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Assemble the VNGRD



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Orion

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Subject: Members sought for new squad
Sender: The Triune
Recipients: [Subterrane;Elementals]

Combat-capable members sought for the formation of a five-person long-term operations squad, additional specialisations preferred. Criterion - Squad composed of six different substance elementals, pyro position already filled.

C̶̨on̕t͢ac̛t̶͘͟ ͢A͘͟n̛͞ḑr͠ak͢h̕͘a̴r̵̶ S͟͞e͠r͢͏͠i͟͢m f̵ơ͟r͏̷ ́f͘urt͘h̷̵e͜͠r ̴d̛ęt́̕a̷̸i̧ls͟ ̨̢͢a̷̕n̶̶d͞ ͢͠a͘ṕ̢p̷҉l̶̕i͢c̢͝a̢̨t̡͞i͠o̧̕n͏.͠

Spoiler Spoiler Show
VNGRD

CharacterElementPlayer
Geo
Hydro
Aero
AndrakharPyroOrion
Nox
Lux

OTHER CHARACTERS

Character
Faction
Player

 
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Chromatic

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1. Where's the best place to start reading the wiki?
2. I take it we're to post characters directly to said wiki?

PS - I'm leaning towards the Aero VNGRD, unless someone is quicker on the draw (or better tailored to the suit).
 
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Ordeith

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Though I'm woefully behind in all of my ongoing roleplays, you can count on a template from me. Unofficially, I'd like to call "dibs" on the Nox operative. I've been struck by a good character concept, though that's subject to change...

It goes without saying that I'm not just impressed by the world you've created, but that I'm genuinely enjoying it. Delving into this wiki has been a blast. That having been said, I hope you don't mind partaking in a quick Q-and-A session once everybody has had the chance to soak it all in. I'm excited to contribute to this setting and story, but I want to be sure of my footing before I take any bold steps.
 

Hidden

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Can I ask a motivation question? Why would the members of VNGRD (previous or current) care about restoring the monarchy? I get (or assume I get) Drake's angle, him being the last heir of the last line of kings, not to mention having that whole prince in exile thing going for him. But really, why is anyone else dedicated to restoring a bunch of failed monarchies that fell over 200 years ago and were created in the first place by a power-hungry maniac trying to take over the world? I get that individual members likely have their own reasons for supporting the cause, but Reclamation itself must have some ideological justification. Is it the naive hope that restoring the monarchy will also restore the security and prosperity of the Age of Kings? I'm also confused about how the new VNGRD has rebranded itself as a special operations group under the Synarchy, but I'll assume that's a plot point.

I'm leaning toward Geo myself, though for reservations listed above I'm not entirely sure this character will be part of VNGRD.
 

Endgame

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BRIEF
Name: Lukhas Tharu
Aliases: Lucas, Whitehawk, Sanguine Vagrant
Age: 28 years, born AM 480
Role: Hitman, information acquisition
Magic: Elemental - Aero

BIOGRAPHY
History: [Except from Subterrane personell files. Access level: Triune Decryption pattern: Red]
Much of Lucas' past is shrouded in mystery, but certain details can be established. Records of the Battle of The Tail, the closing act of the Three-Throne Revolt, list an albino male causality. Given the rarity of this genetic deficiency and the timeframe, this unidentified individual, who died of internal hemorrhaging as a result of injuries sustained during the conflict, is assumed to be Lucas' father.

No records exist of his early lifetime - a significant detail in and of itself, considering the standard practice of implanting children with non-intrusive Organon chips at birth, and the sheer quantity of information and population data control measures that exist in modern Aios. This suggests either that he was never implanted with an Organon and avoided any major population centers for the majority of his early life, or that the gap in the databases is a result of deliberate and systematic destruction of any records related to him.


However, one can find traces in seemingly unrelated documents - During a tragic and highly publicized industrial accident in AM 502, in which a chemical fire in Foundation claimed three lives, including that of high-profile and controversial politician Thomas Velgard, an albino child was listed among several detained witnesses in a report filed by the responding officer, despite no mention of this child in the incident report or other official police records.

In AM 508, eyewitnesses to the attempted mugging of Richmond Baker, historian and writer, report a young albino male seen fleeing the scene following the sound of gunshots - a detail, yet again, that does not appear on formal records.

In Treestride, AM 511, he surfaced on the Subterrane radar, as an informant offering to sell information.

By Sunscorch, 512, he was a trusted source of information to several Subterrane agents, including renowned bounty hunter Tony 'T-Wrecks' Ward, who was said to have taken a liking to the youth and have become somewhat of a mentor to him. Following the exposure and subsequent death of intelligence analyst Saiid 'The Sand-Snake' Muhmar, the Triune reached a majority conclusion, nominating Lucas as a replacement member - Whilst the white and grey eyes both voted for, this one remained opposed, but accepts the majority ruling. In Long Ascent of AM 514, he was inducted into the organization at the age of 24, under the callsign 'Whitehawk'.


During Treestride, AM 515, the Subterrane became aware of his status as an Aero elemental, a detail previously unknown, after his cover was blown during an infiltration mission and he was forced to effect an escape. A full inquiry was launched with the discovery of this information, eventually concluding that the deception was motivated by fear of the public perception of elementals in the wake of the still-recent Three-Throne Revolt.

Whilst both the deception, and the inconsistencies in historic records uncovered by this inquiry and outlined in this document remain problematic, the Triune again reached a majority conclusion to retain agent Whitehawk on a probationary basis. By Reformation, AM 515, he was cleared of suspicion and authorized for deployment both as a combat and information asset, in light of his Elemental status.


To date, he has successfully completed 221 Intelligence operations, 8 combat deployments (Currently suspended following the 'defeat' of his unit at the hands of Subterrane squad 45, by Triune consensus and Subterrane vote, during most recent deployment) and 35 assassinations. He has defaulted on 136 assassinations, via refusal to engage during mission briefing stage. He has failed 1 intelligence operation, and failed one combat operation due to Subterrane on Subterrane combat resolution.


Recent Operational History

10th Sunscorch - 30th New Accord AM 516
Infiltration and Extraction Mission - Two man team
Mission successful. Cover compromised. Operatives extracted in possession of target information.
9th Treestride - 24th Treestride AM 517
Capture and Secure Mission - Solo
Mission successful. Unexpected hostiles encountered. Hostiles engaged. Site secured.
13th Ocean's Ire - 18th Ocean's Ire AM 517
Assassination Mission - Solo
Mission rejected.
23rd Dunemarch - 1st Vast Night AM 517
Information Extraction - Solo
Mission successful. Information extracted covertly.
4th Sunscorch - 12th Reformation
Infiltration and Extraction Mission - Two man team
Mission successful. Cover intact. Intelligence extracted without incident.


Personality and Attitudes: Lucas is notoriously secretive - unsurprising, given he spends most of his time uncovering and using the secrets of others against them, and is therefore acutely aware of just how dangerous even seemingly inconsequential information can be in the right hands. He habitually keeps almost all information to himself, to the point of using a pseudonym to disguise his country of origin.

He is a thoughtful and perceptive person, though this same thoughtfulness sometimes leaves him slow to take action. He has a great amount of difficulty trusting others, likely as a result of his own infiltration work, and is quick to suspect them when things don't add up, a disadvantageous trait that nonetheless has proven useful in outing a traitor among the Subterrane's own ranks in the past. He tends to focus on the bigger picture, sometimes to the point where he overlooks the obvious yet minor details.


While he is critical of Zonoa and some of the policies and actions they have taken, he firmly believes that order, even flawed order, is preferable to anarchy and chaos. He views the Thrones as unnecessary relics of a bygone period, and while, again, the morality of their fall is a contentious topic for him, he ultimately feels that it serves a greater good, and that they have no place in the modern world. If our assumption of the identity of his father is correct, and given his information-gathering skills, he is likely aware that his father died supporting the Three-Throne Revolt - likely, he blames any hardship in his early life on the loss of his father as a result of this uprising, which seems to drive him away from empathizing with them.


In the past, he has demonstrated an idealistic perspective of the Subterrane's role in the world, and his selective habits in accepting assassination contracts can likely be traced to this - he seems to only accept contracts against people matching a particular profile - wealthy or powerful, but uncharitable, and motivated by personal reasons.


PHYSIOLOGY

Appearance: Tall and lithe, Lucas' most predominant feature is his albinism. He has washed-out blonde, almost white, hair, and his skin is milky in colouration. His pupils are a vibrant, almost glowing, blue, as a result of the ocular implants he has installed - visual difficulty being a common problem for those afflicted with his condition.

While he currently has implants, allowing him to overcome these difficulties, he had long since grown accustomed to wearing corrective lenses prior to having them installed, and continues to wear non-corrective reading glasses on a regular basis as a matter of habit.


His features, to a careful observer, are Otheian, specifically of the Thuun region, however, his skin discoloration creates a dissonance that makes it difficult for the casual observer to place his ethnicity.


Alterations:

Ocular implant pair: Featuring correction for his weak eyesight, augmented reality HUD features, optical zoom, and thermal and nightvision modes, Lucas' implanted eyes allow him to operate above and beyond a normal level of vision despite his biological disadvantage.


Royal Flesh: While not significantly more capable then the average Aiosi, Lucas appears to posses slightly above-average strength, endurance, and has a particular affinity for speed. He does not, however, possess the visual strengths normally associated with the phenomenon known as 'Royal Flesh', likely as a result of his albinism and it's effect on his eyesight, and subsequent replacement of his eyes.

Cardioglyphs - Whirlwind: This cardioglyph enhances Lucas' already above-average speed and reaction time to even greater extremes, allowing him to react much faster then ordinary Aiosi, and move with surprising speed and grace. When coupled with creative use of his Elemental powers, he can reach speeds that become difficult to follow with the unaugumented Aiosi eye and reaction speed.

Drone Uplink: Linked into his ocular implants, Lucas' is implanted with an uplink that allows him to control and receive information from a pair of reconnaissance drones.

POSSESSIONS
General Clothing: When deployed, Lucas wears a skintight TAPE wingsuit, in a glossy black with matte grey highlights, with a combat harness fastened over it. He will often wear a dark grey jacket over the set and harness, designed to incorporate tear-free points for easy removal, hiding his weapons from a cursory glance, and discarding it quickly when mobility and ease of movement is required. He usually opts between either a set of goggles or a full-face mask, hiding his somewhat luminescent eye implants behind tinted lenses, and obscuring his identity.

When in non-combat situations, his wardrobe varies, but commonly involves a predominant white/black/grey motif, with a tendency to favor more formal garb.

Organon: Uniquely, Lucas is in possession of two Organons. One, implanted in his right palm, is designed to appear as a standard solid-state implant, but is in fact, a heavily customized rewritable model, capable of being rewritten manually (In which event, it can extrapolate and generate superfluous information, credentials, and documents based on the basic parameters provided), or copying a state from another nearby Organon.
While it will fool most standard systems, it cannot fool governmental or military level scanning technology, and close inspection by anyone familiar with basic data fraud will reveal the fraudulent credentials or records after-the-fact. His second, actual Organon, implanted in his left forearm, is capable of being put into a temporary shutdown state to conceal it's presence, though is otherwise standard-issue.


Weaponry:
Bloodbound Sidearm - Rapier
In it's sealed form, Lucas' sidearm takes the form of a plain steel ring, worn on his right hand. An engraved symbol of a wing adorns the 'face' of the ring. When unsealed, it takes the form of a thin rapier, the wing engraving transforming into the guard.
Bloodbound War-arm - Partisan
In it's sealed form, a pendant worn on a chain around Lucas' neck in the shape of a hawk, it's wings outstretched. When transformed into it's unsealed form, it becomes a large Partisan, the wings of the hawk becoming the bladed 'lugs' either side of the spearhead, and the beak forming the tip of the spear.
Other


  • [*=1]A silenced, semi-automatic ballistic pistol.
    [*=1]An efficient and fast-firing, but low-power plasma sidearm, equivalent to an SMG.
    [*=1]V&T MPDK-15 Knife, with traditional, photodisruptor and thermal conduction alloy blades.

Defenses:
TEMPEST-PA Power Armour

An oversized, overloaded, fortress of a power assist armour, the TEMPEST is an unconventional model designed for Lucas' personal use. In tactical terms, it is unusable - it suffers from crippling overspecialization, has almost non-existent mobility, and worse, is hazardous to the very life of the user.
Designed as an amplifying device for Aero elementals, the entire inside of the armour is lined with thousands of retractable hypodermic syringes, designed to repeatedly draw the blood of the user and pass it through an intricate system of blood runes designed to multiply the potential power and feed it back into the user, rapidly draining their blood but providing them with a massive boost in effective elemental power.


Utilities and Deployables:

TAPE Wingsuit​

Units and Vehicles:

Recon Drones


A pair of rudimentary drones built into a minimalist chassis capable of low-altitude hover movement. Equipped with sophisticated sensory suites, but devoid of weapons or defenses, the pair enable him to expand his awareness beyond his own personal perspective and survey the battlefield from the air or track individual targets. He can use Augmented Reality vision modes to superimpose their data over his own vision, view it exclusively, or keep track of it in a picture-in-picture format.



Can I ask a motivation question? Why would the members of VNGRD (previous or current) care about restoring the monarchy? I get (or assume I get) Drake's angle, him being the last heir of the last line of kings, not to mention having that whole prince in exile thing going for him. But really, why is anyone else dedicated to restoring a bunch of failed monarchies that fell over 200 years ago and were created in the first place by a power-hungry maniac trying to take over the world? I get that individual members likely have their own reasons for supporting the cause, but Reclamation itself must have some ideological justification. Is it the naive hope that restoring the monarchy will also restore the security and prosperity of the Age of Kings? I'm also confused about how the new VNGRD has rebranded itself as a special operations group under the Synarchy, but I'll assume that's a plot point.

Consider that your character need not have any interest or idea of how these issues factor into the bigger picture. It could be as simple as following an order passed down by the Subterrane without understanding what VNGRD are or their goals. Your gradual understanding of VNGRD's nature and plans thus becomes a point of character development and possible internal conflict. It could simply be dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Or, you could have your own personal reasons for joining the group. Being an elemental implies at least some level of descent from a royal family, and vengeance makes a nice, easy motivation. Or perhaps you have your own morally dubious reasons for wanting access to a team of highly-skilled elemental operatives, and the ability to exert some influence over their missions and goals?

Just because background information is provided on the wiki, does not necessarily mean your character is aware of, or gives a damn about it. Anything relating to The Alchemist and the origin of the Thrones could easily be seen as myth or ancient history - an exaggeration based on likely much less spectacular real life events - from the perspective of the more skeptical among Aios' population.

As for the reclamation movement at large, well I got the impression it's not much beyond conspiracy theorists and the like at this point - there's a movement, but it's small and less then influential. Part of the goal of VNGRD is to discover and bring to light evidence of the injustices against the thrones and problems with the current political situation and to, in the process, build the reclamation movement. Also consider that with the extended lifespans of the Aiosi people, over 200 years is a mere generation and a half. Your parents were alive for the fall of several of the thrones - some quite recently, considering. It's not as much a matter of the distant past as it sounds, and more along the lines of the current generation may have grown up hearing their grandparents stories of the golden age.
 
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Orion

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1. Where's the best place to start reading the wiki?
Start with the main links on the front page, and follow from there. Timeline will give you an overview of the broad strokes of history. Recent events tells you what's gone on in the last couple years that's led to VNGRD being formed. Technology tells you what your character might use or have access to. Magic tells you what your character can/could do. Factions shows you groups currently or semi-recently active and where they stand. Locations will tell you about the geography.

To be more specific, you'll want to check out the Synarchy page, the A-Tech content on the Technology page, plus the pages for Bloodbound Items, Elementalism, Haematurgy, Haemoglyphs, Cardioglyphs, and the Subterrane. I've tried to have as much stuff link around so that there are no dead ends and you can follow any particular line of reading to its end.
Chromatic said:
2. I take it we're to post characters directly to said wiki?
Sorry, that's meant for once your character is confirmed. Putting it up on the Wiki makes it much easier to link things around and seamlessly integrate them into the world, factions, etc than hosting it on the KHI page. Plus, others can jump in to fix little spelling and grammatical errors - something I saw one of you cheeky rascals doing.

Chromatic said:
PS - I'm leaning towards the Aero VNGRD, unless someone is quicker on the draw (or better tailored to the suit).
Mayhaps, mayhaps.

Though I'm woefully behind in all of my ongoing roleplays, you can count on a template from me. Unofficially, I'd like to call "dibs" on the Nox operative. I've been struck by a good character concept, though that's subject to change...
As ever, I look forward to the result.

It goes without saying that I'm not just impressed by the world you've created, but that I'm genuinely enjoying it. Delving into this wiki has been a blast. That having been said, I hope you don't mind partaking in a quick Q-and-A session once everybody has had the chance to soak it all in. I'm excited to contribute to this setting and story, but I want to be sure of my footing before I take any bold steps.
Thank you, and of course there can be as many questions asked as you like, be it any time or in a particular sit-down space/session. I've no doubt I'm still missing some hugely important chunks of the world that people would have to know to play in it.

Can I ask a motivation question? Why would the members of VNGRD (previous or current) care about restoring the monarchy?
At least in the instance of VNGRD's current incarnation, they're all members of the Subterrane, which brings with it access to information that rarely reaches the outside world. The Subterrane began as a project of the Synarchy, so it's history is inextricably linked with the Synarchy's rise to power.

This knowledge, while well-secured on an informational level, is mostly kept from getting out in naturally-emergent ways: Anyone threatening to expose the Synarchy (and by extension, the Subterrane) risks bringing a global superpower as well as the pre-eminent ring of hunters and killers down on their head.

But it still means people know about the wrongs done to the monarchies. The stabilising effect they had on the natural world before the destruction of Sylvos ended the Age of Kings and kicked off humanity's fall from the Precipice. The socio-political security that was a result of the monarchies' shared origins and mutual respect and trust. While not all elementals particularly care about their royal heritage in the far-flung past, others do. Some feel the need to make amends for participating a group that has a history of being complicit - or at least unresponsive - to the destructions of the thrones.

Hidden said:
Why is anyone else dedicated to restoring a bunch of failed monarchies that fell over 200 years ago and were created in the first place by a power-hungry maniac trying to take over the world?
A lot changes over the course of two thousand years. While we call them the 'nobility', the Noble Houses have actually done a lot for socio-political progress and continuing the work of the Envoys in turning the various royal families and individual monarchs away from the path of total conquest of their home continents and instead towards, for lack of a better term, benevolent leadership.

Hidden said:
I get that individual members likely have their own reasons for supporting the cause, but Reclamation itself must have some ideological justification. Is it the naive hope that restoring the monarchy will also restore the security and prosperity of the Age of Kings?
Yes, there is some of that in there. The world hasn't really been super-stable since the Age of Kings ended five hundred years ago. There's documents and recordings from these times but it's a fudamentally different thing to live and grow up in a world that offered as much certainty and growth as that. Though the political autonomy of virtually every country has grown since the fall of the other monarchies, socio-political progress has come to a relative standstill. Elections still take place, campaigns are still run, protest occur, but little changes.

Hidden said:
I'm also confused about how the new VNGRD has rebranded itself as a special operations group under the Synarchy, but I'll assume that's a plot point.
Imagine if instead of having to wipe out a prince, the Synarchy could have him as their puppet. Use his position as a Reclamation figurehead to warp the movement and the opinions of its supporters how they see fit.
 

Orion

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While I appreciate people's efforts to improve articles on the Wiki, it would be appreciated if you'd make an account to do that with. It makes it easier to keep track of the changes and to know who is doing what.

If your edits to someone else's article involve some change of the actual content, I'd recommend first discussing it with that person. When you make an account, edit the profile to include your KHI username.
 

Ordeith

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In its present state, this is just a skeleton template meant to lay the groundwork for my character. I have quite a bit more planned than just this, of course, but I'll edit this post only as I fact-check through the wiki.


BRIEF

Name: Amahl Stilicho
Aliases: The Judge's Man, Faceless Man
Age: 34
Role: Enforcer, "Bounty Hunter" specializing in anti-piracy operations
Magic: Elemental - Nox

BIOGRAPHY

History: Everything that Stilicho is, from his face to his name, is the work of his master. Any personal history of "the Judge's Man" must begin first with Grand Magistrate Lynus Thadalphus, the political boss whose family can be traced back to the fallen kingdom of Tenebrex.

Spoiler Spoiler Show

Of the Thadalphus family's many clients, those bearing the name Stilicho enjoy special favor for their generations of service. As the special enforcers who carry out their patrons' most furtive and unpleasant work, they are privy to all manner of dark secrets — including, in this case, the birth of an illegitimate child by Grand Magistrate Lynus Thadalphus. They accepted the boy without objection, raised him as family, and deflected any prying questions about his parentage with a wall of silence. Fortunately, the diluted elementalism running in the Stilichos' blood provided a convenient explanation for his magical prowess.

By the time Amahl had grown old enough to suspect the truth, he was also wise enough to know that it was not to be spoken of. A discreet lack of denial was all the answer he needed, and he never raised the matter again.

However, there is no denying that young Stilicho was affected by his relationship to his father.

Personality and Attitudes:

PHYSIOLOGY
Appearance:
Alterations:

POSSESSIONS
General Clothing:
Organon:
Weaponry:
Defenses:
Utilities and Deployables:
Units and Vehicles:
 
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Hidden

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Double post because I have questions.

Limitations of Haematurgy
The blood that one wishes to use for spellcasting must be from a self-inflicted wound. Blood pouring from a wound inflicted by another - whether one sought to be struck or not - is totally mundane.
I usually avoid questioning the physical/magical laws of a fantasy world, but I'm curious about this one. I can rationalize the idea that manipulating one's own blood is different from manipulating others', hence haematurgists being limited to their own body's supply. But I don't understand why it would make any difference whether the blood leaves the body through a self-inflicted wound or any other mode--a wound inflicted by another, nosebleed, menstruation. For that matter, is the manipulation necessarily limited to blood that leaves the body? I can see one gameplay-mechanic concern, namely that you wouldn't want haematurgists to be able to instantly heal most wounds by manipulating lost blood, but is there any other reason for this limitation?

Haemoglyphs
Also known as blood runes, haemoglyphs are the characters in an arcane and still-not-entirely known written language. Part of the reason for this is the sheer number of runes that exist - there are runes for every concept and property imaginable. The very symbols of the haemoglyph script have power, and by them coming into contact with blood, their power is activated.
How would anyone possibly know this? Also, less nitpicky, do we know where the haemoglyphs originated? Due to a single line in the Timeline, I had assumed (wrongly) that the Alchemist began them. "22 years before the Age of heroes, the Alchemist discovers haematurgy and begins recording haemoglyphs." Of course, it's not at all unusual for the origins of languages to be shrouded in myth, but are we even assuming a human origin here?

Cardioglyphs
Also known as heart runes, a person may only receive one over the course of their life [...] Similar to tracing a person's ancestry through the male Y-chromosome or female mitochondrial DNA, if one has a sufficiently complete archive of a population's individual cardioglyph sets, it is possible to trace a person's ancestry based on the cardioglyphs they possess.
What if both parents have (different) cardioglyphs?

Bloodbonding between individuals
Bloodbonds between people can involve a one-way exchange, or a mutual one. In the instance of a one-way bloodbonding, the 'giver' shares their blood with the 'receiver'. The receiver is granted some of the giver's power as a consequence of taking their blood into their bodies, in the case that the giver has power in their blood, such as with elementals. The giver meanwhile, can make use of the receiver's blood as a source of magic as they would their own.

Mutual bloodbonds work in the same manner, with all parties acting as both givers and receivers. Because a person that is the subject of too many bloodbonds can become little more than a vassal to those they are bound to, the Bloodwrit placed legal limits on the number of bloodbonds a person may be subject to.
What is the danger of a person becoming a "vassal" to too many bloodbonds? How does that work? I would imagine that it has something to do with the "giver's" residual control over her original blood in the "receiver's" body, but how much control does she have and under what circumstances?

Also, how does Vampirism work? In this case the "vampire" is the receiver, correct? Are they merely looking to obtain the magical properties of the (unwilling) giver's blood in this case?

Finally, I assume all of this takes place intravenously (intervenously?) using haematurgy (as opposed to, say, drinking blood).

More questions to follow as I think of them.
 

Chaotic Dreams

Returning Once Again...
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Syrai's Theme: The Fall

Name: Syrai Armanash
Aliases: Ray, Doppelganger
Heritage: Thousand Isles (Far-north quarter)
Age: 24, born AM 494
Role: TISC Contractor
Factions: Thousand Isles Security Company, Subterrane
Magic: Elemental - Lux

Biography
History
Born AM 494, Ray lived an uneventful life until AM 499, when his mother died during the birth of his younger brother, Lyoh. Lyoh suffers from Situs Inversus, a congenital condition that caused his heart and lungs to grow mirrored to the norm, which causes him occasional breathing problems and a weak heart. Their father, left to care for the two boys alone and impoverished, ultimately perished only two years later, a result of the hazardous job he was forced to take to support his family. Now alone in the world apart from his younger brother, Ray was left to care for Lyoh on his own, with the added challenge of trying to learn to control both his own and Lyoh' emerging Lux and Nox powers, respectively, awakened violently and over-protectively as a result of the traumatic death of their parents.

With no professional skills and only a child himself, Ray resorted to petty crime to provide for himself and his brother, the endeavour serving to let them hone their powers as they employed them creatively to create distractions and illusions to aid their efforts. Lyoh becomes slowly more disillusioned and withdrawn, eventually starting to lash out even at Ray in grief.

In AM 512, after repeat offences, Ray is detained and tried as an adult for his string of thefts, and found guilty with overwhelming evidence. He is offered one of three options - Pay a fine, which he is incapable of doing, serve jail time, or mitigate his sentence to community service via Tour of Duty. He opts for the latter. He is sentenced to serve in TISC, a privately owned defence force operating in the nation in compliance with the local authorities, for a period of five years. Separated from his older brother, Lyoh struggles to survive independently. After multiple counts of attempted desertion, Ray's sentence is doubled, resulting in him being contracted to serve in TISC for a full decade.

Distraught, Lyoh attempts to sneak onto the military base to see his brother. Using the same techniques he and Ray developed for theft, he manages to penetrate the defences and make it inside before he is caught. Attempting to detain him, and unaware of his physical condition, the guards engage and attempt to stop Lyoh, causing him to suffer a heart attack. Lyoh survives long enough to see Ray's face one last time before passing away. Arriving to find his brother dying, surrounded by guards, Syrai lashes out in rage, unleashing his powers as never before, resulting in the hospitalisation of three mercenary men, and himself being seriously injured and placed in solitary confinement. During his rampage, Ray manages to retrieve a pendant from his brother's body, a heirloom of their mother, and conceals it.

During his time in isolation, Ray surrenders himself to despair, and obsesses over the pendant, eventually and almost subconsciously turning it into a bloodbound familiar of Lyoh, a technique which should be well beyond his level or understanding, which he nonetheless achieves through persistence and obsession.

Two years later, a changed Syrai is released from isolation, now a quiet, compliant killing machine. Displaying no regard for the value of his own life, an inability to form emotional attachments, and a psychotic streak that allows him to channel powerful magic, he becomes the perfect soldier. Quickly ascending through the ranks, though displaying little interest in promotion, Syrai becomes a squad leader, and selects a bizarre combination of two separate suits of armour with which to lead his squad into combat, painting the chest and shoulders silver, while painting the legs black. His perchant for deploying a shadowy clone of himself in combat, allowing him to be in two places at once, and the aggressive and bloodthirsty behaviour exhibited by the duplicate, earn him the call-sign 'Doppelganger'.

In AM 517, he volunteers for an experimental procedure, carried out and funded by the Advanced Magics Group, offering himself as a biological test subject in exchange for years shaved off his sentence. The experiment, a precursor to a super-soldier program, is designed to test the limits of Cardioglyphs, and involves the implantation of a second human heart in the right side of his chest, which is then enhanced with a second Cardioglyph in addition to his own. The experiment succeeds, but scientists are unable to duplicate their success with any subjects other then Syrai, leading them to conclude that there is an additional, unknown factor that allows his body to support two Cardioglyphs.

Personality and attitudes
Has little to no regard for his own life, but will ignore orders to save those he considers close to him, which to date is no-one. Usually cold, silent and unresponsive at the best of times. Generally tackles any and all problems head-on, gets straight to the point and uses logic to contradict those who he thinks are wrong.

Physiology
Appearance
Before going into isolation, Ray stood at about 6'2, often slouching slightly in his posture so he didn't seem so imposing. His sandy blonde hair fell past his shoulders, his fringe typically tucked behind his ears. Generally with a warm and friendly smile on his naturally tanned face, his brown eyes always seemed to hide a twinkle of cheekiness. His frame was just right for his height, having just enough muscle to keep him from looking spindly.

After two years in complete darkness with nothing but his brothers necklace, a once-a-day basic meal pushed through a shaft and a lot of spare time, Syrai's appearance has changed to some extent. With days of nothing to do, he focused on strengthening his body, turning his light frame into a toned athletic force, loosing his slouch and adapting more of a perfect posture. His once olive skin has lighten to ashen, barely containing it once golden vibrancy. The spark that his eyes once had died along with his brother, leaving his brown eyes overshadowed and cold. His sandy hair is now darkened to almost brown, streaks of his former colour littering his trimmed hair, now barely passing his ears now.

Alterations
Ocular Enhancement
Ray's left eye has a membrane over it, allowing for night vision, thermal and some zoom, but using any of these modes with both eyes open is difficult, particularly zooming, so he usually closes his right eye to use his enhancement.

Royal Flesh
The Royal Flesh in Syrai seemed to skip his eyesight, but chose to increase his physical strength and bone density considerably. He has never experienced a broken bone and was often impressed Lyoh with feats his brother couldn't imagine.

Cardioglyph - "Titan"
Alongside of the above-average strength from his Royal Flesh, Ray increases his physical power again with his main cardioglyph. Once he managed to crumble a small house during the midst of combat by slamming through the walls of the house for cover.

Cardioglyph - "Recollection"
Upon the success of implanting a second heart and cardioglyph, Syrai's mind was changed. His memory became sharper then ever, being able to recall small details of scenarios he wouldn't have thought of before, patterns and codes were easier to decipher and learning new techniques was simpler then ever.

Possessions
General clothing
Syrai generally wears his military outfit at all times, excluding showers and sleeping. If given free time and actually goes outside the base, he has a black leather trench-coat that covers his outfit with room to spare. He also usually wear a pair of darkened goggles to reduced the light when needed.

Organon
His organon is in the shape of a wave pattern on his left forearm, black and white forms spiralling and crossing over each other. This is usually covered by his outfit and rarely seen by others.

Weaponry
Bloodbound Sidearm
Hand Crossbow - Usually concealed within an intricate design of weaves making a silver ring on his left middle finger, the gem holder contains a small spring mounted pin, allowing Syrai to push down the ruby to make himself bleed and activate the weapon. Expanding out into a 30cm wide titanium crossbow, able to be welding in either hand, though mainly in his left, the weapon is unique with no actual string, but uses a series of small runes to fire out arrows. The trigger contains a small needle to extract blood for each shot, feeding it through blood multiplication runes and up to the main slide, forming the arrow for each shot. Depending on how long the trigger is held, Syrai can change each arrow for a variety of arrowheads.

Bloodbound War-arm
Three-section Staff - Upon entering melee combat, Syrai opts for his War-arm. Generally camouflaged as a bracelet on his right wrist, he tends to bite the inside of his mouth and spits the blood onto the bracelet to release it. Each section of the staff and chains connecting the pieces is made from highly refined tungsten, a spiral of lighter and darker qualities running down each 3cm diameter piece. The middle section is longer then the outside sections, reaching lengths of 70cm and 40cm respectively. The central piece has links on both ends to allow for a fully formed staff if needed. Unlike most staffs, the ends are formed into points instead of cylinder shapes, making it more dangerous then usual.

Other Weaponry
Alongside his bloodbound weaponry, Syrai tends to pick a small assortment of weapons to take with him.
  • Twinfire T-11
  • Milkor M-32 grenade launcher
  • MPDK-15 Knife (basic set-up)

Defences
Given his bloodseeker-like attitude in battle, Syrai has been given quite a unique outfit for his standard military operations. He wears a full Endomuscular Suit, covering up to his ankles, wrists and neck, with a Nueral Link positioned on his spine between his shoulder-blades. Atop this, he covers his torso, pelvis and thighs with Shock Armour, allowing for more direct hits to vital spots to be saved. To further increase his defence, a series of hardlight pads cover his chest, shoulders, forearms and back.

To increase his speed with all the defence, his back contains a small generator and booster, allowing for speeds impossible for average people to obtain. His legs are also outfitted with an exo-type suspension armour, making each step almost effortless and can be forced into overdrive mode, combined with his booster module, can grant massive boosts in acceleration.

Blade Shield -A unique piece of equipment, it can function in three modes thanks to its four-piece transforming capability. In its default form, the four pieces link in front of the handle, creating a shield 60cm long, the two bigger pieces at the top with the angled pieces under them. The next mode places the bigger pieces horizontally just above the handle, with the angled pieces forming above them to create a classic broadsword. The last mode compiles the angled pieces on top of each other, forming a sharp V at the top and activating the photodisruption system, whilst the two bigger pieces link vertically under it, for a longer blade, but sacrificing some defence.

Utilities and Deployables
  • A stock of grenades for his launcher for a variety of situations, including but not limited to, napalm, flares, cluster and smokes.
  • Military grade injection kit

Units and vehicles

Currently None.
 
Last edited:

Orion

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Limitations of Haematurgy

I usually avoid questioning the physical/magical laws of a fantasy world, but I'm curious about this one. I can rationalize the idea that manipulating one's own blood is different from manipulating others', hence haematurgists being limited to their own body's supply. But I don't understand why it would make any difference whether the blood leaves the body through a self-inflicted wound or any other mode--a wound inflicted by another, nosebleed, menstruation. For that matter, is the manipulation necessarily limited to blood that leaves the body? I can see one gameplay-mechanic concern, namely that you wouldn't want haematurgists to be able to instantly heal most wounds by manipulating lost blood, but is there any other reason for this limitation?
Not really. It's a matter of balance, plus it sidesteps the battle tactic of just letting your opponent cut you up for you to unleash more magic. I admit, such a mechanic would make battles much more interesting, but for the sake of the world and story in its roleplay form I'm keeping it to self-inflicted wounds.

But yes, you noticed instances of ways blood might be used without leaving the body. The body, in reaction to certain triggers, such as as in the fight-or-flight reflex, reprioritises how blood is distributed around the body. Because one can manipulate their blood telekinetically, you can manually redistribute blood throughout your body how you like - away from an open gaping wound threatening to bleed out, to aid in sexual performance and arousal, if one is running low on oxygen to prioritise blood to the brain, and so on.

Haemoglyphs

How would anyone possibly know this? Also, less nitpicky, do we know where the haemoglyphs originated? Due to a single line in the Timeline, I had assumed (wrongly) that the Alchemist began them. "22 years before the Age of heroes, the Alchemist discovers haematurgy and begins recording haemoglyphs." Of course, it's not at all unusual for the origins of languages to be shrouded in myth, but are we even assuming a human origin here?
If the Alchemist was the source of Haemoglyphs, I would have made that much clearer. The first modern people to discern the meanings of Egyptian hieroglyphics 'recorded' them, much in the same fashion that the Alchemist did, and some still do today as more are slowly discovered.[/QUOTE]

Cardioglyphs

What if both parents have (different) cardioglyphs?
True, it makes the parental lineage-tracking messier, but basically the child gets both sets. It's an intentional part of the system, that ongoing generations have exponentially more cardioglyphs to work with.

Bloodbonding between individuals

What is the danger of a person becoming a "vassal" to too many bloodbonds? How does that work? I would imagine that it has something to do with the "giver's" residual control over her original blood in the "receiver's" body, but how much control does she have and under what circumstances?
For the most part it's vague sensations and thoughts, but in regularly-reinforced bloodbonds the choice to ignore or even defy the exerted influence of one's 'master' can result in discomfort or even physical pain.

Also, how does Vampirism work? In this case the "vampire" is the receiver, correct? Are they merely looking to obtain the magical properties of the (unwilling) giver's blood in this case?

Finally, I assume all of this takes place intravenously (intervenously?) using haematurgy (as opposed to, say, drinking blood).
Vampires want to get blood, that's the absolute basics of it. Exactly what they might want of it can vary from the individual. Some might just want a ready store of blood as an additional magic source, others might want to gain some of the powers of the unwilling giver's blood, such as with elementals.
 

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Update: Not that I've gotten anything done so far (aside from recently creating a Wikia account), but fyi I will be out of town for the next four days. After that, I will be taking some time off of work, so hopefully that will allow me to jumpstart this template.
 

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It's my birthday!

Here's the first part of that template I promised over two months ago!

[The following documents were subpoenaed by the Zonoan Grand Court, pursuant of charges brought against the Advanced Magics Group for unethical and/or dangerous blood research.]

Name: Eliza Abbar

Aliases: Subject #0601

Age: 20

Role: test subject ; researcher ; scouter

Factions: Advanced Magics Group ; Subterrane

Magic: Haematurgy

History:

Childhood

Eliza Abbar was born into one of the many nomadic tribes scattered across the Sandsea. Her upbringing was typical of a nomadic Aschaean girl. A series of skirmishes left her tribe financially and socially weak, and the fact that her own father was a notorious (and notoriously ill-fated) gambler meant that the family was often in dire financial straits.

During a trade stop in Tolon, her father fell in deep with some creditors, and to help pay off his debts he sold his daughter into illicit slavery, a practice not uncommon in that part of the world. Eliza was eight years old at the time. Her buyer, through an intermediary, was Theron Rouss – experimental haematurgist and ‘scouter’ for the AMG.

Advanced Magics Group

Eliza, designated Test Subject 0601, was one of the first specimens used in a successor program to the discontinued ‘Misuse’ program, focused on the applications of bloodbonding between individuals. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 (cutting off at the onset of puberty) were bloodbound to each other through regularly reinforced, mutual bloodbonds to test Dominant-Recessive Blood Type Theory, as well as the upper limits of bloodbonds between individuals. Subject 0601 performed well in all tests, showing distinct dominant-trait characteristics in her bloodbonds with others, including lower suggestibility from partners and a higher capacity to inflict pain. Over the course of three years in the program, she was subject to 18 concurrent bloodbonds, more than any other participant and well above the legal limit of 12 established in the Bloodwrit. Three participants bonded to Subject 0601 died during the course of testing. No causal relation was found; nonetheless, at the age of 11, Subject 0601 was retired from the program and her bloodbonds dissolved.

Eliza continued to participate in AMG research (though the terms of her sale were limited to 5 years) and by the age of 16 had significant say in the selection and design of her own experiments. She participated in and directed part of the Source Program, exploring the as-of-yet unexplained magical impairment of blood shed from ordinary wounds. She had early input on the Inheritance Program, though she had no interest in and even expressed disdain for the closely related Restoration Program. By the time either program began to receive judicial scrutiny for possible violations of the Bloodwrit, Eliza had moved on to other projects.

Subterrane

At the age of 18, Eliza became a ‘scouter’ for the Advanced Magics Group, charged with finding other potential test subjects and bringing them into the organization. To facilitate this, she was integrated into the Subterrane, whose connections and extra-legal status made it ideal for finding the type of individuals the organization was looking for—unusual, exceptional, isolated. Within the Subterrane, Eliza carved a niche for herself extracting information from uncooperative informants, using skills she developed conducting experiments on ‘dummy clones’ at the AMG. She has found herself uniquely suited to the task. Now she charges a high fee for her services, but those with the means to pay find it well worth it, provided they no longer need the informant.

Personality:
 

Orion

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Here's a quick reminder to let it be known that I'm still down-as-hell to still do this, in fact everyone else's interest helped to keep up my momentum in expanding the Wiki. I'm focusing on it more again now, but it'd be nice to see it put to wider use.
 

OmniChaos

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I still very much intend to participate in this, just need to sit some time aside to focus on it when allowed to.
 
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