[E X A L T E D] Pseudo-Modern Action Fantasy; Recruiting a Full New Team!

[Lyrical]

Hi Lyrical!  Nice to see a WIP go up.  I was curious.  Did Bri excel at the junior cadet level?  You mentioned she got a recommendation from trainers.

Smol girl w a big gun sounds fun.  Are there areas you were looking to flesh out still on her background?

yes, everything is a wip on it really. I posted that late at night for me. I think I need to totally rework her shimmer and weapon in some way.

As for her junior cadet training, I should probably mention that she excelled at things like shooting. I think Aethy mentioned that everyone in Battle Academy is already well ahead of the curve compared to average citizens in all stats.

Also if you (or anyone) are looking for any sort of a connection,  let me know, I'm happy to start incorporating stuff.

[shengami]

Finally, each character has a special trait. This is assigned by the GM, influenced by the person you make. It's a sort of honed natural talent that your character unexpectedly developed that will aid them to varying degrees during gameplay. But you're welcome to make some suggestions that inspire you!

I want to come from somewhere other than Johtan/Onyx, may I?
The short answer is no. In fact, ideally, all characters from this round of recruitment will come from Onyx specifically. Traveling around the world is rare, and in the first round of recruitment we already (unintentionally) opened the door to a lot of characters who came from far away. Most people, unless they are Champions, don’t ever leave the place they are born.

If your concept requires so deeply that you be from somewhere else, you’re welcome to pitch it to me. But a few notes… First, this is not a challenge. Do not try to pitch ideas to be from elsewhere just because you can. Secondly, if you are going to be from somewhere else, you really need to be a very story-relevant reason why you’re not there. Something I can play with and is interesting, so you’ll need to bring your best work.

@Miss Nyx - Uhmm, Aethy assigns Special Traits. That might put a little wrinkle in some of the work you put in. Also, Tabor isn't in Onyx that I am aware of. But he looks cool! There's some interesting lore going on with elves at the moment.

@Lyrical - Hi! Cool concept. Tiny girl/Massive... tracts of land. Er. Haha. Here's a pair of fun questions, most humans/Silenus go their entire lives never learning what their shimmer is. How did you learn yours. When? Is there a story? Also, how would she have handled both unlocking that special talent and learning to wield her Soul in combat? Most people can't do either of those.

[Miss Nyx]

@Miss Nyx - Uhmm, Aethy assigns Special Traits. That might put a little wrinkle in some of the work you put in. Also, Tabor isn't in Onyx that I am aware of. But he looks cool! There's some interesting lore going on with elves at the moment.

Gotcha shen, though it won't be terribly hard to work around. I didn't put too much depth into it so that's an easy tweak, thanks for the heads up. :D And I don't think I read where exactly Tabor was located, just that it was one of two hidden elven cities, but let me give the lore another run through to see if I happened to miss that. I went ahead and assumed that it's not anywhere near Onyx. Easy edit there as well though.

@Lyrical Oh and if you're having issues with CS formatting like I do, I suggest hitting the toggle source view button, the little paper button at the end of the format bar! Without that, it seems like simple machines adds in wonky coding or just disrupts the code in general so I copy/paste it offsite onto a document to work on then place it afterwards with Toggle Source in effect so it doesn't make the format go bananas and mess everything up!

[Lyrical]

Miss Nyx - pm sent for connection

@Lyrical - Hi! Cool concept. Tiny girl/Massive... tracts of land. Er. Haha. Here's a pair of fun questions, most humans/Silenus go their entire lives never learning what their shimmer is. How did you learn yours. When? Is there a story? Also, how would she have handled both unlocking that special talent and learning to wield her Soul in combat? Most people can't do either of those.

those are good questions, I'm still struggling a bit with understanding the core concepts of soul and shimmer, so I have a lot of reading to do this evening after work

[Crash]

And Meena’s shimmer has no direct combat effect, but it is why she is a good combat medic.  So your shimmer can be a lot of things.  Some people have made it a combat thing and others more of a utility thing.  Basically you have a lot of room to play there.

@Miss Nyx - Raevyn looks like a fun character.  I will dig into him more today.  Not that I approve characters or anything, I just love reading what people come up with. 

Also, yes you will be another team at the academy not part of Gravity, but I would guess we will all have plenty of options to interact.

@Lyrical - I see a number of character traits that she shares with Meena who is generally a sweet, slightly naive person and a cuddly giant of a woman. 😁

[shengami]

Miss Nyxx - pm sent for connection
those are good questions, I'm still struggling a bit with understanding the core concepts of soul and shimmer, so I have a lot of reading to do this evening after work

Hrmmm, they are tricky. I'll give you that.

As best I can figure, Shimmer is a little magic trick you can do. One person in the game can 'pulls things toward her' another can "make plants and medicine work better' a former player could 'make little hard light platforms in the air' and used them to run around in the sky. A very specific trick. Can be directly potent or very utilitarian. My current character can make these goo things that, when stuck to other things, mutes all sound coming form the surface they attach to. See, very specific tricks. A bit of magic.

Soul is way more important. It's like force of will made manifest. Soul is used to do magic, kinda but not really. Like, when you use arcanite to do certain things, then your soul does that work. But Soul also acts like a shield for those who have learned to wield it. When you get hit, at absorbs the damage. heh, It even goes from green through yellow and orange down to red before it breaks. it's how champions can take some much hurting and keep ticking. I highly recommend reading... er, 1.02 probably if you want to see how that works. Or, From this post to current post. Either are good examples.

Hope that I helped at all!

[Miss Nyx]

Miss Nyx - pm sent for connection
those are good questions, I'm still struggling a bit with understanding the core concepts of soul and shimmer, so I have a lot of reading to do this evening after work

Don't feel bad, I've been reading for like a day and still scrambled it up a little LOL.

I'll hit you back here in a moment on your PM!

And Meena’s shimmer has no direct combat effect, but it is why she is a good combat medic.  So your shimmer can be a lot of things.  Some people have made it a combat thing and others more of a utility thing.  Basically you have a lot of room to play there.

@Miss Nyx - Raevyn looks like a fun character.  I will dig into him more today.  Not that I approve characters or anything, I just love reading what people come up with. 

Also, yes you will be another team at the academy not part of Gravity, but I would guess we will all have plenty of options to interact.

@Lyrical - I see a number of character traits that she shares with Meena who is generally a sweet, slightly naive person and a cuddly giant of a woman. 😁

I noted a lot of practical application Shimmers so I went direct combat... tbh looking through the NPCs and PCs I went full in on trying to make Raevyn an opposite to what was already present. :D Take your time reading him over, he's still in baby creation mode so I'm sure I'll change things yet, especially after Aethy chimes in. I think I've got him mostly on the right track and seriously it's crazy helpful having you current players chime in. Y'all are awesome!

[Crash]

Don't feel bad, I've been reading for like a day and still scrambled it up a little LOL.

I'll hit you back here in a moment on your PM!

I noted a lot of practical application Shimmers so I went direct combat... tbh looking through the NPCs and PCs I went full in on trying to make Raevyn an opposite to what was already present. :D Take your time reading him over, he's still in baby creation mode so I'm sure I'll change things yet, especially after Aethy chimes in. I think I've got him mostly on the right track and seriously it's crazy helpful having you current players chime in. Y'all are awesome!

Yeah.  I came in mid-game and mid-team.  I created Meena to be mostly a support character trying not to step on any toes. It has been fun trying to think of ways to make her effective in combat and that caused some evolutions in her I hadn’t expected but am enjoying.

[LanaN]

I can't take this game on, but I wanted to drop in and say the lore and presentation is lovely!

[Crash]

quote author=Lyrical link=msg=16712017 date=1713785539]

Also if you (or anyone) are looking for any sort of a connection,  let me know, I'm happy to start incorporating stuff.

“2)  Bri has never dated.”

There is a non-zero chance people read that and think…challenge accepted. 😆

[Lyrical]

“2)  Bri has never dated.”

There is a non-zero chance people read that and think…challenge accepted. 😆

she leans towards males mostly but she admires both men and women physically... although she will probably not openly admit anything ... except how they should be concentrating on training... never mind how bright red her pale cheeks turn..  It's SUNBURN..  stop staring   X.X

[Crash]

she leans towards males mostly but she admires both men and women physically... although she will probably not openly admit anything ... except how they should be concentrating on training... never mind how bright red her pale cheeks turn..  It's SUNBURN..  stop staring   X.X

You haven’t met Lolo yet. 😆

I just noted it and found it a fun thing to drop in terms of plot potential. All fraught with wonderful misunderstandings. 

I like seeing people drop little nuggets of story potential in their character design.

[Lyrical]

Character Submission for approval

Strength ●● | ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Stamina  ●● |  ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Speed    ●● | ● ● ● ○ ○
Shimmer  ●● | ● ● ● ○ ○
Soul    ●● | ● ● ● ○ ○
Brawl    ●● | ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Melee    ●● | ● ● ○ ○ ○
Ranged  ●● | ● ● ● ● ●

Elemental Affinity | Weakness
Air | Fire

Terrain Specialty | Weakness
Forest & Mountain | Dessert

Bri'elle "Bri" Whitewater

Lyrical

Ancestry:  human
Gender | Pronouns: she | her
Sexuality: heteroflexible

Age: 18
Height: 4'11"
Body Build: slim
Hair Color: black
Eye Color: dark brown

Weapon
Gun/Sword worn across her back = It's a double bladed two-handed great sword [180 cm (71 in)] with two blades, one shorter than the other, and a sort of cylinder/barrel up the middle that has filigree all over the blade and cylinder. It has a robust but ornate cross guard and handle. The gun fires a high powered round (like a .50 caliber). Bri also wears a bandolier of various arcanite ammo for special occasions.

Shimmer
Can move with sudden bursts of inhuman speed over short distances

Special Trait - ?
pending GM approval/creation

Where were you born? Whom, if anyone, do you consider family? Where are they, and what is your relationship with them like?

Born in Onyx Prairie, Bri's family lived outside the city as they owned large tracks of land dotted with farms. Her family has since moved into the city but still owns the land and farms that are leased out to farmers for sharecropping. Bri has a large family with several older and younger siblings as well as extended family members including aunts, uncles, and cousins that also live in the same homes that she grew up in. Her family has a large compound in the city with multiple family dwellings all within the same home. The home is a large structure that takes up a small city block, walled on the outside, and has a large center courtyard only accessible by going through the home. All of the residences look out over the courtyard. They are not the richest family but are well respected in the community and considered a powerful family due to their size and wealth. Each head of the separate families all have different business mostly connected to food/farming in some capacity; production, transportation, and sales. There is a total of twelve families. The food business side of the family is all from her mother with her father's side of the family being military members going back many generations and having served with honorable distinction.

Family Relations & Ties

Immediate Family
Elle Whitewater-Aspen, mother (45) - matriarch of the Aspen Farms Corporation
Capt. Ang'atlan Whitewater, father (54), Hammer Academy Graduate (Air affinity)
Sgt. Amos'atlan Whitewater, brother (25)
Lt. Ali'elle Whitewater, sister (23), Hammer Academy Graduate (Air affinity)
Zara'elle Whitewater, sister (21), works as Elle's personal assistant manager
Tig'elle "Tigga" Whitewater, sister (17), the sibling that Bri is closest too*
March'atlan Whitewater, brother (15)
Gigi'elle Whitewater, sister (12)
Bo'atlan & Ty'atlan Whitewater, twin brothers (8)
Kara'elle Whitewater, sister (6)

Note: There are Twelve aunt's/uncles on mother's (Aspen) side of the family and they all live with their families in the family compound inside the city of Onyx, each with their own residence. (too many first cousins to list here)

Cousins of note:
Astor Aspen, cousin (17), brother of Macy, close friend to Bri & Tigga due to closeness of ages
Macy Aspen, cousin (18), sister of Astor, close friend to Bri & Tigga due to closeness of ages

Whitewater (paternal side of family)
Colonel Bri'atlan Whitewater (retired), Bri's paternal grandfather (73),
Alicia Whitewater (nee: Arlington), Bri's paternal grandmother (74)
Uncle - Captain Jam'atlan Whitewater (married + 5 children)
Aunt - Colonel Tan Whitewater-Thorum  (married + 1 child)
Aunt - Mara Whitewater-Clems (married + 4 children)


What sort of life did you have before you decided to attend a Battle Academy? How did people react to your decision?

Bri's family believe that all of their children should work on the farms to learn hard labor so she often spent planting and harvest seasons with the crops and working on various family businesses doing physical labor. Though she did receive a certain amount of more formal education through junior cadet courses and such due to her father's families tradition of military service. Due to her small stature it was decided early on that a life in the military was not going to be for her, however she still continually insisted on training and learning fighting, shooting, and strategy as much as she could.

Her father understood her need to join and her mother accepted it, supported it but there was/is an underlying hope that she'll fail out and come back home, "where she belongs."

Why have you decided to become a Champion? What are your goals, your reasons, and your fears?

Bri entered Battle Academy as a way to bypass size restrictions that are in place for military service. She wanted to do her part to help protect Johtan and Onyx. It was a call that she couldn't resist. The Hollow needs to be stopped and she has the gifts/shimmer to do it.

The goal and reason is simple; protect Johtan and the world to keep it from falling to The Hollow.

Her fear is that she won't be strong enough, that the military is right and that she really is too small and too weak to fight.. but most of all it's the fear that those things will get someone else hurt.

How did you acquire your skills before coming to Hammer? Who taught you?

Physically, most of her practical skills came from junior cadet training and messing around with her brothers, sisters, and cousins as they played war games when not at junior academy. But Bri was fortunate enough to have a couple trainers that recognized her shimmer and helped with the early encouragement and training of that. IN fact, she's pretty sure that it was them that gave her the internal recommendations for going to Battle Academy.

Bri first discovered her shimmer while playing with her brothers and sisters in the courtyard of their family home. She was running away from someone and suddenly found herself moving from point A to point B so fast that no one could keep up with her. At first it was clumsy and not that fast but by her teens she was able to use the ability with accuracy and travel like a blur. Thanks in part to her trainers that assisted as much as they could.

What is your greatest accomplishment or thing you are most proud of? What is your greatest failure or thing you regret the most?

At junior cadet training, Bri excelled in most aspects of the courses and was routinely at the top of all her classes with the exceptions of wrestling and boxing where she still did very well but her small size always meant there were at least a few people in the course that were able to easily best her. Although she never used her shimmer in those classes.

In her last year of junior cadets, Bri's squad captured the tournament war game flag. It was a big moment for her and came with a commendation even as they were telling her that she'd never be allowed to go to the next level and join the military. Which is also her biggest failure, she tried to argue it and made an appeal case but the rules were strict and she was never going to be allowed in.

Briefly talk about your character's initial reaction to being partnered and then teamed. Were they excited? Hard to work with? Distant? Friendly and engaging?

Bouncing with excitement at being partnered up and teamed. If anything, her over enthusiasm might have been annoying to some people. Bri is both friendly and engaging most of the time.

List three (or more!) notably truths about you that your teammates have learned over the last month together.

1) Bri is a middle child and felt a little lost as both she has a big family and she's sort of the runt of the litter.
2) Bri has never dated.
3) Bri is obviously a bit pale. She doesn't do well in the sun when it's hot out.
4) Her weapon is a family heirloom

List one or more (different!) things that people outside of your team might have noticed about you while attending Hammer

1)  Bri is extremely focused on her education and training - obsessively
2)  Everything she owns is always neat, folded, and has it's place. Even her clothes are tightly creased with boots cleaned every evening

List two or more things that you have done in the last month, beyond going to classes and learning?

1)  Left the Academy one night, although she had ever intention of studying that evening. A well spoken and frustratingly smooth Elf named Raevyn convinced her to go out on the town. That ended up with them (maybe as a pair or a group?) at a seedy gambling den where they basically got into a bar fight and took out some local criminals. Bri wanted to hand them over to authorities but given where they were, she was convinced that it would be wiser to get out of there before getting caught. As a side note: Bri was personally scandalized by the whole situation and couldn't believe that she allowed herself to get into that situation. So the next time she went, she was planning on setting some very clear boundaries... which she promptly seemed to bypass and found herself in a similar situation all over again. In her defense thse people are criminals and they need to be dealth with.

2) Attended a Military Officer's Ball at the behast of her family. It was an annual welcome for the new recruits and outside guests are encouraged/allowed to attend provided they meet the security requirments. IE: They have relations there, or are members of another respected institution like the Battle Academy. It was a night of lots of awkward moments for Bri. (Perhaps it was better for your character if you came along? Because you better believe she invited all of her new friends along so she wouldn't have to do this alone.)

List a few (3-5) things that you values and seems to play a role in how you interact with the world.

1) Loyalty to country and family/friends
2) Deep respect for the rules
3) Admires effort and intent
4) Always dresses well, very neat, clean, and orderly. (Her belongings are fashionable and well taken care of)

Finally, come up with one plot hook that you would like to explore with your teammates. Something about your character / their story that you're very eager to showcase or have play an early role in their experience.

The smol girl with the big gun/sword - gets her ass handed to her by a bully = Bri's fears come true in the first months of Battle Academy and she is made to feel that she is too small and doesn't belong here.



Extra Notes:

Personal sword-fighting style - due to the fact that her sword is about a foot taller than she is and it's very heavy, Bri has had to adapt her style to the weapon.

Bri is fast but the weapon is heavy. So when she swings they are usually large, wide arcing swings with a lot of body movement on her part.

As an example when she is blocking, she will often pin the point on the ground then move her body to one side while tilting the blade in the direction of the intended block. Effectively moving herself behind the blade sometimes instead of moving the blade between herself and the attack.

When attacking, she will sometimes make wild jumping leaps, an acrobatic flip or kicking motion to build up momentum and then the blade will quickly come flying in an arc to attack.

Another personal trick is to fluidly kick the blade up into the air then thrust it while it's in mid motion to stab at her opponent.

It should be noted that she has become very adapt at this sort of melee fighting with the sword. But if she has to "hold back" for sparring purposes it becomes a lot more difficult for her because once the momentum of the blade is going it is nearly impossible for her to pull it back to minimize damage. This constant fighting the swords momentum is also her biggest hindrance to getting better. With that said, don't go trying to block her over-sized sword with a dagger or something.

[Crash]

In game soul adds a layer of “magical” defense.  It also allows you to use arcanite.  If your souls is damaged to the point it isn’t functioning you cannot activate arcanite for cool magical attacks and other arcanite shenanigans.

[Lyrical]

In game soul adds a layer of “magical” defense.  It also allows you to use arcanite.  If your souls is damaged to the point it isn’t functioning you cannot activate arcanite for cool magical attacks and other arcanite shenanigans.

I have a message out to Aethy about it to see what/how I should utilize Soul & Arcanite.

I also updated my sheet a bit to rework her shimmer and her affinities. Plus not sure if i should have done this but I added a little blurb on the bottom for flavor about her fighting style. Which I can remove if Aethy wants me to.

[Crash]

Amusingly our tiny slip of a “mage” is the tankyist character on team Gravity with max dots in Stamina and Soul. Not that anyone knows that yet.  Not even sure she does.

[Miss Nyx]

Dropping this here lovely final draft, woo! :D

Strength ●● | ● ● ● ○ ○
Stamina  ●● | ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Speed    ●● | ● ● ○ ○ ○
Shimmer  ●● | ● ● ● ● ○
Soul     ●● | ● ● ○ ○ ○
Brawl    ●● | ● ○ ○ ○ ○
Melee    ●● | ● ● ○ ○ ○
Ranged   ●● | ● ● ○ ○ ○

Elemental Affinity | Weakness
Fire | Water

Terrain Specialty | Weakness
Mountains, Grasslands | Urban, Aquatic

Raevyn Lionel Iylensarri

Miss Nyx

Ancestry: Elf.
Gender | Pronouns: Male | He/Him
Sexuality: Pansexual.

Age: 19.
Height: 6’1”
Body Build: Lean, Athletic.
Hair Color: Charcoal.
Eye Color: Pale Blue.

Weapon

Dragon’s Blood Bow | Dragon’s Fang Blade

Primarily used in its impressive longbow form, it can triple its raw power by its seamless transformation in Raevyn’s hands to a five foot long dual-edged sword. It is surprisingly light, for how massive it is. This weapon is a family heirloom said to have been forged by materials from a fallen star and dragon fire eons ago, descended for generations through the Iylensarri royal family. Raevyn uses the edge of his Shimmer to turn its arrow heads into dangerous flame laced projectiles and engulfs enemies caught beneath the edge of the obsidian blade. Despite its feather weight by comparison of its sheer size, Dragon’s Fang is still a large and bulky blade and therefore takes time and strength to swing in order to strike with. Practice with the Dragon’s Fang has proven that it is better used to parry or shield against attacks (unless his team have given him an opening to be able to swing it, in which case it deals devastating strikes and has the range to catch multiple enemies in a stroke) while the Dragon’s Blood allows him impressive range. He crafts his own arrows and lines them with raven feather fletcher.

Shimmer
Inner Ember
Raevyn is one with the element of Fire, and he takes great pride in this. He seems to vibrate with collected kinetic energy, warming him at his core. Tied to his very Soul, Raevyn digs deep into this gathered energy to summon and manipulate flame from his hands in order to lace his weapons with ember; this adds a burning edge to the Dragon's Fang and ignites the arrowheads fired from Dragon's Blood.

Special Trait - TBA
…

Where were you born? Whom, if anyone, do you consider family? Where are they, and what is your relationship with them like?

Raevyn was born in Cordes sur-Ciel, the youngest son in a brood of eight with four older brothers, two older sisters and one younger sister. The second eldest, Zaezelian, fell in combat when he was around ten years old.

It has been repeated until his ears have bled the glory of elven purity and that he descends from Royal blood, as well as the importance of preserving their ways of life and their ancestral knowledge. But nothing has been more repetitive from his father than the importance of one day recovering their home continent of Kalantos from the Hollow and restoring the elven race to its prior glory. The thought alone of braving harrowing dangers and threats to attempt to reclaim the lost continent causes Raevyn’s skin to crawl, but the fear of disappointment is greater than the fear of a thousand enemies. With some not so gentle prodding from his older brothers, Raevyn has followed in his father’s footsteps in the pursuit of becoming a Champion.

All of his brothers are active militants, and his father has long since retired, but still operates as a weaponsmith and honored consultant of the Onyx Military. There are few weapons Sir Mythos Iylensarri is not familiar with and even fewer he can not improve upon. Of his siblings his brothers Kelevendar, Malkai, and Noirex are very much like their father toward Raevyn–overbearing, condescending and a little on the intense side when it comes to making certain he doesn’t stray from their patriarch’s path. Of them all Raevyn is believed to be especially gifted in the way of Shimmer, as the only one among them with a talent that lies in a raw element. His sisters Merrai, Constante and Lotus are kindly and considerate and have all followed their mother’s artistic path in the crafting of glassworks—his eldest sister works as architects for Onyx City who crafts sky-ward towers of glass while his younger make their living as promising artisans working small trinkets, vases and other beautiful items of glass decor at their mothers seaside business in Cordes sur-Ciel.

His mother, Kevaltiare, would sooner see him put his Shimmer talent to fantastic use as his ability to create glass and even precious gemstones with fire and raw material under pressure in his bare hands, which she deems highly impressive, but the men in his family would hear nothing of it. His relationship with his brothers and father to this day are still very much tense as they view him as a spoiled, privileged prodigy who squanders his talent for leisure and comfort while his sisters are supportive and encouraging for Raevyn to follow his heart and find his way in the world, in his own time.

What sort of life did you have before you decided to attend a Battle Academy? How did people react to your decision?

There really wasn’t much of an option, he’s following in the footsteps of generations of Iylensarri men and women who’ve stuck out as warriors, military officers and agents in hopes of helping protect the world of Toil from the ever mounting threats of darkness and ruin. He breezed through classes and took very little seriously before the thought of attending a Battle Academy ever crossed his head, enjoying his carefree and rather privileged young life, spending time among his peers in a leisurely way. Attending a Battle Academy was admittedly never something Raevyn truly wanted for his life, yet as of lately, he’s seeming to accept the fact that not only is it pleasing to his family patriarch… It's also something he’s good at. Before he came to Hammer Academy, he was taken underwing by his eldest brother, Kelevendar, at fifteen years of age.

His father was stoic and placated by his thoughts of attending Hammer Academy, as an alumnae of Hammer himself. Only one of his brothers, Zaezelian, had attended and he did not rise as a Champion before instead enlisting with the military where he tragically fell to the Hollow. His mother was disheartened by Raevyn’s decision to set out to Hammer Academy, primarily for the ominous superstition she’s connected to the Battle Academy—her husband was gravely injured after his time there, once joining the military, and she lost her second eldest son who was also an attendee of Hammer. For this, she was adamant that Raevyn remain home and tried her best to convince him there was no shame as her youngest son to embrace his clear talents as an artist and devote his time and skillset to glassworks.

Why have you decided to become a Champion? What are your goals, your reasons, and your fears?

Raevyn initially joined Hammer to appease his father and older brothers, all of whom had nearly abandoned their belief that he would ever be more than a short-sighted miscreant squandering his life away in pursuit of trivial happiness. He set out to prove himself worthy of the royal Iylensarri title and to make his father proud. In the modern era descending of Elven royalty over a homeland which perished long before he was even thought of is about as impressive as juggling as far as Raevyn is concerned, but he hoped at the very least not to be disowned by his father and older brothers and branded a hopeless deviant.

After the time he’s spent at Hammer he’s grown more confident in his place and proud of his natural affinity with both his weapon and his ability to operate with a team of like-minded youth, and so Raevyn has gone full focus into becoming the best Champion he can be at Hammer. His fears, outside of having to face the Hollow alone or ever venture to the Elven homelands, would undoubtedly be losing anyone he cares about. He’s made friends while at Hammer Academy, the sort that both inspire and terrify, because he’s not sure what he would do if anything happened to any of them.

How did you acquire your skills before coming to Hammer? Who taught you?

When he announced his intentions of enrolling with Hammer Academy he was met with skepticism and disbelief from almost his entire family (except for little Lotus, who might believe the sky was rainbow colored if you told her it was so). To prove true to his promise of enrolling, he requested his eldest brother Kelevendar to tutor him before he departed, and was taught the basics and anatomy of weaponry, the purpose of Soul and Shimmer applied to combat, and finally gifted their family’s greatest heirloom; Dragon’s Blood. Imagine Kele’s surprise when Raevyn did something both amazing and unexpected. He manipulated the anatomy of the weapon with the aid of his Shimmer and summoned the Dragon’s Fang blade from the bow, which according to both his brother Kelevendar and his father Mythos, had not been done since the time of the Great War in the hands of Everendar, his great grandfather.

He was tutored with Dragon’s Fang beneath his third eldest brother, master swordsman Malkai, once his skill with Dragon’s Blood beneath Kelevendar was deemed acceptable. Handling the great sword though proved worlds different than handling the bow, and Raevyn is still to the day learning how best to weird Dragon’s Fang, due to the sheer size and might of the weapon it proves better as a shield. His signature designation is switching between bow and blade seamlessly, but he's also learned to be quite proficient with use of the longsword, broadsword and rapier in addition to how best to wield the mighty Dragon's Fang before disembarking for Hammer Academy. He made impressive use of this ability when facing off against Malkai’s rapier combat and fencing techniques with Dragon's Fang.

What is your greatest accomplishment or thing you are most proud of? What is your greatest failure or thing you regret the most?

His greatest accomplishment has been manning his family’s historic weapon with surprising success. Raevyn does not consider himself to having a monumental failure yet and hopes he will never have to experience such shame or humiliation.

Briefly talk about your character's initial reaction to being partnered and then teamed. Were they excited? Hard to work with? Distant? Friendly and engaging?

Raevyn has always been sociable and outgoing, and so to be partnered and teamed were not essentially speed bumps to him, but he has discovered a few things about himself through his short time at Hammer Academy. One–he is incredibly competitive and is not at all a fan of losing, or being one-upped. He’s never been placed in the position to be competitive before, most everyone in his social circle back home tended to act much more in the role of follower than leader. He can’t help but to playfully antagonize his peers, especially if he considers them worthy opponents.

And Two–he has much more patience and adaptability than his father might have assumed. His ability to learn quickly and to step aside and allow others a chance to shine when their skillset is better suited to a task has made him feel both fulfilled and proud to have such adept teammates.

List three (or more!) notable truths about you that your teammates have learned over the last month together.

Raevyn is the youngest son of his family but he is treated as the eldest, because of his Shimmer and natural talents with combat. Only his second eldest brother, Zaezelian, showed such similar promise, and he was lost to them. The pressure can be overwhelming at times. Because of this he’s prone to depressive or angry mood swings even as he settles into this path more willingly, he doesn’t feel it’s fair to have such weight placed on him. Raevyn attempts to distract himself and keep himself busy so he’s not in his head so much and can be seen scribbling down chaotic thoughts in a black leather bound journal when his negative mood gets the better of him. He carries a sketch book of a similar make as well but it's not quite a secret anymore that Raevyn is an avid journaler... don't touch his journal--seriously, he won't like that!

After an unfortunate incident with a masked character at a birthday party in his young life Raevyn really can’t stand elaborate masked individuals, even more so if they’re meant to be ‘funny’, they creep him right the hell out and make it so hard to focus! He’s not a fan of any kind of mask anymore really, he prefers to see people’s faces. Not even masquerade masks may be deemed acceptable, he will screech an unearthly sound and probably run away.

Raevyn is a slacker… he can be easily distracted by promises of fun or mischief, and can at times be a very bad influence on his peers by convincing them to run off and get into harmless trouble with him. He enjoys cuddling up for naps, day-dreaming, cloud-watching and fiction novels—anything to distract himself from harsh reality, really. His easy going nature can be corrected however if the thought of threat or his friends or loved ones in danger is brought to his attention. He’ll immediately snap to and get to business but his default setting seems to be based on leisure.

List one or more (different!) things that people outside of your team might have noticed about you while attending Hammer

Raevyn is competitive, and he enjoys teasing. It can often be described ‘in good fun’ but sometimes Raevyn doesn’t realize when he’s gone too far and his playfully antagonistic behavior can go from a mutual moment of entertainment to a heated argument really, really quickly. Fortunately, he’s never been the sort to let negative feelings linger, and he’s not at all against apologizing if he’s really hurt someone’s feelings or feels he’s genuinely wronged them. He can also be a shameless flirt and yes, he will absolutely weaponize that to his advantage or use it to weasel out of trouble.

He can be a bit of an elitist, and has a habit of talking down to other people—not on the basis of his family heritage or anything, but he does tend to favor Elvish company. This is something he’s slowly breaking out of though, now in a place that allows him to experience all sorts of individuals from all walks of life, with interesting personalities and talents. To be honest, Raevyn likes to be proven wrong and he loves to discover humans and Silenus are just as capable if not more than Elves in many ways.

While he seems to be very well in tune with his emotions and regulating feelings in positive and mature ways, Raevyn can be angered and when he is pissed off it’s damn near impossible to calm him down. What’s worse, an angry Raevyn is a terrifying Raevyn because his calm, easy going, carefree nature seems to fly right out the window and is replaced with malicious, spiteful, vindictive Raevyn who wants nothing more than to make his enemies suffer. He won’t even feel bad about it either because it takes so much to push him there… if you’ve pissed him off, then you pretty much deserve whatever’s coming to you.

List two or more things that you have done in the last month, beyond going to classes and learning?

He's drawn to trouble-making like a moth to flame--so when Raevyn heard there was a local den where all sorts gathered to gamble over card and tile games, he couldn't resist. And naturally he dragged a few of his teammates along with him to check it out. And of course none of the local thugs appreciated a bunch of young, bright Hammer Academy attendees easing in on their turf so any of their potential wins were seen as questionable. A bit of drinking and one too many wins ended in a hell of a brawl to retain the cor they'd won, though Raevyn has his suspicions those thugs are frequently up to no good and it seems like a surefire way to find some entertainment to slip in and stir up their operation more frequently.

Quick action in the middle of Onyx City during an outing saved a lot of lives when a hot air balloon show went south and the main attraction began to rapidly go off course. As it turns out the heating mechanism destabilized and with the help of a few new friends he and the small gathering were able to scale a nearby tower and get into the basket to help--a bit of Arcanite in the right hands allowed the balloon to quickly refill with hot air and float down to a rough crash landing in the middle of a local park, instead of crashing into a variety of buildings through the middle of Onyx and landing in a crowded street. They might've made the papers as amateur heroes!

Unsanctioned partying at the Hammer Academy? Oh absolutely, yes. If there's a universal language between young people across Toil, Raevyn has quickly realized it's partying, and after a fun filled night he's definitely more confident in his place at the Academy and it's been nice to find that the other teams are just as interesting as those who are on his own!

List a few (3-5) things that you value and seems to play a role in how you interact with the world.
- Raevyn appreciates when people are genuine. He likes when people are themselves and follow their passions and dreams, nothing quite excites him like watching someone get really worked up about something they love, and nothing quite inspires him to want to defend than finding someone worth fighting for.
- He loves art in all of its forms, especially since it seems to struggle in the world of Toil today to be seen as necessary or valuable. It might also does indeed stem from his own easy-going talent surrounding glass-crafting. Raevyn has taken to acquiring raw material like sand or ore and using it to spin pretty glass trinkets, figures or amulets for his friends. That aside, he tends to take an interest in anyone who has artistic talent or skill be it painting or tinkering--gadgets especially are not only typically attractive but also practical and that's crazy impressive!
- Green spaces are sanctuaries for a young elf like Raevyn, and he finds himself having a harder time than he realized he would in the city of Onyx so when he needs time to gather his thoughts and reset he'll head to the nearest free-green space. Something about so many buildings and people clustered into an industrialized space can be a bit overwhelming and there's nothing quite like dozing off in a quiet meadow filled with wildflowers.

Finally, come up with one plot hook that you would like to explore with your teammates. Something about your character / their story that you're very eager to showcase or have play an early role in their experience.

Raevyn is downright obsessed with mountains, but given that travel is scarce he's only ever ventured out to the foothills of the tip top of the mountain chain when his brothers were visiting home from Onyx. There's not much a group of military officers can't handle during a two day trip to the mountain ridge and back. That small taste of wilderness has stuck with him and he'd sorely love nothing more than to make an adventure to the mountains with a few friends. He'd also like to visit Seabreeze at some point, as he imagines the waters are warmer than Cordes sur-Ciel where he grew up. Basically, Raevyn would love to see more of the world with his team and see what good they can do for the rest of Johtan, not just Onyx City.

[FyreFoxx]

Amusingly our tiny slip of a “mage” is the tankyist character on team Gravity with max dots in Stamina and Soul. Not that anyone knows that yet.  Not even sure she does.

*cackles quietly in the back* Totally unintentional! And no, so far, no one seems to realize that, especially not her. Though it still fits her narrative of pushing herself past her limits and refusing to give up. Tiny little thing, always being protected, and in the words of a certain famous genie (with some alterations!): "It’s all part and parcel, the whole [mage] gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty [dainty elf]!”

[Aethyrium]

Sunday and Monday are my typical "sorta kinda maybe probably sometimes but not always" not around days. So I've not had a chance to review the sheets, but count on that coming. Lovely to have two already! And will circle around to answer questions (you both have me on discord, feel free to ping if needed).

Anyone else who is looking at the game, dip your toe in, let me hear! If you have questions, or feel overwhelmed, just toss your hat in. I'm available to help make it an easy thing, and I think you'll love it here. We've got lots of good stuff going on and planned for the future.

[Miss Nyx]

Shen and co. did a phenomenal job filling in a few blanks and catching early hiccups I had so I think I've got a pretty good grasp of things. Take your time Aethy, by all means! :3

[Aethyrium]

I think Aethy mentioned that everyone in Battle Academy is already well ahead of the curve compared to average citizens in all stats.

Yes, this is correct. The average squire is decidedly more capable than the average individual - even those with some level of formal training. A squire-candidate who could pass the entrance evaluations would generally be considered more capable than even, say, rank and file military personnel. They may not (in fact likely don't) have the organization/experience/logistical know how, but in terms of raw capability? No contest.

This comes a lot just from knowing how to create Soul shielding. I've gotten some questions about Soul shielding before, so sharing with everyone... The Soul doesn't naturally protect people. It's a technique that some people learn, and it's an active thing. But it's a simple enough technique that, once mastered, it's like breathing. You just do it, unless you're actively making yourself not do it. And mastery of this technique is a basic requirement for anyone who wants to be a Champion, so all characters are considered masters of it. They learned how to do this somewhere along the way.

And then there is the natural talent/training/potential in all 'rated aspects'. Most people have 0 dots in everything, that's average. So you immediately begin to see why squire-potentials are so much superior.

Uhmm, Aethy assigns Special Traits.

It's okay! I told players they could throw out ideas for their trait.

And I don't think I read where exactly Tabor was located

You didn't miss anything! It's in Kantos, which is known OOC on the map, but otherwise it's location is quite well guarded. Farrah happens to know, she's from the area.

Soul is way more important.

I'd say Shen's little description of the two is pretty close. But I would not say this is accurate. This will entirely depend on the role your Shimmer plays for your character, and how they make use of Arcanite. Soul does have defensive qualities that Shimmer does not, but your Shimmer is something you can make use of even when your Soul is broken. And doesn't come with any of the risks associated with Arcanite.

I can't take this game on, but I wanted to drop in and say the lore and presentation is lovely!

Well... Sad! But thank you so much. <3 I appreciate that it's being well received.


Onto... The character review. Momentarily ish!

[Aethyrium]

@Lyrical | Let's take a look at Bri.

Oh, the centered text for weapons and the original questions was a feature of the sheet, not a bug! We can fix it in post if need be. XD

Stats look good. Tiny girl. Neat weapon! Useful Shimmer.

We have had a sore lack of characters that want to be Champions because it's the right thing to do. So I really appreciate this aspect. Neat history overall, actually. I like the farming bits - gives me something fun to tug at.

Her pain point about wanting to join the military is a fun addition - and plays a lot into her attendance of Hammer. Champions who graduate the battle academy are allowed to join the military with a rank comparable to an officer. So she found the loophole... Just has to survive the next four years.

I think I'd like to see your answers to - List one or more (different!) things that people outside of your team might have noticed about you while attending Hammer - get changed up. You cover her being pale in the question above, and her height is right there on her sheet! Maybe look at mannerisms, habits, things liked, or things avoided. Class engagement? Other things, a little deeper than surface level stuff!

Wonderful answers to thing's she's gotten up to in the last month. That's exactly the kind stuff I'm looking for.

And your extra blurb at the bottom is totally welcome. More information is great. Plus, fun fighting style notes.

Okay... I really like your offering here Lyrical, she's awesome. I think just the changes to that one question noted above, and I'll be perfectly content with where she's at. Awesome job!


@Miss Nyx - Let's see what we see about Raevyn!

Tall elf! Guy - always need more of those. Stats look good - I like the distribution that favors versatility. Weapon is awesome!

Shimmer... Mmmm. Okay, so here's sort of the situation. Shimmers are really intended to be fairly specific effects, and there's a lot baked into this. It's more akin to "fire bending", and I think I want to avoid that. I realize that we technically have one such ability - water bending - on a character as is, but if I were to go back in time that's not a Shimmer I would approve a second time. So while any of the individual effects - throwing fireballs, conjuring fire walls, igniting weapons to have fire enchantment damage effects, immunity to fire, spontaneous fire generation, active fire control - would be applicable, they are not universally so. There might be pairs of these I'd be willing to have in tandem (like, say, throwing a fireball and using that same fire to ignite a weapon), but in general you should be narrowing that down to a singular specific effect.

Interesting history. Large family. I see you've been plotting with shen. This is a better route than Tabor for sure, I think. I'll need to ponder on this a little bit. Ultimately I don't think it's an issue, so no worries about changing anything right this second.

In the question about things people might have noticed outside your team, you list that he has a big ol' anger and super spiteful 'n stuff. I am curious, what do you think happened that let people see this? What's the tea?!

Overall, I really like what you've done here. Raevyn is a great character offering, and I can imagine would fit right in with the game. I think with some dialing in on the Shimmer - and we can try to be flexible a bit so you can keep the mystique of it that his story implies, but I do need it to get brought more in line with what they're intended to be. I can ponder on this a bit myself, too, if you're not sure how exactly you want to dial it.

Otherwise, awesome submission, thank you!

[Crash]

We have had a sore lack of characters that want to be Champions because it's the right thing to do. So I really appreciate this aspect.

Yes! Don’t make Meena be the only one! 😆

[Miss Nyx]

Yes! Don’t make Meena be the only one! 😆

I'm a sucker for developing plotlines... I'm sure Raevyn wants it, he just doesn't know it yet. XD

[Crash]

Haha.  Meena is such a goody goody.  It has interfered with her partners less than above board ideas.

Meena is a friendly extroverted Silenus who would be happy to get to know anyone.