Magical Landry Sign-Up Part Deux - The Landrying!

[Teal Mage]

Alright, since I'm getting tired of this too, I'm going to start speeding up the process. Would like to get to the actual game soon – means that Club Levels (abilities learned at Amaranth) will be reduced for players, and time constraints will be added. If there is a serious issue with these deadlines, tell me as soon as possible. Not going to extend them too much, though.

Announcements regard Red, Aldurin, Zu and Rhiya.

Red:

Please write up a fully updated bio in the proper format and I'll approve Nasir as he is. Have it posted before I wake up Wednesday, Central, North-American time.

Quick run-through of your latest reply set:

Deny the Infidel activates when Nasir touches the script-covered stone necklace tied (please specify a general location - middle, top, bottom, etc) of his bone staff and invests Will into it. Healing Heart doesn't require the book, but I suppose if Nasir has a bad memory he can always look it up. Incantation and contact with the wounded area are the important parts. Power of Wind's talisman, a piece of cloth covered with dyed script, is fine. Only comment is dye fades over time. But I'll assume this is a fresh cloth.

Three clubs instead of four is fine. This bio's taken far too long to reach this point, so I'm just going to abort adding new spells on top of the five approved ones. For reference, Power of Wind, Staff-Fighting Mastery, Deny the Infidel, Warding off the Cold and Healing Heart are your starting set. Classifying him as a Magic-Leaning Hybrid. Race is Branded One (Demon). Aura is Amber (Yellow-Orange).

Ask questions if you have them, make sure the template's filled appropriately. As a warning, mess up on the template as you have in the past and I'll end the process – it isn't difficult to do this right.

Aldurin:

You have until Tuesday to submit an alternate club level for Naomi. If, after I wake up on Wednesday, I don't see anything other than the nausea suppression Modeshift, I'll assign that to Naomi as her club level. Likewise, if the spell submitted would require a lot of work on my part to fix (or I don't think it's appropriate), you'll also get the nausea suppression technique instead.

You'll have three days after that to submit a fully updated Naomi bio. Her aura, assuming the nausea suppression technique is selected, would be Teal (Blue-Green).

Zu:

First, for reference, is Cassie designed to be a Magic-focus or a Hybrid? She's in fencing, so I'm not certain which of the two you're aiming for.

Let's move onto the spells then. Primary impression is that she would probably be a better Witch than a Wizard, since that would explain why her parents didn't send her to Wizarding school better than that it was simply too strict. Additionally, a lot of spells require skin-to-skin contact, and Borrow Sight is easier to work via Old Magic than Wizardry (and Witches, for those who don't remember, usually combine Wizardry with one other discipline).

So, from what I understand, Borrow Sight is central to this character, conceptually. Mechanically speaking, the way this spell works isn't suited to Wizardry (which is very specific and controlled), as Wizardry spells don't typically have side-effects like the one outlined in this spell. Old Magic, if not properly refined, could suit this, though. As Old Magic, I believe the spell would create a mental link between Cassie and her victim through their nerves, allowing them to switch eyes, essentially. The thoughts which leak through are basically a symptom of a poorly isolated mental link (the spell places mental strain on Cassie and her victim, incidentially. Headaches are a common side-effect). Honestly, this is probably the only way Cassie could see like everyone else. Certainly, it would be the simplest.

I would suggest that Cassie developed this spell largely on her own (since an experienced magic-user could avoid the pit-fall of surface thoughts leaking out) – probably without her parent's knowledge or permission. Her first tries probably killed the animals she experimented on – made their heads explode, in fact. Luckily, she only got a few nose bleeds. This is the only spell that I'll allow her to get lucky with, for the record. Technically, the spell would also be getting into Masquerade breaking territory (especially for an untried Witch), which could explain why Cassie kept it secret.

Anyway, no other spells may be cast while this is active, and it would be Green Elemental – since it's her nerves that shape the spell.

Proximity sense is too big a range right now. Willing to allow it, but the range is only a little bigger than her arm's reach. To 'see' something, she essentially needs to be able touch it. Functionally, I think the best way to work this is to have her saturate the air around herself with her Will. Draining, but that's the price you pay for effectively 360 degrees of vision. Definitely a Modeshift. The Battle Precognition effect is…harder to work. Will require physical touch and a lens of some kind (I recommend Wizardry). The issue with Cassie is that she can't see, so any visions of the future she gets would be, well, without anything to see. Like, she could hear the future, or maybe feel it, or something, but not see it.

Danger Sense's main issue is that most Awakened spells can't trigger automatically. The best thing I can think of to simulate this would be to give Cassie a guardian spirit (bound to her or into an object by her parents) or an enchanted object of some kind (like a bell, for instance) could give her some warning when aggression is a directed at her, but at grade one, they wouldn't be able to give her a direction. I suppose a supplemental Intuition Surge could pick up the slack there and help her move as much as she'd need to.

Palm Reading is too adaptable right now, I think. You'll need more specific spells to make this work, unless this is supposed to just be a mental communication spell. But, I don't think that's quite what you're going for here. However, I admit to being entirely unsure of what this spell would primarily have been used for, so I can't really suggest ways to make it work. Will note that, without a lens to send the spell through, any mental communication would lack compulsions.

Not sure how necessary Summon: Cane is, but provided the spell is Wizardry based, should be fine (Summoning's harder for Old Mages). You'll need a lens of some kind for the Focus Boost spell, though I'd count this more as a curse than a buff.

Originally Posted by Zoological Uncertainty

Barbara Lane: Cassie's roommate and friend, and a first-year student at Amaranth. She's a spiritualist, and is often spacy and distracted, due to constantly listening to and sometimes conversing with spirits around her. This gives her trouble especially in Meditation and Home Ec clubs, where she sometimes ends up making messes and distracting other people, as well as appearing insane at times.

Been on the fence about this character for a bit. After some consideration, I think the best choice would be for me to reject her, and replace her with an existing NPC – Penelope Lega can be her roommate instead. Personalities are similar, though Penny's a Black, she's spacey enough to fill in for Barbara in most capacities. Their third roommate, Victoria Blake, recently transferred to England.

Penelope Lega: Sean's girlfriend, whom he met in the music room in the weeks before classes started. Penny is quite pretty, with rather thick blonde hair and wide blue eyes, but is also rather absentminded. Despite her somewhat ditzy nature, she is a very talented musician and singer, playing the harp in the school band. Unbeknownst to Sean or herself, she is a siren and a rare example of an unawakened demon.

Inability to distinguish between living person and spirit is a bit too weird for an Awakened character in this setting to be permitted anyway.

Incidentally, no deadlines are attached to this bio, yet.

Rhiya:

Alright, Emme just needs to have her spell(s) she developed in Amaranth solidified. In the interests of not drawing this out, I think the best thing to do here would be to select one of the two spells that was cut in the last iteration and say it was developed for the Home Ec. Club here. Probably will only allow one new spell, but if you can think of something really cool, we'll see.

No deadlines will be attached to your bio, yet.

If you can think of a different spell which would go better with Cultural, Meditation or Strolling, you can submit that instead, of course. To help, here are some descriptions of these clubs, as well as Home Economics.

Meditation: Directed by Shrine Maiden Cecilia Darrow, the older cousin of one Alex Darrow, Meditation is a club about learning to relax and become one with the universe. The first two months are primarily about teaching students to sit in one place for long periods of time, with a stress on breathing and relaxation techniques. Most of the more academic elements relate to anatomy (specifically, the respiratory system), but also brush on Far-East mysticism – mainly Buddhism, with bits of Daoism and Shintoism thrown in. The idea that everything is connected has also been stressed. Compared to other clubs, relatively light homework load. Meets daily for Meditation sessions, which gradually increase in length – currently set to an hour a day. Students may spend more time Meditating if they want higher grades on weekends.

Cultural: Formerly directed by Alphonse Davis (A.K.A. Shuyin), the Cultural club offers in-depth examinations of various world cultures (and their development over time), with the goal of allowing students to seamlessly blend into and understand different parts of the world. There's a lot of reading in this club – each unit features a thick textbook on the culture in question – and students must also be able to engage in simulated culture specific activities, while behaving and dressing appropriately. Speaking the native language may be done for extra-credit (and is the only way to get an A). First two months focus on Far-Eastern activities. Current Director is Marisa Tomoe – a Grey who's easier to talk to in any language other than English because of her penchant to use obscure words (she seems to know them all). Students are expected to attend once a day at pre-arranged times to participate in cultural activities – as the units progress, these will involve costumes and make-up.

Strolling: A mysterious club, apparently run out of a janitor's closet – which, unfortunately, changes locations every week (not always inside buildings – and sometimes on ceilings). Students must locate it each week in order to log the number of steps they've walked that day (students are sent pedometers for this purpose). The club itself rarely meets – instead, textbooks with reading assignments show up at the student's dorms. In the first two months, aside from these oddities, the reading material is similar to most athletics clubs, in that it instructs students on muscle groups and how to eat healthy. There is a surprising focus on pressure points and techniques which, in theory, would disable a would-be assailant, without weapons. The club doesn't seem to have a Director, and meets only for tests – once every two weeks.

Home Economics: Directed by an elderly French woman, referred to as Madame Dufort – or else – Home Economics teaches students how to run, maintain and live in a home. Initially, this club was a cooking club, with the requirement that students come to the club room – an underground mansion beneath the main cafeteria – and cook a meal to be graded on, each day at noon-hour. Though dishes began simple enough, within a week, it was expected that students would be able to make multiple-courses quickly and efficiently. Working in groups was permitted, and the reading material for the course included cook-books as well as a large textbook regarding the nutritional value of a wide variety of foods. Students are expected to memorize chunks of these each evening in advance of the next class. In the second month, the scope of the course broadened to house-work (timed), in addition to the original cooking focus, with chemistry texts joining the cooking ones. Extremely intensive. Working in a group is permitted.

In the interests of keeping things cohesive, I'm creating the Fashion club for clothing design, sewing, make-up and modeling. If that's more your speed, please feel free to change it. Home Economics only handles minor alterations and mending.

And in-conclusion! I'd just like to remind you all that Amaranth is just a normal school.

[Zoological Uncertainty]

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Zu:

First, for reference, is Cassie designed to be a Magic-focus or a Hybrid? She's in fencing, so I'm not certain which of the two you're aiming for.

Well, looking at her spells and how I'd like her to develop, I'd say she's a Hybrid, but balanced more toward magic.

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Let's move onto the spells then. Primary impression is that she would probably be a better Witch than a Wizard, since that would explain why her parents didn't send her to Wizarding school better than that it was simply too strict. Additionally, a lot of spells require skin-to-skin contact, and Borrow Sight is easier to work via Old Magic than Wizardry (and Witches, for those who don't remember, usually combine Wizardry with one other discipline).

That sounds more appropriate. I'll just replace every instance of "Wizard" in her sheet with "Witch".

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Been on the fence about this character for a bit. After some consideration, I think the best choice would be for me to reject her, and replace her with an existing NPC – Penelope Lega can be her roommate instead. Personalities are similar, though Penny's a Black, she's spacey enough to fill in for Barbara in most capacities. Their third roommate, Victoria Blake, recently transferred to England.

Inability to distinguish between living person and spirit is a bit too weird for an Awakened character in this setting to be permitted anyway.

Incidentally, no deadlines are attached to this bio, yet.

Alright. Penny should be fine. No complaints from me or Cassie.

You've already answered my questions about everything else on the pad, so here's Cassie's updated sheet.

Name: Cassandra "Cassie" Hayden
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Aura: You can try to guess at your Aura color - but its probably best to leave this section to me. Its the sum of all your spell hues.
Age: 18
Appearance: 5'2'', average build, wavy pale blonde hair reaches halfway down her back, dusty blue eyes and caucasian. Her clothing is nothing special, usually jeans and a blouse. Except she always mismatches colors or wears odd outfits based on what's comfortable and not on what looks good. She wears sunglasses over her eyes when she goes out, a simple silver necklace around her neck (a gift from her parents) and carries a foldable white cane.

Spells:

Borrow Sight, Grade 1, Green Elemental
With this spell, Cassie can transfer her sight with someone else's. This is limited solely to body functions related to eyesight. She can open and close the other person's eyelids and move their eyes and see what they see, and the victim can do the same with her eyes (for all that's worth). While active, Cassie and the victim can hear each other's surface thoughts. This spell requires direct, skin-on-skin physical contact to activate, and ends when that contact is broken or Cassie consciously turns it off. Headaches are a common side effect of this spell.

Danger Sense, Grade 1, ? Elemental
When something intends to do direct harm to Cassie, a guardian spirit her parents tied to a silver necklace fills her with a sense of wrongness, alerting her to a threat.

Intuition Surge, Grade 1, ? Elemental
When this spell is activated, Cassie reacts appropriately to something that's about to happen. She doesn't necessarily need to know what's going to happen, as long as she knows something is.

Weapon Reinforcement, Grade 1, ? Elemental
Cassie can infuse her Will into a weapon she's holding, making it tougher and more rigid, and therefore less likely to bend or break.

Calming Aura, Grade 1, ? Elemental
Clearing her mind and calming her emotions, Cassie radiates the same serene feeling to those around her, up to a distance of about twice her arm's length.

Tracking Enchantment, Compound Spell, ? Elemental
With a few seconds of concentration, Cassie can enchant an object so that, when placed on something or someone, she'll know which direction they're in. The object also counts as if Cassie were physically touching the thing it's placed on.

Bio:
Cassie was born premature, and suffers from Retinopathy of Prematurity, a severe case which resulted in her being completely blind. Cassie's parents, both members of the Witch's Guild, were somewhat overprotective of their daughter because of this. Her mother, a school teacher, got jobs at Cassie's school so she could keep an eye on her daughter. Though Cassie understood their concern, she harbored some resentment and wished she could see. Still, her parents didn't keep her sheltered, and Cassie led as full a life as she could.

Her parents awakened her at thirteen, and helped her develop her spells to make living with her blindness easier. They trained her for years, partly out of overprotectiveness, so she could go to Amaranth. Though Cassie's parents didn't stop her from going to public school and having a social life, her parents still worried about her magic and how she handled her blidness. Though Cassie loves them, she rebelled by against both her parents and her condition by fully embracing her social life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, Cassie became more and more obsessed with sight after the first incident, and developed a fairly active sex life with ulterior motives, telling her parents she was sleeping over with a friend. After her partners fell asleep, she would borrow their sight and just stare through their eyes all night. Most of them woudln't hook up with her again, due to weird dreams that creeped them out. Cassie finally enrolled in Amaranth when she turned eighteen.

Clubs:
Home Ec
Meditation
Strolling
Fencing (Saber)

Notes:
- Reads braille, contracted braille, and grade 3 braille.
- Weapon proficiency: Saber.
- Improvised weapon proficiency: Cassie's learned to wield her cane like a saber if the need arises, with a modified technique to compensate for the fact that it's not a bladed weapon.
- Information on her condition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinopathy_of_prematurity

Relationships:
Timothy Hayden: Cassie's father, a member of the Witch's Guild, who works as a real estate agent, and was a fencing champion in his youth. He still sees his daughter as a helpless little girl, much to her chagrin, though he tries to avoid that sort of thinking and let her take care of herself.

Jennie Hayden: Cassie's mother, also a member of the Witch's Guild. She's a school teacher, and would take jobs at Cassie's schools, teaching Cassie's classes if she could, to keep an eye on her daughter. She shares her husband's views about Cassie.

Nate Adams: one of Cassie's friends, who attends his first year at Amaranth. A younger boy who has a hopeless crush on her. Cassie's aware, but doesn't return his affections and simply considers him a friend. He's a Black, and is in Fencing Club with her. He's something of a child prodigy, being younger than the usual admittance age in Amaranth and having good marks in all his classes.

Penelope Lega: Sean's girlfriend and Cassie's roomate. Penny is quite pretty, with rather thick blonde hair and wide blue eyes, but is also rather absentminded. Despite her somewhat ditzy nature, she is a very talented musician and singer, playing the harp in the school band. Unbeknownst to Sean or herself, she is a siren and a rare example of an unawakened demon.

Daniel Hicks: Another first-year student, one of the best students in Fencing Club, and kind of a jerk. He has no problem teasing blind girls, but Cassie doesn't really care about him.

[Red Mage Black]

Name: Nasir Alfarsi
Race: Branded One (Demon)
Gender: Male
Aura: Amber (Yellow-Orange)
Age: 18 [18]
Appearance: 6'1"(182.5cm or 1.83m), shoulder length black hair, dark skin, eyes that are gold during the day and silver at night, tattoo under his right eye(Mark of The Wanderer, not an actual tattoo, but might look like one to people who don't know what it actually is). Wears his desert/religious clothing, which includes the light billowy clothing all in varying desert hues which include sand and how it appears during the day and the night, a white cloak with a hood, a carved stone mask that bears a design of the Wanderer's Mark(painted on) and is kept strapped to the hood of his cloak when not in use and last but not least, the sandals on his feet.

Spells:

Power of Wind, Orange Elemental
On his left hand, Nasir wears a cloth with script written in the palm with dye. By clenching his fist and using his will to activate the script, he can deliver a palm strike that sends a small burst of gale force wind into the opponent, causing them to stagger.

Staff-Fighting Mastery, Orange Elemental
With spell script carved down the middle of the staff, Nasir can supplement his staff strikes with small bursts of wind by investing a small amount of will before each strike. At least one hand must be in contact with the script for it to activate.

Deny the Infidel, Orange Elemental
By touching the stone necklace looped through the top of the staff and feeding it will, Nasir creates repelling force around his body to cushion oncoming physical blows. The unfortunate side effect from this is the fact it also repels the air around him, suffocating him until he loses concentration or stops feeding will to the necklace. It also costs more to keep it going as long the barrier keeps opposing blows.

Warding off the Cold, Yellow Elemental
By touching The Wanderer's Brand on his cheek and expending will, Nasir creates a bubble of warm air around himself that pushes away cold air.

Healing Heart, Green Elemental
By touching the wounded area and reciting the Prayer of Healing written down in his prayer book, Nasir can heal very minor wounds.

Background:
From the young age of 6, Nasir's life was filled with religious teachings. This included the origin of their tribe, those they fled and the evils of the city-dwellers. The Wanderer was not the only deity he came to learn about, but many others and which families were dedicated to them. At the age of 12, he was starting to be groomed for his place as a warrior priest, to help protect the tribe where others could not. During this period of time, he was not only taught martial combat, but also about magic. With no hinderance from any organized body of people, this was not a problem. It encompassed fighting with not just his walking stick, but taking advantage of inclement weather.

Four years of grueling desert travel and harsh training, he finally came to bear the mark of his family's dedicated deity. The circumstances behind The Wanderer's choice of chosen were baffling at best, but there was still more to come. As he still hadn't completed training, he had some skill to be noted. His finer manipulation of the wind and his ability to call lightning from a clear sky. Spells inherited from his own blood. Lesser abilities were confirmed to be the minor ability to heal, a very useful ability on a battlefield and the ability to harden his body against attacks on his person. Despite the fact The Wanderer only takes one priest every lifetime and constantly putting himself on the battlefield would be a danger, Nasir continued his training regardless.

It happened all at once. In a dream, The Wanderer walked to him over an oasis lit silver by the hanging moon. While honored by the presence of his worshiped deity, The Wanderer spoke to him. "You must go to this place," they said, showing him a vision of Amaranth, "But first..." The Wanderer told him, showing him people he had never seen before, "You must meet these people. They are from an organization called 'The Witch's Guild'. They will teach you new things and how to speak the language of the natives in your final destination. The other figures vanished, leaving one behind. "This is the first one you will meet. Go to her. She will understand you and point you in the right direction. Once this has been done, I will show you to your next destination. Your fellow priests will understand this journey. Leave by sunrise and you will reach your first destination in two weeks. Take only what you need for the first part of this journey."

With all this information, Nasir's head was almost spinning. To leave his tribe and go out into the world. One which he had never seen before, but how could he question the orders of his deity. As The Wanderer had ordered, Nasir set off at sunrise, taking a couple waterskins, jerky, bread, his religious clothing/tools which was his priest mask and walking stick and changes of clothing with him on his journey.

On his way on the path that had been laid out, the Witch's Guild members had been as helpful as they could be, giving him extra food, something to drink, washing his clothing and even help getting across the ocean. He had taken cargo freighters from one country to the next, where the others The Wanderer told him about would take him. With his skill, he would help prevent storms from overcoming the freighters, using advice from the guild members not to use magic around the workers.

The last leg of his journey rested when a freighter stopped in Alaska. While cold weather was no longer a mystery to Nasir, he insisted upon learning one last spell from his deity's repetoir of elements, fire. Meeting the last Witch's Guild member was easy enough. They secured not only an ID, but also a passport to get him through the border into Canada. Then for days and nights, he trekked through the Alaskan wilderness and finally found his way in. His ignition spell to light wood was incredibly helpful for surviving the freezing nights.

Upon passing into Canada, that night, Nasir had one last vision from The Wanderer. He was shown his direct route to Amaranth, including to the building he needed to go to. 2 years of journey finally see him to his destination. Even the school was oddly accepting and the English lessons along the way had paid off.

Clubs:

• Meditation
• Strolling
• Wilderness

Notes:

• The staff he uses is made of bone and covered in his tribe's spell script.
  
• Stone necklace with spell script is tied in a loop around the top of the staff.
  
• The cloth with the spell script written in dye needs to be rewritten when the dye fades or cloth wears out. Spell script noted in his prayer book on a note page in the back of the book so he can rewrite it himself.
  
• Prayer Book contains the words for his healing spell in case he forgets, as well as many mundane prayers meant to be said at different times of the day.
  
• The Wanderer's Brand is on his right cheek under his eye and looks like this.

Relationships:

Veehr Jawab: Roughly translated as the Wanderer, Veehr Jawab is a deity of Chaos, associated with fire, wind, spirit, travel and movement. The Wanderer is a god of the desert and patron of Nasir's tribe, who calls all to abandon the corrupt and weak lifestyle of the city dwellers, and return to the old and pure nomadic ways. The Wanderer has no temple, and only one priest - the one who bears their brand. Despising kings, the Wanderer's Brand passes without regard for blood to the most worthy - age and gender are irrelevant. It is said that the Wanderer walks through time and witnesses the deeds we will do, when selecting the mortal who shall bear the Brand as its voice. If the bearer of the Brand seeks to abuse its power, the Brand shall pass from them - and they will be cast out; if the Wanderer does not slay them personally. The Wanderer appears as a masked and veiled figure, clad in a cloak of shifting desert hues. As a god of Chaos, the gender, height, clothes, skin tone and build of the Wanderer shifts without warning - it is rarely the same twice. Only its eyes are predictable - gold in the day, silver at night.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Cleaning up the Bio a little bit more. I think this is the final(ish) product I hope! Added the hopeful Club-level skill (Perception Surge).

Name: Emme Horton
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Aura: Yellow
Age: 18
Appearance:
Emme stands an unassuming height of 5’5”, with long, straight brown hair that is normally fixed up into a neat, braided bun. Her features are cute, but easily overlooked due to a humble posture she continuously affects. The only remarkable feature about her is her vivid emerald eyes, which sometimes almost burn (non-magically, of course) with unstoppable determination. Emme dresses conservatively, in dull colours that aim at preventing her from standing out too much. Despite some practicality issues, Emme prefers long skirts over pants, but has an array of both.

Spells:
Illusion – Inconspicuous Maid (Lavender Elemental) – Small will-drain, very subtle. As a maid, Emme is taught to go about her job as inconspicuously as possible, and this spell allows her to blend (not exactly invisibility) into the background like a wallflower. In order for the spell to work, Emme must wear dull/dark and boring clothing and make no sudden threatening or aggresive movements. Inconspicuous Maid is a specifically non-combat spell, used prior to avoidable confrontations.

Mode-Shift – Quiet Determination (Yellow Elemental) – When a task really needs to get done, Emme may infuse her body with Will to get it done. A more combat oriented spell, Quiet Determination boosts her physical capabilities, giving her a slightly better edge in a fight. Pretty useless when it comes to more finer manipulation of tools and other such things.

Flash Move - Where a Maid’s Needed (Blue Elemental) – A maid must be where she is needed! Functions exactly like Flash Move.

Infusion – Broomstick Defence (Orange Elemental) – Emme is trained to defend her Master/Mistress equivalent to a bodyguard. As such, she must be able to fight with whatever she has on hand – normally cleaning equipment, or other such Household items. Emme is able to extend her Will into whatever she holds to harden its properties so that it becomes more resistant and longer-lasting in a fight. Right now, her speciality is hardening the properties of long-handled wooden utensils such as brooms, staves and mops, though she is able to accommodate for similar wooden-shaped objects (objects that aren't wooden or have significant size/shape differences are harder to infuse/freecast upon). Emme must maintain constant contact with the infused weapon in question for the spell to work.

Perception Modeshift - A Master's Needs (Yellow Elemental) - A Maid must anticipate her Master's and any guest's needs! With this surge, Emme is able to provide herself more clarity and insight into the body language of others. While activated, Emme is able to read - and to a degree - anticipate what another individual is about to do. In Maid service, this may mean getting the guest another cup of tea. Combat-wise, this spell is better used to analyse combat (and a combatant’s fighting style) without her involvement.

Perception Surge - Snapshot Clarity (Yellow Elemental) - A club-level spell that is an offshoot of Emme's original perception modeshift. Emme found it useful to gain a brief, but greater clarity in a mere moment during her strolling and Home Ec club activities. A lot more physical strain exerted on her eyes, Emme is able to activate this spell to gain a snapshot of what she's viewing in superb clarity and detail. Great for picking out visual detail in an environment or the briefest moments' worth of visual clarity, but both heavy in will drain and physical strain on her eyes (Plus the migraines it gives when she uses it too frequently are intense, as well as blurred vision after multiple uses)

Bio:

Emme Horton is the daughter of a Guardian of the House - in particular, that of an Elite head Maid who acts as both bodyguard and Household overseer to a well-established E.S.A. official. She followed in her mother’s footsteps and was in training to succeed the position of Head Maid in the same official’s household upon her mother’s retirement. From an early age she applied herself in all she needed to know about in regards to the mundane tasks of Maidship. Simultaneously, her mother was the leading figure in training her other skills - including combat and magical practices.

One of the final training courses in order to become a fully-fledged Guardian of the House member, all applicants must enrol and spend a minimum of one to two years at the Amaranth Institute for the Gifted. One further year may be allowed, should a maid show potential after surviving the two. Candidates that have completed their studies at Amaranth are then allowed to fully complete their training and step into their employment confidentally.

As such, Emme’s time has come for her final trials.

Clubs:
Home ec
Strolling
Cultural
Meditation

Notes:

The Guardians of the House - Comprised of two partnership organizations (Male and female respectively), the Guardians of the House manages the complex networking of the highest quality bodyguards (and household maintenance) among the ESA and the Wizards and Witches guilds. They are an almost completely neutral organization (though they loosely hold a Seat in the ESA) whose sole purpose is to function as a 'defensive' mechanism for the more powerful officials and their families. The leaders of the Guardians is an even group of retirees from both male and female counterparts, who have the final say in all matters to deal with any individuals from the organisation. With that said, a lot of the Codes of Conducts, as well as strict policies are heavily policed among the individuals themselves, leaving only the greyer matters to the 'governing council'. The Guardians are a mainly neutral organization, where loyalty lies only to the House they are managing, and to the Guardian's governing body.

When managing the finer parts of the organization, GoH can be split into two distinct groups - the Elite Maids Sisterhood, and the Brethren of Butlers.

Elite Maids Sisterhood - Part of the Guardians of the House. The Sisterhood specializes in training prized bodyguards for the higher members of any organization - extending from the ESA Households, to even the Witches and Wizards. They are also simultaneously highly trained individuals very capable in other mundane fields (ie: running and managing a Household fully independent to the head of the House). Emme is currently an unofficial Elite Maid.

Improvised Weaponry Proficiency - Emme is trained in the use (or abuse) of utilizing whatever she has at hand in a Household as a weapon should the need arise. While this means she can actually use whatever she has on hand, she's best with the broomstick and mop, see below.

Quarterstaff Proficiency – Emme is trained in the use of quarterstaffs and bo-staffs, due to their similarity with the most common of household equipment such as the broom and mop. However, she’s a lot better at using household equipment like a broom or mop.

Language Proficiency – Emme is multilingual. Aside from the normal English, she is is completely fluent in Russian, Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic, English, and is currently also studying french (speaking and writing is slightly broken, but she is a fast learner in that respect)

Relationships:

Anna Horton – Head Maid in the employ of one of the more elite Houses of an Esteemed E.S.A organization. Emme’s loving mother, mentor, trainer. Husband deceased. Anna greatly influenced Emme’s own personal decision from a very early age to aspire to become what her mother was – a greatly respected Elite Maid at the top of her employment. In between Anna’s busy schedule as Head Maid running the Master’s house, and Emme’s own training, they still manage to take some time out to call each other over phone or the internet to chat and catch up. Anna plays mentor and loved mother to her daughter, but is not one to ‘clean up’, pun not intended, what mess Emme gets herself into, holding to the idea her daughter is old enough to handle whatever is thrown at her already

Catherine Flemington – Fellow first year student and apprentice witch with a penchant for enchantments. 17 years old, bright, bubbly, flamboyant, and Emme’s best friend since childhood, they share a dorm room with each other, as well as a less-pleasant girl Verna. Catherine is one of Emme’s continuous assessment tasks in her Maid training – a task that had to be modified slightly due to school restrictions, but nonetheless Emme compensates for it quite well. Catherine is the typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed pretty face, and always very enthusiastic about everything. She shares Emme’s determination in her studies, and has also signed up for the Cheerleading Club.

Jennifer Nikolai – Fellow first year student, actually friend of Catherine Flemington, but also knows Emme by proxy. She’s very private and conservative. Secretly, she admires Emme’s efficiency and dedication to her tasks. She’s a proficient martial weapons apprentice, and interested as well in the crafting of the same sort. Jennifer is brown-haired, brown eyed, with a lean build. She shares the cultural club with Emme. They have a friendly – yet competitive – rivalry going on between them. Jenn is a Black.

Verna Lehy – Fellow first year student and Emme’s roommate. Awakened Pyrokinetic. Verna is a bit of a bully, bossy, loud, and an attention-getter. When she found out her roommate was to be an Elite Maid in training, Verna took every opportunity to take advantage of Emme’s hard working abilities, from dumping piles of dirty laundry on Emme’s bed to be washed, to leaving books, clothes, and food scraps everywhere for Emme to clean up. It irritates Verna to no end that Emme takes to her new cleaning tasks without a single word of complaint or deathly glare, rather handling everything in simple humility. She is very pretty, with a mane of beautiful fiery red hair, almond-shaped eyes with red pupils, and just the right amount of freckling sprinkled across her pale cheeks.

[Aldurin]

Here's the new spells plus the revision of Electronic Override. I was unsure about whether or not you actually cut down how many upgrade spells I can have, so if it's just one spell then you don't need to bother about EM Vision.

Deactivate Device, Blue Elemental:
Naomi has learned to be able to use magic to turn off simple electronic devices without needing access to the key/lever/switch. Requires physical contact with the device in question and some focus.

Activate Device, Blue Elemental:
Naomi's counterpart spell to Deactivate Device, functioning exactly the same except that it turns on the device instead of turning it off.

Discomfort Resistance (Nausea), Yellow Elemental:
In attempt to help her deal with her problems with the Veterinary club, Naomi has developed a spell during Fitness that dulls nausea. This allows her to focus better on the task at hand, and withstand a specific type of mitigating influence on her mind. Will drains faster the stronger the suppressed effect is. This is a Modeshift.

EM Vision, Yellow Elemental:
Developed during her time in Computer Club, Naomi developed a modeshift that allows her to see electromagnetic fields (detectable from anything with an electrical charge, from circuits to people). Detected fields make a white glow around the object, based on the strength of the charge (thus animals and humans would probably be very dim) while non-charged objects appear as black (maybe remove her ability to see auras during this?).

Justification to answer your on-pad question as to why she would learn this: As a harmless spell that would allow her to more easily find electronic devices/wiring for finding stuff or for feeding her technological interest (so that's the way they wired the lighting . . .) etc. Meant to work well in conjunction with Activate/Deactivate Devices spells.

[Lillium]

http://www.nuklearforums.com/showpos...9&postcount=56
^ Editing original post for actual changes.

I have several comments on things that go here though!

First off, most of anything wrong is not a misinterpretation, it is misinformation. I initially wrote the character with the first primer, and certain details are either lacking or reversed in the post.

I have absolutely no intent to move the first bit of her backstory from her to the blurb about her parents. Who and what your parents are during your formative years defines almost everything about your early life, from how well you ate/bathed/dressed to your speech patterns to your early life aspirations. Even though this section describes her parents a bit more, it directly translates into who she is and where she's come from.

If her father had interest to study dangerous magical things, he still lacks the time. Despite unstable work, he does in fact work constant overtime. An unfortunate byproduct of trying to support a family. I mentioned he has worked out a couple of the most simple defenses possible (and can keep shiny shoes, despite not having time to care for and shine them), but more is simply something he can't do.
Her mother is intentionally a mystery. What exactly she does is up to you, for better or (more likely) worse. Most DMs jump on these opportunities with evil glee. >.>
What Robyn and her mother are capable of is a direct result of what they have learned. While they (and her father, and the rest of humanity) have the potential to learn more, they have not. Thus, this is what they can do.

The Hindi bit. Its not a big deal, except that Beth is paranoid. The point isn't that they don't know that Robyn's never learned it. The point is that if someone went digging they could find out she's never learned it, and questions would be raised. When magic is Secret from general society... Well. Robyn is reckless and her mother is paranoid.
School doesn't care about anything of this sort, at least not in a "complaint" sort of way. If most things she's done were to come up, it would be a conversation along the lines of "Kids to the darnedest things".

Psychics are not a race, nor even a subrace, IRL or standard fiction. Unless you've done something with them...

[Teal Mage]

Let's begin.

Zu:

The last paragraph of your backstory - the first sentence, mostly - is still an issue. It mentions a 'first incidence' wherein her Borrow Sight spell would have activated, presumably accidentally. In the current iteration of her bio, Borrow Sight is an Awakened technique she taught herself (as I mentioned, its also very likely the only way she could see like everyone else), not something that accidentally activated one day. You'll either need to expand on the circumstances of that incident, or remove the reference entirely - your call.

Moving on, the latest iteration of your spells.

Tweak for Borrow Sight - the spell's one-way. It only allows Cassie to overshadow/possess her target's eyes and the cognitive faculties related to it - they're cut off from sight. On some reflection, I'm a little bit uneasy about Cassie being able to hear their surface thoughts (mechanical concern) - especially since the spell itself is probably something she's played with a lot. Granted, developing it would have been extremely difficult for her, but is there a reason she wouldn't try to refine it further to block those thoughts out/keep her thoughts to herself?

Additional revision: Dark Green Elemental (reference to the poor control) and Cassie can't control her body well while using this technique - its not-quite Astral Projection/Spirit Casting, but its close. Its definitely an out-of-body experience.

I'm gonna say Danger Sense is Red-Orange (2 Red to 1 Orange) - the necklace's chain needs to be worn by Cassie for the effect to work. Small Will drain when active, the Guardian Spirit is technically the spirit of the necklace (so, not sealed - it was given a limited Awakening). Fine otherwise. Intuition Surge has a fair Will and physical energy drain - it'll tire her easily. Yellow Elemental. Beyond that, works. Weapon Reinforcement is fine - see Emme's spell for details. Won't work well on objects that aren't somewhat stiff to start with (feathers, for instance). Orange Elemental, low drain. The spell's designed to work with her cane, ideally, correct? Other objects count as free-casts - the more similar to her cane, the easier they are. I admit though, I question the wisdom of this technique - in a serious battle, a reinforced cane would help her very little.

Because of the added difficulty of her Borrow Sight spell, I'm gonna say the above four are the extent of her Pre-Amaranth abilities - though strictly speaking, she might have had the building blocks for any other spells she picked up before as well.

Calming Aura, being a AoE, has only a mild effect. Drain isn't large though. Cassie can't predict how people will respond to this. The magical emotional manipulation doesn't extend beyond the aura's range (not a curse) and is relatively obvious to the Awakened (makes her aura flare - the sensitive will notice it more readily as a faint aura-mist). Green Elemental. If Cassie's emotions aren't calm, it won't work. Fits the Meditation club well enough that I'm going to count it as a Club-Level.

Tracking Enchantment on the other hand isn't going to fly as is. Enchantments are hard - and this one has a reasonably complicated mental augmentation effect involved (has to build a new sixth sense into her mind when it activates, linking her to the object). Definitely not a few seconds of concentration material - nor is it gonna be cheap. Just tells her the direction of the object, not the distance, and the 'counts as physical contact' thing is right out. When she gets more real combat experience, I might be willing to allow it. 'til then, no.

Also going to require a default object for this to be listed in the bio - presently, she can only definitely maintain one of these enchantments at a time. Also going to recommend using Wizardry for the enchantment itself, since it would be the 'easiest' route. Old Magic could also do it, but it would take much longer and would have very specific requirements attached to the object its laid on. Works plenty well as a Strolling club spell.

Anyway, I'll make some comments about Clubs at this point. Meditation and Strolling should be fine, more or less, for her. Might need a partner for Strolling when looking for the door or wandering the Campus, but I think she could manage passably in both. Fencing on the other hand is going to be incredibly hard for her. Like, it won't even be funny how hard this'll be for her. She'll absolutely need a spell to even manage an average performance here. Home Economics will also be extremely hard - possibly impossible, when it comes to test-time. It may be workable with magic or a partner, but she'd be stuck at low grades if her partner did most of her work.

...it would be my assessment, in summary, that you'll need to prioritize your club-spells extremely carefully. Meditation's basically the only thing she won't need magical assistance in, while Fencing she definitely will. Strolling may be workable without spells, but she'll need a partner all the time. Home Ec...well, she can try it, but I think she'd ultimately have to drop it, or deal with a low grade, if you can't think of a spell to make it possible. Even with one, I think she'll have trouble.

Red:

...alright, Red? I have a few concerns about approving your character. At this point, I have no particular issue with Nasir himself - he does seem a little one note (he's the Priest of the Wanderer - his interests include contemplative, priestly, meditation, walking and...possibly being in the Wilderness?) but that is what character development is for (you should thank Steel for negotiating on Nasir's behalf here), so I won't reject him on this basis. I am anticipating that you'll correct this in-game, one way or another, though.

That said, I do have some concerns with you - or rather, the way you seem to have interpreted the Power of Wind spell. I reviewed my last post, and as I thought, I didn't say anything about the spell requiring a punch. The technique activates immediately after Nasir puts Will into the talisman and causes the air in front of his body to erupt in a very short-range (roughly the length of his arm) blast of gale-force wind (blowing away from him) for a second or two. For some reason, you added a punch to this.

Really, there are a couple issues here. First, this isn't the first time you've seriously misinterpreted something I've said. Second, that you don't think adding a punch to this spell would compromise its value as a defense-minded spell for a character who, as a mage-leaning hybrid, should not be in melee in the first place makes me think you're far underestimating how brutal the game will be. Put another way: Nasir would never be able to punch quick enough to use this spell against a melee attacker.

This isn't to say this version of the spell doesn't have a potential use, by the way! Its just not going to do what the original spell I proposed would. You can keep it, if its your preference, or change it to the one I described above. Your call.

Anyway, normally, these concerns would be sufficient for me to drop you from the game - however, given the number of players I'm gaining ought to be manageable and the amount of work you've put into Nasir, I will overlook it this time. But, if he dies quickly or stupidly (something that doesn't seem like a remote possibility, to me), or your performance in-game proves to be particularly poor (for instance, if you continue to misinterpret my posts), I'll end up dropping you. Won't hold your hand for the game either, as a note, so don't expect me to always answer questions. Some degree of reading comprehension is required.

Understand? Make your choice about Power of Wind and answer that, and I'll probably approve you.

Rhiya:

Alright, looks good! I will reiterate a statement I just made to Zu, as a note, though. Broomstick Defense does work on any object (in theory), but it does need a designated object (a wooden broom, for instance) that it works best with. Other objects count as free-casts of varying difficulties, depending on their similarity to the designated object. Emme's training probably makes her pretty good at this, but free-casting still requires a little focus and can't be done reflexively. Too different an object will make this a mode-shift/might fail when her concentration breaks.

For best result, use the same material as the designated object (wood in the example given). She'll get better at this as the game progresses, if she practices this spell frequently.

So, which object to you want her to specialize in? Sorry about waffling on this one – I do constantly rebalance to catch bad calls I make, as a note.

Other note...she's in Professor Leanne Silverstein's Q-10 class at the moment. Been there for the past two months - I'll have a class-list for you before the game begins. Professor Silverstein took over for Professor Shuyin on the second day of classes (Emme probably met him) and is Half-Awakened.

Anyway, Emme's approved.

Oh, did I ask what kind of priorities she has for her four clubs? If not, tell me so I can put her grades up in her Wiki-bio, if so, point me to the post where you do that.

Al:

Activate Device, Deactivate Device and Discomfort Resistance are approved. Her aura’s Teal (Blue-Green).

Since your last bio just needs you to add these three spells to be up to date, I'll just approve you here. Naomi's officially in-game! She's in Leanne Silverstein's Q-10 class, with Emme. They may be friends!

Lillium:

…so, Lillium, do you want to play this game? Seriously, if Steel hadn't vouched for you, after reading your last update, we'd be done here. Your last post is extremely condescending and contains several implied insults aimed at me. As far as I can see, you want me to expel you. If that's not the case, lose the attitude and apologize, or I'll be happy to say 'see ya!' and kick you.

There are a lot of problems with your character, and if you want in the game, you'll need to take my direction and criticism, not try to argue out of it or insult me. If you're willing, I will warn you - I won't hold back, so be prepared for harsh reviews.

Originally Posted by Lillium

First off, most of anything wrong is not a misinterpretation, it is misinformation. I initially wrote the character with the first primer, and certain details are either lacking or reversed in the post.

Reading the current Primer at the start of this thread isn't optional. You have to read it. Go do it. In fact, read the entire thread. There small details I missed in the new Primer you might pick up by reading the other bios and seeing where other players made mistakes. It'll make this process easier for all of us.

Originally Posted by Lillium

Psychics are not a race, nor even a subrace, IRL or standard fiction. Unless you've done something with them...

This isn't real life, nor standard fiction. Its a custom-made setting, which does not follow some standard conventions. If you don't accept that quickly, this will be a very difficult process. Psychics, as it happens, are Non-Humans (usually raised in Human Society). See the Primer for details on what that means.

[Lillium]

I retract my character and any interest from this. I should have done that after your last post and particularly after your attitude and what you said on AIM.

The real problem here is a private matter between you, Steel, and me, and its easier if I just walk away.

[Arhra]

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

This isn't real life, nor standard fiction. Its a custom-made setting, which does not follow some standard conventions. If you don't accept that quickly, this will be a very difficult process. Psychics, as it happens, are Non-Humans (usually raised in Human Society). See the Primer for details on what that means.

Hang on, I think I need to say something since it's been bugging me.

This is a nonstandard setting so you can't expect players to know things that aren't in the primer. Such as whether there are psychics and what they are. In the absence of information, players will create something as a proposal for how they work in the setting, as it appears to be a currently undefined area.

You can't expect people to read your mind. Things will always be less clear cut than the GM thinks they are. Misunderstandings happen. There wouldn't be a need for questions and revisions and clarifications if that wasn't true.

[Teal Mage]

My response to that comment was largely in regard to the tone, not the content. I'm aware that I've made omissions in the Primer, and if one of those omissions is important, I'm perfectly happy to answer a question - but the question's phrasing suggested something entirely different than "this isn't in the Primer, so could you expand on it?"

It suggested that "Psychics are never a race and I'm sure this setting doesn't use them as one - because no other normal setting does." Honestly, I wasn't even sure she was asking a question there (the question mark is a wonderfully helpful punction). That aside, it was decidely impolite in phrasing.

So, that said, yes, questions are fine - even encouraged. Phil was asking questions when he was here, as you may recall, and I did answer them. I just want to make sure players read the Primer first before they ask, and be polite when they ask. I don't think those are outrageous requests?