Interest Check: Aberrant (the white wolf superhumans game) in Ancient Earth

[Kolbrandr]

So I figure this will go about as well as my mentioning Lords of Gossamer and Shadow as far as people having any notion what I'm talking about, but what the heck. The main difference being I'd actually like to run this, not play.

Particularly I'd like to play around with the suggestion from the player's guide that novas existed all throughout history and are the source of various myths, gods, etc. I actually have a big ol developed setting around the idea that I ran before in the terrifying real world for a few years until it petered out, and would be interested in trying to make use of it again.

In rough, pending interest for more detail, the central thematic is Aberrant's "what would you do with the power of a god" with "and everyone around you is telling you that you are one" tacked onto it, in an ancient  Earth where novas have grouped up and created whole societies and so forth.

edit: well, people expressed interest to my big ol shock, so, some actual setting/recruitment/pitch material.


As far as setting, this is the pretty much bronze ageish ancient world (though this is a world, even in real history, of shocking advancement, the Minoans had flush toilets, many societies had very complex math, all sorts of things we still can’t do today or figure out how they were done were going on. Now magnify that to the level things would be at with novas around to develop things wayyy further). Keep that in mind as to how your character would react to things, think about the causes of things, and so forth (for instance, only the most way out there fringe esoteric intellectuals have theories about channeling invisible etheric essence, and so forth, as far as anything resembling even remotely the idea of quantum). That said, this world is going to be far from historically accurate, there are after all superpowered novas bopping around. If there was a culture I found neat or interesting to toss in that’s not quite fitting the overall time period, I put it in.

Look, there’s thousands of years of historical distortion and a few decades of active history rewriting by the Aeon Society to console yourself with as to why Baal’s faction call themselves the Ensi and get away with it paradox free, for instance. Historical mishmash and future distortion and rewriting is actually a lil bit of an underlying thing of itself. That said, the Germanic peoples in their roots are maybe quite ancient and they maybe venerated something vaguely Woden shaped, so, in some cases I'm not really going "screw the historical rules I have GM authority" that hard. In other cases I super, super am though. There are, in a plot point sort of way maybe, going to be characters named in ways that their personalities do not quite jive with at all.

Anyway! Some actual setting material.

Relevant Backstory:

The chosen of the heavens walk the earth. Wielding mighty powers, or simply pure physical might, heroes, demigods and monsters change the face of the world they inhabit, as history and culture deform around them. These figures generally agree on “chosen” as a term for themselves, since something has to have empowered them, whether the gods beyond themselves, the force of destiny or their own indomitable will.

The story begins with a tale of 4 such chosen, mighty even amongst these scions of divinity. Of the August Personage of Jade and the Rani of Mohenjo Daro, we will leave be for a time, and focus instead on two brothers, Heracles and Minos. Each felt they were the sons of Zeus, and their might, wisdom, and wit lead all to believe the same. They walked the entire earth, sometimes together, sometimes apart, developing their abilities, speaking with and learning from other chosen, and observing cultures as they developed.

Minos became especially enamoured with the grandeur of Egypt, and with a grouping of chosen there calling themselves the Champions of Ra, who regaled him with tales of their  victory against Apophis the Corrupter and his dark son Set, banishing them from the very firmament of reality.

His journeys drawing near to an end, he reached particular philosophical conclusions on the chosen, himself, and the world. He felt that the chosen were indeed gods and thusly inherited a certain responsibility to humanity with their great power, that they were obligated to create a perfect world for those that would worship them, in order to be worthy as gods, and simply as sentient beings. Gathering about himself both chosen and mortals of great wisdom and erudition, he crafted a culture and moral code that took heavily from Egypt, and from the best of every culture he had encountered and then proceeded to attempt to create this perfect world for man, under the aegis of these laws and beliefs. Powerful, charismatic and inspiring, Minos would convince many chosen and humans alike to join him in suborning themselves to what would be called the Theran Compact for the glorious capital that rested on the island of Thera itself.

Heracles in the meantime, had not been idle. Heracles had become enamoured with Heracles. That is to say, with furthering his own unique power and development as a god, at seeking personal enlightenment. With the world at best a proving ground to challenge and grow against, and at worst a total irrelevancy. He had also sired a line of powerful children, who had risen to become god-kings of various Mycenean city states. He and his children viewed Minos’ goals and philosophy as patently ridiculous. How can mortals create a moral code that could bind gods when they are so beneath the understanding and breadth of existence of gods? Why should any god have to enslave himself to a foreign morality that is in truth only enforced by the vast personal power of Minos himself? If a god is truly a god, then he should yet be free to decide how to act on his divinity himself and not simply by virtue of being chosen, have to have that synonymous with slave, with Minos’ demands of propriety.

These philosophies went from mutually exclusive, to outright antagonistic, to open war, with Minos regretfully slaying his brother in battle. His children and their followers were driven out in the wake of the ever expanding compact, taking for themselves the name Heraclidae to remember their progenitor and his beliefs.

With many tribes, cities and nations joining willingly, and certain horrifically destructive empires (such as Assyria) being subsumed by force, the compact continued to grow, as chosen after chosen and human after human signed onto it. Before long they controlled much of what would one day be called the Levant, the fertile crescent, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the majority of territory around the Aegean, expanding besides into North Africa and the Balkans. The many groups opposed to Thera found themselves weakened and failing, until in part desperation, in part due to the leadership skills of the sons of Heracles, they united as one under the banner of the Heraclidae, rising to dominate swaths of Western and Eastern Europe, the Russian steppe, and certain stretches of North Africa. These lands would be denigrated by the Therans as “the lawless” for the sometimes slapdash and far from cohered or unified rule the Heraclidae had over those territories. Great wars would now ensue on the borders of these two great powers whenever resources could be spared to wage them, with agitation and intrigue taking their place when they could not.

Of course, the chosen do not choke the world with their numbers and presence, and there are yet many independents ruling tribes as gods, wandering the earth as figures of legend or simply making a living out of the now seemingly endless war between the Theran Compact and the Heraclidae


So, basically, at the heart of this is, y'all pick a faction, and we go from there. There are, yes, Teragen-ish elements to the Heraclidae, and some Project Utopia elements to the Theran Compact, though they're not perfect analogues. There is a philosophical struggle at the heart of things all the same around the notion of just what being a god means, what it is to serve, and the place one defines in the world.

Speaking of notes on mentalities..

General notes on mentality

Remember, this is the ancient world, and as comparatively modern as even Thera is, and as modern as Finn himself (see below) can think, they don’t think like we do, and their values orient differently. Try to remember that. For example, as I’ll get into, on the side of the Heraclidae, there are Achaians who hate the entire sect, regardless of faction, and are personally horrified by it, but are there because in the name of Achaian honour, when someone kills your blood kin, you are required to kill them. Things like honour, face, social, cultural and traditional taboos and laws, pure social intangibles that a modern, secular or even religious society might find ridiculous are driving forces behind whole wars. There’s a theory that floats around that everything Julius Caesar did, or certainly was a big psychological impact driving him, he did simply as a Roman acting under the guidelines of how one is supposed to defend and live up to one’s dignitas. Ma’at is a freaking huge deal in Thera as their big defining core, like Time (pronounced Thee-may) is to the Achaians, enech is to a Celt, and so on, and so forth. Family matters, your gods matter, your history, traditions and people, matter. This doesn’t mean they’re shiny pure and noble as a result, humans always do horrible things in the name of their ideologies, it just means there’s a different set of them driving and defining people than there is now.

That said, don’t force yourself to play pure alien style. They were human, and stuff is always common to, you know, the human experience. A Celt is just going to view what’s worth holding a grudge over far differently than, say, a Canadian (there are areas where the Celt will be shockingly more forgiving, and shockingly less).

And on gods, and being gods.. like I say, most if not everyone of this era thinks the chosen to be gods, or at least demigods (hence the name chosen, as in “chosen of the gods”), including the chosen themselves. Doesn’t mean other gods aren’t worshipped though, including by the chosen themselves. Ra’s a great big example. There is no Ra as chosen, but Ra is one of the most worshipped deities around. Unless you have a truly amazing reason, you think yourself some kind of divinity as well, and you should factor that into how you look at the world, and how it looks at you. Finn (again, see below) is seen for his views as something of a freaky lunatic in various crowds, and even the people he leads are moderately unsettled by his personal views.

The basic idea otherwise is that you all decide on what group to be part of, along with potential subfactions within it, and we go from there in a somewhat sandboxy, somewhat plot driven way.


Faction and subfaction details:


The Theran Compact

General Theran Compact Details

Peace. Prosperity. Advancement. Beauty.

These are all words synonymous with the greatest dominion on earth, mighty Thera. With such prestige cities as Ilium, Byzantium, Heliopolis, Ur, and the Theran capital itself, the compact is legendary well into the Jade empire itself. Called a compact and not an empire for that save for the most egregious of nations and peoples, all chosen and men have willingly entered the compact, willingly pledged themselves to one another, to a perfect world.

War, wide scale plague, famine are all freakishly rare events within the peace of Thera as advanced techniques of construction, medicine and agriculture ensuring lives of plenty for all. Great academies dominate cityscapes. Patrols by the great military body of Thera, the Rhadamanthine legions, keep the well maintained roads free of bandits, even as her fleets are the scourge of the pirate.

The chosen of Thera, if not simply citizens of the compact, fall into three main groups: The Venerated Seers, the scholars and philosophers of the compacts, ever working at new and interesting innovations in art, philosophy and science. More famously there are the champions and troubleshooters of the Rhadamanthine Order, protecting the compact from renegade chosen, engaging in general improvement projects and leading Theran efforts to ever expand their compact outwards to new peoples and nations, ever moving out to defend them against depredation and terror, to show them the benefits of Theran law, and to hold them to it when they act in tragic error. Many of Thera's chosen otherwise find their destinies outside of either organization, as envoys, as leaders of their own religions, as rulers of cities, as magnates of trade, as Speakers in the Theran Assembly, as artists and celebrants and explorers.

Subfactions and notes on the Theran Compact

The Rhadamanthine Order

Counting auxiliaries and chosen in training, the Rhadamanthines count some 50-70 chosen amongst their number. This is actually a lot if you think about it. Yes, nowhere near overall Heraclidan numbers, but there are other chosen in Thera serving as city champions, ruling nobles, members of the Venerated Seers, attached to the Rhadamanthine legions or even just living as Theran citizens and etc. that can be called up in war.

Lots of chosen want to join the Rhadamanthines, only a few get to, the screening is rather arduous, given that the end result basically makes you a roving over authority in Thera. And roving is the key word. Outside of Rhadamanthines who also double as city champions (more on that in a bit), they’re usually in motion throughout the Compact, doing circuit like patrols, exchanging shifts with those on border duty, leading troop detachments, training local militias or newly minted legionnaires, leading improvement projects (whether construction, crude terraforming, or helping newly joined compact members reach a Theran standard of living) resolving disputes, in conference with the Venerated Seers on the latest planned diplomatic effort and the like. Whether singly or in groups, the Rhadamanthines often function as itinerant magistrates throughout Thera acting on their own initiatives here and there, if not currently occupied with some directive from the Rhadamanthine leaders or the Theran Assembly itself.

When arriving in an area, they usually take time to contact the local Venerated Seer legate, city champion, or local authorities to get an idea of the local situation, though there will likely also be legionnaires around they can get reports from.

Some Rhadamanthines are particularly skilled in particular areas, and will often be left to them, but Ioannis Kymberion (see below) tries to make sure that everyone gets some experience in one area or another, even if only as escorts to the particular expert therein, in order to keep people well rounded and give them occasional perspective beyond themselves.

The Order have final authority over the legions and answer directly to the Theran Assembly, though structure within the Order is actually somewhat loose. Being a collection of elite champions already, it’s a little bit of a stretch to go “I’m more elite than you!”. That said, it is recognized that of the Order, Ioannis is their leader, and a group referred loosely to as the Companions of the Champion (detailed below), are the ranking figures just below him as far as ability to command their brethren.

It’s a heady thing to be a Rhadamanthine, as you are given land, title, and worship as one of the protector gods of the entire compact. Songs are written about you, artwork is made, children are named for you.. Still, the screenings ideally ensure there will be no more Baal style incidents as a result.

(Basically, it’s like Team Tomorrow fused with the Jedi Order of the Old Republic, with a lot of crap edited out.)

The Venerated Seers

The other big prestige group. If slightly easier to get into, given the lack of requirement of being able to handle yourself in a fight and potentially lead soldiers into battle. Artists, scholars, philosophers, bureaucrats, social engineers and the occasional muttering prophet fill the ranks here. Outside of Seers on local tribune/regional bureaucrat coordinator duty, they tend to be based at the great Academy (all other academies tend to have names, the Seers’ place is simply The Academy) in the Theran capital, almost a miniature city into itself, where the occasional muffled explosion or odd energy warping into something.. else.. noise can be heard, but the people nearby have gotten used to it.

Seers do wander through the compact as a whole, working on art, architectural or scientific projects, on knowledge seeking journeys, or just to confer with scholars in other cities. They will occasionally do so in conjunction with the Rhadamanthines, answering, like them, to the Theran Assembly.

Ur Nammu is deferred to as their overall leader, and the bureaucratic divisions have a generally more cohered hierarchy, but other than that, outside of the occasional academic scuffle over funding, it’s basically a collection of iconoclast artists and scholars, and about as barely hierarchical as you might figure as a result. The Theran Assembly does hand them directives on research directions and other projects now and again of course, and Ur Nammu will handpick teams to work on those projects and appoint a temporary head for such, everyone afterwards being able to get back to previous focus once it’s done.

Xenos' Men

his is not a prestige group because, well, they don’t exist. Not in song, not in art, nowhere. They’re Xenos’ counterintelligence group against what is a disturbingly sophisticated Hercalidan spy network (the hand of Baal is largely suspected in this one). Not exactly black ops, because Xenos doesn’t indulge in things like assassination, they are a collection of spies, saboteurs, scouts, wanderers, merchants, commandos and bodyguards, chosen and not. Like a sort of ancient world Stormwatch Black. They also usually have “day jobs”, sometimes even as Rhadamanthines (who do know about the general existence of these people, and usually they have related scouting jobs in the Order proper).

They often jokingly refer to themselves as “the metal men” due to little metallic discs some of them will carry that let Xenos get in contact with them at extreme long distance.

It is said that while Xenos had to argue long and hard to get the mandate to establish this grouping, it is he and not Minos who gave them a directive that they are not to kill while on duty, save in self defense, or when otherwise acting against an enemy agent, as it were. Granted that last category can get.. broad.

The hierarchy of this group is very simple: Xenos activates you for a mission, you do it, and then you go back to your life. Of course sometimes the mission might be “watch this city for Heraclidan spies” and will thus take years…

Less simply, there is an overall cell structure for the mortal agents, all chosen answer directly to Xenos and can commandeer cells as need be, assuming they know where one is, as Xenos is fairly notorious for not disseminating that kind of information in case someone gets caught and mindwhacked. In many cases one of Xenos’ men, even a chosen, won’t know who another is until Xenos actually tells them.

Look, I’m not Bond, Agamemnon Bond, Captain Troy-merica or Reed “Gilgamesh” Richards, I do what exactly in Thera?

Like I said, there are chosen in Thera not in either of the above groups. Very often they are the rulers of cities or influential nobility therein, or champions thereof. City champions, well, basically municipal defenders like from Aberrant, if worshipped as gods. Basically that.

Chosen that are simply Theran citizens (although “simply” is a hard word to apply to a chosen) might have a flock of worshippers whose well being they tend to (depending on the chosen and the flock, that can be a damned hefty responsibility), might work as independent performers, athletes or artists, might teach at or be enrolled in the various academies throughout the compact, might captain local militias, or quite often are wealthy merchant coster heads (or employed as the guards thereof) who travel through and out of the Compact. They might also serve as mentors and trainers to those chosen who have just come into their powers.

Chosen newly arrived to Thera or who have just come into their gifts therein might also spend a fair bit of time just exposing themselves to as much of Theran society to decide what sort of place they want in it, and are highly encouraged to do so.

As recommended, Theran Ma’at boiled down

Alright, I saw a subtitled version of Hero on DVD before the movie came out that translated the central philosophy tenet as “all under heaven” instead of “our land”. That’s a pretty good guide as far as it goes. Everything, as mentioned, has a place, everything has a role to play in the cosmic order, and in cosmic harmony.

Ma’at in Thera has been largely disassociated with the goddess and taken as concept,  though it varies, especially in Egypt proper.

A not terrible webpage summary can be found here: http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/maat2.htm

Basically.. Therans don’t believe in subjective morality, period. There is a universal way, a universal truth, a universal justice, a universal harmony, and a universal morality. There is a right, and a wrong on a fundamental level. They don’t necessarily assume they’re it, but they do feel that they are striving towards it more than any nation ever has, and hope that they live in its principles and will someday achieve them perfectly.

Even the merest farmer feels a pride and satisfaction in his work, it isn’t just farming, it’s playing his part in cosmic harmony. To be moral is to be in balance with the universe, to be amoral is to be out of balance with it.

To be perfectly in tune with Ma’at is viewed in Thera like achieving Nirvana, except that going off to meditate on a rock to do it would be seen as selfish and ditching your responsibility to cosmic order. You become perfectly in tune with Ma’at through service to Ma’at, through figuring out what your role in society is, and then striving to embody it. To serve others, serve Ma’at, and thereby truly serve your very soul.

Notable Theran NPCs

Minos: What can be said about the great son of Zeus? There seem none that can approach his power amongst any of the chosen, none that can approach his divine beauty, his wisdom, his kindness, his justice. Thera is his gift to the world in his eyes, and a gift to which he gladly suborns himself. Believing that all Chosen carry the potential to be great and glorious gods in the service of man in his heart, it grieves him to ever find a chosen truly beyond hope, beyond redemption, beyond a chance to take part in something better and greater than themselves. The lord of the Theran compact could walk with a justifiable pride at his works, yet for him there is always more to do, more to accomplish.

The Champion of Ra, Ioannis Kymberion: Leader of both the Rhadamanthine Order and the Champions of Ra, he is the valiant shining sun of the compact, second only to Minos himself in power and prestige. Some find it odd that a Mycenean is the leader of an Egyptian order, yet all agree that his dedication, courage, battle acumen and poet’s soul are the bastion of the defense of Thera. When not at war he is a calm, gentle, even idly bemused at the world sort of fellow, a demeanor that often initially stuns those first meeting him off duty. Still, There is no finer sight to a Theran citizen, nor more terrifying to her enemies than the Lion of the Dawn blazing brilliantly through the sky above.

Xenos, the Warden: A more quietly regarded figure for that usually, his efforts are in the background. It is he who maintains the central prison of Thera, and he who works as a liason between the Seers and Rhadamanthines, often flustered with a dizzying array of tasks from each. His features more curiously youthful than inhumanly perfect, he can often be seen traveling from one corner of the capital to the other, putting project after project into place.

Ur-Nammu, the great sage: Venerated Seer, amongst Venerated Seers, the great Ur Nammu built cities out of wilderness, wielded tribes into nations, turned shamans into scholars. His city yet bears his name. Many written languages yet bear his deftly shaping touch. It was seen as one of Minos’ greatest of his early victories that he convinced the great civilizer to place his name under the Theran banner.

Orestes and Electra: Rhadamanthines, and twin siblings, who had fled to Thera after leading an unsuccessful rebellion against their father Agamemon’s tyranny in Heraclidan territory. Though they slew their father, the resounding, screaming fury from every core Herclidae related to him was more than they could stand against, surviving to flee into the Compact an accomplishment in and of itself. Orestes for his part wields the physical might and legendary warrior skill common in part to all chosen of the blood of Heracles and the Achaian princes coupled with divine grace and beauty. Electra is somewhat less physically potent, though she compensates for this with a disturbing control over fire, to the point of flying along on jets of flame. Each have taken to the Compact with a fierce and unrelenting zeal and are often soldiers along its borders, especially against their former kin, for whom no love is lost, and quarter is neither asked nor given. They are very much gripped in Achaian passion, but it is a passion they channel in the name of the Compact and her people.

Neoptolemus: King of New Ilium, having fought on the side of the Heraclidans in the sack of Ilium and turned against his kin at horror from their actions, making him perhaps the most universally reviled Chosen in all of Hercildan lands after Minos. An old and potent chosen, he views his reign as penance for his past and for the deeds of his father, Achilles. Ilium has thrived under his aegis, having proved himself princely both as ruler and as a warrior, though his people often wish he would smile just a bit more. While some say he has abandoned Achaian honour in the name of Ma’at, he maintains he acts in it truly, and while those who seek kin vengeance may do so, as a king, he will be bound to defend his people to the very death.

Toth: one of the Companions of the Champion, the Venerated Seers often grumble at the loss of Toth to the Rhadamanthines, not simply for his peerless genius, but for his mystical command over the very forces of reality itself, as befitting a god of magic. Space, time, and matter are all Toth’s to manipulate and control, often to devastating and terrifying efficacy on the field of battle. Toth himself, for all his might, seems a very reserved and dignified fellow, his humour wry and academic, his only vibrant displays of emotion around his many wives and children.

Eidolon: another of the Companions, devastatingly beautiful, and a mentalist and teleknietic of near overwhelming capacity, somewhat even to herself at that. In part she associates with the Rhadamanthines as they contain the few chosen mentally resilient enough to have their thoughts be their own around her, and thus give her a blessed respite from constantly knowing the minds of all around her. She does her best to keep the Order in constant contact, and safety at that. What would she do without the few she can call her closest friends?

Graven: another still of the Companions, Graven, quite simply, is a stone giant who grows a massive stone war maul from his body before fights, using it to sweep battlefields clean. Enemies often underestimate Graven’s intelligence, which is just as he prefers it. In truth, of the companions outside of Ioannis, he is the most regular commander of the legions. Outside of battle, Graven is nearly the archetype of the gentle giant, with a fondness for acting as a storyteller to children, who delight as he acts out his tales with moving earthen statues he grows out from the ground.

Lir: last of the Companions, Lir is a Celtic god of storms and thunder who cheerfully admits to anyone who asks that Ioannis defeated him in battle, and as terms Lir is bound to serve as his bondsman. The Champion of Ra, if in earshot, will often shake his head and comment that that was centuries ago and that Lir is free to leave at any time he wants, but Lir will firmly maintain there was no time limit set, and that would be dishounourable. Brash, bold, joking and loud, Lir could call down heaven’s fury upon a foe, but that would be leagues less satisfying than pounding them into unconsciousness with his fists.

The Lioness of Byzantium: the newest and youngest of the Rhadamanthines, at 16, the Lioness of Byzantium is also the champion defender of her city. Able to shapeshift into the form of a supernaturally potent lion, and a potent hybrid warform inbetween, her powers are yet developing still. Her unflagging youthful enthusiasm makes her beloved of the entire Order, and Thera itself, even if it occasionally runs full steam into /over/ enthusiasm now and again, though some claim that to be yet more endearing. She is of course a potent warrior regardless, undergoing training from the Champion of Ra himself.

Anubis: Leader of the Champions of Ra after Ioannis, high priest of such (Ra that is) and defender of Egypt entire, this death god is an enigma. Possessed of what he himself feels is a dashingly sarcastic sense of humour (opinions vary), his power over the endings of things (what others might call “entropy”), marks his station in the lands of Khem. Said to have been found wandering the deserts centuries ago, muttering a single word over and over that translated as “death”, his features are of an oddly indeterminate ethnicity, as is his accent.


Ushas: a goddess of light and beauty from the east, who traveled to Thera from stories of its wonders and became enchanted by them, devoting her existence to beautifying them further still, whether in grand celebrations and festivals in their honour, or breathtaking works of art from her own hand. Ushas seems to travel in one, endless party constantly swirling about her person, yet the luxury of it is deceptive, for unlike, say, the orgies of Mithras’ city, she leaves her celebrants invigorated and inspired for the experience.

Mammon: One of Thera’s chief merchants, whose name in this era, ironically, is synonymous with fair and honest dealings, of wealth used for a constructive purpose. Master of multiple trading costers and a large merchant fleet, Mammon sponsors exploration of new trade routes, and trips to new lands, often deigning to accompany such in his own person, though his own gifts lie largely in advanced business acumen. Often seeking council with Minos and various Venerated Seers over various projects and theories of his.

Theran tech level

Think archaic clockpunk Troy with an occasional Egyptian flavouring. Did you ever see Reign the Conqueror? A bit like that, but perhaps less everyone wearing thongs. More specifically.. Thera’s most wide scale advancements tend to most specifically be in metallurgy, clockworks (for lack of a better term), architecture, city planning, medicine and agriculture. Theran cities have running water, flush toilets and sewer systems. Some few Theran cities have actual clock towers. Forging techniques and the chemical (and even, alchemical) advancements that have been pioneered result in metals vastly more resilient and in many cases lightweight than would be otherwise normally capable to produce, which also helps with the clockwork bit, there’s thus a fairly extensive use of metals, as gears and cogs in super-refined and nearly automated giant mills for instance. Some say the fairly extensive use of metal also comes from Xenos the Warden’s ability to extend his senses through it and thus watch any part of the compact from anywhere he might be.. but that’s idle rumour. There are weapons that even strong chosen can use without breaking them, and the bronze alloy breastplates and greaves of the Rhadamanthine legions are renowned for both their durability, and their relative lack of weight and hindrance on the wearer (Thera doesn’t use steel, no, Thera uses some kind of bronze super alloy).

That said, all those clockworks are not always too visible, as Thera has a strong fondness for white limestone and marble. Theran cities practically gleam, and while very methodically laid out in districts around a central raised acropolis, there is always care taken to make sure there are vast spaces for public forums, colonnades of statues and other artworks, and public parks, fountains and pools. There is always a huge amphitheater for the public to gather in for citywide performances and athletic displays (bull jumping/dancing is a pretty darn popular sport), being addressed by the local rulers or the like. The streets themselves are often tiled. The architectural style is a sort of hybrid of classical Greece, the Minoan civilization, and various light ancient Egyptian touches (so, lots of ornate columns, bas reliefs, intricate, brilliantly colourful mosaics, etc.). The one exception to this being Egypt. Egypt, or Khem, still largely looks like ancient Egypt, being seen as some kind of spiritual/religious homeland to the entire Compact, no one wants to change it overly as far as style. The regional capital of Heliopolis does look entirely like a Theran city though.

Medically, with medical academies, advanced herbal concoctions, surgical techniques, and just generally cleaner living (sanitation is fairly developed, and hygiene is encouraged), disease rates are much lower, as is the infant mortality rate. It’s not like there’s, say, neurosurgery or anything like that (though certain very rare and really, really, really smart, dextrous, superperceptive members of the Venerated Seers may be able to do the equivalent), but dying of a cold is pretty rare in Theran cities. Actually, if you look at it, surgical techniques in some ways weren’t all that relatively shabby in some places, I’m often just magnifying what was already there.

Theran villages tend more to look like actual villages (though with often some concealed community amenities across the village as a whole), but are very often just basically communities that grow up around farmer’s markets, and given the well maintained quality of the Theran roads, are usually within decent distance of one of the Theran cities. And even the villages tend to be somewhat built up (the central village meeting hall will likely be something typical of a Theran city with all the amenities for instance).

The upper end of Theran advancement, outside of chosen “enchantments” (i.e. nova super science), include things like heliograph communication posts, Da Vinci style platform launched gliders that are used by the military and for important communication that a flying chosen isn’t available for, and gigantic clockwork walkers that you point in the direction of an army, set off the electric or chemical charge to get the gears going (or release the binders holding tensed gears in place), and watch it stomp and thresh.

Theran military tech.. the armies use legion formation and organization, with missile units consisting of crossbowmen with ornate, multiple gear and pulley powered bows (reload rate’s a bitch, but the damage potential’s quite nice, the usual formation of a crossbow unit is crossbowmen with attendants to do the reloading and keep them in loaded bows). Siege weaponry wouldn’t be out of place in the high middle ages, with use of things beyond that like greek fire. Thera tends to rely more on infantry than cavalry tactics, as if you need a shock charge that badly, well, there’s chosen. They largely use cavalry for the internal post/patrols along the roads. The border with the Heraclidans also sees the use of massive siege weapon topped towers supported by walkers. The navy is very trireme and trireme tender based, with a large scale of construction for flagships and the like.

As far as super science and the like, remember what I said, this isn’t like the modern era, not even a little. People are coming up with the ideas they’ve come up with, out of whole cloth. In the grand scheme of things, even math and literacy really aren’t all that old. There is no tradition of theory and experimentation to mold your thought processes and come up with stuff out of for many, many fields. The Venerated Seers are thus an exciting place to be as all kinds of wild for the time ideas get thought up and debated (“I bet we could use lightning bolts as power!” “You’re crazy! Now watch this blast of steam turn these gears! That’s the wave of the future!”). Some super science will be easier than other super science, basically, and you’ll want to take me through the thought and justification processes of how you’re making it work, and how you’re making it go. That said, feel free to use outlandish ones, it is super science after all. One of my favourites from the old campaign was this series of mirrors and chemical relays that you could control the direction of the walkers with. Theran innovations, when they happen, can be world shaking, but they’re not coming fast and furious, as it’s preferred for them to be mass socially applicable in some fashion, and to have been refined until they’re completely safe. There’s something of an emphasis on the practical and on refining or enhancing existing techniques, and lots of existing things work well in the practical (so how is it going to be making life better? And etc.)

(As a brief contrast The Heraclidae’s level of overall technological advancement is by comparison disorganized and slapdash, and in many ways comparatively poor, but every so often will blow the hell past Thera simply because of a mix of no research controls or uniform societal attitude to have to work around, and safety can kiss my ass. More human test subjects! More! The teleportation machine works by shoveling those puppies into that furnace! Shoveling all the puppies!)

A day in the life of Thera, as modified and ripped off from the Outcaste book

Theran citizens typically rise around 6-7 AM, depending on their schedule, they then attend morning calisthenics, or bathe and take breakfast. By 8, they are either in classes in one of the various academies (education being mostly free and meritocratic- if you pass the entrance exams, you can go to the academy, with itinerant tutors ensuring a basic level of education among younger people to let them try) or in the workplace, wherever that might be, or tending to their households. Outside of a lunch hour, breaks and time to run errands as needed, tasks and classes are generally done by 5, 7 at the latest, with time after that being a citizen’s own. Late afternoons and evenings are spent going to restaurants, entertaining friends at home, taking strolls through the city, going to theaters or attending classes or intellectual debates. Thera does have a vibrant economy, and while everyone has a certain pleasant base standard of living, the wealthier do have more time and access to leisure and self education to have a better chance of getting into the great academies. It’s not a huge glaring disparity, but it’s there. There’s a lack of over grumbling about this as even the wealthiest spend days in fulfilling their responsibilities as any other, and thus leads us to..

It’s some kind of crazy Atlantean utopia! I want to be indolent! Or, Theran society and cultural values

Sadly no. You can be indolent if you want, but the result will be society as a whole frowning on you and finding you a massive jerk, going so far as to indulge in varying degrees of benign social pressure to outright shaming. Ma’at is taken to heart here as a defining and guiding principle. Everything has a place and role in the cosmic harmony of the universe, and if one is in that place, one is supposed to fulfill one’s responsibilities therein, from the great to the small. There is a strong work ethic in Thera, whose philosophy involves the belief that it is only in serving others that one truly serves oneself, from the gods on down. Whether you’re an artist beautifying the lives of your fellow citizens, a scholar innovating and challenging the growth of thought, or a farmer in the fields, everything and everyone and every act has a purpose. Can that get more than a little stifling to people sometimes? Well, yeah, but Thera is idyllic in an orderly sort of way, Thera isn’t perfect.

As far as governance, local will vary from region to region, with local monarchies and nobilities sometimes being the case, though sometimes with attendant assemblies of the people regardless, to full out classical Greek style democracies. The Venerated Seers both chosen and mortal handle the overall Compact bureaucracy, and usually have some kind of tribune style oversight representative in the big cities or thickly populated regions. Thera overall is governed by the great assembly in the Theran capital, with representatives sent from all over Thera to serve as delegates of their region or city therein. (Think like the Old Republic Senate, but not horrifically fucked up and bad.) If you’re wondering, Minos’ official title is Speaker for the Theran Assembly (though no one bothers with using it), as the delegate of the Theran capital.

To note, there is slavery, a non slavery based economy is too huge a jump in thought and culture even for Thera in this era. That said, slaves do have a variety of legal protections, and abusive owners tend to get their slaves taken away.

No, I told you Thera’s not perfect, or: The Bad Things in Thera

There’s not that much badness actually, buuuut.. there’s an undercurrent of arrogance and superiority to certain Therans and festers within them, whether human or chosen. It’s not commonplace at all, but it is there, and you can guess where it comes from. I mean, look at their lives? It’s a little hard not to get arrogant when you look at the rest of the world. That said, the people running the joint are mostly arrogance deficient, and many other Therans are as well.

And depending on how much you do sympathize with the Fianna (see below) or not, Thera does eat cultures. It just happens. There’s no thought police making it happen, or secret nova mind control, people just assimilate, they want to assimilate, who wouldn’t? It’s only been in the case of the huge cultures that built Thera (Egypt, Greece, some Sumerian touches, and the Minoans) that some synthesis occurred. Lots of far smaller groups and tribes just drifted away from their gods, values and culture to embrace Theran ones over time. On the one hand, sometimes this is completely a good thing, i.e. Assyria, sometimes it’s not. The general opinion in Thera is that it can be regrettable, but, overall, they’re not forcing anyone to do anything, or hurting anyone, or tricking anyone. They’ve found a better way, and they like to have the willing join them in living it. Cultural distinctiveness seems a small price to pay for Utopia, to a Theran.

So, are these people supposed to be the objective good guys in this setting, or what?

Yes and no.

Well, first, let me observe something about Elliquiy for a minute. If they were, I kiiinda doubt that would really hamper anyone wanting to go another way instead. People love them some evil! With that said, you can't actually paint all of Thera's opposition with the evil brush as a whole, as much as the Therans themselves might.

Anyway. It comes down to this. How much does cultural identity matter to you? If a culture assimilates, even if willingly over time, have that people been destroyed as much as they would have if they were killed? Thera, in the setting's relative recent history, finished conquering and then assimilating Assyria as a generational effort. And as nasty as they were in the real world, you might imagine how bad they were with novas. So, no great loss, right? And it's not like Thera killed them all, just completely reorganized and recultured. Would you rather they killed them all?

But lots of tribes and nations that Thera has absorbed are not Assyria. They're just peoples who in the face of incredible grandeur on a scale impossible to reality otherwise, divine kindness on a scale impossible to reality otherwise, and, well, free health care, eventually abandoned everything about themselves and took hold of the hands welcoming them with an honest goodwill. If you value cultural identity, that's horrifying. Thera is a nightmare engine that just by existing and creating trade agreements that expose cultures to Thera, is turning the world into Thera. I mean, some barbarian horde wastes an area, survivors might be able to flee and rebuild their society somewhere. Theran assimilation will not even leave that option. And again, you can't even quite rail at them for brainwashing. They're not even forcing people who join Thera to stop teaching cultural values, or doing cultural things. There's no equivalent of the horrors that First Nations have been subjected to as far as children being kidnapped to schools and so forth. But, to go all real world history on you for a minute, there's a reason that the greatest fear the Jewish people have had sometimes is not extermination, but assimilation, and not being forcibly assimilated, just of in the midst of a larger, complex society, losing themselves in it, and depending on your view of history, it almost kinda sorta happened a few times.

It's like, to go all super nerd on you, the talk between Garak and Quark about how the Federation is insidious because ultimately you find yourself liking and thinking like them, except less as a joke, because the gods are amongst us on Earth and building crazypants supersocieties that could not otherwise possibly exist and thus influence people in ways well beyond the norm.

If you believe in the potential of cultures to grow and create legacies and influence in the world, then Thera is horrifying. Thera's counterarguement is of course is that why is your socio cultural whatever issues more important than a better world that all can share in, right now? Do the people living in misery appreciate their cultural integrity? Hey, go ask them. (the obvious counter argument is that the soul of man is as important as the body. The counterarguement to that is look at this vibrant society, who exactly in it have lost their souls? The counterarguement to that is, what vibrancy, you call this monoculture vibrancy? The counterarguement to that.. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.)

Basically, while they value and love humanity in all their races and sexualities and gender identities, who all hold place and authority in Thera at all its levels, Thera are unabashed cultural imperialists in this oddly benign sort of way (to the point that if they ever found a culture doing what Thera does but better? They'd arguably submit to them instead). And if that bugs you? Then Thera are not the good guys.

That said? Thera are indeed otherwise the greatest force for the advancement of the human condition in their world, physically, socially, however. There's no hidden dark side to Thera, to get that out of the way. It would make things a bit cheap otherwise. Lots of people have lots of reasons to oppose Thera, but those who oppose it, while also wanting to view themselves as champions of humanity in their own way, have to face a bit of an internal struggle for how they reconcile that with the actual good things Thera does. There isn't per se a correct answer to "should Thera be stopped".

Also on a minor level, if you value the balance of the natural world, well, good lord. Thera may find the assimilation thing mildly sad, but nature? They almost aggressively do not give a fuck about nature having some natural integrity to it. That's not to say they clearcut forests or something, or are mass industrialists. They deeply value parklands, and inspiring beauty, and fertile and healthy lands and all that kind of thing. But they are slowly experimenting with the idea of terraforming, of rearranging the weather by messing with land masses, and to them a forest is a place where someone can travel peacefully from one end to another, and if they run into a bear, the bear leaves them be. Animals are to be tamed and domesticated, or certainly at least conditioned to not be a danger to humanity.

Thera are humanocentric like whoa. Like whoa. A sampler platter of nature god type chosen very into nature as a value in itself end up being at least uncomfortable with Thera.

This is also not to say that people in Thera itself don't talk about these issues, debate these issues, view these things as issues, that kind of thing. Thera's not a monolith. But this is the overall cultural mindset they have and things they do.

One of the things Aberrant otherwise explored or tried to is "what kind of impact would godlike superhumans, godlike socially and mentally as well, actually have on how the world works", and the exploration of that here is "what if they were in a position to found an entire society and culture? Even if they were super nice about it because their guy directing it was a noble sort, how scary might that be to us as people? Or not scary?"

And there are issues besides of how much you value balances of self determination vs social order, put any stock in the idea of that serving others is the true way to serve yourself, all that sort of thing. This was mostly just to address "so who is good or not?" You as a player and certainly your characters may not give any kind of great good god damn about any of that.

The Heraclidae

General Heraclidae Detail

Slavery. Hypocrisy. Stagnation. Narrow-mindedness.

These are the words the Heraclidae level in bitter accusation at the Therans. They make gods into slaves some decry. They turn the world into a lifeless, perfectly ordered machine. They destroy whole cultures and peoples so insidiously, that not until it is too late is such realized. They lock man into an artificial peace that prevents any real growth through conflict or necessity. They turn men into useless sheep who can do nothing for themselves anymore but live off the goodwill and caretaking of the chosen who are both their caretakers, and their slaves. They are murderers who killed family who refused to bow. The accusations and reasons for hate are near endless, but as to who holds to each one, well, it varies highly with the internal factions that have grouped under the overall Heraclidae banner. Disparate as they may be, they are united in one simple truth. If they stand alone against Thera, Thera will crush them all.

As far as their lands go, disparate factions make for disparate lands. There are often large stretches of lands and tribes where no chosen dominate or can even be found. And then there are instead great cities where they are thick on the ground, with every situation imaginable between those two extremes from dominated nomadic tribes, to clusters of small villages. To say that any one culture or lifestyle or quality of life is typical is thereby impossible. The meanest mud huts can be found on one end, and grandly impossible cities on another. The borders with Thera are of course tightly maintained despite such internal idiosyncrasy.

Subfactions and Notes on the Heraclidae

the core Heraclidae

Those that simply call themselves Heraclidae are the closest to the original philosophy of Heracles and his lineage. Gods should be free to be Gods, however they themselves choose to express that. There is no one to bind the conduct of a god but that god herself. They work the hardest to keep the factions together, as each faction to them is a valid choice being made by gods on how they wish to live their lives, and should thus be protected from Theran eradication. Many being Achaian exiles and their descendants, they have no one territory, roving instead between all territories to ensure continued unity and morale. That said, they have the strongest control of anyone over the Phoenician traders of the Iberian, Italian and North African lands, their seafaring ways reminding homesick Heraclidae of, well, home. Their leader is the extremely charismatic Macaria the Firebrand.

This grouping that is not quite a grouping varies between those whose motives remain the philosophical, and those who are simply in this for long delayed clan or family revenge in the name of a dead spouse, sibling, cousin or parent. It is also a blanket grouping for non Achaian Chosen who oppose Thera, but feel no affinity (or even feel outright antipathy) to the other Heraclidan factions. They are generals and facilitators, envoys and recruiters, demagogues and quartermasters all at once. Heraclidan factions may outright bar one another from their territories now and then, but Macaria's followers are always given hospitality, even if grudgingly.

There is the occasional snarking about how the clutch most motivated by passionate vendetta are the ones constantly exhorting the other factions to rise above their petty feuds and dislikes, but with all the core Heraclidan hatreds focused completely outwards, it frees them to be able to work on internal issues without animus. Beyond that, there's an understanding that it is usually best to not start problems with those actually of Achaian blood. You kill one, every single other that then shared even a scrap of his blood will come howling for you.

The Fianna

Viewed by some as the most reluctant of the Heraclidae. Their view is simple, relating to each tribe or nation a member of the Fianna lives among. Their people have the right to their cultural sovereignty. To believe their own beliefs, follow their own codes of law, wage war as they see fit, live as they see fit. Minos and his ilk destroy whole civilizations or reduce them to fading insignificance, they have simply found a way to do it without a lifting a blade. Minos lures in whole nations with will sapping comforts, then robs them of their individuality and vitality. This must be stopped. This will be stopped. They call themselves the Fianna in the name of the man who most exemplifies their beliefs, Finn, guardian of Eire. The Fianna are dominant in Eire, in other proto-Celtic lands (though not, it should be noted, in what would correspond to Wales/Scotland/England, which most see as curious), and in the lands of the proto-Slav. Their domains range from the nomadic, to centered around great stone halls. Patriots, and in their own way, beings who love humanity as much as the Therans ever could (if in a very specific "I love my tribe. Your tribe could go kick rocks, shitbox, if we weren't all stuck in this together" sort of way), the Fianna fight for their people, to the last breath and drop of blood.

The faction provide a great deal of mortal manpower to the Heraclidae, if in a frustrating sort of way, since they do so generally as massed teeming tribal hordes resistant to command or training from any but their own gods and as a wild mix of chariots, cavalry, screaming spear and swordsmen and other eclectic mixes.  Their technological sophistication is generally low, though, outside of the drugged, brainwashed, abused fanatics of the Ensi, the hosts of the Fianna show the strongest loyalty to their divine commanders.

Not all the Fianna Chosen are warriors, though most have some knack for it, making them a strong martial backbone to the Heraclidae overall (the Grendel are similarly broadly martial, but the Grendel are categorically incapable of functioning in that capacity alongside a mortal army.) A few tribes or nations are instead guided by gods of healing or nature, and lands like Finn's Eire are large enough to be able to support more than a single Chosen warlord of his or her immediate area. A similar perspective makes the Fianna fairly tightly knit, though having to supress inclinations towards broader tribal feudings amongst their mortal peoples creates some tension. A measure of such things are permitted, but not to the point of weakening the faction or causing too much hurt to their valued mortals. The world has hurt enough waiting for their very souls.

The Ensi

Standing outright as the rivals of  the Fianna are the Ensi. The Therans have it part right, they believe. The Chosen are beholden by their power to create a glorious society that reshapes the world in their image. Where Thera gets it wrong is thinking the society they made gives humanity any significance at all. For the only significance a human, so utterly beneath a god, can have, is as the tool of that god’s direct will, whether as slave, sacrifice, or soldier. Gods must be Gods, and must hold dominion over all, building dominion that is a testament to their divine power and nature. The Ensi are dominated by one unimaginably powerful figure, Baal, god of storms, who chose the name for his faction after approving in near enrapt pleasure the proto-Norse of northern Europe, with their glorious cries and beliefs about blood for the blood god. This faction mostly makes their home in these lands, centered around the one great (some would argue, horrifying) city the Heraclidae have to rival the Theran capital itself. The city hewn from the earth by Baal’s will as a testament to his faction’s vision and his own godhood. The city whose climate has been permanently deformed to exiled Baal’s native Levant. The city of blood. The city of storms. The city of screams. The city of inexorable might. Awesome and terrible Gehinnom, Hell and Heaven on Earth all at once.

The Ensi are, depending on your perspective, a dark and horrific reflection and microcosm of Thera, centered around their own glorious capital (if one finds Thera horrifying already, well, the Ensi have their own ways to be horrifying). They have warriors, artists, scholars, sages, and, from a certain skewed perspective, paragons. They also have a vast slave populace (which is to say, all humans in Ensi land are slaves one way or another) broken down to serve as fodder, as sacrifice, as subjects, as experiments, as worshippers. Ensi raiders range out to take more slaves to ever sustain and increase that population. They come dangerously close at times to violating Fianna territory when they do (the Fianna would argue they have in fact violated their borders repeatedly).

There is a minor faction in a faction of the Ensi, the original Ensi, who grumble somewhat at Baal appropriating their identity, but then again, there really isn't anything like celebrating a successful war as fresh blood rains down as crimson warmth from the Gehinnom blood fountains. They don't grumble too hard.

The Ensi provide a great deal of the Heraclidae's technological sophistication, an intricate intelligence network and the sheer raw power of Baal himself.

The Fianna hate the Ensi for their stated goal of the enslavement of humanity. The Ensi simply find the Fianna pathetic. Both know the day the Therans are ever defeated is the day both fall immediately into vicious, merciless war to the knife.

the Aos Si

There are those who fight for the right to be left entirely alone. Chosen are above men they say, and so chosen should not interact with men, the two groups have nothing in common, nothing to offer each other, and no basis to relate on. The only responsibility is not to build some foolish empire, but simply to come to an understand of what one is, and can yet be, that is the only fitting tribute to the enlightenment and depth of experience being chosen can bring. These aloof intellectuals have been named the Aos Si, for the worlds apart they build, hidden indeed sometimes in mounds, for their seeming as the withdrawn denizens of some mystical otherworld. They largely shrugged and accepted the name. Outside pursuing ways to further their own power and understanding from methods that range from meditation to battle they occasionally cluster in meetings around their leader, the impossibly beautiful Rhiannon. They hold no territory, being either wanderers, or scattered across isolated monasteries and holdfasts. They share in common towering intellects, bizarre and rare powers, and inhumanly perfect beauty. Oh, and a faint patronizing attitude to anyone that can’t converse on at least 5 different levels of meaning with them.

Arguably, they shouldn't be involved in the Heraclidan/Theran conflict at all, given their behaviours. When inclined to comment, they note that in a world become Thera, there will be no space, even in an otherworld, for their pursuits, no lands empty of human experience and contact to study and self define in, no allowance for Chosen to live as they do. Worse, no new perspectives from such few Chosen as they will induct into their number, for all Chosen will emerge with a Theran mindset, and Theran identity.

Their capacities and perspectives very much range into the highly esoteric and that is the greatest contribution they make to the Heraclidae, since their intellectual explorations are not really the kind that produce useful inventions. It is even something of a slight Heraclidae edge, the concentration of such curious capacity. The Aos Si are also some of the few that could be said to have some measurable insight into the Chosen state of being.

Having run into post limits, Imma have to continue this in this post here:

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=233484.msg11493971#msg11493971

Player and general campaign notes:

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=233484.msg11496807#msg11496807

[Muse]

  Sir, you have my attention! 

[eternaldarkness]

Ooh, Aberrant and an interesting setting! I am intrigued.

[avorae]

OMG... I have not played aberrant in forever. I would love to get in on this game if it ever happens.

[Kolbrandr]

well, that's three more people than I expected to even know what the heck game I'm talking about. If we get a couple more I'll actually put up a campaign document and such.

[Pretty in Pink]

I've never played, but you had me at White Wolf Superhumans, and I'm sure Muse and avorae will be more than capable - and happy to, in fact - of helping me with it.  I have the basics, if it's off the standard WW system, and can learn from there.

[Kolbrandr]

it's basically storyteller, yeah. If you can grab the core rulebook, it will cover you.

[Muse]

  There's some similariteis to Scion: Hero in the powers, but core mechanic is based on classic world of darkness revised edition. 

[Pretty in Pink]

O_O  OH MY GOD YAY!  Least it's not NWoD.  Can't stand NWoD.

Color me in.  MUSE!  Need the book!

[Rook Seidhr]

I'd be interested if I weren't overcommitted. If something else I'm in collapses before this one gets started, I'll let you know, and I'm tracking this thread.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Tentative interest

[Meliai]

Interest, stated~!

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, I'll start posting some setting material then.

As far as setting, this is the pretty much bronze ageish ancient world (though this is a world, even in real history, of shocking advancement, the Minoans had flush toilets, many societies had very complex math, all sorts of things we still can’t do today or figure out how they were done were going on. Now magnify that to the level things would be at with novas around to develop things wayyy further). Keep that in mind as to how your character would react to things, think about the causes of things, and so forth (for instance, only the most way out there fringe esoteric intellectuals have theories about channeling invisible etheric essence, and so forth, as far as anything resembling even remotely the idea of quantum). That said, this world is going to be far from historically accurate, there are after all superpowered novas bopping around. If there was a culture I found neat or interesting to toss in that’s not quite fitting the overall time period, I put it in.

Look, there’s thousands of years of historical distortion and a few decades of active history rewriting by the Aeon Society to console yourself with as to why Baal’s faction call themselves the Ensi and get away with it paradox free, for instance. Historical mishmash and future distortion and rewriting is actually a lil bit of an underlying thing of itself. That said, the Germanic peoples in their roots are maybe quite ancient and they maybe venerated something vaguely Woden shaped, so, in some cases I'm not really going "screw the historical rules I have GM authority" that hard. In other cases I super, super am though.

Anyway! Some actual setting material.

Relevant Backstory:

The chosen of the heavens walk the earth. Wielding mighty powers, or simply pure physical might, heroes, demigods and monsters change the face of the world they inhabit, as history and culture deform around them. These figures generally agree on “chosen” as a term for themselves, since something has to have empowered them, whether the gods beyond themselves, the force of destiny or their own indomitable will.

The story begins with a tale of 4 such chosen, mighty even amongst these scions of divinity. Of the August Personage of Jade and the Rani of Mohenjo Daro, we will leave be for a time, and focus instead on two brothers, Heracles and Minos. Each felt they were the sons of Zeus, and their might, wisdom, and wit lead all to believe the same. They walked the entire earth, sometimes together, sometimes apart, developing their abilities, speaking with and learning from other chosen, and observing cultures as they developed.

Minos became especially enamoured with the grandeur of Egypt, and with a grouping of chosen there calling themselves the Champions of Ra, who regaled him with tales of their  victory against Apophis the Corrupter and his dark son Set, banishing them from the very firmament of reality.

His journeys drawing near to an end, he reached particular philosophical conclusions on the chosen, himself, and the world. He felt that the chosen were indeed gods and thusly inherited a certain responsibility to humanity with their great power, that they were obligated to create a perfect world for those that would worship them, in order to be worthy as gods, and simply as sentient beings. Gathering about himself both chosen and mortals of great wisdom and erudition, he crafted a culture and moral code that took heavily from Egypt, and from the best of every culture he had encountered and then proceeded to attempt to create this perfect world for man, under the aegis of these laws and beliefs. Powerful, charismatic and inspiring, Minos would convince many chosen and humans alike to join him in suborning themselves to what would be called the Theran Compact for the glorious capital that rested on the island of Thera itself.

Heracles in the meantime, had not been idle. Heracles had become enamoured with Heracles. That is to say, with furthering his own unique power and development as a god, at seeking personal enlightenment. With the world at best a proving ground to challenge and grow against, and at worst a total irrelevancy. He had also sired a line of powerful children, who had risen to become god-kings of various Mycenean city states. He and his children viewed Minos’ goals and philosophy as patently ridiculous. How can mortals create a moral code that could bind gods when they are so beneath the understanding and breadth of existence of gods? Why should any god have to enslave himself to a foreign morality that is in truth only enforced by the vast personal power of Minos himself? If a god is truly a god, then he should yet be free to decide how to act on his divinity himself and not simply by virtue of being chosen, have to have that synonymous with slave, with Minos’ demands of propriety.

These philosophies went from mutually exclusive, to outright antagonistic, to open war, with Minos regretfully slaying his brother in battle. His children and their followers were driven out in the wake of the ever expanding compact, taking for themselves the name Heraclidae to remember their progenitor and his beliefs.

With many tribes, cities and nations joining willingly, and certain horrifically destructive empires (such as Assyria) being subsumed by force, the compact continued to grow, as chosen after chosen and human after human signed onto it. Before long they controlled much of what would one day be called the Levant, the fertile crescent, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the majority of territory around the Aegean, expanding besides into North Africa and the Balkans. The many groups opposed to Thera found themselves weakened and failing, until in part desperation, in part due to the leadership skills of the sons of Heracles, they united as one under the banner of the Heraclidae, rising to dominate swaths of Western and Eastern Europe, the Russian steppe, and certain stretches of North Africa. These lands would be denigrated by the Therans as “the lawless” for the sometimes slapdash and far from cohered or unified rule the Heraclidae had over those territories. Great wars would now ensue on the borders of these two great powers whenever resources could be spared to wage them, with agitation and intrigue taking their place when they could not.

Of course, the chosen do not choke the world with their numbers and presence, and there are yet many independents ruling tribes as gods, wandering the earth as figures of legend or simply making a living out of the now seemingly endless war between the Theran Compact and the Heraclidae

[Kolbrandr]

So, basically, at the heart of this is, y'all pick a faction, and we go from there. There are, yes, Teragen-ish elements to the Heraclidae, and some Project Utopia elements to the Theran Compact, though they're not perfect analogues. There is a philosophical struggle at the heart of things all the same around the notion of just what being a god means, what it is to serve, and the place one defines in the world.

Speaking of notes on mentalities..

General notes on mentality

Remember, this is the ancient world, and as comparatively modern as even Thera is, and as modern as Finn himself (see below) can think, they don’t think like we do, and their values orient differently. Try to remember that. For example, as I’ll get into, on the side of the Heraclidae, there are Achaians who hate the entire sect, regardless of faction, and are personally horrified by it, but are there because in the name of Achaian honour, when someone kills your blood kin, you are required to kill them. Things like honour, face, social, cultural and traditional taboos and laws, pure social intangibles that a modern, secular or even religious society might find ridiculous are driving forces behind whole wars. There’s a theory that floats around that everything Julius Caesar did, or certainly was a big psychological impact driving him, he did simply as a Roman acting under the guidelines of how one is supposed to defend and live up to one’s dignitas. Ma’at is a freaking huge deal in Thera as their big defining core, like Time (pronounced Thee-may) is to the Achaians, enech is to a Celt, and so on, and so forth. Family matters, your gods matter, your history, traditions and people, matter. This doesn’t mean they’re shiny pure and noble as a result, humans always do horrible things in the name of their ideologies, it just means there’s a different set of them driving and defining people than there is now.

That said, don’t force yourself to play pure alien style. They were human, and stuff is always common to, you know, the human experience. A Celt is just going to view what’s worth holding a grudge over far differently than, say, a Canadian (there are areas where the Celt will be shockingly more forgiving, and shockingly less).

And on gods, and being gods.. like I say, most if not everyone of this era thinks the chosen to be gods, or at least demigods (hence the name chosen, as in “chosen of the gods”), including the chosen themselves. Doesn’t mean other gods aren’t worshipped though, including by the chosen themselves. Ra’s a great big example. There is no Ra as chosen, but Ra is one of the most worshipped deities around. Unless you have a truly amazing reason, you think yourself some kind of divinity as well, and you should factor that into how you look at the world, and how it looks at you. Finn (again, see below) is seen for his views as something of a freaky lunatic.

[Kolbrandr]

I'll actually just edit all this stuff into the first post in the thread for clarity/cohesion.

[Kolbrandr]

posting up setting stuff. Done with the Therans.

[Kolbrandr]

The Rest of the Heraclidae and Setting Stuff:

The Grendels

The Aos Si too have their opposites in the savage Grendels, at least superficially. Monsters to the eye one and all, less motivated by philosophy than by sheer hate at a world that rejects and fears them for their appearance at worst, or pities them at best. If this world will give them no real place in it, they will take one, and humanity be damned. The Heraclidae are.. not so bad as most, most of them can at least look at a Grendel simply as an equal and comrade, though knowing they only do so out of necessity gives the whole thing a bitter taste. The faction lairs in the wild places where man is yet few and weak, where they are but prey. Their leader is Grendel himself, for whom their fierce bestial loyalty is best expressed in reverent howls.

It would seem like the Grendels and the Ensi should be closer than they are, but the Grendels are monsters, not idiots. They see the hand of the Ensi, and know it is only seeking to close a leash around their necks. And the Fianna? Before the rise of Thera, the Fiannan Chosen were the sort to make their heroic names by marching out into the wilds to kill the monsters that lurked in the night.

The Heraclidan core are a curious case. For many years, the Grendels would make a sport out of seeing how much grotesque situations, conduct, the like, they could get Macaria's followers to subject themselves to in the name of "encouraging overall sect unity", various Grendels even acting like exaggerated stereotypes of themselves just to see how far they could get these Chosen to go in compromising their dignity, bearing, palate, morals, limits of nausea. To the annoyance of the Grendels, the Heraclidan core turned out to walk their talk again and again. It took the fun right out of things. So they sighed (or growled, or burbled squamously), set the game aside, and awarded this one particular faction their rare grudging respect.

As a result, while for the most part the Grendels function as a shock horde, or scouting nightmares in shadow that can move through impossible terrain and ocean depths, they are also something of the Heraclidan Core's enforcers, internal security officers, and the club they level at the other factions to encourage cooperation when all else fails. The rough friendships that arise between these two groups are bizarre, but often enduring. It is possibly the only genuine faction wide alliance in the Heraclidan sect as a whole not kept intact by forced desperation.

How the flying fucking hell do these people work together?

Good question. It helps that some either want no territory, and those that do have theirs firmly established, and know not to try and take any more than what they have from one another. Why do they know this? Because that’s how hateful or scared they all are of Thera. That’s how powerful Thera is. If Thera ever fell, sure, a bunch of these factions would descend on each other in a frenzy. But until that day, they suck it up and put up with each other, and try to maintain a unified front as best they can.

Also, Macaria and her followers do put a hell of a lot of work in keeping this whole thing from not flying into a thousand pieces.

Can players from different Heraclidae factions work together effectively if we pick the Heraclidae?

Thera sure hopes they can't! More seriously, yes, and both from an external big ol enemy waiting for you to fall apart and from that shared personal experiences can build ties despite overall rivalries and tensions. It can, from how things are set up, certainly be a rougher go, but it doesn't have to be. It depends really.

Hans, are we the baddies?

I mean... kinda? Yeah, pretty much? Baal invented a powerful and revolutionary anti coagulant to help keep the blood fountains of Gehinnom flowing. Gehinnom has blood fountains. They don't pour animal blood! The Ensi are chosen megalomaniacs ("It's only megalomania if we're wrong, you peon. Which we aren't."- the Ensi.) Yes from a human perspective. "Ehhhhh" from a "We aren't human, why are you looking at this from a human perspective", perspective. Certainly the Fianna would like both Thera and the Ensi to just completely cease to exist, and certainly the Fianna are themselves sympathetic on a human level. The core Heraclidae are so consistent to their cause (whether because of philosophy or because of vengeance) they earned the respect and friendship of otherwise misanthropic monsters. Of course, various of those monsters, y'know, proooobably eat people. Then again, they are social outcasts (then again.. etc. etc. etc.).  I will say that if you are the sort of person that likes to view their character as the hero of their own story, that can be decidedly harder in the Heraclidae as a whole. Just, not in fact actually impossible. Also, if you are one of the Ensi, yes, you are the baddies, let's just be real, if you care about that kind of thing. Still, "how relevant is the human perspective to superhumans anyway" is one of the things going on in Aberrant after all.

It similarly depends on your view on just how terrifying Thera is or not, that sort of thing.

Notable Heraclidae NPCs

Macaria the Firebrand: named such both for her firey speeches and charisma, and for the fires that burn in place of her eyes and hair. Eldest of the remaining children of Heracles, like the fires that blaze within her bronze, athletically muscled body, she is in constant motion with a select cadre of chosen at her side, keeping the Heraclidae overall in communication with one another, bolstering morale, encouraging (and sometimes enforcing) sect unity. She is the emotional heart of the sect, and one of the only beings that can bring all the faction leaders together and get them to act as one. A powerful warrior with control over fires without, and the fires of emotion within, she is a linchpin of the entire Heraclidan movement (and also possibly Grendel’s sometime lover, though no one repeats that to her face, or its).

Finn: Master of the Fianna as a faction, and of the elite warrior band of mortals and chosen that bear too that name. Finn shocks and horrifies many of the chosen for two main reasons. He is perhaps one of the only chosen in the world to openly question that the chosen were chosen by anything at all, that this is not simply freak occurrence these powers, that there might yet be some other explanation that no one in their egomania has bothered to think of yet. When people go to argue with Finn about such matters, he challenges them to prove to him in the moment of their empowerment that they truly saw a god, or felt the touch of the divine otherwise. Many have stopped coming to argue with Finn for some reason. The other reason for horror? Finn has sworn fealty to the High King of Eire to defend the land from all invaders, and to police it as an agent of the King’s justice. Finn has sworn fealty to the mortal King of Eire. This is at least the fifth such king Finn has served as far as anyone can remember. Heraclidae blink in confusion. Ensi gasp in horror. The Therans sneer that Finn lets his people live and rut in filth and straw thatch when even just he alone could be bettering them. Finn for his part does not give a damn. It is for the people of Eire to grow as they choose, to be ruled from amongst them by a High King. Finn as immortal overlord would be a Finn that destroyed the growth of his people. He will simply ensure they always have that chance to grow and be thus content. It helps that while from the outside, Finn seems a normal looking, if regal and commanding human, yet in a fight, none have ever been able to stand against him. He is a combatant without yet equal. A perfect fusion of relentless training and greater than human (he would never say divine) power. Heraclidae are always welcome to take refuge in Eire, but if they ever try to set themselves up as gods of its people, or harm any of the humans of Eire, Finn hurls them out bodily.

Baal: All praise unto Baal, god of storms. All praise unto Baal, god of blood. All praise unto Baal, god of gods and king of kings. Ageless and wise Baal, dark overlord of Gehinnom knows the pain of exile as the Achaians do. Once beneficent overseer of the Levant. Once god to thousands there. That he took his superior right to rule to its logical extent was for some foolish reason refused by the shortsighted Theran buffoons, their jealous protector Minos himself taking a hand in driving out Baal. The glory they could have had, the eternal glory they forfeited in their tragic, stupid short sightedness. Of course the most hurtful betrayal of all was that of Baal’s former protégé in the Rhadamanthine Order, an order that he himself had helped create on Thera's behalf. Ioannis was to rule by Baal’s side come the day, and now look at him, a slave of slaves. But Baal is wise and Baal never makes the same mistake a second time. Thera cannot be his for now? Then let Thera be damned, Baal will build his own empire out of whole cloth, from his sheer mighty will. And so Baal has. Thera claims only it has cities on a scale to spark the awe of men? Let them behold Baal’s city, and cower in dread. And so they do. Baal does not need to dignify Finn’s inane prattle with a response, for how can it not be known that the simple reason for the divinity of Baal, is that Baal is Baal. Those that truly know what it is to be a god need no other explanation. Baal challenges all chosen to be as gods should truly be. To rend this world into the great proof of their divinity. To shake and tumble the pillars of heaven with every simple breath. To be willful, to be glorious. To be as Baal.

Grendel: Grendel does not require as much detail as the others. Picture an engine of pure devastation. Now make it look as horrifying as you possibly can. Now make its form in constant flux so that whoever is looking upon it sees the misshapen form that would horrify them the most. Now give that form a burning hatred of humanity, and a disturbing eloquence with which to expound upon the worthlessness of that species. Now make it 15 feet tall. There. Grendel.

Rhiannon: What is there to say about a woman who makes your vision die in ecstatic agony with a glimpse of her true form, whose true voice would strike you deaf from sheer revulsion of all other sounds. If there was a woman like that, would she bother to ever really say much or interact much with anyone not like her? That’s why there’s not much to say about Rhiannion


Bellarophon: If Macaria is the emotional heart of the Heraclidae as a sect, Bellarophon is its philosophical one. Supposedly one of the teachers of even great Heracles himself, the enigmatic wandering sage holds himself reserved from any one faction, instead seen as a respected counselor to them all. Gently nudging them in unified directions with a soft word here, and a parable there, for reasons not quite clear, he helps keep the sect moving as close to harmony as it ever gets. He wears a myriad of forms, young and old, male and female, beautiful and hideous. The one feature tracking across all of them when he chooses to let it be seen are his agelessly wise blue on blue eyes. If a form seems too unnerving he will, with a dissatisfied sigh, take the form of a wise old man reminiscent of
Ur-Nammu, stating “well, this I suppose is what you were expecting”. When asked just what his agenda is, the few times he has not responded with an enigmatic smile, he has said simply “Heracles and Minos created crucibles for the gods. Minos’ will not work, for what comes out in the end will be diluted by mortality. But here, at the end of all things, well, I hope to see at last a perfect god”. He maintains a tiny handful of a-factional disciples, and they tend to be as infuriatingly inscrutable as he.


Alecto: “Remember, Alecto hates you.” This is the advice given to any chosen seeking the aid of the withdrawn, ancient Achaian princess. A veteran of the original war between Minos and Heracles, she is all too willing to offer that she joined it only due to family obligation to others that joined in. Heracles and his beliefs were narcissistically inane, she will say. And this entire organization is a disgusting joke. But, the Therans killed her brother, amongst others. Therefore honour demands they must die. Frankly there is a concern that if the specific Therans that killed her blood kin ever themselves pass on, Alecto will abandon the conflict entirely.

Which would be problematic, as few understand the nature of war, government, human and inhuman motivation as does Alecto. Her knowing of the hearts and minds of men and how to win them fueled by a vast telepathic capacity besides, one that lets her avoid as much direct meeting as possible, while otherwise contesting Eidolon of the Therans.

Her long life, and still frustrated vengeance, and place amongst a grouping of gods she holds in contempt have embittered her, made her a curmudgeon to stagger even Finn. She is gnarled, hateful and fast with a withering remark, but will always do as her honour demands.

Odysseus: A dead chosen who somehow still frightens Thera to this day. Attempting to salvage something out of the tragedy of the first Heraclidan wars, Minos managed to take Odysseus alive, and over an extended period, attempt to rehabilitate him in various complex efforts. It is not entirely understood what happened over the years and shifting locales that followed, Minos himself will not speak of it in great depth. It is only known that somehow, the wily Achaian outmaneuvered the First Theran, to the point of intentionally forcing his hand, despite all Minos’ power and erudition, to kill him in a strange sort of suicide.

This is disconcerting enough. That recently a Chosen son of Odysseus has emerged from some sort of stasis and is fast becoming one of the Heraclidae’s rising young stars perhaps implies some sort of chilling, long term plan from beyond the grave.


Endymion: One of Baal’s new generals and favourites, and a lead brilliant scholar amongst the Ensi besides, Endymion seems all the same to have come out of nowhere, particularly for that they never move around unsealed from a complete suit of black metal armor and trailing red cloak, the helmet forged in the features of a man, but who knows what lies within? Man? Woman? Deformed monstrosity? It does not help that the disciplined host the figure leads are all similarly attired, something Endymion has used to their advantage in battle. Somehow their army fighting with cohesion all the same, even as they chant a single word over and over, even as they die. Their general’s name.

For all their place amongst the Ensi, Endymion somewhat lacks in the idle cruelties of their brethren, treating their minions in a way that could almost be called distantly fair, if you were to squint. Their bearing generally holds a certain cool, regal, reserved dignity. Granted the flipside of that reputation is that in their strange experiments, they can be completely unfeeling and callous.

Heraclidan culture and organization, or the screaming lack thereof

Part of why the npcs up there are more fleshed out is that there is basically no overarching sect culture so much as there are a bunch of sub factions sometimes outright at each other's throats and sub factions themselves feeling like they can be composed of a rambling sea of individual cults of personality coming together against a common enemy. "Do as thou wilt be the whole of the law", it's liberating and problematic all at once. As long as you are contributing to the war effort somehow, as long as you follow whatever general directives come down from the ruling council of the Heraclidae as a whole or whatever figure has been tapped by them to be the overseer of a particular border, project, campaign or the like, you can otherwise be doing as you please. Ride herd over your tribe, rule your cult or city or what have you, jockey for favour and station in fairly ruthless Ensi politics, conduct strange experiments, pursue personal mystical enlightenment, ravage territories not held by any chosen, hell, pursue trade if you're that kind of weirdo who thinks that kind of thing is worthwhile, whatever. The flipside of this rough structure is that nothing gets in the way of infighting other than one of the core Heraclidae rolling up to try to leverage everyone involved to stop, possibly after some blood has already been spilled. There's no social or cultural imperative or ethos against that otherwise.

It is a testament to the hate and fear of Thera that despite all this, the Heraclidae do come together effectively to wage war on the Compact, setting aside feuds and using their more chaotic state as an unpredictable advantage. It is certainly hard to discern just how the Heraclidae as a whole are going to come at someone or something, often making for having to be reactive to whatever damn thing they manage to put together.

Independents, of a Sort: Mercenaries. Mercenaries! MERCENARIES!

Mithras and the Independents

There are yet chosen who wish neither to truck in Heraclidae or Theran affiliation, to live their own lives separate from them, make their own paths. The world is vast, filled with a dizzying array of cultures, peoples and tribes and any chosen with skill, determination and a bit of luck can carve out wealth and a legend from such. Wanderers, warlords, rogues, mercenaries, minstrels, these chosen find their lives in the spaces inbetween these great wars, uncaring of grand visions and ideals. The truly daring play on the needs of those demanding sects of chosen for acts that some wish to go unnoticed, to be tied to none of their own, to need a professional they infuriatingly lack. There are entire mortal communities with no affiliated chosen in need of champions for hire to maintain their freedom and influence. There are fortunes out there, to favour the bold.

There is of course a strong reason (amongst several) that vagabonds such as these remain free of being co opted even in the heaviest fighting. The appropriate tribute rendered to the Lord of Light, in exchange to wear his symbol of protection.

For once upon a time there was a wandering chosen mercenary named Mithras, and he fought in many campaigns, performed many successful missions, earned much wealth, many favours, many debts, and learned oh so many secrets. Other like minded chosen came to know Mithras as the one to go to. To tell you where and how to find work, how to get out of trouble if you found yourself in any, to barter information and favours with. Cunning Mithras figured out quite quickly what a killing he could make out of this. And so it was a great city arose east of the valley of two rivers. A nameless city of wealth and decadence. Where mercenaries and wanderers gathered to consult great Mithras, and to be directed by him to find their own wealth and power. And he charged them a very simple fee. Were they paid in measurable wealth, to tithe some to him. Were a statue made in their honour, Mithras or his symbol should be associated with it prominently. A ballad written? Why, include a few lines of praise to the chosen’s dear sponsor. Or instead a debt., or a secret, or a favour from either they, or the one so desperately needing their services.

And so the symbol of the lord of light protects the independent from all but consequences for the harshest of actions, in which case it is understood that the protection is void. For those not moved by reasons of favour trading and business, there are all the same those that fear the occasional personal and potent wrath of Mithras ruining them in retribution. There are even those that fear Mithras calling in but a handful of the favours owed him, and ruining them. Most of all there are those that fear Mithras whispering ever so faintly even a single secret he knows in the right ear, and unleashing devastation.

Notable indeps not Mithras

Serekh: Cool, competent, quiet, and completely unobtrusive, Serekh is said to be a descendant of Gilgamesh himself, and a wanderer to put even Minos to shame, having learned ancient secrets and fighting styles from across the entire world. Said also to be the greatest bodyguard in any kingdom, which well compliments his sister Anneke, who is said to be the greatest assassin.

The Patriarch: Ancestor to Serekh and Anneke, and thus closer in blood to Gilgamesh himself, if the legends are true. Called such for his place as the master of a bloodline that produces powerful chosen, whom he invariably trains. Called such further for being something of a partner to Mithras, in that he will often train chosen in his service for a fee, making them battle ready as warriors, assassins, commanders and thieves, who he himself keeps ties to in the criminal empires some of them build. Invariably with a beautiful woman to drape from his arm, the Patriarch has a lean build, and weathered features topped by gray, somewhat wild hair. His charisma becomes apparent in his wide, white toothed smile. Tends somewhat to be prone to oddly philosophical, if fascinating anecdotes.

The Red Lion: Called such for his deep, crimson mane of hair, his powerful, stone shattering roar, and his bold nature, wherever there is war, the Red Lion and his mercenary army usually manage to find their way there. The Lion, very simply, thrives on battle, and attracts those of a like mind. Honourable, and notable for not carrying grudges off of the battlefield, save for those who ruin what he regards as “fun and proper battle”. A familiar war cry of “Fortune and Glory!” fills soldiers with either dread or joy, depending on what side they happen to be on. His reckless tactics tend to decimate his own followers, but he has yet to lose a personal fight or engagement, and his charisma always draws more adventurers to replace the fallen.

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, Imma definitely finish up later as far as npcs, and some society and mentality and other such notes for the Heraclidae.

[Kolbrandr]

Well that was neat and all, but what is it we do in all this?

So the idea is, you are up and coming, relatively recently came into themselves (though not too recent. You've certainly been doing the whole god experience for more than a year. Especially if you lord over your own city or something) Chosen of either the Heraclidae or Thera (I'll be giving you some more than starting points, though not actually tons, novas are pretty darn potent) and further mixed up in their various subgroupings. Maybe you rule a city or a cult. Maybe you're one of the Rhadamanthines or a Venerated Seer. Maybe you sit at the right hand of Baal (and also keep an eye out for anyone who wants to be doing that instead of you). The indeps I've detailed for more setting colour than for choice.

Basically, as players, settle on which faction you'd like to be part of. We'll then roll through character creation from there.

Setting wise, the wars are in a tense place, and the factions are starting to look to the rest of the world to try and gain more resources, to try and broker alliances, so that is likely to be an element as well. The factions are also turning an eye to basically anywhere in existing contested territory none of them actually control yet. There's also simply the day to day goals and dreams of gods and their great societies. Coming up with breakthroughs, reaching some new plateau of understanding, performing some great epic thing in the name of one's own divinity, so forth.

[Meliai]

I like Grendel. Clearly he just needs a hug UuU

So are we a team, all on the same side and working together and whatnot?

[Kolbrandr]

The idea is everyone is on the same side of things here, yeah (though people could individually be in whatever sub faction they liked within that overall side). If some crazy pile of people showed interest I could work it otherwise, but it's miraculous that the amount of interest that was expressed, was expressed as is.

Also, yes, hug Grendel. Hug them! That will work out!

[Meliai]

Okay!

I'm thinking of a fast/sneaky scout/messenger sort, not sure on backstory nonsense yet, obviously. I'm pretty terrible at playing evil (or even just mean) characters but it seems like the Heraclidae are varied enough that I could make something work without her feeling too out of place, so I'd be fine with either faction

[Muse]

  I still need to look closer at the setting information, but one of my favorite classical world themes is the warrior-scholar.  IT's a very athenian idea in my head.  Given what I've read so far, though, a nice egyptian guy or gal m ight work better.  Maybe an egyptian scribe with a snake staff and power over the weather... 

[avorae]

I am thinking of doing an  Amazonian athlete of some sort who is just a normal member of the Theran Compact or possibly part of the Xeno's men.

[Zeth]

I have no idea what the Aberrant are, but any game in ancient China has my interest.

[Pretty in Pink]

O_O  Fianna here.  Not sure what beyond that because Muse still hasn't gotten me the books yet.  But yeah.

[Kolbrandr]

I have no idea what the Aberrant are, but any game in ancient China has my interest.

while Asia is certainly a place where significant things are going on and may be visited in campaign, the initial focus is around  Anatolia, the Middle East, Europe and North Africa as far as where the two big factions noted are duking it out and based.

[eternaldarkness]

Gonna back out here. The history is too historical for me, and it looks like others who are more excited about it could do with less competition :)

[Kolbrandr]

Gonna back out here. The history is too historical for me, and it looks like others who are more excited about it could do with less competition :)

I cannot overtstress how inaccurate and jumbled the history is in certain ways here ;p But fair enough.

[Muse]

  Finaly found my books. 

  Question, is there going to be some equivelent in this setting to the costumes from the modern erra?  The ones that you attune, causing to become resistent to your own powers and provide a bit of armor?  :)

[Kolbrandr]

No Eufiber, sorry. You can still pick up the attunement background to make clothes or actual armour and what all else resistant to your own powers though.

[Meliai]

Already spoke with Kolbrandr over IM, but probably best to state things here as well! After talking through things I'm throwing my vote towards Theran, but I will manage if popular opinion goes to Heraclidae~

[Muse]

I chimed in in private messages wtih a very rough concept for each faction.  If Melai favors the Therans, I'm definatly good wtih that.  :) 

[Zeth]

So this is super heroes who are not really super heroes in old timey china that is not the old timey china we have? Okay, you lost me and I am out. Good luck though.

[Meliai]

Wwwwwwow that seemed unnecessarily snippy and also completely inaccurate?

[Muse]

  Don't mind Zeth, he's just clumsy. 

  Do you have a character idea for Thera, Meliai? 

[Meliai]

I've got a concept but it's still pretty nebulous.

She's mostly going to be focused on stealth/speed/scouting stuff, with socials secondary. Probably not much help in a fight, she'd most likely run off to find help instead. Night/stars/shadows motifs, possibly thinks she's Nyx's daughter or something to that effect.

Her backstory is still up in the air, but right at this moment I'm leaning towards her having been a farmer's daughter/shepherdess, erupting in the dead of night when something (possibly a not so nice Nova) basically shows up out of nowhere and starts ripping sheep to bits. I haven't settled on specific powers yet since I don't know how many points Kol's going to give us but I'm pretty sure she's getting the Shroud ability, specifically manifesting as if a moonless midnight sky dropped down and covered whatever she's shrouding, which she uses to protect her flock and get them (and herself~) fuck out of there before they gets eaten.

She's cute and a bit shy (probably why a good chunk of her nova stuff revolves around being quiet and unseen) but the shepherdess mentality has sort of expanded to encompass all of Thera, so she sees it as her duty to watch for "wolves" and protect people as best she can. Probably also giving her mega-charisma and/or appearance but that's all still very new to her and she's not quite used to being preternaturally charming yet. Young, probably 16-18, miiiight have a little crush on the Lioness.

That's all subject to change though, I've waffled about a million times already.

[Muse]

*Grins*  She sounds awesome.  I'll love playing with along side her. 

[Meliai]

Thanks~

If we go Thera, are you still planning on the snakey Egyptian priest/ess?

[Muse]

Thanks~

If we go Thera, are you still planning on the snakey Egyptian priest/ess?

:)  Yep, still workign wtih that idea. 

Would you--or anyone else--have a prefrence on that person's gender? 

I need to review my books and see what might come across as 'magic'.  :)  But s/he could have pretty much any sort of powers. 

I like the idea of someone who places a great deal of faith and conviction in Ma'at, but always dreamed of being a soldier instead of a scholar.  When s/he gains their powers, they turn out to be martial enough that s/he thinks they indicate s/he should change their roll in the universe. :)

[Meliai]

Well I'm bi and my PCs are generally bi or pan, so on that particular front the gender makeup of the party doesn't matter much to me. Even if that wasn't a factor though I'd say go with whichever version of the character would be the most fun for you to play~

[Zeth]

Wwwwwwow that seemed unnecessarily snippy and also completely inaccurate?

Inaccurate? I thought Aberrant was about super powered humans, but they do not act like typical super heroes and run around in tights. Well that is the description the book gives you. But as we all know White Wolf is notorious for describing things one way but they actually play another way.

[Meliai]

I took far more issue with your tone than your odd assumptions, but tone is tricky online so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and hope you weren't intending to be rude. However, since you've decided not to play this conversation isn't benefiting either of us, so I see no reason to continue it.

[Zeth]

I was not trying to be rude. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Muse]

  What now, Kol? 

  I'm eager for character genreation rules!  :) 

[Kolbrandr]

like I say, I'd like to know everyone's factional preferences first.

[Pretty in Pink]

I'll go with the majority, honestly.  Though I have to admit, I'm leaning more toward Theran.

[Meliai]

I think that's everyone who's chimed in leaning Theran to some degree~

Who are we missing still, just ESG?

[Kolbrandr]

ESG, and Pretty in Pink from talking to her had thought the Fianna was still an option in Thera from a slight misread, so we might want to give her a chance to restate preferences.

[Pretty in Pink]

Yeah.  So I'm actually leaning Heraclidae, honestly, but am willing to play still if I get outvoted, I'll just need time to come up with a new concept.

[Kolbrandr]

Okay, so we have..

Avorae and Meliai leaning to Thera, Muse undecided, Pretty in Pink leaning Heraclidae, and ESG not yet heard from. I really wanted to wait for them to note a leaning since that could kind of tie everything up and need some talking out over, but I also don't want to have this sit in limbo.

So, for the moment, hash out Theran concepts and if it turns out ESG was also leaning Heraclidae, I doubt we'll be so far into creation that we can't rethink as needs be.

As for creation rules, the extra things you get are...

1) 2 free dots of Quantum. This is because everyone I know otherwise always spends their bonus points on two dots of quantum so as to avoid spending nova points on them, so, honestly, just have two free dots of quantum. Also you cannot spend bonus points on quantum (you can spend nova points if you want that fifth quantum dot at starting).

2) 75 nova points total to spend. I know this seems like a lot, and in a certain way, it is (especially with two free dots of quantum), but the points don't actually go as far as you think they might, especially if you dip into various powers and mega attributes and enhancements. I mean, you can come out quite powerful, but more, say, non omega mutant X-man, than, say, Justice League, if that makes sense.

3) you can get background masteries. Basically, to avoid making people have to read more books, you have a level 5 background, you spend 2 nova points on it, it is now level 6 and extra special grand. You can do this with followers, allies, resources and contacts. If you want some kind of army or cult or horde or something under your personal control, you'll want to do so with followers (you could otherwise just be a rhadamanthine with a lot of backing and thus be able to command legions, but they're not personally yours, them legions).

House rules:

1) No aggravated damage or armor piercing. All white wolf systems are, let's be real, moderately broken at best, if all the same with a certain amount of character and ability to work and get out of your way. These two extras are mega whoa broken. You may encounter aggravated damage in play. It will be extremely, extremely rare, and a sign of something scary.

2) that's it really. You can use the flaws and strengths system from the player's guide if you want to customize powers, but that doesn't mean I'll automatically say yes if you make some convoluted nightmare that way.

[Kolbrandr]

With all that said, concept first, hash out your concept more fully first. If you just throw some pile of stats at me with a few sentences I'll end up walking down a stretch of road to the Incredible Hulk tv show end theme music.

[Muse]

  Do we have a consensus on what seciton this game should go in?

  I intend to choose my priest/ess's gender acordingly.  :) 

[Kolbrandr]

As I've noted when asked, I'm fine to roll with player consensus on that one, for rating/section, as it were.

[Muse]

    ____ is the son or daughter of a family of scribes.  His/her father worked recording government documents, his/her mother is a doctor. 

   ____ began attending temple-school at the age of five and began his/her advanced education at nine.  Despite being a day dreamer interested in warfare and adventure, s/he was a brilliant student and by the age of nineteen graduated as a qualified scribe and doctor. 

http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/scribe.html

   As a scribe—a very valuable service—s/he was exempt from taxation and military service.  S/he did practice athleticism and train with the quarterstaff for self defense and fitness.  S/he did very well at both.  Upon becoming a nova, his/her physical prowess increased.  Though S/he did not excel in any one aspect, s/he became resistant enough to turn a knife from his/her bare flesh, strong enough to make mind blowing leaps, and even greater agility.  S/he gained similar boosts to his/her mental and social capacities—all increasing into the lower levels of superhuman ability without any becoming overhwemling.  S/he also gained mastery over ice and snow. 



Oh Isis, thou great enchantress, heal me, deliver me from all evil, bad, typhonic things, from demoniacal and deadly diseases and pollutions of all sorts that rush upon me, as thou didst deliver and release thy son Horus!
-The Ebers Papyrus, ca. 1500 BCE

[avorae]

WIP


BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Real name: Nandi [Zulu for Sweet]
Nova Name: N/A
Eruption: excitement
Nature: Hedonistic
Allegiance: The Theran Compact
Current occupation: Athlete
Former occupation: None
Citizenship: The Theran Compact
Legal status: No criminal record
Place of birth: Zimbabwe
Martial status: Single
Known relatives: Mother: Nobuhle [Beautiful one]
Known allies:
Major enemies:
Current group membership: None
Former group membership: None

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165
Eyes: Emerald-Blue
Hair: Brown
Skin tone: Mocha
Build: Athletic
Measurement: 36C-28-36
Age: 18
Other distinguishing features: unusual birthmark of a metallic blue butterfly on right butt cheek.

HISTORY
Every great hero has to have a story. Some come from humble beginnings. Others more grand.

Mine starts with a battlefield....

Battlefields have always been part of my life. I was conceived on a battlefield when my mother was raped by one of the soldiers who destroyed our home. I was born on a battlefield as my mother attempted to escape from the place from which she sought sanctuary as the war ravaged consuming everything in its path.

I grew up on the run with my mother escaping one pointless battle after another. The whys and hows of what caused the war eventually blurred but two things became certain to my childish mind. One was that my mother had incredible strength and determination. The other was that I believed her when she said we can truly find peace if we made it north just past Egypt.

I was nearly six when we finally reached the sanctuary of the Theran compact.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

<sup>Work in Progress

Sorry for the delay.  So here is my relative outline and leaning toward which fraction.</sup>

^Data

Theran Compact
<sup>The Venerated Seers







Concept</sup>
Dreamer

^Nature
Hedonistic

^Name
Kachina

^{Past, Present, Future}

A native of the Island of Thera. 
A Theran who realizes the full folly of embracing the Heraclidae way. 
The tragedy of nations that have fallen,  the and loss of great achievements do to the arrogance that is a kin to a sickness.
The sickness of being crushed under the weight of megalomania.

The acceptance that even with power one is always flawed.

To accept such flaws and embrace them in celebration.



"To see the shifting sands of time. 
A ripple in a specific moment.
Is to grasp life and death."

Eternal
Prophetess of Thera

^{The Awakening}

The awakening for Kachina was a simple affair upon the face of it.
A childhood friend,  her brother and his disappearance.
The  agony written on her friends parents faces.
The level of distraught that rolls off of them is heart breaking.   
He had been tending to the family herd. 
Only his cloak had been found.   
It had a tear and dry blood upon it. 
Which spelled ill omen.   
For the most of the scene Kachina had witness the mother clutching the cloak.   
When the woman had finally put it down.  She would pick it up.   
Almost immediately it is as if she is there with her friends brother.   
The brother had been attacked and killed by wolves a pack of them.   
She would see in the vision the spot he had fallen and where the wolves had dragged the body.   
It caused her to be ill.   An she staggers with nearly passing out.   

From that simple trigger of awakening.   
Her powers began to manifest themselves one after another.   
She could not only look into the past,  but she could grasp snippets of the future.   
More then that she could age a person advancing their age or even reducing it.   
She could even slow time around a individual.   
It was not the most impressive powers.   
She also could move herself from place to place by teleportation.
Finally she inherited a intuitive ability to sense danger to herself.   

Her path set now,  she attended the academy working to become a oracle of Thera. 
For long before the oracles of Delphi the oracles of Thera were just as famous if not more so.   
Such fame would bring her influence and she would become known as the Prophetess.

It as been ten years since Kachina became a oracle of Thera.
In her thirties now, her exact age unknown.   
As she appears to be in her early twenties.   

Character sheet

Birth Name: Kachina	Concept:  Dreamer	Awakening:  See above
Nova Name:  Prophetess	Nature:  Hedonistic	Type:
Player: Elven Sex Goddess	Allegiance: The Venerated Seers	Series  Kolbrandrr

Attributes & Abilities

Physical                                Mental                                       Social

Strength **                   Perception ***                  Appearance ****

Mega-Strength                    Mega-perception **           Mega-appearance****

Awareness ***                Intimidation  ***

^{Mega enhancements}

Infrared vision                Seductive Looks                                                       Quantum Attunement            Awe Inspiring

Dexterity **                       Intelligence **                 Manipulation ***

Mega-dexterity                   Mega-intelligence             Mega-manipulation **

Athletics *                         Academics **                   Interrogation ***

Linguistics**                          Subterfuge ****(Seductive/Gossip)

^{Mega-enhancements}

Persuader

Stamina **                      Wits ***                         Charisma ***

Mega-stamina *               Mega-wits ***                 Mega-Charisma *

Endurance **                  Rapport ***                     Command **

Resistance **                                                                   Perform *

^{Mega Enhancements}

Durability                        Natural Empath                          Seductive                                                Enhanced Initiative

Backgrounds

Attunement *   Allies * Backing ****  Contacts * Influence ***

Quantum Powers

Intuition **(lv1) Perception+intuition, self/permanent

Pretercognition * (lv3) Perception+pretercognition,  self/instant

Teleport ** (lv2) Perception+teleport, self

Temporal Manipulation ** (lv3) Age Alteration Manipulation+temporal manipulation, Dilate time wits+temporal Manipulation

Willpower ******
Quantum *****
Quantum Pool 32
Taint * (Aberrant eyes-iris like a sundial shifting color around blue to amethyst hue
by end of day.)

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, that's more leaning towards Thera then, so that's what we'll run with for the group. Good choice, you fascist conformos! (I kid)

What forum/rating would you guys prefer for this?

[Muse]

  :)  NC Exotic please! 

[Meliai]

NC Exotic is fine with me. A few things I like tiptoe over the edge into Extreme, but most of my weirder kinks top out in NC-E

[Pretty in Pink]

Same here.  I'm only into a couple of things that would technically fall into Extreme, and this setting doesn't really work for those couple of things.  So yeah!  NC-Exotic is fine by me!  If I can come up with a working concept, that is.  *stares at blank notepad with little doodles*

[Elven Sex Goddess]

NC-Erotic   is fine by me. 

[avorae]

I am fine with what the others have said...

[Muse]

Moon Child
Winter Moon
   Ahmes, or "Moon Child" is the daughter of a family of scribes.  Her father worked recording government documents, her mother was a doctor. 

   Moon Child began attending temple-school at the age of five and began her advanced education at nine.  Despite being a day dreamer interested in warfare and adventure, Moon Child was a brilliant student.  In fact, there was only one at the temple school who could match her achievements.  Shaw was three years younger than she.  Despite his mischief, she soon thought of him as like unto one of her younger brothers, and they became fast friends.  They didn't know as children that they were both destined for apopheosis. 

   On her nineteenth birthday, Moon Child graduated as a qualified scribe and doctor.  Shaw, despite his youth, was so brilliant that he completed his schooling int he same year. 

http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/scribe.html

   As a scribe—a very valuable service—Ahmes was exempt from taxation and military service.  She did practice athleticism and train with the quarterstaff for self defense and fitness.  She did very well at both.  Upon becoming a Chosen, her physical prowess increased.  Though Moon Child did not excel in any one aspect, she became resistant enough to turn a knife from her bare flesh, strong enough to make mind blowing leaps, and even greater in agility.  She gained similar boosts to her mental and social capacities—all increasing into the lower levels of superhuman ability without any becoming overhwemling.  She also gained mastery over ice and snow and learned that Isis would sometimes answer her prayer for healing. 



Oh Isis, thou great enchantress, heal me, deliver me from all evil, bad, typhonic things, from demoniacal and deadly diseases and pollutions of all sorts that rush upon me, as thou didst deliver and release thy son Horus!
-The Ebers Papyrus, ca. 1500 BCE

[Muse]

Say, Kol? 

If I take my Healing power tainted, then take 3 levels in the healing power, does that net me one taint or three? 


i found it.  it's per level.  Sorrow.  :) 

[ravinwulf]

So this game is not going to be gender bias right? I really want to play a young chronomancer

[Elven Sex Goddess]

So this game is not going to be gender bias right? I really want to play a young chronomancer

Actually that is what my character is, as I have been pming Kolbrandr

[Kolbrandr]

So this game is not going to be gender bias right? I really want to play a young chronomancer

You guys should feel free to have your characters have whatever gender identity you prefer them to have, there's no "gender bias", no. I'm not.. honestly even sure what you mean there.

On temporal manipulation: Bear in mind that one of the great things about Aberrant is two people can have the same power and still end up coming off entirely different in shtick, how they express their powers, what other powers and abilities they have, so forth. So, y'know, if you want it, and it fits concept, take it.

[Kolbrandr]

Oh, just general notes, include something on how your characters erupted if you would (though the term in this era is generally "awakening", as in, awakening to your divinity)

[Muse]

  Winter Moon's numbers are crunched now.  :) 

  I'm just checking to see if Ravin wants our characters to have a shared experience of becomign chosen. 

  I'm imagining Winter witnessed an epic battle between teh Lioness and some worthy foe.  The buildup of quantum energies triggered her own eruption and she jumped in. 

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Have character sheet up,  not completed still a work in progress as fine tune it.   Put it in initial post for character.   

[Kolbrandr]

Just to clarify something after some recent PMs. No, especially when there are this many posts on picking an overall faction for the group to be part of, and when I've said a few times now that the idea is everyone is part of the same overall faction, a concept of some kind of independent free agent is not viable for this campaign.

[Muse]

  By overall faction you're referring to Thera, right? 

[Kolbrandr]

  By overall faction you're referring to Thera, right?

The majority having picked Thera, yeah.

[Muse]

  Okay, for a second it sounded like you were wanting us to all join one of the three Theran groups.  Thank you for clarifying. 

[Kolbrandr]

Nope, you can just be part of the Theran Compact generally without being part of one of the three groups within it if such is the preference.

[Muse]

*nods*  Thanks for clarifying. 

In case I've confused things, Winter Moon wants to join the Rhadamanthine Order. 

[Kolbrandr]

More things I guess I need to add. Setting aside that we're thousands of years in the past, the Therans are the humanocentric group what believes in benevolent existence alongside humanity, being responsible and caring gods to them. The philosophies of the chrysalis are by contrast transhuman at best, and inhuman at worst. They are a reflection of mindsets that don't particularly exist in the compact, as compared to, say, the Heraclidae. Indeed, the idea of pursuing one's own divinity simply for the sake of one's own divinity and let the world get out of my way or be damned is part of what caused the Heraclidae/Theran war to start.

Which is to say, it doesn't exist to pursue in Thera in the first place, but no, things like the chrysalis, things like node spark, they are not things in Thera. Your character should not really have either.

[Kolbrandr]

*nods*  Thanks for clarifying. 

In case I've confused things, Winter Moon wants to join the Rhadamanthine Order.

Sure. You can start in such. Might need to have more backing and influence mind you, I'll look at your sheet.

[Muse]

I can shuffle, though what I figured might happen was that her areas of backing and influence would shift after her change of rolls. 

[Kolbrandr]

I'm going to tell a story.

Once, I was going to run an Exalted: Dragon Blooded campaign, it was going to be Lookshy/7th legion based and heavily gundam inspired. The idea was that everyone would be warstrider pilots in the times just after the Contagion where society was still pulling itself up from the ruins, dragon blooded were fighting to rule it, the Tiger generals were going to be more of a thing as opposed to immediately kersploded, so forth. So I was pretty clear on the whole "7th legion mobile force" as I called it, everyone are young hotshot warstrider pilots, gundam inspirations, etc.

Come time to game, no one actually made a warstrider pilot. In fact no one made anything remotely connected or coherent with each other, just random stuff they slapped together and figured I'd run this campaign for them anyway. In fact, no one was even part of Lookshy/the 7th legion. Mysteriously, I did not run the campaign. It's one thing when a GM goes "hey, what would you guys like to play" or we truck in consensus worldbuilding or what have you. It's another thing when the situation is the GM presenting an outlined thing and going "this is what I'd like to run". A perfectly valid response is "I have no interest in that". An insulting response is "I want to be an exemption to everything you've just said, in a way that can't fit in it at all, now run your thing anyway, I also didn't look at anything you just noted."

I'm totally happy not to run a game if there's no interest in a game, that's just life. I'm not happy to create a campaign, present what its about, then get the equivalent of "cool story bro, now here's why I want to ignore all that, also I was ignoring you while you were talking". If you don't like the premise, don't want to be part of the premise, that's super fine, you don't actually have to play. I will bear you no ill will for it.


tl;dr: ravinwulf will not be in this game.

[ravinwulf]

Sorry i am one who likes to be creative, I don't get to game in real life due to my job. I would really like to be part of this i just wanted to know a few things and wether they would be allowed. I argue cause i want to know where things stand and what s allowed.

[Kolbrandr]

Sorry i am one who likes to be creative, I don't get to game in real life due to my job. I would really like to be part of this i just wanted to know a few things and wether they would be allowed. I argue cause i want to know where things stand and what s allowed.

One would think you would have stopped after the first "no" then as opposed to the back and forth of the last ten minutes or so. As a contrast to someone else asking for a nonstandard concept who I am trying to help out, Pretty in Pink at least read the campaign stuff as far as being able to note her troubles and preferences with it as opposed to straight up not reading it at all and saying near verbatim "why is my transhumanist who views humanity as meager things he refuses to be subject to not a good fit for a group who believe in benevolent and prosperous nurturing coexistence with humanity?" Again, thank you for your interest and your time. I don't want you in this campaign. Please stop replying to me.

[ravinwulf]

I wanted to know whether or not a character who's sole reason for being there is a very personal one would even be able to exist in this gae, as you have stated that can not be i am simply wishing to apologies for the aggravation, and ask if we cant start off anew on this discussion. I admit i skimmed the material tyring to read it to y best of ability, But i may have missed a few things. Over all you have a great idea, I guess i just should have left it at that and worked off what i could gather about it.

[Kolbrandr]

I can shuffle, though what I figured might happen was that her areas of backing and influence would shift after her change of rolls.

Raise your backing to 3 and influence to 4 would be my notes there.

[Pretty in Pink]

Concept here.  For final perusal by the DM.

Few among the Heraclidae would willingly go headlong into the philosophy of the Theran Compact.  But when a young Fianna woman, taken as a prisoner of war by one of the myriad cultures around Theros, found her master's culture absorbed, it didn't take her long to realize there were only two ways out: remain a slave until the day she died, which might well be a long, long time, or convert.  She did so, though it took her some time to formally vocalize the decision.

Things went on as expected for a Theran slave: she was treated well, educated, and even pampered by her master.  But when he died, just shy of her seventeenth birthday, specific instructions were left to have her freed, and she was at loose ends in a new home.

It didn't take her long to join a local militia unit, led by a rather dour Chosen.  She slipped right in to the camaraderie seamlessly, throwing herself headlong into the - what she would never know it as - exact same training she would have gotten had she been raised amongst her own people.  She excelled, quickly rising to become a sub-lieutenant, only separated from the Chosen by her own immediate superior, who answered directly to the Chosen.

During an engagement at the border, [will insert more details on her choosing here when I have them figured out].

The manner of her becoming Chosen brought her to the attention of two groups: The Rhadamanthine Order, always on the lookout for strong soldiers willing to lay down their lives against the uneducated rabble that always sought to bring down the Theran Compact, and Xenos' Men.  Her former commander - refusing to order around a peer - suggested she seek membership with the Rhadamanthine, and wished her luck with the trials and entrance process.

So at loose ends again, barely 24 years of age, she went and petitioned for membership.  Throughout the year long examination of her person, her history, her abilities, and the new capabilities being Chosen had given her, she was working to learn exactly what she was capable of now that she had the power she did.

When she was admitted, she immediately threw herself into the duties of the Rhadamanthine Order, immediately taking up a patrol on the edge of Theran territory.  Here, she helped put down an uprising staged by the Hand of Baal, personally singling out and beating the leader.  Finally, this had proved the final straw, and her return to Thera's capitol saw her approached by a member of Xenos' counterintelligence division, offering a place in their ranks to 'a true convert, one worthy of helping to protect Thera's interests, and her people'.  She accepted, and now works a double life, fulfilling the duties assigned her by the Companions, but always waiting for that call that would send her in to deal with another suspected spy.[/spoiler]

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Dang,  character ready for approval.  Hope didn't make too many mistakes.    Anyways character is on pg 3 of this thread.   

[ravinwulf]

Am i allowed to be part of this or am i to be shunned lie some random sociopath on the street?

[Kolbrandr]

Some quick notes from some initial passes:

ESG: That much backing in the Venerated Seers is a hefty thing, then again as the bearer of preter/postcognition, not the most common of things, that's a likely explanation for such heft.

It was not the most impressive powers. 

Your powers are impressive just fine ;p

Also at 1 dot of taint you don't really have any visible aberrations, but if you really want the funky eyes, sure, I'm cool with it.


PiP: Backstory reads well so far, certainly some border tribe or city or small nation to Thera joining Thera and your ending up inside the Compact by default is a thing that can happen. I would note, it's just Thera, not Theros or any such. And I'd prefer a hand of Baal, not The Hand of Baal, if only because for Baal that can be a fluid sort of thing to who currently has managed to earn his attention that month *cough*

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Some quick notes from some initial passes:

ESG: That much backing in the Venerated Seers is a hefty thing, then again as the bearer of preter/postcognition, not the most common of things, that's a likely explanation for such heft.


Your powers are impressive just fine ;p

Also at 1 dot of taint you don't really have any visible aberrations, but if you really want the funky eyes, sure, I'm cool with it.

Not as impressive as there is no fireworks or obvious spectacular displays. 

On the visible minor aberration.   It is like a person with eyes hues of a bluish green that in certain light reflect a greenish aspect or sometimes blue.   It is a subtle aspect as it is not in regards to lighting but her attuning to the sands of time.   Thus the sun dial aspect of coloration shift in her iris. 

To others I am open to dialog to create background history of creating a log of intertwine shared history to help with cohesion of the group.   It does not have to be a deep encompassing history.  It can be mere knowledge of each other or perhaps they knew each other.   I am open to any kind of suggestions.   

[Muse]

  Made the changes.  Added some details. 

  E.S.G., looks like my little brohter fugure wouldn't be around.  I'm not a venerated seer, but would have made a perfeclty good one.  Would you like to work out some ties? 

  I currently avhe winter at 19.  how old is your girl?

[Elven Sex Goddess]

  Made the changes.  Added some details. 

  E.S.G., looks like my little brohter fugure wouldn't be around.  I'm not a venerated seer, but would have made a perfeclty good one.  Would you like to work out some ties? 

  I currently avhe winter at 19.  how old is your girl?

She is in her mid thirties her exact age is unknown.    With her build she is a person with a life span naturally of a 180 years.  An that is before further experience and future evolving of the character.  I have her at such a age to represent her backing and influence purchased.   It would not fit with someone of a younger age.   

Possible ties is the Prophetess could be a patron of your girl Winter.   Someone that stood out to the alumni of the Theran academy.   

An yes your character is of the Rhadamanthines.   Such a connection would weave in a poltical landscape of a  venerated seer.   As all sub factions adhere to the Theran compact.

[Meliai]

Here's my huge rambling bio~
Already got the OK from Kol, working on her sheet now

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

   The girl that would eventually take the name Kometa was born in a small pastoral community some distance north of the Theran border. Her parents named her Roza and she was the final (at least her parents hoped she was the final) of many children, all of whom spent their days working on the family farm. She grew up quick (a trait her parents found quite handy) and clever (one rather wasted on a farm hand. They would have prefered her to be strong, but no one is perfect and there were plenty of other children to pick up Roza’s slack.) Though rather scrawny compared to her older siblings she was a hard worker from the first days she could toddle along after her mother. When she got older and could make the trip in to town on her own it was this admirable work ethic that convinced her parents to look the other way when she occasionally lingered to listen to the wandering traders’ tales.
   Roza would sit, hanging on every word as they relayed stories of god-blooded men and of women touched by the divine. She spent hours upon hours as she grew up listening to unbelievable tales of their heroic exploits. They were just stories, her older siblings would say when she recounted the tales the next day, but Roza liked stories.
   Early in her adolescence Roza’s parents began sending her out into the fields with the sheep. Her diligence and sharp eye were of more use watching over the flock than they were on the farm proper. It was difficult and often dangerous work, but the girl found a contentment in her new duties that she’d never known on the farm. A wanderlust that had infected her at a young age, brought on by the traders’ descriptions of distant lands, finally had an outlet, even if her travels only took her a few miles from home most of the time.
   The years marched on; with much of her time spent afield Roza rarely got to hear new tales from the traders, but the locales became less and less exotic as the expansion of Thera’s borders crept closer and closer to her homeland.
As she grew older Roza replaced the family’s old shepherd entirely, staying out with the flock even in the winter months, when the sheep had to be taken to distant fields to find food, and it was in one such remote valley that Roza Awoke to her power.
   Wolves were a danger every Shepherd faced eventually, but if a mindful watcher could keep the lambs from straying actual attacks were rare. There was easier prey than a well-guarded flock, prey without sheepdogs or arrows to protect it, but the hunter that came for Roza and her wards was not a simple beast
   She came from the woods, and was the most beautiful thing the shepherdess had ever seen. She was running, the girl claimed, from a pair of wicked and relentless pursuers, and begged for a bite to eat and a place to rest for a few hours. Roza nodded, entranced by the strange girl’s voice, oblivious to the sheepdogs’ growls and the fawn spots on the furs the traveller wore. Before she knew what was happening Roza was on her back, the beautiful stranger’s lips upon her own, hands slipping beneath her heavy winter clothes. A pain flooded her body as the girl’s hands finally made contact with her skin and she could feel her strength leaving her, her energy sapped away. The girl smirked down at Roza, whose attempts to throw her off, but a commotion at the edge of the woods quickly drew her attention. Roza could vaguely make out two figures, but her head was too fuzzy to focus on anything but her plight.
“Sorry, pretty little thing. No time to make this fun, I’m afraid it’s going to hurt.” the girl said, and the pain wracking the shepherdess's body increased beyond anything she could bear.
It was nothing compared to the feeling in her head though. In an instant it felt as if a white-hot nail had pierced her skull and her vision went black. When the world became real again she was on the other side of the field, watching the shocked and confused stranger scramble to her feet as the other figures shot towards her, one trailed by jets of fire.
The fight was over quickly; Roza had tried to gather her fock and flee, but between the exhaustion brought on by...whatever she’d done and the lingering pain in her head it wasn’t difficult for the twins to catch up with her. Eventually Roza recognised Orestes and Electra from the traders’ stories and she stopped trying to hit them with her shepherd’s crook when they tried to draw near, and things were explained.

A few months later Roza, now known as Kometa to the masses, found herself in the heart of Thera. It took some time to bring her up to the level of scholarship expected of a Theran Champion (education in her little farming community had been nearly nonexistent) but she took to it well, and has since found a place as a messenger and courier when other Chosen need something passed along with great speed and security.

[Muse]

  Here's a new draft that includes a brief tenure as Prophetess's secreatary-priestess and how Winter Moon was chosen. 

Moon Child
Winter Moon
   Ahmes, or "Moon Child," is the daughter of a family of scribes.  Her father worked recording government documents in Alexandria, her mother was a doctor. 

   Moon Child began attending temple-school at the age of five and began her advanced education at nine.  Despite being a day dreamer interested in warfare and adventure, Moon Child was a brilliant student.  All the students trained in athleticism and hand to hand combat for fitness and self defense. Moon Child put a great deal of energy into these topics.  She proved especially apt with the quarterstaff—which was considered an appropriate self defense weapon for a traveling scholar and thus was emphasized a great deal at her academy. 

   On her nineteenth birthday, Moon Child graduated as a qualified scribe and doctor.  She achieved a position beneath a venerated seer—the Eternal Prophetess of Thera.  Her roll was primarily that of a secretary and priestess to the sensual goddess.  Recording her prophecies was considered a particularly important and prestigious position. 

   Moon Child often felt her heart flutter, blood warm, and nipples tighten when the Prophetess used her gifts.  Three months into this posting, assassins struck against the Prophetess.  Moon Child stood to defend her employer with her ceremonial stave.   The prophetess slowed time for Moon Child, making it possible for her to stand against the numerous shadows with gleaming glass knives that peeled off of the walls to attack them. 

   Moon child felt the sensation that overcame her when the prophetess used her power burning through her like never before.  When time resumed it's usual flow, Moon Child did not slow.  She did her part against the assassins not only with her staff, but with rays of the winter's chill and chains of ice. 

   One of her fellow secretary-priestesses was mortally wounded in the fighting.  Moon Child was able to save her life with a prayer to Isis.  As she intoned it, Isis's wings manifested around her in silver light. 

Oh Isis, thou great enchantress, heal me, deliver me from all evil, bad, typhonic things, from demoniacal and deadly diseases and pollutions of all sorts that rush upon me, as thou didst deliver and release thy son Horus!
-The Ebers Papyrus, ca. 1500 BCE

http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/scribe.html

[Kolbrandr]

just quick notes while I'm making quick notes (several people are still working on their characters and all), if you take something like contacts, allies, so forth, let me know what you have in mind for such to represent.

[avorae]

Nandi

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Real name: Nandi [Zulu for Sweet]
Chosen Name: N/A
Eruption: Excitement
Nature: Hedonistic
Allegiance: The Theran Compact
Current occupation: Performer, Spy
Former occupation: Student
Citizenship: The Theran Compact
Legal status: No criminal record
Place of birth: Zimbabwe
Martial status: Single
Known relatives: Mother: Nobuhle [Beautiful one]
Known allies: None
Major enemies: The Heraclidae
Current group membership: Xenos Men
Former group membership: The Cabiri
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165
Eyes: Emerald-Blue
Hair: Brown
Skin tone: Mocha
Build: Athletic
Measurement: 36C-28-36
Age: 18
Date of Birth: April 28
Distinguishing features: Unusual birthmark of a metallic blue butterfly on right butt cheek.

HISTORY(WIP)

Every great hero has to have a story. Some come from humble beginnings. Others more grand.

Mine starts with a battlefield....

Battlefields have always been part of my life. I was conceived on a battlefield when my mother was raped by one of the soldiers who destroyed our home. I was born on a battlefield as my mother attempted to escape from the place from which she sought sanctuary as the war ravaged consuming everything in its path.

I grew up on the run with my mother escaping one pointless battle after another. The whys and hows of what caused the war eventually blurred but two things became certain to my childish mind. One was that my mother had incredible strength and determination. The other was that I believed her when she said we can truly find peace if we made it north just past Egypt.

I was nearly six when we finally reached the sanctuary of the Theran compact.

[Pretty in Pink]

A bit of a lore snippet, and then a question.

While many believe that in Norse Mythology, the title "Queen of the Valkyries" was properly attributed to Brynhildr, this is a false assumption.  Brynhildr was not their queen, but their leader, a general among sisters.  The title "Queen" was more appropriate to Freya, wife to Odin-Allfather, who was responsible for watching over the Einherjar, the souls of the fallen brave warriors, in her hall until the day of Ragnarok.

My question is this: Has Thera absorbed a culture similar enough that my girl could be a Chosen of Freya?  And no, I'm not talking the Marvel gods, I'm talking the gods the Vikings revered and worshiped way way back.

[Kolbrandr]

The Aesir, such as they might be viewed, are generally all up in Ensi (Ensi otherwise being a related term for) lands, Baal having appropriated the name for his terrifying organization, and them, hence the note of them being like a group within his group (Woden for instance is rolling around as a Chosen. He's quite awful!). And said basically correspond to chunks of Northern Europe/Germany. So.. not really.

Thera is basically Iraq, Greece (and the islands like Crete and Cyprus and pre volcanically exploded Thera and so forth), Egypt, some varying and disputed chunks of North Africa, Anatolia, the Levant/Eastern Mediterranean, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and some light amorphous blob reaching past all those borders a bit (the Balkans are contested, for one)

The Heraclidae between all their factions hold Ireland, varying and disputed chunks of North Africa, chunks of Russia, and other various non uniform (and in many cases, non contiguous) blobs of territory across Western/Central/Eastern/Northern Europe (though interesting and specifically not England/Scotland/Wales)

[Pretty in Pink]

Ah, alright.  I'm sorry, I missed that section of the notes.  v_v  Bad player, bad!  With that being said...  I'll probably go with Minerva for mine.  Working on it, I'll have it done tonight (I hope).

[Kolbrandr]

Sounds potentially fine really.

[Kolbrandr]

Quick reminder after talking out some character creation, all mega attributes come with one enhancement at no cost, you pay for all the other ones after it. So for instance if you have, say, mega stamina 4 and have adaptability, durability and resilience, the adaptability would be free. This would be true even if you had mega stamina 1, and adaptability, durability and resilience. Basically your first mega attribute dot in a mega attribute comes with a free enhancement.

[Muse]

Oh....  Only the first dot in a mega atribute?  I did not know that... 

[avorae]

Quick reminder after talking out some character creation, all mega attributes come with one enhancement at no cost, you pay for all the other ones after it. So for instance if you have, say, mega stamina 4 and have adaptability, durability and resilience, the adaptability would be free. This would be true even if you had mega stamina 1, and adaptability, durability and resilience. Basically your first mega attribute dot in a mega attribute comes with a free enhancement.

OK will make the changes to the sheet then...

[Kolbrandr]

OK will make the changes to the sheet then...

Did you give yourself multiple free enhancements per mega att or pay for the enhancements that should have been free? Seems to be a mix of both so far.

[avorae]

Did you give yourself multiple free enhancements per mega att or pay for the enhancements that should have been free? Seems to be a mix of both so far.

I gave myself multiple free enhancements. And I have already taken care of the changes. I dropped all of my enhancements down to the free one only save for keeping an extra Stamina which I payed for by dropping my expanded background and dropping a level of intuition.

[Kolbrandr]

You know what, since the majority of you found that bit from the rules confusing one way or another and I'm feeling generous (particularly since everyone is actually actively working on their characters), let's just go Scion styles and you can have a free enhancement per mega attribute dot.

[Muse]

Yay! 

*Dances*

I'm out of town now 'itl saturday.  See you all soon! 

[Elven Sex Goddess]

You know what, since the majority of you found that bit from the rules confusing one way or another and I'm feeling generous (particularly since everyone is actually actively working on their characters), let's just go Scion styles and you can have a free enhancement per mega attribute dot.

Whoopee now 9 points back yippee.   

Hmmm where to reallocated them.    :P

[Muse]

E s g is my use off you in my history okay?   

[Elven Sex Goddess]

E s g is my use off you in my history okay?

It's fine with me,  looks good.   

[Kolbrandr]

Hey, avorae, Meliai, PiP, could I get an update on where you're all at? Avorae, I'd like to see more of your char history fleshed out before I really take a closer look at your sheet.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Points spent

<sup>Work in Progress

Point spend:
15 Bonus points spent:

Bonus points to attributes 10 (5ea cost additional one dot each Dex and Per)
2 towards followers mastery of cult
3 towards specialties discern lies, seductive and gossip

75 Nova Points spent:

1 for 6 points for abilities
36 for 12 mega attribute points
2 for 10 background points   for total of 17 background dots spent
23 for powers 
10 for quantum (starting base per your house rule 3 to up quantum to 5
3 for willpower to raise from 3 to an 6</sup>

^Data

Theran Compact
<sup>The Venerated Seers







Concept</sup>
Dreamer

^Nature
Hedonistic

^Name
Kachina

^{Nova Name}
Fauna
<sup>The Prophetess of Thera

Past, Present, Future</sup>

A native of the Island of Thera. 
A Theran who realizes the full folly of embracing the Heraclidae way. 
The tragedy of nations that have fallen,  the and loss of great achievements do to the arrogance that is a kin to a sickness.
The sickness of being crushed under the weight of megalomania.

The acceptance that even with power one is always flawed.

To accept such flaws and embrace them in celebration.



"To see the shifting sands of time. 
A ripple in a specific moment.
Is to grasp life and death."

Eternal
Fauna
Prophetess of Thera

^{The Awakening}

The awakening for Kachina was a simple affair upon the face of it.
A childhood friend,  her brother and his disappearance.
The  agony written on her friends parents faces.
The level of distraught that rolls off of them is heart breaking.   
He had been tending to the family herd. 
Only his cloak had been found.   
It had a tear and dry blood upon it. 
Which spelled ill omen.   
For the most of the scene Kachina had witness the mother clutching the cloak.   
When the woman had finally put it down.  She would pick it up.   
Almost immediately it is as if she is there with her friends brother.   
The brother had been attacked and killed by wolves a pack of them.   
She would see in the vision the spot he had fallen and where the wolves had dragged the body.   
It caused her to be ill.   An she staggers with nearly passing out.   

From that simple trigger of awakening.   
Her powers began to manifest themselves one after another.   
She could not only look into the past,  but she could grasp snippets of the future.   
More then that she could age a person advancing their age or even reducing it.   
She could even slow time around a individual.   
It was not the most impressive powers.   
She also could move herself from place to place by teleportation.
Finally she inherited a intuitive ability to sense danger to herself.   

Her path set now,  she attended the academy working to become a oracle of Thera. 
For long before the oracles of Delphi the oracles of Thera were just as famous if not more so.   
Such fame would bring her influence and she would become known as the Prophetess.

It as been ten years since Kachina became a oracle of Thera.
In her thirties now, her exact age unknown.   
As she appears to be in her early twenties.   

^{the empiros
Followers of Fauna the Prophetess of Thera}


The four followers of the Prophetess of Thera. 
Devoted humanity heroes and heroines
who are the four adepts of the
Fauna
Prophetess of Thera

Character sheet

Birth Name: Kachina	Concept:  Dreamer	Awakening:  See above
Nova Name:  Fauna	Nature:  Hedonistic	Type:
Player: Elven Sex Goddess	Allegiance: The Venerated Seers	Series  Kolbrandrr

Attributes & Abilities

Physical                                Mental                                       Social

Strength **                   Perception ****                 Appearance ****

Mega-Strength                    Mega-perception **           Mega-appearance***

Awareness ***                Intimidation  ***

^{Mega enhancements}

Infrared vision                Seductive Looks                                                       Quantum Attunement            Awe inspiring                                                                                                 First impression

Dexterity ***                      Intelligence **                Manipulation ***

Mega-dexterity *               Mega-intelligence             Mega-manipulation **

Athletics **                         Academics **                   Interrogation ***

Linguistics**                          Subterfuge ****(Seductive/Gossip)

(native lang: Theran  / additional Mycenaean,  Proto-Persian) Mega-enhancements Flexibility                                                                               Persuader                                                                                                  Hypnotic gaze    Stamina **                      Wits ***                         Charisma *** Mega-stamina *               Mega-wits **                 Mega-Charisma * Endurance **                  Rapport **** (discern lies)    Command *** Resistance **                                                                   Perform ** Mega Enhancements Durability                        Natural Empath                          Seductive                                                Enhanced Initiative                                                                                                 Backgrounds Attunement *   Allies * Backing ****  Contacts ** Influence *** Followers ***** (mastery cult of Fauna) Resources * Quantum Powers Intuition **(lv1) Perception+intuition, self/permanent Pretercognition ** (lv3) Perception+pretercognition,  self/instant Teleport * (lv2) Perception+teleport, self Temporal Manipulation ** (lv3) Age Alteration Manipulation+temporal manipulation, Dilate time wits+temporal Manipulation Willpower ****** Quantum ***** Quantum Pool 30 Taint * (Aberrant eyes-iris like a sundial shifting color around blue to amethyst hue by end of day.)

[avorae]

Hey, avorae, Meliai, PiP, could I get an update on where you're all at? Avorae, I'd like to see more of your char history fleshed out before I really take a closer look at your sheet.

Will try to get it finished up ASAP

[Pretty in Pink]

Likewise.  I've been extremely busy the last couple of days.  I plan on sitting down tomorrow before my Skype game to get the character done.

[Meliai]

Kometa is fiiiiiiiiinished, assuming I haven't made another dumb mistake like forgetting her free enhancements~

Here is the link to her sheet and bio again, if anyone wants to snoop but doesn't want to click back to a previous page.

[avorae]

And history is now finished....

Nandi

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Real name: Nandi [Zulu for Sweet]
Chosen Name: N/A
Eruption: Excitement
Nature: Hedonistic
Allegiance: Xenos Men
Current occupation: Performer, Spy
Former occupation: Student
Citizenship: The Theran Compact
Legal status: No criminal record
Place of birth: Zimbabwe
Martial status: Single
Known relatives: Mother: Nobuhle [Beautiful one]
Known allies: None
Major enemies: The Heraclidae
Current group membership: The Cabiri, Xenos Men
Former group membership: None
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165
Eyes: Emerald-Blue
Hair: Brown
Skin tone: Mocha
Build: Athletic
Measurement: 36C-28-36
Age: 18
Date of Birth: April 28
Distinguishing features: Unusual birthmark of a metallic blue butterfly on right butt cheek.

HISTORY

Every great hero has to have a story. Some start from humble beginnings. Others more grand.

Mine starts with a battlefield....

I was conceived on a battlefield when my mother was forcibly taken by one of the soldiers who destroyed our village. I was born on a battlefield as my mother attempted to escape from the place from which she sought sanctuary as the war raged, consuming everything in its path.

I grew up on the run with my mother escaping one pointless battle after another. The whys and hows of what caused the war eventually blurred but two things became certain to my childish mind. The first was that my mother had incredible strength and determination. The second was that I believed her with all my heart when she said we can truly find peace if we made it north past the lands of the Pharaohs.

I was nearly six when we finally reached the sanctuary of the Theran compact. Mother wishing to help protect our new home joined the local militia. I was still too young for such endeavors so instead she placed me in the military academy. I of course was not interested in learning how to be a soldier after years of running from constant battles so when I was supposed to be in class I would instead sneak out and explore the city.

It was through these trips that I came upon a local performance troupe and was fascinated by their acts. After showing up to watch them perform everyday for a week the leader asked me if I would like to join the troupe. I immediately jumped at the opportunity for it had to be far better than training as a soldier. The challenge of course was to convince my mother and as I feared she was against it. She felt that we owed the ones who took us in a debt of gratitude and the best way to do that was by helping to protect the citizens. Thankfully I had an unexpected ally in my instructor at the academy. She saw it as a an opportunity to allow me to grow and convinced mother to let me join them with the stipulation that I would stop skipping out on my military classes.

Happily agreeing to the deal I was unaware of my instructor's true motivation for allowing such to occur. Over the next several years my life was split between mornings learning the art of a warrior and the afternoons performing for the citizens with the troupe.

Not to long after graduating from the academy I was performing my first solo piece for the troupe when my head became filled with an inspirational fire. It was as if the Muses themselves had gathered within my mind, body and soul guiding every move I made. Every leap I took, every spin I twirled, and every tumble I did felt perfect….

No not perfect but something beyond even that.

When I had finished my dance and finally focused my attention upon the audience the look upon their faces was pure amazement and that is when it hit me. I really had been touched by the Muses. They had chosen me to be their representative upon this mortal world. Not all of them mind you only Euterpe, Terpsichore, and Urania but the others did give their approval.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And that little ones is my story.” Nandi says as she looked at the crowd of young acolytes who were barely older than herself when she first arrived at the compact.

“So why did your instructor allow you join the troupe?” one of the more curious acolyte asked.

“I believe she was trying to teach me a valuable lesson on that day. For you see being a soldier is more than just fighting sometimes finding a way to prevent a war through diplomacy is just as if not more important than fighting.”

“Oh I get it she gave both of you what you wanted preventing a disagreement.”

“That is correct little one.” Nandi replies with a gentle smile. "Alright then that concludes my lesson. You all are free to play outside until the next instructor arrives.”

As the children scatter to play a middle aged woman steps from out of the shadows and sits next to Nandi. “I see you are still telling them that it was a compromise little sparrow.”

“Well of course I am after all our greatest power is secrecy as Master Xenos would say.”

[Kolbrandr]

Avorae, the Cabiri with regards your character are..? A dance troupe they lead or some such?

[avorae]

Avorae, the Cabiri with regards your character are..? A dance troupe they lead or some such?

Yes that is the performance troupe that she leads. She took over from the original leader [Aka the one who brought her in] after she became a chosen.

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, so your followers are your troupe basically? For the mentor, would you like to detail them particularly? Were you hoping I would? Did you have a particular npc in mind? Other?

[avorae]

Alright, so your followers are your troupe basically? For the mentor, would you like to detail them particularly? Were you hoping I would? Did you have a particular npc in mind? Other?

Yea my followers are basically the troupe and as for the mentor I think it would be more fun if you detailed them. after all she would not know everything about them so i feel I should not know as well especially since she is also a member of Xenos spy organization.

[Kolbrandr]

Aaalright, while we wait on PiP, more indepth things:

Muse: Your character's contacts are? Also, Taint 4, oof. I presume that's after taking away for taint resistance? Also, what minor aberration do you want? I presume they're something of an overall generalist with the Rhadamanthines? Throw into whatever situation, they can generally contribute something, that sort of deal?

ESG: Can you list how you spent your points (nova and bonus)? I feel like you might be underspent.

That aside, an ally/casual lover/so forth who is one of Xenos' people is fine, though you are unlikely to know that they are such. So we will instead say that as far as you know they are a fellow Venerated Seer that goes by the name A'as, a Sumerian chosen with some general veneration amongst Therans as a god of knowledge and patron to brainiacs out in the wilder places getting grit under their fingernails, who in another era might be called a field scientist, travelling to and fro on their studies instead of basing themselves out of the academy, and in an even different era might be called a two fisted action scientist. Unless you'd really like to know their non day job, as it were, which, hey, you spent the dot. You'd just need to keep that secret. Let me know what you want to go with there. I'll provide more detail on what they do otherwise.

A'as seems to have been Sumerian nobility of some sort before his awakening, certainly he knows his way around high culture and how to pull off fine clothing and elegant manner, thick dark hair well groomed around chiseled olive skinned features, robes generally worn open at the chest that display smooth muscles and an athletic build, but in the field everything is more unkempt clothes all work leathers and the like, various satchels and pockets for tools and gewgaws, that kind of thing, a constant being deep green eyes that sometimes gleam with flashes of inspiration or brilliance. A measure of divine physicality, perception, mental acuity, force of personality, etc. basically one of those human++++++ types rather than throwing zap bolts around. Something of a polymath across multiple fields of endeavour (the term Renaissance Man does not after all exist ;p). Has a genuine enjoyment of his work and broadening his understanding of the wider world. He's like one of those really exasperating sorts of nerds who are also good looking, athletic and able to function well socially ;p

For your contact amongst Mithras' people, I am going to be slightly lazy and also make use of something and say that it's Serekh from the noted npcs, as Serekh, like Meliai's character, is one of those contacts background masteries contacts everywhere sort of people (when you are the world's greatest bodyguard, or so the legends say, you get hired in all kinds of places by all kinds of people for all kinds of things, and you meet all sorts of people while on those jobs at that), and thus you're one of his in Thera! Serekh, there's likely nothing physical going on there, but he is courteously polite to a fault and in a well received way, and gently curious enough about the world around him to strike up conversations.

Serekh. As a contact and not an ally, you are not 100% sure to the full extent of his abilities or even 70% sure, but then as a guy whose primary job is preventing gods of death and murder and what all ever else from shellacking his clients, he probably intentionally keeps things back on his full shtick anyway so as to have some edges against that crowd. He's tall and with a lean build, his clothing cut for ease of motion, tending to simple, well made, and appropriate to whatever cultural environment he happens to be in at the time. His features are somewhat youthful, his hair a light brown that's cut a bit short in the back, but grown out thick enough otherwise that there are some errant bangs over and framing his face, his gaze is amber eyed and attentive. At times doesn't seem to move so much as flow between spaces, or perhaps carry himself on the wind. Speaks an almost ludicrous number of languages, picking up new ones with little effort at all.

Let me know if you're cool with those.

Your followers are fine. I would note if you want to be a goddess with a full out big ol cult to yourself, would take all of raising followers to 5, then finding two points to give yourself a background mastery for followers and tada! Big Ol Cult.

It would also compensate for your zilcho resources, aka, your cult provides (I mean, at backing 4, certainly the Venerated Seers also provide, but you basically have no purchasing power/income of your own then so much as you have people who cover for your shelter and food and drink).

Meliai:

Looks all fine, you do not need to detail your contacts to me at mastery: contacts. You can just generally ask in a given situation if you have contacts of some sort in the area or relevant field of interest and I will otherwise let you know if anyone you run into is a contact of yours.

Avorae

Alright, for a mentor then, how's this?

Nike, Winged Goddess of Victory

Most of the Rhadamanthines generalize at least a little bit. Or at least, it can be said that they are put to purpose across more than just one sort of task. Nike is by contrast all military, all the time. This is not to say she is warlike or bloodthirsty, simply that she knows and is at peace with where her talents are best applied. If the term existed, she would be something of the drill sergeant of the Rhadamanthine Order and Theran legions both. She is beyond that a field general, quartermaster, logistics expert and special operations commander all rolled into one. When emergencies rise where farmers need to be quickly forged into a warhost, Nike is looked to. Stern when needed, supportive when needed and dedicated always, there is a notable lack for some great motivating tragedy in her life, she is simply a loyal citizen who loves her nation and seeks to do right by it (though she would slightly roll her eyes at the notion of such a thing being simple). A Theran citizen of Minos' own isle, her awakening is held to have come just after the completion of an obstacle course in record time, basking in the personal satisfaction of the achievement (she will note, with pride, she achieved the record before she achieved her divinity). Above all else, she has a keen eye for potential, sometimes to the point of recommending some to leave the legions so as not to waste talents that could better serve another field of accomplishment. While she has built a few personal bonds with her students over the years, overall she can be seen as a bit aloof outside of war or training, rumoured to be a result of knowing more intimately that most that she is sending the men and women she instructs off to die, likely as not.

More striking than beautiful, her dark hair one of black ringlets she keeps cut short, wearing either leathers or a gleaming bronze alloy breastplate and war skirt. She wields a spear of bronze alloy in battle, and can take to the skies as wings of blazing radiance take shape and trail light in her wake.


PiP: how're we doing? Can I help with anything?

[Kolbrandr]

Oh, languages!

So, Theran is likely most of your native tongues, and is a fairly popular and widespread one. In the Compact itself, Egyptian sees some solid use right after it, followed by Sumerian.

The closest thing to a lingua franca the Heraclidae have amongst themselves is Mycenean.

And other languages include for ease of labelling... proto-Celtic, Proto-Germanic, proto-Slavic, Phoenician, a catch all for random ass tribal tongues in Europe I am going to call European Tribal Tongues, a catch all for Asia Minor/Levant tribal tongues I am going to call Levantine Tribal tongues, one of you, aka avorae's pc, probably speaks what we are going to call Bantu for ease. Daran, the dominant language of the Brahmin lands is a known thing.

[Pretty in Pink]

I'm very sorry, I've gotten extremely distracted over the last few days.

That said, Kol, would it be easier for you to start with the others, and bring me in in a couple of days, or just wait for me to get my character finished and start us all together?  I don't want to hold the game up any more than I already have...  I already feel really bad, and hope you haven't lost anyone.

[Kolbrandr]

Don't think I've lost anyone, and we're still refining some last few details if you look a post above you, so you still have time. I'd prefer to try for starting with all of you at once honestly. Don't feel bad!

[Muse]

Aaalright, while we wait on PiP, more indepth things:

Muse: Your character's contacts are? Also, Taint 4, oof. I presume that's after taking away for taint resistance? Also, what minor aberration do you want? I presume they're something of an overall generalist with the Rhadamanthines? Throw into whatever situation, they can generally contribute something, that sort of deal?

I was thinking of the contacts more as an information network.  I haven't gone into detail on minor contacts.  Will get to that soon. 

I did indeed take away for taint resistence.  My minor aberation is Anima Banner.  Luminious symbols of egyptian gods appear around me when i use my powers.  Most noticably the wings of Isis when I heal.  :) 

[Kolbrandr]

Wellll... your minor contacts would more resemble an information network, since at 3 you manage to have a wider faceless smattering of them a bit (though requiring rolls to find), but your major contacts need some specificity. You don't have to go full npc sketch with them, or request some full npc sketch, but something like the field they are active in and overall role they hold would be good, even a couple sentences work.

[Kolbrandr]

also, just a general note, don't all or even any have to be fellow gods, your major contacts, just useful enough in their area/field to count for a major contact.

[avorae]

Avorae

Alright, for a mentor then, how's this?

Nike, Winged Goddess of Victory

Most of the Rhadamanthines generalize at least a little bit. Or at least, it can be said that they are put to purpose across more than just one sort of task. Nike is by contrast all military, all the time. This is not to say she is warlike or bloodthirsty, simply that she knows and is at peace with where her talents are best applied. If the term existed, she would be something of the drill sergeant of the Rhadamanthine Order and Theran legions both. She is beyond that a field general, quartermaster, logistics expert and special operations commander all rolled into one. When emergencies rise where farmers need to be quickly forged into a warhost, Nike is looked to. Stern when needed, supportive when needed and dedicated always, there is a notable lack for some great motivating tragedy in her life, she is simply a loyal citizen who loves her nation and seeks to do right by it (though she would slightly roll her eyes at the notion of such a thing being simple). A Theran citizen of Minos' own isle, her awakening is held to have come just after the completion of an obstacle course in record time, basking in the personal satisfaction of the achievement (she will note, with pride, she achieved the record before she achieved her divinity). Above all else, she has a keen eye for potential, sometimes to the point of recommending some to leave the legions so as not to waste talents that could better serve another field of accomplishment. While she has built a few personal bonds with her students over the years, overall she can be seen as a bit aloof outside of war or training, rumoured to be a result of knowing more intimately that most that she is sending the men and women she instructs off to die, likely as not.

More striking than beautiful, her dark hair one of black ringlets she keeps cut short, wearing either leathers or a gleaming bronze alloy breastplate and war skirt. She wields a spear of bronze alloy in battle, and can take to the skies as wings of blazing radiance take shape and trail light in her wake.

I like it and have added her name to the sheet for my mentor.

[Kolbrandr]

Aaalright, next up, your 5 major contacts. Doesn't have to be indepth, all of "a successful smuggler" satisfies things for a major contact, but you do need to pip them.

[Muse]

Question... 

Is having Attunement going to let me avoid breaking my staff when using my mega-strength? 

[Pretty in Pink]

Cancel the ruling question, I'll take it anyway.  MA 3.  Good enough for me.

Now without further ado, here's the character sheet for the Storyteller to peruse!  While I finish finalizing the assembly of her backstory including how she went POOF.  Caitriona, Rhadamanthine Sergeant-at-Arms

I would also welcome suggestions for her second major Contact.  I got nothing.  *glances at self-power gauge*  Eeesh!  Closing on 24 hours awake, no wonder why my brain is shutting down.  XD  But she hath been created!  Let the fun begin!

[Kolbrandr]

can't view it without permission

[Pretty in Pink]

My gahd, I"m so sorry.  That should be fixed, now, though!`

[avorae]

Aaalright, next up, your 5 major contacts. Doesn't have to be indepth, all of "a successful smuggler" satisfies things for a major contact, but you do need to pip them.

Here is the list of major Contacts:

Name: Furkan Sunay
Sex: Male
Job: Government Official

Name: Mero Chan
Sex: Male
Job: Successful Smuggler

Name: Junia
Sex: Female
Job: Ship Captain

Name: Avita Dura
Sex: Female
Job: Courtesan

Name: Zeka Gatta
Sex: Female
Job: Innkeeper

[Meliai]

Weeeeeeeeeeeee look at all this progress being made! :D

[Kolbrandr]

Aaalright, stuff...

Muse

Sure, I suppose, though at your level of backing and influence, you could just have Thera give you a staff worked with superalloys that won't break with your superstrength.

Avorae

Hokay on the contacts. All humans then?

Also, a sheet thing. I'd rather you had some psychic shield before jumping right into invulnerability psychic things. Take 2 dots of that instead, when you get your third, I'd be more cool with then buying invulnerability.

PiP

Never spend points on initiative, never ever. It's a waste. Also, Flashback is a really terrible flaw for a frontline soldier/leader/cover operative. If you drop the init point, ambidextrous and internal compass, you can lose the flaw.

As for the contacts, really you're doubling up on mentor anyway since the mentor is also with the legions, and as a member of the Rhadamanthine order, you'd have influence as well. I'd suggest cash out your contacts dots for influence dots instead, Rhadamanthines being all famous and so forth, slide a dot from cipher to such as well.

Also, your mentor would be one of the chosen (or otherwise they're not much of a mentor really). Do you have someone in mind or do you want me to hash someone out?

[Pretty in Pink]

Ack.  Sorry, didn't know, not used to Initiative being a purchasable thing.

All told:

Dropped Internal Compass, purchased Initiative and second BP purchased willpower, extra point from dropping added initiative into an additional dot for my mentor.  Everything else, I went with your suggestion, and noted changes in spending where I needed to.  In addition, via her backstory, that Commander from before she Nova'd is a Chosen.  Spoilered in Backstory, with emphasis added for what I'm talking about.  :P

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Few among the Heraclidae would willingly go headlong into the philosophy of the Theran Compact.  But when a young Fianna woman, taken as a prisoner of war by one of the myriad cultures around Theros, found her master's culture absorbed, it didn't take her long to realize there were only two ways out: remain a slave until the day she died, which might well be a long, long time, or convert.  She did so, though it took her some time to formally vocalize the decision.

Things went on as expected for a Theran slave: she was treated well, educated, and even pampered by her master.  But when he died, just shy of her seventeenth birthday, specific instructions were left to have her freed, and she was at loose ends in a new home.

It didn't take her long to join a local militia unit, led by a rather dour Chosen.  She slipped right in to the camaraderie seamlessly, throwing herself headlong into the - what she would never know it as - exact same training she would have gotten had she been raised amongst her own people.  She excelled, quickly rising to become a sub-lieutenant, only separated from the Chosen by her own immediate superior, who answered directly to the Chosen.

During an engagement at the border, her unit encountered a Heraclidaean Chosen. [Still working on this, I know it was Exposure/Excitement]

The manner of her becoming Chosen brought her to the attention of two groups: The Rhadamanthine Order, always on the lookout for strong soldiers willing to lay down their lives against the uneducated rabble that always sought to bring down the Theran Compact, and Xenos' Men.  Her former commander - refusing to order around a peer - suggested she seek membership with the Rhadamanthine, and wished her luck with the trials and entrance process.

So at loose ends again, barely 24 years of age, she went and petitioned for membership.  Throughout the year long examination of her person, her history, her abilities, and the new capabilities being Chosen had given her, she was working to learn exactly what she was capable of now that she had the power she did.

When she was admitted, she immediately threw herself into the duties of the Rhadamanthine Order, immediately taking up a patrol on the edge of Theran territory.  Here, she helped put down an uprising staged by the Hand of Baal, personally singling out and beating the leader.  Finally, this had proved the final straw, and her return to Thera's capitol saw her approached by a member of Xenos' counterintelligence division, offering a place in their ranks to 'a true convert, one worthy of helping to protect Thera's interests, and her people'.  She accepted, and now works a double life, fulfilling the duties assigned her by the Companions, but always waiting for that call that would send her in to deal with another suspected spy.

[Kolbrandr]

right, what I mean is, do you have a particular image of them in mind beyond that, or want me to sort that out?

[Pretty in Pink]

Oh, uhm.  Yeah, I don't really have anything beyond that, aside from he's a chosen of a very martial sort.  Go ahead and sort him out beyond that if you want.

[avorae]

Avorae

Hokay on the contacts. All humans then?

Also, a sheet thing. I'd rather you had some psychic shield before jumping right into invulnerability psychic things. Take 2 dots of that instead, when you get your third, I'd be more cool with then buying invulnerability.

The captain is a chosen but all the rest are human. As for the invulnerability I went and changed it to Psychic Shield II and will figure out what to do with my last floating Nova point after I grab some dinner.

[Kolbrandr]

Oh, you could actually just take psychic shield 3 now then really. When you get xp, you can get the invulnerability.

edit: had a brief brain freeze on the cost of the invulnerability.

[Kolbrandr]

Oh, uhm.  Yeah, I don't really have anything beyond that, aside from he's a chosen of a very martial sort.  Go ahead and sort him out beyond that if you want.

Sure, that's fine.

[Kolbrandr]

Okay, PiP, how's this for your mentor:

Caelestis

Called sometimes the master of the Theran borders, Caelestis fights to defend a Thera he very rarely sees much of, for his gifts make him much needed on Thera's contested zones with the Heraclidae. Not any kind of Oracle, the man instead has some of the keenest and far ranging senses in the entire compact, seeming to be able to view divine energies themselves, that he can see divine gifts even as they are shaped, that he can look across planes of being, to see, some say, into the very souls of men. It is said that his capacity to see and hear coming threat drove him to condition himself to be able to face it, to do something about the suffering and agony that came first into just the corner of his gaze, then painfully into view. It has made him a figure of conviction, and also more than a touch dour, perhaps a reaction to the darkness in the world he looks to from beyond, from on high. There are suggestions sometimes for the man to take sabbaticals from his command postings over various legions, but he himself ignores them.

Appropriate to his heavens lofty senses, Caelestis more floats just off the ground than walks upon it, his hair and eyes flow with starscapes of black and silver pinpoints of light, his build a lean and hard one, forged from countless skirmishes and offensives.

[Pretty in Pink]

Iiiii like it!  He's already added to my sheet!

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, I think then we're actually closing in on getting this show on the road, just want to do a look at how ESG spent points just to check on not being underspent (and also make sure the offered contact and ally are fine), and if everyone who has linguistics hasn't picked languages yet could do so.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Alright, I think then we're actually closing in on getting this show on the road, just want to do a look at how ESG spent points just to check on not being underspent (and also make sure the offered contact and ally are fine), and if everyone who has linguistics hasn't picked languages yet could do so.

I will take and look it over and break down the point spend when I get home from work tonight.  Sorry did not get it sooner when first asked.  Been busy week at work and its been draining me.   

[Pretty in Pink]

And I'm taking Proto-Celtic (since she's Fianna Born but Theran Raised, she might still have some of the original language, and just kept developing it), and Proto-Germanic as well.

[avorae]

I went with Bantu as my native tongue and picked up Theran, and Mycenaean as the ones she learned with her linguistic dots

[Meliai]

Kometa's native tongue is European Tribal whatsits and her dot is Theran~

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Points fixed,  the spend is on last post pg 5 of the character at top of post.   

[Kolbrandr]

Are you cool with the offered contact and ally?

[Kolbrandr]

annnd... doin a more indepth pass, gave you guys 75 nova points to build with along with the free quantum and enhancements, not 90.

[Kolbrandr]

Fortunately these are easy fixes, I would lose the points into quantum pool so that gives you back 2 points, you don't seem to have actually used your taint dot to have reduced the cost of anything so we will apply it to the dots of one of your level 3 powers which gives you back another 2 points. Shave your wp down to 6 gives you another 2. So that's 6 points back, we only need 9 more. So drop teleport down a dot, gives you back 3, mega app by a dot, gives you another 3 annnd... maybe a dot of mega manipulation.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Fixed

[Muse]

Langueges:  Egyptian and Theran.  Could someone sugest two more, please?  :) 

[Elven Sex Goddess]

ESG: Can you list how you spent your points (nova and bonus)? I feel like you might be underspent.

That aside, an ally/casual lover/so forth who is one of Xenos' people is fine, though you are unlikely to know that they are such. So we will instead say that as far as you know they are a fellow Venerated Seer that goes by the name A'as, a Sumerian chosen with some general veneration amongst Therans as a god of knowledge and patron to brainiacs out in the wilder places getting grit under their fingernails, who in another era might be called a field scientist, travelling to and fro on their studies instead of basing themselves out of the academy, and in an even different era might be called a two fisted action scientist. Unless you'd really like to know their non day job, as it were, which, hey, you spent the dot. You'd just need to keep that secret. Let me know what you want to go with there. I'll provide more detail on what they do otherwise.

A'as seems to have been Sumerian nobility of some sort before his awakening, certainly he knows his way around high culture and how to pull off fine clothing and elegant manner, thick dark hair well groomed around chiseled olive skinned features, robes generally worn open at the chest that display smooth muscles and an athletic build, but in the field everything is more unkempt clothes all work leathers and the like, various satchels and pockets for tools and gewgaws, that kind of thing, a constant being deep green eyes that sometimes gleam with flashes of inspiration or brilliance. A measure of divine physicality, perception, mental acuity, force of personality, etc. basically one of those human++++++ types rather than throwing zap bolts around. Something of a polymath across multiple fields of endeavour (the term Renaissance Man does not after all exist ;p). Has a genuine enjoyment of his work and broadening his understanding of the wider world. He's like one of those really exasperating sorts of nerds who are also good looking, athletic and able to function well socially ;p

For your contact amongst Mithras' people, I am going to be slightly lazy and also make use of something and say that it's Serekh from the noted npcs, as Serekh, like Meliai's character, is one of those contacts background masteries contacts everywhere sort of people (when you are the world's greatest bodyguard, or so the legends say, you get hired in all kinds of places by all kinds of people for all kinds of things, and you meet all sorts of people while on those jobs at that), and thus you're one of his in Thera! Serekh, there's likely nothing physical going on there, but he is courteously polite to a fault and in a well received way, and gently curious enough about the world around him to strike up conversations.

Serekh. As a contact and not an ally, you are not 100% sure to the full extent of his abilities or even 70% sure, but then as a guy whose primary job is preventing gods of death and murder and what all ever else from shellacking his clients, he probably intentionally keeps things back on his full shtick anyway so as to have some edges against that crowd. He's tall and with a lean build, his clothing cut for ease of motion, tending to simple, well made, and appropriate to whatever cultural environment he happens to be in at the time. His features are somewhat youthful, his hair a light brown that's cut a bit short in the back, but grown out thick enough otherwise that there are some errant bangs over and framing his face, his gaze is amber eyed and attentive. At times doesn't seem to move so much as flow between spaces, or perhaps carry himself on the wind. Speaks an almost ludicrous number of languages, picking up new ones with little effort at all.

Let me know if you're cool with those.

Your followers are fine. I would note if you want to be a goddess with a full out big ol cult to yourself, would take all of raising followers to 5, then finding two points to give yourself a background mastery for followers and tada! Big Ol Cult.

It would also compensate for your zilcho resources, aka, your cult provides (I mean, at backing 4, certainly the Venerated Seers also provide, but you basically have no purchasing power/income of your own then so much as you have people who cover for your shelter and food and drink).

Alright I had missed this during the week.   All of which I like.   I have adjusted my sheet in reflection.   I have in rounding out the character taken and placed the 5th dot in followers,  and given mastery while retaining now 1 dot of resources.    To achieve the mastery cost I eliminated the purchase of the 3rd dot of intelligence leaving it at two thus gaining back the 5 points of bonus points.   Which 2 are placed towards the follower mastery of her cult.   The other 3 points are spent in specialities which I realize had not covered.   As I had gossip and seduction as specialties so needed a third and thus chose discern lies under rapport ability. 

Hopefully I have it all good now.   

Also I finally found the nova name I found closes to represent my character and that is the Roman goddess Fauna.    In part because of tie in of Greek mythology in part of the Trojan refugee Aeneas son of Venus as founder of Rome.  Through giving tie in to Romulus and Remus later on.    Tying in what is Theran (Atlantis) with Troy and Rome.   

Of course in the future will she be the same Fauna the Prophetess of Thera or another poser who is the roman goddess Fauna of prophecies and fruitfulness.   

[Kolbrandr]

Langueges:  Egyptian and Theran.  Could someone sugest two more, please?  :)

Mycenean is useful as a Rhadamanthine for understanding the babble of the people you end up punching most often. You could also take Sumerian if you want some kind of Theran Compact linguistic completeness thing.

[Muse]

Fixed langueges. 

Dropped my iniative boost and one level of adaptation in favor of +1 willpower. 

Ready tto rumble! 

[Kolbrandr]

Alright, just giving all the sheets a last once over.

Oh, semi quick note on erotic content, as I was asked to clarify.

So, Thera itself and sexuality. I've pillaged several cultures for this where such concepts were treated fairly openly, and certainly Thera's own attitude boils down to "if it does no real harm, no one really cares". A few cults incorporate sex into their rites of worship, all that sort of thing. Though obviously there are occasional bits of discourse on just what harm is. Otherwise, Thera couldn't really be called particularly decadent, just tolerant. I'm not going to do some kind of big ol chart of the sexual leanings and habits of various npcs (though that might be amusing), but the Champion of Ra is bi for instance, and if you think that means his relationship with Baal when Baal was still part of Thera had a particular undertone to it, you would be correct (though sadly for people in Thera with inclinations we would later define as "slashfic", observers at the time noted it being the equivalent of a friends with benefits relationship physically than anything romantic).

More importantly, on an ooc level, okay, so, as you might note as kinda noted from my preferences profile thing, I don't really go in for erotic rp when the other player is a fellow, nor do I rp female characters for that sort of content. (I'm entirely fine to rp say, romances, that's just part of running a campaign, just not the physical aspect)

To be clear: This is not to say you can't end up deeply sexually involved or in some compromised situation with whatever npc of whatever gender/preference. Such things can frankly arise even just organically from how the campaign and scenes in it progress. Also you might end up in the torture pits of Gehinnom or something like that! It's just that barring another player handling the particulars, there'd be some measure of glossing over in that sort of situation.

Honestly this is something of a plot first/smut second campaign (or man would I have not bothered with all that setting work), so I don't know that this is really going to be a huge deal anyway, but it does seem fair to clearly note all this sort of thing before start, and asking me to was a fair question.

[Elven Sex Goddess]

Sounds good to me,  as I have based my character in part on the Roman goddess Fauna.   

Fauna is an old Roman Goddess of Prophecy and Fruitfulness, with ties to the forest and fields and the animals found there. She is closely related to the God Faunus; She is variously His wife, sister, or daughter. Her name, like Faunus's, is from the Latin faveo, "to befriend, support, or back up", from which we get our "favor"; an alternate etymology is from fari, "to speak, talk, or say", referring to Their powers of prophecy. Her name then could be variously translated as "She Who Favors", "the Friendly One", "the Speaker", or even "She Who Has Your Back". She was identified with the prophetic Goddess Fatua, again meaning, "the Speaker", but with additional meanings of "She Who Speaks Prophecy", or "the Oracle"

I realize I have over tilt towards a social action character.   That I am inherently weak when it comes to combat.   This was done with concept.    I envision her just as the excerpt borrowed above.   She is the guide for the group.   The hand that has their back.   

The choice in the goddess took time to fit what I was looking for with concept.   The key links were the Trojan story linking Troy to Rome.    The other is;  According to yet another of the Roman stories glorifying the city's origins, Fauna was one of the Hyperborians, who were believed to live far in the north (hyperboreas in the Greek literally means "beyond the North Wind"), and said to worship Apollo. She hooked up with the hero Hercules and as a result gave birth to a son Latinus, later a king of the Latins, and therefore a mythical ancestor of the Roman people and a claim to the famous blood of Hercules.

Thus I know this is well into the future the Roman empire is not yet come to light.    This is the earlier years of the abherent  Fauna.    I see her not as hoping from one cyber scene to another,  but developing friendships and perhaps romances.   She is not submissive nor is she dominant she is merely carefree and genial with a true heart of goodness.     I also see her with growth gaining control of animal and plant mastery to help round out her concept.   Her often nudity is not for decadent purposes but the beauty of erotic nature.   

Finally what I like about Fauna who unlike other goddess in majority who seem to be split in domains with polar opposites of fertility and love to war.   I.e  Ianna, Ishtar,  Isis,   Astarte and so on.    Her portfolio really does not have such opposite polar. 

Finally when Kolbrandr first brought his idea to me.   An I am thankful for his invite.  My first thoughts on the concept and premise was a game much in kin to Vampire the Masquerade in with elders and methuselahs.   Characters with great powers yet more driven by the plot and intricate webs woven into the story by both what Kolbrandr throws at us and what we ourselves bring into it on the level of demigods.     

Anyways I am raring to go.   This can and should be a fun game.   

[Kolbrandr]

Okay!


OOC thread

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=235824.0

IC thread

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=235825.0

Character sheets

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=235826.0