Returners: Chosen of the World Anchors [Freeform Epic Fantasy, Discord OOC]

[MyttraDW]

Zokann is a world of magitech, technology run by magic crystals. Autojacks work labor and fight beside handlers with their corehearts of crystal, while warriors use guns, swords, bows, and other weapons that are powered by crystalline shards and powders for various effects. Magic, though all around them, is a practice that almost no human can use. Only those chosen by the world anchors, known as returners, are able to use it.

The world anchors are the massive crystals found in the heart of every area. They exude pure power, with their energies infusing every living thing. Every biome in the world has an anchor at the center of it, where the maelstrom of power is the greatest. The further one gets from the anchor, and closer to a border, the more mild the biome becomes... but it never fully goes away. The borders are the place where the biomes mix, except the center of the land which is where the anchor of humanity is found. This land is a temperate place, perfect for humans to live.

But, being the only sentient species, humans are a hardy, adaptable breed. They can adapt to live anywhere, from the heart of the volcano to the deep trenches of the seas. Though they look very different in many cases, they are all human, and have an easier time travelling to different biomes than other creatures. (For example, a fire wolf and a storm wolf live in their own specific biomes and will be weakened in another).

And Returners are the chosen of the anchors. They can come from any biome, any walk of life. They can be a legendary hero, or a mere farmgirl. The only entry to requirement... is to die. Upon death, anyone may be chosen by the anchors. If this happens, the new returner's body will disappear and reappear in the temple of the Anchors. And once there, the Returner will find that they now have the power of magic.

Magic is the art of using cards, fusing the building blocks of creation together to summon items, creatures, and magical effects to help them protect the balance of Zokann. And lately, the balance has been threatened even more...

Hello! This is a setting I have been working on, and hope to do a story with cool people! The PCs will be new returners, chosen at similar times and thus bound together. They will undertake a quest to keep the balance from fracturing and the world from being destroyed...

My Character's example art may help explain what an amphibious human may look like. I've taken the fantasy human's adaptability to an extreme!

If you have any questions, comments, or interest, please let me know here!

[AndyZ]

Keeping an eye on this.  Definitely curious.

[Gardsorm]

Hmm... Yep, I'm gonna throw my lot into the ring on this one! o:

[Idlewyld]

Looks fun!

[shengami]

Watching this for sure.

[Kissa]

I'm interested too.

[MyttraDW]

Yay for interest! Does anyone have any questions that might help me clarify some things?

[AndyZ]

I would need to know more about the types of magic, assuming there’s different options out there.  Do we pick an element, for example?  I could go ice…

[Gardsorm]

At the very start, there was mention of Autojacks! Do you have any perceived designs for them, or would something like this work? I envision it as either being just a little taller than an average human, or smaller than one, unless you had ideas for their sizes too. : )

[MyttraDW]

At the very start, there was mention of Autojacks! Do you have any perceived designs for them, or would something like this work? I envision it as either being just a little taller than an average human, or smaller than one, unless you had ideas for their sizes too. : )

Well for clarity, autojacks are semi-humanoid mechanical golems powered by crystalcores. The core also holds their personality (they have intelligence similar to a dog, and are extremely loyal to their bonded handler), which can also gain quirks over time.

I was personally thinking a little less sinister for the most part, and taller than most humans depending on class yes.

[MyttraDW]

I would need to know more about the types of magic, assuming there’s different options out there.  Do we pick an element, for example?  I could go ice…

Oh, I missed this before, apologies. The idea currently is that the only form of magic is used by returners, which is basically the card magic. But it'd probably be a good idea to have a theme like... Could do ice+static creation, for example, as your main focuses. If that makes sense?

[AndyZ]

Okay, well, the cards would need to be explained.  I’m not bound to the ice idea by any means.

[Gardsorm]

Next question is about the World Anchors. Is there a limited number of biomes, and by proxy, a limited number of World Anchors (and thus, Returners)?

[MyttraDW]

Okay, well, the cards would need to be explained.  I’m not bound to the ice idea by any means.

Okay lemme try and explain. A returner can collect cards by drawing out a small amount of latent energy from something or somewhere. By combining these building block cards, they can create useable cards that create summons, weapons, items, and effects. These cards can then be fused to create even more possibilities. Though a Returner only has a limited library of cards, too much and the power becomes unstable.

Does that make any sense?

Also, I'm thinking that a Returner can have some sort of soulbound weapon, companion, or an autojack if they were bonded in life.

Next question is about the World Anchors. Is there a limited number of biomes, and by proxy, a limited number of World Anchors (and thus, Returners)?

Yes and no. The world is only so big, and each biome only has one anchor. However, there's not necessarily a limit on how many returners there are at any given time. (Also, returners can literally not die permanently until they live out their extended lifespans).

[Gardsorm]

Maybe it's the silly gamer in me, but I'm anticipating the fun things I can do with cards. It reminds me of Phantasy Star Online Episode 3: C.A.R.D Revolution. Just with a few more unique things involved.

The limit on Returners was the more important thing for me to know, so thank you for the answer on that front. : )

Next up... What forum do you see this game being set on?

EDIT: Also, this line

Also, I'm thinking that a Returner can have some sort of soulbound weapon, companion, or an autojack if they were bonded in life.

Does this mean we have to choose only one between a Soulbound Weapon, Companion, or Autojack, or can we choose any combination as long as it's only two of them?

[MyttraDW]

Maybe it's the silly gamer in me, but I'm anticipating the fun things I can do with cards. It reminds me of Phantasy Star Online Episode 3: C.A.R.D Revolution. Just with a few more unique things involved.

The limit on Returners was the more important thing for me to know, so thank you for the answer on that front. : )

Next up... What forum do you see this game being set on?

EDIT: Also, this line

Does this mean we have to choose only one between a Soulbound Weapon, Companion, or Autojack, or can we choose any combination as long as it's only two of them?

Forum: I've started to understand it's probably better to start higher.

As for the second question, am unsure. I think an Autojack is a big thing, essentially another character somewhat, so I don't know if allowing that and another is a good idea.

[Gardsorm]

Well, unless something else comes to mind, I have no more questions, and I just looking forward to making characters. : )

[Golden Spider]

I’m not quite expressing interest yet. But I’m gonna keep an eye on this.

[shengami]

I'm still curious enough to try a bit of character creation. I'd want to know more about the world and stuff. But I am having ideas about biomes and buils based on what has been said.

[MyttraDW]

Character Images (If Applicable)
Player Name:
Character Name:
Age at Death:
Gender:
Home Biome:
Adaptations:
Appearance Details:

Soulbound Equipment/Companions:
Library Elemental/Concept Focus:

History and Personality: (Optional)


Player Name: Mytty/Mythra/Mythy
Character Name: Coral Ansora
Age at Death: 24
Gender: Female
Home Biome: Ocean
Adaptations: Amphibious breathing, Webbed hands/feet and fins for swimming, Greater Night/Underwater vision
Appearance Details: 5'4", A-Cup breasts, slight figure

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: Alvton the Deep-Ocean Wolf, her constant bedside companion.
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Water Healing/Support

History and Personality: Coral was born to the royal family of the underwater kingdom, Kalanta, as the second princess. But her birth was hindered by complications, and she was a sickly child. Despite the best efforts of royal healers, Coral's body never healed. She was smart, kind, and compassionate, but she couldn't stay out of bed for very long. She learned to heal, to craft, to do things with her hands to keep busy. But whatever illness ravaged her body got worse over the years.

On her 24th birthday, her weakened body let itself fall to sleep... and then it disappeared. Her family still holds out hope that she truly became a returner, and that she might come back to visit...

[Gardsorm]

Player Name: Gardsorm
Character Name: Ein Levshin
Age at Death: 31
Gender: Male
Home Biome: Central City
Adaptations: Enhanced Resilience, and Active Mutation Stasis,
Appearance Details: White hair, green eyes. Ein stands at 6'3, and weighs 204 lbs. Possesses a firm build underneath professional attire.

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: "Answerer" Magitech Magnum, and "Engels" Autojack Unit
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Light/Offensive/Debilitator

History and Personality: The history of Ein begins with parents he doesn't remember. From a very young age, he was separated from them through events he could not recall, but was found and cared for by another family. Whether there would have been a difference between a life then versus a life now, he would never know, but Ein has lived a comfortable and fulfilling life in Central City. Much of his life was fairly straightforward and unassuming, raised as a good child well into his late teens. However, when things looked like they would continue to go well, his parents lives were taken in a car accident, and his own life was in jeopardy. With no one to rely on or fall back upon, he was forced to live off of the streets and the good will of anyone who could help him.

As someone who had no knowledge of how to navigate the streets, Ein considered himself blessed to chance upon people who treated him fairly and with respect, giving him odd jobs in return for housing in small spaces. For three years he lived off the streets like an urchin, but at 21 made the most life-changing choice he could ever make in joining the Central City Security Force. No longer the naive, young man he saw himself as, Ein was tempered by the mean streets of Central City, and then refined by the rigorous training offered by the CCSF to become an effective law enforcement agent. Issued his own personal Autojack to better assist him in his day to day life, Ein and his new partner Engels take the fight to antagonistic forces such as the varied criminal elements of Central City, rogue Autojacks, and more.

As his life in the CCSF progressed, Ein took on a registry for criminal rehabilitation, making a most interesting and conflicting revelation in his life... Yet he forged ahead through life in the hopes of trying to make sense and find resolution in the expectations placed upon him. However, all of it came to an abrupt end when what should have become the biggest criminal bust for the CCSF became the discovery of a dark secret in how deep corruption in the CCSF ran.

Player Name: Gardsorm
Character Name: Veldr Schedaar
Age at Death: 28
Gender: Male
Home Biome: The Land of Tremors
Adaptations: Microscale skin for greatly increased resilience compared to normal humans, Aural sense for detection while blind or in the dark, and high tolerance to intense heat.
Appearance Details: Stands at 6'1, with a weight of 197 lbs. His discolored arms and legs are actually aspects of his dragon mutations and are actually collections of microscopic dragon scales. Along with a pair of horns and an exceptionally long dragon tail with a tip that can harden like stone, Veldr is a battle-loving drake who loves for the thrill of an engagement.

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: "Jade Decimator" Dragonsteel Halberd, and Gunberd Juvenile Cragdrake
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Earth/Offensive/Close Combat

History and Personality: Born under the watchful eyes of dragonkind in the Land of Tremors, Veldr was a warrior from one of the region's settlements. The Land of Tremors lay off of the coast of a nearby island sanctuary, and its denizens act as a like of defense for the island residents in return for helping them maintain trade and travel routes with the rest of civilization. With scales of stone, hearts tempered by battle, and the will of dragons spurring them onward, Veldr and others fought the forces of the BloodIron Empire and other invasive elements time and time again, refusing to bend the knee for anything.

Raised from youth to become a warrior, Veldr participated in competitions all over Zokann when possible, always on the look out for something new to learn and incorporate into his fighting style. Joined by his loyal cragdrake friend from birth, Gunberd, Veldr feared nothing in life as he always found the will to resist even in the face of the most dire adversity. However, the day of his death was not something he expected to see come so soon.

Returning to his settlement, he found it under attack by BloodIron Forces, ones far more put together, raiding their storehouses and emerging from places they should have never heard about. Though late, Veldr and Gunberd joined the fight in the hopes of turning things around, but it was not meant to be. Though they could lay waste to their forces, their end was met at the hands of a treacherous dragonkin warrior from another region, whose cryptic words warned him of 'A fractured future that had no place for bygone relics like them'. Possessed of unfathomable rage at the treachery, Veldr swore to butcher the mysterious invader, but was slain by his creature, a jet black Greatdrake whose very breath struck at his soul, disintegrating the drake warrior and his companion.

With none that could oppose them, the settlement within the Land of Tremors fell, and from there, the BloodIron Empire could march upon distant lands above and under the waves unopposed... While Veldr's regrets and lamentations would follow him back to life as he finds himself and his friend Gunberd reincarnated. This is his chance to make things right... But can he?

[Idlewyld]

OK First draft here

Player Name: Idlewyld
Character Name: Ponipua Kamai'kii
Age at Death: 23
Gender: F
Home Biome: Island Rainforest
Adaptations: Photosynthetic Capacity, Flowers Blooming in Hair and Under Feet. Need for contact with soil, sunlight, and water.
Appearance Details: Purple Hair, Green Eyes, slight figure - 5'2" 110 lb, smallish bust. Always walks barefoot with purple flowers blooming in her wake.

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: Manu Manu - Myna Bird
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Earth/Life/Growth

History and Personality: Ponipua has always lived with her extended family on the Island of Waiwai Niu. However, even though their lives were mostly peaceful, they were susceptible to raids, such as the one by the BloodIron Empire which captured her along with many of her people. Rather than face a life of slavery, she threw herself into the sea, thinking that would be the end. It wasn't.

[shengami]

Susi

Player Name: Shengami
Character Name: Thorja
Age at Death: 22
Gender: Female
Home Biome: Frozen Tundra
Adaptations:
   Tundra Camouflage: Thorja got many traits fro her true human father, but coloration was not even close to being one. She shares the pale blue skin, white hair, dark eyes, and strange black highlighting of her giant kin. This makes it easy for her to blend into certain surroundings, but makes her stick out in Central City
   True Human Adaptation: True giants do not do well outside their frozen home or away from their Anchor. Thorja, though, has a suprising ability to adapt and be comfortable in different biomes.
   Giant Powered: Thorja is not as large, strong, or tough as her giant kin, but she is tougher, stronger, and larger that true humans. This is a blessing and a curse.
Appearance Details: Though thin and stringy by giant standards, Thorja still stands just over 2 meters in height and weighs a modest hundred and fifty kilos. Again, dainty for a giant. Thorja is sleek and agile from a life on the streets. When you look like her in Central City and do what she does, it's best to just leg it when the constabulary shows up. This has lent a twitchy, cautious movement to her and darting eyes always looking for trouble. Her voice tends to be hushed and husky.

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: A dagger hilt bearing a pale gem that channels and helps her focus her ice manipulation to form a blade. A winter wolf companion named Susi.
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Ice Manipulation (minor), Beastmaster (Tundra + City - Major)

History and Personality: Thorja was, in the kindest way to put it, a byblow. An accident. Her memories of her mother and the Jotun of the north are murky at best. Near as she was able to put together, her mother was a guard and guide to a merchant that traveled and traded among the giants. She protected him from her own kin, helped him survive the cold north, and, apparently, warmed his bed. It must not have been much of a relationship, because on one trip to Central City, around the age of three, she was left at an orphanage byu her father. She still vividly recalls the smell of his jacket: wolf and something acrid she has never identified. She spent the next part of her youth in the orphanage. On the plus side, there were plenty of other half-somethings there. Apparently, Central City played host to a lot of species and their mixed children as a byproduct of being, well, central. On the other hand, it was no great joy as half-giants were among the least common. Her clan were notorious barbarian nomads who preferred to think with their fists. Nevermind that true humans were as much her people as the giants. She looked like her mother and people expected the same. It didn't help that she was always the tallest and bulkiest kid. She stuck out like a sore thumb and, like the proverbial sore thumb, received the hammer more than once as a result. Also as a result of being abandoned and lacking parents, Thorja turned to crime to make way. Contrary to her size, she did not make work as a thug or breakneck but as a pickpocket. No one expected nimble fingers and silvered words from a hulking giant. It didn't hurt that most humans didn't understand that real giants were easily another meter taller than her. Another facet that threw people off was her positive, smiling personality. Not bubbly and syrupy sweet by a long shot, Thorja was a generally and genuinely happy person. Did she wonder why her parents left her, sure, but the situation was what it was and there was not sense letting it get her down.

Thorja also discovered that she did not possess typical giant traits of extreme brute strength and stamina as well as cold resistance. She was big and strong, sure, but nothing compared to other giants. She had learned that the hard way. Too big for true true human furniture and homes, her feet have dangled off the ends of beds since she was twelve, but too small for the giant sized furniture in the places designed with them in mind. Any time she heard they were in town, she sought them out, but she was more an oddity to them than the humans. After all, few giant women found small males attractive and most true humans found giants' size intimidating in a lover. It was from one of these visits that she learned of her parents: that her mother had been a respected hunter and warrior who died over a decade ago in a fight. Her father, a true human, had been unable to handle the rapidly growing girl child. But rather than give her to her mother's kin, he'd wanted her to grow up in the city. She felt anger toward him for the first time. It was also from the giants that she learned that her level of cold tolerance was low for their kind and that her affinity for animals was abnormal. Something in the combination of her traits made them like her, calm around her, trainable. In fact, more thana  few rats and dogs had learned tricks to help her pull off jobs. The giants thought this a fun trick and loved watching her train rats and dogs to do tricks. It was an easier and more honest way to earn coins though not as lucrative.

This way, Thorja lived rough and ready in Central City for a long time. Her size and toughness made her a poor target for the other ruffians outside of massive numbers advatages, so she was mostly left alone. It all came crashing down around her when she had managed a couple years beyond her second decade. A traveling circus came to town with animals from the northern tundras. She went happily to see ulk, white bears, snowy owls, and especially the massive winter wolf. When she saw the beast, she felt the connection instantly like an arrow to the breast. She could not have left it behind if she had tried. Its sadness, its loneliness, its discomfort were like javelins to her heart. That night, she snuck into the show and broke the creature from its cage. It was a frantic, hellish two days. Her and Susi hiding in the sewers, abandoned buildings, warehouses, wherever they could find a moment's respite. They were doomed from the start though. Where in Central City could you hide a giant white wolf? Susi stuck out as much as Thorja ever had. Eventually, they were run to ground by the constabulary. They made such an end then. More than one note went home to a family that day, but in the end the pair of them were captured and then executed. Thorja had to watch Susi's head being taken before her own was.

And the she sat bolt upright gasping. She had returned and, to her eternal joy, so had Susi.

[Golden Spider]

Character Images
Player Name: Golden Spider
Character Name: Keiran Cassidy
Age at Death: 52
Gender: Male
Home Biome: Highlands
Adaptations: The Highlands are a rugged craggy environment, Kieran's people have adapted to having a thick body hair to insulate from the cold, almost like fur, along with strengthened musculature that aid with climbing and provides a small amount of natural protection against bruises. Lastly his eyes and lungs have adapted to the heights that the Highlands can lead to, making him more capable of surviving in high altitudes and seeing for long distances across the hills
Appearance Details: 6'4, stands up straight with defined muscles from his adaptions and from the years of living and climbing in the highlands. his hair has all gone white in his age. including his thick body hair/fur, He has heterochromia with one eye almost yellow and one eye green.

Soulbound Equipment/Companions: Glaodhadair dealanach A large greatsword, with a yellow gem in the hilt with etchings of lightning along the blade. & Ruaridh A hawk companion.
Library Elemental/Concept Focus: Lightning/Electricity/Storms

History and Personality: Keiran was the chieftan of his clan in the highlands before he passed, and had been for many years, ever the follower of the ideal of "speak softly but carry a big stick" he was a leader focused on diplomacy and relations; His clan being the most open and friendly clans to newcomers and those coming from the Great City or beyond, largely because of his influence. Other clans saw that as weakness, bowing to the strangers and their ways instead of being strong in their isolation, and for that Kerian has fought back many attempts at his clan being attacked or sieged by the other highland clans, over time and as his clan retaliated, as tradition demands, his clan grew as they subsumed other clans into their own, quickly becoming the largest clan in the area and firmly established the growing city of Gal'alch as both the capital and trading hub of the region. He died however, in bed, struck by an illness that had also ravaged the clan.

[Grizzly]

I'll add in my tentative interest.  Going to see what my muse can come up with.

What is the level of technology?  Steampunk but how crazy can we get?