Evil's Return: The Sign-Up Thread

[Toastburner B]

They said that they wanted her to have as normal of life as possible.

Malarkey.

If they wanted her to lead a normal life, then she never would of heard of the prophesy of the Mother of Hell, never would have been told that her firstborn would decide the fate of the world, never would of known that from birth she was hunted by demons.

And she sure as heck wouldn’t of ended up with a bunch of people like us as her guardians. I mean, let’s face it, I don’t think even the most densest person in the world would label as “normal”.

She didn’t deserve to be the at the center of this…but she was.

And it was our job to make sure that nothing happened to her.


First off (and to scare everyone away...), the important information!!

Groups Important to the RP

The Council: With so many organizations, old and new, fighting to keep mankind from being consumed by the dark, it was only a matter of time before they started talking to one another. The Council is made up of S.E.C.A., the Society, several of the major religious organizations, even the Sealers. The Wardens and the Vigilante hunters, not being organized beyond the sharing of information, are not seated on the Council officially, well respected Wardens and Hunters are members of the council to voice the opinion of the more “common man.” It was the council who decreed that the Mother of Hell should be protected, and began to gather protectors for her. However, the Council is unable to force any of the organizations to do anything, and as such, even though the Council has promised to protect the Chosen, Sealers and some religious groups are out to kill her.

The Protectors: A.k.a.: The Characters. Those chosen from within their organizations to keep the Mother of Hell out of the hands of the supernatural, and to protect her from the more “overzealous” organizations out to kill her.

The Other Side/ The Dark / The Enemy / The Demons: The prophesy of the Mother of Hell is directly tied to the realm that most humans refer to as Hell. Despite the efforts of the “good guys”, Hell Cults are spread out all over the place. Once word gets out that the Mother of Hell is manifest, these cults will be drawn to her location. See the “Demons” entry for more information.

The Mother of Hell / The Chosen: The centerpiece of this little adventure. A young woman is manifest as this every so often (no pattern has emerged throughout history), and her birth is easily divined by mages or others with the ability to scry the future. The long and the short of it is that the children of this women will either open the Gates of Hell, allowing a full scale demonic invasion of Earth, of will forever seal the Gates closed, making it all out impossible for demons to manifest in this plane at all. It is generally believed if the child is part demon, or is raised by demons, it will be the destroyer rather than the savior. As such, the primary purpose of the Protectors is to keep the Mother of Hell out of the hands of the Dark at all costs.

In every case on history, the Mother of Hell was killed before she could bear children, retaining the current status quo.


Major Organizations:

The Supernatural Elimination and Containment Agency (S.E.C.A.): The government agency in charge of handling supernatural phenomena/outbreaks/whatever. They generally rely heavily on technology, with very few magic adepts in their ranks. Very few people know about this organization…only a handful of people at the Pentagon and a few long-timers in the Senate. S.E.C.A. agents range from investigators to the highly skilled “Strike Teams”, and are armed basically armed with every weapon on the planet…including access to nuclear weapons as a final option to prevent an “outbreak” scenario. And if you not sure what an outbreak scenario is, you need watch Night of the Living Dead, and that will give you a general idea.

Most personnel in the organization were recruited after they had an experience with the supernatural…it is standard operating procedure for the organization to extend those who they rescue/help/come across an invitation to join the organization. This keeps the number of available agents high, and has the added bonus of cutting down on “vigilante monster hunters” who tend to not be as secretive or careful in their dealings with the “other side”.


As to the Mother of Hell, S.E.C.A. is firmly in on the side of protecting her.

Characters from S.E.C.A. will be skilled in firearms and other such weapons, but will tend to shy away from anything magical.


The Society: Perhaps the oldest known counter-supernatural organization on the planet, The Society has been fighting monsters and demons for well over a thousand years. Due to it’s age, the Society relies heavily on magic, as it has for centuries. This is not to say that the Society doesn’t use modern technology, but compared to many other organizations out there, it is definitely one that specializes in the use of magic to combat the supernatural. The Society is funded by its own members…many of which come from long lines of aristocracy and as such, have deep pockets.

The Society is one of the organizations trying to protect the Chosen.

Characters from The Society will tend to be magic users. See my description on magic for details.

The Wardens: The Wardens are not an organization as much as they are a group of free-lance monster hunters that share information. The Wardens are different from other such groups in that most of the players in this organization have some sort of special ability that make it easier for them to hunt demons (see the bio for Nat Jackson for an example). However, other than the occasional gathering to take down a large group of monsters, the Wardens are an organization in name only, not in practice. Each “member” is responsible for his own gear, and as such, there is a healthy mishmash of magic and technology.

The Wardens are deeply split on the matter of the Mother of Hell. Some members believe that it’s a myth, some believe that she should be protected, many are out to kill her. Because of this, the information network of the Wardens is currently in shambles, as the members don’t want to tip their hands to opposing factions.

Characters who are Wardens will be allowed to have a single special ability, at the price of not having as good of equipment as a character from S.E.C.A. and other such groups would have.


Religious Organizations: Many of the major religious organizations have an anti-monster task force, a la Section XIII and the Hellsing organization from the anime/manga Hellsing. For the sake of ease (and to avoid insulting anyone), I’ll just say that these organizations tend to favor technology over magic, but also have access to holy weapons that are not available to other organizations.

Their outlook on the Mother of Hell depends on the faction. Some are neutral, some for protecting her, others believe it is for the best that she dies.

You are free to make up your own religious organization if you wish…just avoid insulting other people’s religions, please.


The Sealers: Another ancient group, not as old or powerful as The Society, but definitely powerful. The Sealers are very much in favor of the term “shoot first and ask questions later” when it comes to dealing with the supernatural. Members of the Sealers are believed to be behind many historical witch hunts, including the infamous Salem Witch Trails. While they do get the job done, they tend to worry less about collateral damage than the other organizations.

Sealers often work with “vigilante” hunter groups, which gives them access to local expertise (and cheap cannon fodder) in many places. They use both magic and technology, but are not as skilled in it as the more exclusive groups (i.e., don’t have the gear of S.E.C.A. or the magical firepower of the Society, or the relics of the Religious Organizations).

The Sealers believe that allowing the Mother of Hell to live is to invite the destruction of mankind, and are actively hunting her.

Unless you can give me a really, really, really, really good reason, your character can’t be a Sealer. They’re just your token baddie group.

Vigilante Hunters: The small-time groups take are almost exclusively local organizations, lacking even the information sharing of the Wardens. These range from groups of concerned citizens who hunt to keep their families safe to rednecks looking for a good time to sadists who figured out its easier to get away with torturing things that aren’t human. Armed with the knowledge they’ve uncovered in old book or online, and armed with whatever they can afford, Vigilante Hunters are often seen as the grass roots of the battle against The Other Side...whether they are better or worst than the monsters they hunt depends on the person.

Chances are that the player characters won’t be Vigilante Hunters…most probably aren’t even aware of the prophesy of the Mother of Hell. However, if you can think up a good way from them to be including in the Protectors, I’ll allow you to be a Vigilante.

Magic

I’ve tried to develop this system for magic in the attempt to keep it from being “uber”, if you catch my drift. I’d like for magic and technology to basically be on the same level so that the people who decided they’d rather be a gunslinger than a mage don’t fell like their just there as meatshields.

Anyways…

For the purpose of this RP, magic will come in two classes:

Sigil Magic: This is also known as “lower magic”. Sigil magic is the simpler of the two classes of magic, as it uses a symbol to channel the power of the incantation to produced the desired effect. The obvious downside is, of course, that you need a sigil, not just the incantation, to produce the intended result. Sigils can be put on any medium, such as discs, cards, or even Post-It Notes (always the popular option for up and coming mages).

For sigil magic to work, the sigil has to be touching the intended target. Want to blow up a wall? Put a sigil on it. Want to throw a fireball?, well…that’s trickier. More often than not, for attacks like that, you throw the sigil right after you complete the spell, preferably before it turns into a fireball or what have you. This is one of the greatest limitations of sigil magic. However, the advantage to sigil magic is that you can affect several sigils with one incantation. For example, if you have three sigils in hand, you can use a single incantation to turn all three into fireballs.

Incantation Magic: Also known as “higher magic”. This is used by those who can cast magic without a sigil. It takes much more focus to be able to channel power with a sigil, but the upside is that you can cast it anywhere, anytime since you don’t have to take time to make the sigil, or need to have a sigil on hand. Not everyone is able to graduate to higher magic, and most people who can are members of The Society. The only limit to incantation magic is how fast the caster can speak. Also, unless the spell is specific for a multiple effect, only one reaction is produced per spell (for example, the incantation to throw a fireball would be different than the incantation to throw three).

The average incantation can be spoken in 2-3 seconds. More complex spells can require anywhere from 10 seconds to hours, depending on the desired result. Long term spells, such as a permanent ward of protection or whatnot, may require a sigil to serve as the focus for the spell, even if it is a higher level spell.

I won’t spell out what isn’t or is allow as far as magic goes…just remember to keep it under control…this isn’t an Avatar RP.

Sidenote: The combination of magic and technology:

Outside of a few basic things, magic and technology don’t really jive that well. One of the more popular combinations that do work is to add a magic effect to bullets. However, this tends to be outrageously expensive as each bullet must be individually crafted, and the incantation must be crafted to not go off until the bullet is fired, which is a labor intensive process. Your average magic bullet will cost hundreds of dollars, and is a single use item.

However, that is not the only use of combining magic and technology. If you have an idea that isn’t over the top, tell me about it, and I’ll dis/approve it on a case by case basis.

Demons

Why is the Mother of Hell so important in the first place?

Because, with things as they are, demons (or most divine beings, for that matter), cannot freely move between their realm (Hell), and the human realm (Earth, for those of you not paying attention). There are ways, but outside of the Gates of Hell being opened, it takes a rather drastic event for a demonic entity to appear on the mortal plane with it’s powers fully intact.


Least Demons (Possessing spirits): The least powerful demons on Earth are those who cannot manifest themselves in any way. They can control the mind of a human for a limited time, however. While possessed, the body of the human will feel no pain, and as such will continue on even if fatally damaged. However, once the possessing spirit is cast out, or leaves of it’s own free will, the host will bear the full brunt of any damage done to his body. The first skill that the majority of monster hunters learn is to shield their minds from possessing demons, so only the unskilled are in danger of being possessed.

Lesser Demon: Lesser demons are those demons powerful enough to manifest themselves on the mortal plane, but with greatly reduced power. Often summoned by Hell Cults, lesser demons are usually what monster hunters go up against. Though more powerful than humans, any human with the right knowledge and equipment is more than a match for a lesser demon.

Lesser Demon Subtype: Demonic Hybrid: In some cases, a lesser demon has been known to make a “pact” with a willing human. This allows the demon to use the body of the human to manifest itself, allow it to retain more of it’s power, more often than not at the price of the human’s life, for once the demon is manifests itself, the body is changed beyond repair. Demonic Hybrids are much more powerful than lesser demons since they require less of their power to remain manifest, since they draw on the lifeforce of their willing host. Hybrids are often more than a match for any single hunter.

Lesser Demon Subtype: Blood Summoned: One of the more horrific ways to summon demons is by the way of animal or human sacrifice. Depending on what was used, the demon will be more powerful (for example, a rat won’t grant too much more power, but a bull would increase it’s power quite a bit…and a human sacrifice even more). This is because the demon will use the matter of the sacrifice to manifest it’s new body. Not as powerful as the demonic hybrid, but still a threat compared to lesser demons summoned without a sacrifice.

Greater Demon: Only a handful of times in history has a greater demon been summoned successfully. To summon a greater demon, a blood ritual that requires the life of dozens, if not hundreds, of sacrifices must be performed. Due to the complexity of these rituals, they are extremely hard to plan, and even harder to keep secret. The various hunter organizations have kept the number of greater demons being summoned to a bare minimum…the last known case was in San Francisco in 1906. A number of “natural disasters” were in fact the aftermath of a greater demon being summoned. Once summoned, a greater demon is a terrible foe indeed. While not immortal, they can take an amazing amount of punishment, and have access to magic far beyond the abilities of humans. In every known case, the demon was destroyed soon after summoning, but always at a high cost in human lives. It should be noted that, even with the complex ritual, the greater demon retains only part of his true power.

Outcasts / Fallen : The most rare case for a demon to become manifest on the mortal plane is for it be an “outcast” demon or a “fallen” angel. Outcasts are demons who have broken free of the thrall of a demon lord and have escaped, one way or another from the dark realms and into the mortal plane. A fallen is an divine being who has been exiled from the high planes for high crimes against the order there. Only 3 confirmed cases of this kind of demonic entity appearing exist on the record of all the organizations. The most terrifying aspect of this that these being have access to their full power, since they are physically in this plane, not just manifesting from another dimension. The power of the demon depends varies, of course. Should the Gates of Hell be opened, all demonic entities would rate in this category, having full access to their power in the mortal realm.


::waves at the few people that made it::

Yeah, I know...I'm long winded when you give me a chance.

Now, for the part you've been waiting for, the Character Sheet Portion:


Character Name: Obvious, no?

Gender: Another category I hope is rather self-explanatory.

Age: Again, duh. Given the young age of the Chosen, a number of the protectors should be the same age so that someone is with her, even at school or whatever. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a high school kid if you don’t want to be.

Organization: What organization are you with. Feel free to use one of the ones I made up, or make up your own. If you make up your own, post a description of them. I retain my right as GM to veto, of course. If you want to be a vigilante, give me a good reason why you’re numbered with the Protectors.

Class: Are you a mage? A gunslinger? A priest who specializes in the use of anti-demonic relics? A Buddhist monk that can kick unholy amounts of can? You get the point.

Special Abilities: Also rather self-explanatory. If you must have a special ability, please try to limit yourself to one or two, and don’t go overboard with the power. I will veto anything I think is too uber…such as splitting planets with swords or whatever the heck it was Pyros and Raiden were talking about in the interest thread.

Bio: Ah…everyone loves a good character backstory…with the keyword on that part being good. :p.

Equipment/Belonging: If you’re a gunslinger, what the heck do you sling? If you’re a sigil mage, what are your sigils on? If you’re a relic user, what the heck is your relic? Stuff like that, along with any personal touches you want to throw in.


Armored Bishoujo: If you are still interested in playing the Mother of Hell, I'll need to send you an PM. For the sake of plot, I'll need a handful of things about that character to remain as I originally intended, so you won't have complete control over the creation of your character. If this is alright with you, I'll give you as much breathing space as I can, but, like I said, for the sake of plot, I need a few things to be pre-defined.