Magical Landry Sign-Up Part Deux - The Landrying!

[phil_]

So, as one who hasn't read the original thread, how bad an idea would it be to jump in here? And do you see this being active after the summer? 'Cause I've got an idea for a dude.

Also, where do you think golems would fall into the existing power structures? Is that a wizard-y thing or a witch-y thing? Seems wizard-y to me, with the Judaic mystic origins and the existing robots in the sign-ups. Not that this isn't all back-story stuff anyway, given that my dude isn't going to be making golems, obviously.

But, yeah, is it worth my time to come up with a name and develop spells and a background that mesh with the world you've got here, Teal?

[Steel Shadow]

I'll leave answering the specific setting questions to Teal and just say it is 100% worth your time to sign on now.

[Overcast]

Even disgruntled as I am I would fully advise you joining. It is a great RP that only gets better as Teal refines it.

[Relm Zephyrous]

And technically the 'robot' is actually more like a golem powered by a ghost than anything resembling a genuine robot.

[phil_]

Originally Posted by Relm Zephyrous

And technically the 'robot' is actually more like a golem powered by a ghost than anything resembling a genuine robot.

That was part of what made me think golems were more wizard-y, was the magic-using government handler. I'd expect government guys to not be witches, though I guess they could be.

But yeah, sent a super-preliminary thing to Teal, I'll probably play for a while.

[Aldurin]

Ok, edited in the new and much-less-horrible character idea I have into my first post.

[phil_]

So, about how long until you want this thing to get going, Teal? 'Cause I'd like to spend a few more days researching before I start writing anything down, but I can rush it if you want to get started this week.

[Geminex]

Name: Dan Murdoch or The Great Cosmopolus!
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Aura: Probably something flashy, with sequins.
Age: 17
Appearance: About 6'1, Dan looks his age and then some. Despite the carefree grin he usually sports, his face seems much harder, more drawn than it should. He's even spotted the occasional gray hair in the mirror, though he'll probably die before he admits it. Prominent features and strange, pale-blue eyes that work very well in drawing an observer's gaze, distractig people from his long, slender fingers. Normally goes around very well-dressed, often wearing formalwear, even throwing on a full stage magicians' outfit, complete with tophat and a cape lined with red velvet when he really wants to draw attention.
Backstory (In bullet points so it's easier to read and edit)
- Born to carnies, never knew his mother, his father a stage magician
- Badly homeschooled
- Started performing at 6 years of age as an assistant to his father
- Proved very adept with misdirection, Legerdemain and juggling
- At age 10, his father died when their trailer caught fire. Dan survived and looked after by the other carnies. He had to pull his weight, though, performing a magic show similar to his father's, running shell games and performing Legerdemain
- Soon started pickpocketing, things went missing around him
- Never got caught, though
- Until, with 14, he stole a Balisong from the carnival's knife juggler after a performance
- Got caught, room got searched, the stuff he stole was found hidden in the side of his trailer
- Got kicked out altogether, with only his stage clothes and the stolen balisong
- Made his way as a pickpocket and street performer, a loner with few friends, until he came to the attention of the police for pickpocketing and owning an illegal weapon
- Got sent to juvenile detention, but somehow managed to smuggle his knife in with him
- Got caught using the knife several times (twice cutting up sheets to escape with, despite the fact that he was on the first floor, once just absentmindely playing with it while staring at the wall), despite the fact that it always got confiscated, until he caught the eye of member of the masquerade working with the police
- Ended up getting coerced into attending the school or spend another three years at Juvie.

Dan's a trickster, born and raised. More than anything, he loves the thrill of a good con, that moment of tension when his hand slips into a mark's pocket -will they notice? won't they?-, disappearing into a crowd as his most recent victim realizes something valuable is missing. He relishes a little too much in the effect he has on people, though, and for all his trickery, he gets overconfident. A showman as well as a trickster, he enjoys attention a bit more than he should, and his desire for an audience has gotten him into trouble more than a few times.

This, on the other hand, makes him a very open person, though. He enjoys sharing exploits, both true and false, and takes an interest in those around him. He has an infectious grin that his years on the streets haven't quite managed to stamp out and, after learning some painful lessons, has come to value trust and loyalty, both being rare and necessary commodities, to him. A firm believer in the old adage that fortune favors the brave, he'll meet challenges confidently and remain optimistic, though if things end up too hot to handle, he's not one for a famous last stand, much preferring to leg it.
He has his dark sides too, though! A life of outsmarting others has left him aloof at times, and he tries a little too hard to get attention. Additionally, a life of petty theft has left him with a very dim view of "property", and while he know longer has to steal to eat, he's once again getting the urge to steal, for the sake of the rush and the thrill. His friends are safe from him, though. Probably. At the very least, he'll return whatever he takes.
After a while.

He also tends to need to gets jumpy when his fingers aren't doing anything, meaning that he'll often spin a pen or his knife between his fingers, absentmindedly flicking it through the air as he's talking to people, or even when he's in class. This can be irritating.

Dan's been praticing stage magic ever since he's been very young, but he's completely unaware of the fact that his natural talents are being boosted supernaturally. He just thinks he's that good. This doesn't do anything for his humility.

Growing up in an environment where illusion and trickery were commonplace, Dan will find it easier than most to rationalize supernatural powers, since he's seen on first hand how easy it is to create the most impressive illusions with just some smoke, a few mirrors, and a big helping of people skills.
Though, of course, if asked directly, he'll claim to be the most powerful magician since merlin.


Spells: I've got about 9 right here, I'll pick out 6 and leave the rest for possible level-ups.

Legerdemain
Dan flicks his wrist, his fingers blur and time seems to slow as his hand moves with seemingly impossible speed to perform a feat of legerdemain, be it instantly picking a pocket, palming a card or manipulating dice.

-Note: I'm not sure about this one. I don't want it to be just a speed surge, but it's too versatile to be a flash action. Also, not sure about the combat applications, not that it necessarily needs any.-

What's that behind your ear? A... Balisong?
Dan pulls his Balisong from behind an ear, from under a nose, or sometimes just out of thin air, with a flourish and a dazzling smile. What a trickster!

Look out, behind you!
With a glance, a widening of the eyes, a shift in his stance, an intake of breath or a small gesture, Dan subtly conveys that there's something behind the mark that they really, really should be paying more attention to. Even an attentive mark might lose focus momentarily and be compelled to take their eyes off Dan for the merest second.

Wait, what was that?
With a snap of his fingers, and a creepy grin, Dan enchants the mark to be juuust little... paranoid. They see flashes of color, disquieting silhouettes and sudden movements in the barest corner of their peripheral vision, all of which disappear as soon as they turn around to look. This can be quite a distraction in battle, and a major annoyance outside of it. Smart marks quickly realize what's going on and force themselves to ignore it, but that can lead them to ignore sights that they should really have payed attention to

Useful in battle, as a distraction to escape someone's notice, or if Dan really, really wants to annoy someone for the next five minutes.
Much more persistent than "Look out, behind you!" but not as compelling an effect.

Don't mind me!
Dan hunches his shoulders just a little, looks slightly downwards, gives a nonchalant whistle and just... blends into the background. He's totally visible, but he seems like much more of a bystander in the grand scheme of things, unimportant to the point where others might not even bother noticing him. The more attention is on him to begin with, the harder it is to blend into the background, and he's still perfectly capable of drawing attention to himself. Useful to escape a sticky situation, not get noticed in class or get close to a vigilant mark in combat.

Razzle-Dazzle!
With a flick of the wrist, a finger-sized firecracker, fuse already lit, appears in Dan's palm. The fuse burns for about three seconds, enough time to throw it at an enemy, slip it into a mark's pocket, or just toss it in the air before it goes off... spectacularly. Far from just exploding, the cracker lets out multiple bangs and flashes, spraying multicolored sparks and tounges of dazzling flame. The show lasts for about three seconds, and, while it's quite flashy, the sparks and flames are perfectly real, and perfectly painful!

"Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it"

Right Behind You.
Even the best trickster needs to put 'em up sometimes. If "put 'em up" means "Stab an unsuspecting enemy for debilitating damage." Dan can line up a single stab on an enemy who's distracted, unaware, asleep- anything that prevents them from seeing it coming. The knife sinks into them with a satisfying shlick, piercing a vital organ or three and inflicting much more damage than a simple blade should.

"AKnifeInTheBackSaysWhat." "What?"

Exit, Stage Right.
Dan gives a quick bow and twirls around, his cape flapping through the air around him, obscuring him from view until the audience realizes... only the cape's left, floating mysteriously, and as that slowly falls to the ground, even that disappears. Dan rises impressively out of a suitable patch of ground up to 30 feet from his starting position.
Note: Requires a cape or other long, flowing garment to use
-I might turn this one into a modified flash step, rather than a full teleport. Might be overpowered otherwise. Of the 9 spells I've got, this is probably the most problematic one.-


Clubs:

Tabletop Games Club: "Maybe I can get someone to play poker for keeps, or something... Hmm? DnD? No, I've never played it, what do you do? Oh, characters? Like make believe? Uhuh. Well, why would I want to play a wizard, I'm already magical! What else is the- oh, a rogue you say? Tell me more."

Art Club: When he wasn't stealing or swindling people, Dan liked to draw them! He started slow, but pencils and paper are cheap, and he had a lot of downtime between performances. He soon specialized in caricatures that he'd sell to drunk tourists for a few dollars.

Drama: Acting's important, whether you're acting depressed, acting confident, or, most importantly, acting innocent! Besides, if there's a stage, Dan needs to be on it. And if he can learn to make even more of an impression, all the better!

(I'd also like to propose an Eskrima club, because, as far as martial arts go, it'd be basically ideal for my character, and it's pretty cool on the whole! Though I can just have him join karate if this doesn't work)

Psychology club: Let's see what this school really knows about People.


Relations:

Gary " Motherfucking Oak" Marshalls.
Tagline: You're playing a green deck? Okay, in that case, I cast Hibernation!"
Dan's Dormmate and, arguably, an absolute pain. A fellow first-year and a competent wizard, he's already renowned for not just being competitive, but absolutely stonewall anyone who takes him up on a challenge. Be it an argument, a physical contest, or a game, every decision and strategy of Gary's will seem solely designed to counter his opponent and take away any momentum they may have had.. His magic goes along the same lines, primarily designed to shut down any spell the opponent might cast while not going on the offensive himself. Also has a tendency of ambushing his challengers when they're at their weakest, and loves to rub his victories into their faces. Bears his nickname as a mark of pride. Attends the tabletop club and is one of the few students brave enough to attend the anime club too. Avid player of video games, in particular, of course, pokemon. Roots for the rival.

His parents are either dead or absent, and Gary's been raised by his grandfather, a nice, if slightly senile old man who visits the school sometimes and has trouble remembering his grandson's name.
Despite being generally insufferable, Gary and Dan have (reluctantly) become friends in the three days Dan's already been at the school.

Damien Fog
Tagline: It's this or Juvie.
The social worker that originally realized what Dan could do, and the person responsible for getting him a place at this school. 45 years old but looking closer to 60, a life of stress and magic taking its toll on him. A tired wizard without much talent, but with a knack for spotting those that do, he's been working with police and juvenile services for the better part of two decades, touring the country, posing as some visiting official or another to visit prison, detention facilities and orphanages, always keeping an eye out for strange reports or the faint flash of an aura. He's lost count of how many he's discovered, how many people he's told that they'll never be normal, how many more he just sent off, unprepared, unknowing, to a school that had a good chance of killing them. How many powerful blacks and greys, far more powerful than he could ever be he'd seen, how many time's he'd recommended that "Due to the risk of exposure and danger to civillians, termination of target be considered over integration". He's forgotten why he even does it, but someone has to.

He does find strength in those that thrive, though. He knows he's helping (he must be helping, or else what's the point but helping who?), and, empty as he feels inside, he doesn't hesitate to show strength when His Kids need it. He tries to keep in touch as best he can, and, as the doorway to this strange new place, he has quite a lot of authority in the eyes of His impressionable Kids. Dan follows the rules partly out of fear of what this strange, sad social worker with the burning eyes will do if he doesn't.

Jeffrey Killian
A fellow street urchin and friend of Dan's. A year older than his friend, he ran away from home at the age of 13, stealing on markets, pickpocketing and squatting in abandoned housing projects. Very musical, despite a lack of formal training, he made his meager living by singing as often as he did by crime. One of the first people that Dan met after getting kicked out, he saw something of himself in the frightened, lonely boy and decided to try to help him out as best he could. His decision was validated when he realized that Dan had the skills to make some sort of living out here, if he could survive that long.

Dan's first lesson consisted of a beating that, while not as severe as it could have been, left him on the ground, gasping for air. Jeff wasn't normally violent, but he didn't have the patience for a kid who bit the hand that fed him. Or stole a watch from its pocket, in this case. The fact that Jeff had stolen the watch himself only two hours ago wasn't relevant in the slightest. To his credit, though, Dan did get up after a minute of painful wheezing, and, swallowing his pride, apologized. His left knee ached horribly for days, and twinged whenever it got cold, but much more important than that was the realization of his own vulnerability and dependence on others. Despite his father's death, Dan'd felt the strange invulnerability of youth, exacerbated by the fact that he outsmarted people -or so he saw it- on a daily basis. Getting kicked out by the carnies had stung, but it had taken a beating to make him realize the ease with which others could hurt him out here, and with that sense of vulnerability, had come a powerful need for trust, and with it, loyalty to those he considered friends.

Jeff hadn't intended any of that, of course, he'd just wanted to punish the little bugger for pickpocketing him, but he'd found a friend in Dan, and in the three years they spent on the streets together, they looked out for each other. They'd even got busted together, juggling with knives at a train station for a small audience before a pair of plain-clothes police officers surprised and subdued them. The last time they'd seen each other was during the ride in the squad car, soon as they arrived at the station they were separated.

After he got to Amarath, Dan briefly played with the thought of running away to reunite with his old buddy, but somehow he had a feeling that that wasn't likely to work.

[DanteFalcon]

Name: Benjamin Riese
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Aura: Black
Age: 17
Appearance: Ben stands at 5'10", with light brown hair, kept cut short. His skin is slightly tanned due to a propensity for being outdoors, though his body is only thin, not muscled like an athlete. His eyes are a pale green and peer out from a generally cheerful and expressive face. He typically wears light greens and blues, preferring long sleeves and pants. On his left wrist is what appears to be a watch though its symbols are strange. Even so Ben seems to have no problem reading it. Under the watch face are two small circular scars on the back of his wrist.

Bio: From the north central United States, Ben is typically a good student with a very kind disposition, despite being an easy and fairly regular bullying target from his eccentricities he remains an eternal optimist, holding what friends he has close and always searching for new ones. This is not to say he made friends easily, being a bit stifling with his attention and having a tendency to ramble at times can be very off-putting, combined with his research into the zodiacs and astrology make Ben socially awkward at times. Ben took after his father, gaining a fascination with the zodiac and astrology, particularly the 13th zodiac, Ophiuchus. Due to the nature of that zodiac he's also gained a fascination with snakes, resulting in a near death experience a few years prior. While walking in the woods near his house with Clare he tripped and fell into some brush, disturbing a timber rattlesnake which proceeded to bite him on the back of his wrist. The resulting poison in his system nearly killed him and would have if not for Clare. Perhaps strangely, he gained more respect for snakes and his optimist outlook only increased in its tenacity. He ended up in Amaranth when his uncle offered to pay the cost of transporting and tuition to enroll Ben in the school, an exceptionally strange turn of events because his uncle and he never saw eye to eye. Still Ben agreed to transfer because of the school's prestigious reputation.

Spells:

Summon Pen - Black Elemental.
Working on school papers frequently and a need to jot down notes on movements in heavenly bodies has taught him to always have something to write with on hand. It also tends to leave his arms covered with ink as he forgets to bring things to write on frequently.

Celestial Intuition - Black Elemental.
Ben has spent far too much time stargazing and reading up on the movements of celestial bodies. So much so he's gained an almost instinctual understanding of their positions to each other give or take a few degrees, at least that's what he thinks. As long as Ben can see at least one constellation he recognizes, he can intuit where Polaris is and thus determine north.

No time to write! - Black Elemental.
Ben has very little time for the actual writing portion of schoolwork between his frequent walks, research of the zodiacs and assisting the school paper where he's at. The spell merely enhances the speed at which he can write when he actually has time to sit down and do so, slowly draining his Will the longer he writes.

Calm Down – Black Elemental.
Crazy mysticism or not, the Meditation club's breathing exercises work wonders. By focusing on a particular breathing pattern and willing himself to calm down, Ben is able to invoke a supernatural sense of calm on himself. This technique actually triggers a Mode-Shift, which remains active until the user stops the breathing pattern. Celestial Intuition still activates in combination with this ability.

Summon Garter Snake - Black Elemental.
A result of Veterinary Club, Ben's pet snake Pascal has a tendency to sneak itself into Ben's bag. Ben is still completely flummoxed as to how the snake manages to sneak itself out of its cage and why it is so attracted to his bag and pockets. At least it sometimes saves him the walk back to his dorm before walking to Veterinary Club.


Clubs:

Wilderness Survival: Something he's had experience on on his own and he loves night time jaunts in particular.

Veterinary: Partially to help appease his mother, as well as a good excuse to continue research on various animals.

Poetry: If he intends to do anything important in the field of astrology he needs to be a very competent and compelling writer. Poetry specifically isn't his thing though.

Meditation: When one views the heavens as often as Ben does the question of the spirit comes into it eventually. Seems like a good place to start learning about the spirit.


Notes: The watch Ben wears is a trinket, depicting the symbols of the zodiac instead of numbers starting with Aries and going through the 12 in sequential order. Its obviously cheaply made but Ben seems quite fond of it and is rarely found without it.


Relationships:

Douglas Riese: Ben's father and primary pusher towards his son's acceptance and research into astrology. He works as a fortune teller, primarily through tarot cards and would frequently denounce those who used trickery to gain fame and fortune off what he believes to be a legitimate profession. More recently he and Ben have grown apart because of Ben's questioning of traditional astrology though they still remain family.

Stephanie Riese: Ben's mother and the family's primary supporter, she works as a doctor at a nearby hospital. The nature of that work however, frequently leaves her away from home and a little more distant from Ben though the two get along just fine. A stern woman, who is frequently concerned over her son, primarily in his interests with snakes and his refusal to learn self defense.

Isaac Riese: Ben's uncle and the only family member who never accepted Ben's fascination with astrology, seeing it as nothing but superstitious nonsense. However, he has been more accepting recently due to Ben's research into Ophiuchus and his questioning of traditional astrology. Still, Ben doesn't know why his uncle paid for the travelling and tuition for Amaranth, or even what Isaac does for a living.

Erik Serrata: Erik and Ben were friends but never close ones. However, they worked together a great deal on the school paper and as such attained an almost business partner like relationship. Erik was always more prying and better at acquiring information while Ben would get people to open up with his personality and wrote down the information. Cordial but Professional.

Clare Meisner: Clare has been a friend to Ben almost as long as Kurt has been a bully to him. She accepts his eccentric nature and seems to have a bit of a protector stance for the boy. A firebrand, often tempered by Ben but definitely more proficient at fighting and most commonly saved him from any serious injury at the hands of bullies. They behave more like siblings than boyfriend/girlfriend though their closeness has certainly led to many rumors about them being together, false though that may be.

[Riin Whitewind]

Originally Posted by phil_

So, about how long until you want this thing to get going, Teal? 'Cause I'd like to spend a few more days researching before I start writing anything down, but I can rush it if you want to get started this week.

It will take a hefty amount of time to go through the profiles that have been submitted so far.

You have plenty of time to do research and put a good effort into creating a character, it definitely won't start this/next week.