thrown. The point and exposed edge still seem fairly sharp, at least enough to cut his finger.
After a moment, Eunh realizes that he been so intent on the work that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings. It is eerily quiet, the muffling silence only broken by the landing bits of garbage. This far down, it is quite dark; there are very few magelights or torches in the Warren. He stares out into the dim pit, wondering if he can feel something staring back.
____
Aldyn decides to ignore orders and watch the Timekeeper do her work.
[6]
He slips away from the rest of the group as they leave, heading back towards the inner office. For a moment, Aldyn feels a strange tingling in the pit of his stomach, a minute feeling of power. The man on duty stares past him, eyes glazed over even more than usual. With a shrug, he settles down to watch the old woman (("old woman")) work.
____
Jacob walks around the small market, trying to stay below notice while searching for some sort of paying work.
[4]
After a few moments, he comes across a wooden beam with dozens of scraps of paper nailed to it. Most are offering rewards for locating a missing person; more than usual specify the Unity district as the last known location. One is requesting test subjects for magical research and appears to pay quite well. Another is hiring people for work out in the thick forest of the Abyss.
____
Spoiler: Character Status (click to show/hide)
Post by: Caellath on September 29, 2012, 03:37:45 pm
As a hunter, he was used to dealing with the things living there; he did not wince and waver as they stalked and watched him behind their veil of darkness, his mind steeled after spending his time fighting the beasts. Even then, it didn't mean he liked it.
Try to discern what is hiding nearby or if there is anything hiding at all.
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on September 29, 2012, 04:35:07 pm
Post by: kilakan on September 29, 2012, 06:32:37 pm
Post by: CrimsonEon on September 29, 2012, 06:49:49 pm
The nearby watchman seemed to be somewhat distracted by something. Normally Aldyn would write it off as boredom, but this anxious feeling made him feel inclined to Ask the watchman if anything's wrong.
"Hey," Aldyn inclined his head towards the watchman, "Is something the matter? Got a headache?"
Post by: Flying Dice on October 07, 2012, 12:33:33 pm
[1]
The light, however faint, is still enough to dull his vision, preventing him from seeing beyond the shaft at all. The only sound to reach his ears is the continual clattering of bits of rubbish bouncing from the top of the trash heap. The massive, well-worn stone blocks and dark tunnels beyond seem more forbidding with each passing moment, even for someone used to traversing the maze beneath the slightly more civilized maze of Ildhina.
____
Alani stares at the Watchman for a few moments, dumbstruck by the sheer stupidity embodied in the man. The other man in the room speaks to him for a moment.
[4], [1]
She feels faint for a moment, but shrugs it off. Lilem, on the other hand, falls to the floor as if struck unconscious.
Slightly disturbed, she turns to begin her work, [1] only to find that in the minute or so she spent speaking, the clock has somehow disappeared! She notices one of the men who had been listening to the sergeant earlier staring at her. Or perhaps staring past her, at where the 'piece had been.
____
Jacob searches through the job postings and after a moment decides to take two rats with one stone, both the various missing people and the magical research. [4] He writes down the relevant names (those with large enough rewards, to be precise) and tears the research subject request from the post, stuffing both scraps of paper into his pockets as he starts towards the surface. Most of the missing persons notices mention that the rewards are collectable from any Watch station while in the company of the individual in question.
...
A bit more than an hour later, Jacob reaches the rooftops, passing through the low-hanging clouds. All that lies above are narrow walkways, thin towers, and sky-scraping spires. From the posted signs, Mist-Spark Tower is located further West, farther away from the wall of the Abyss.
Quote
Note: Missing Persons
Istrea Jenan (д550)
Bejin Alster (д230)
Peren Jonson (д480)
Alise Abigya (д1100)
Quote
Note: Magical Research____
Magos Olstar Abigya requires experimental subjects for the testing and refinement of new spell frameworks. Applicants may report to Mist-Spark Tower. Initial payment of д300 upon acceptance of the terms of the contract, additional payments for each run of experiments, varying upon the danger to the subject.
Aldyn watches the Keeper as she speaks to the man on watch, hoping for a chance to watch her work. Her apprentice seems nervous, repeatedly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Noticing the man at the desk looking rather drowsy, you ask him if anything is wrong.
[3]
"Eh? Oh, I'm alkay, s'nall g..." He slumps over, snoring softly.
[5 + 1]
Aldyn feels something brush across his mind with tiring fingers, but whips around, staring past the Keeper as a thin arm draws back through a hole in the wall, fingers wrapped around the edge of the 'piece. Who or whatever it is quickly slides some sort of panel back into place, blocking off the gap as it moves through the walls!
____
[5]
Tala was in a strange place indeed. Not physically; the warren of Ildhina was familiar years ago. No, this strangeness was in the fact that she was not constrained, however lightly, by the wishes of her master. Not that he had been bad, as such people go, or that her work as a slave had been distasteful. He had even given her a knife of her own, or rather had gifted to her the one she had used since becoming an adult.
Now, though, she found herself on a slender bridge above the rooftops of Ildhina, watching his ship ride the winds above the Abyss. She has her freedom, true, but what to do with it? If nothing else, she could turn to what skills she knows to make a start in the world.
____
Spoiler: Character Status (click to show/hide)
((Sorry about the delays. :( I've been far away from anything even remotely resembling an internet connection. Tiruin is now our sixth.))
Post by: Caellath on October 07, 2012, 01:06:21 pm
Carefully check the source of the disturbance.
Post by: CrimsonEon on October 07, 2012, 11:52:05 pm
"Hey! Hold it right there!" He shouted after the gaunt hands that pulled into the hole, determined to Investigate the spot where the piece disappeared
Post by: Greenstarfanatic on October 08, 2012, 12:12:49 am
Alani searches the surrounding area frantically for anything that would indicate where it went.
Post by: Flying Dice on October 13, 2012, 11:45:55 am
Post by: kilakan on October 13, 2012, 06:58:25 pm
Post by: Tiruin on October 15, 2012, 01:19:04 pm
Spoiler: Tala Alipin (click to show/hide)
)Freedom.
What was meant by being free: To know the limits of a person's capabilities and see it hindered by the wishes of another? To see your own goals stifled by the orders of your superiors? Or to remember, that your actions steer your own destiny away from the shackles that bind you to a 'normal' life?
Tala smiled as the winds brought the ship steadily onwards, wishing her master a good journey for all he had done for her, and for what she had learned from him. Holding up the knife, she saw her reflection glinting on the blade in the light.
"I will make you proud."
Magic.
That was what she wanted to know more about. It was said that everyone had an affinity for the gift, but only those learned in it's ways could use it to it's full potential.
But first, a source of income was needed.
Return to the city and search for a paying job that could use a blade such as her own - crafting or fighting, it doesn't matter. Inquire on how much is possible for an education in or about magic.
[Sorry for holding it up.]