ooc Salem University OOC (Open)

[Passion 3,484]

Just to give an update, I'm in works for replacing Ira with someone more comfortable for me to play, so my focus was a bit in different place since I'm speaking with Duality if I'd be able to pull it off.

[Passion 3,484]

The issue I'm having with Ira is that... I actually hardly enjoy her. I cannot juggle three characters at once to be honest if I wanted.

And for the sake of herself I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out a motivation for her as well as end target. It was here when Rouen was around and it seemed like a fun dynamic, but unfortunately it died out due to Rouen becoming inactive. Ever since then it was much duller for me to play her.

 

As for Ley, it depends what you actually want to suggest and if it lies in realm of possibility and my roleplaying capabilities and skillset.

[Passion 3,484]

Yeah, sure, I'm game. But I will still be trying to keep it inside her personality. And yeah, we can have different images of her, so not everything will be up to your expectations

[Duality 10,740]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Animal instincts - Compared to humans she is faster, stronger, and has the senses of large felines IRL, on the level of other Anthros who are more animalistic than her. Nothing too crazy

Does she have a tall/chönky build to match her strength? Pelajae may have a physical edge on humans but it's supplied by muscles, not magic.

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

By slowing down the deterioration process of the electrical signals of the cells in her body, she is prolonging her life. She only ages when she sleeps, as while she doesn't need any energy to do this passively while awake, she needs to actually be conscious to do this 

Cells deteriorate via deterioration of their physical DNA, not by any electrical process, so you'd have to be more of a biomancer type to pull off slowed aging with willpower alone. Denim has some funky ancient magic lore addons to his character to give her enhanced age, though, so there are other ways to get to it if you want teachers with the bodies of students.

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Class: Electrical Magic

- This class is for mages who specialize in generation and manipulation of electricity. Students will learn to hone their skills and study the history of this affinity

Class: Magnetism

- The same kind of class as electricity, but for those with a skill in magnetism. Students learn to hone their skills and learn the history of this specialization

Class: Technology Manipulation

- A class for mages who specialize in control of electronics and modern technology. As with the above two, students will also learn to hone their skills while studying it's history

Class: Engineering 101 - Mechanical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to create machines, ranging from the simple pulley to very complex gear based contraptions commonly seen in Steampunk

Class: Engineering 102 - Electrical Engineering

- Lektra teaches how to build circuits, diodes, and other electronics including computer systems. This will include building robots and AI theory, as well as how to make sure your stuff actually works as intended. Programming is a separate class

Class: Engineering 103 - Computer Engineering and Science

- Lektra teaches modern programming languages to be applied to the things built in Engineering 101 and 102, and how to make sure the item is compatible with said programing

Advanced Class: Engineering 104 - Enchanting and Magitek

- Lektra will teach how she creates her own brand of Magitek, which is slightly different than but also similar to others. One must first understand how to build and program technology, only then will they be able to understand how to apply enchantments to it. This class will explain how to create technology that is compatible with enchantments, and how to soup it up using said enchantments for cost effective alternatives to non magical technology

- There is a lot of independent but supervised study here. Many students who take this class choose to continue working with her after class hours, in her off hours, and basically whenever they need a consultation for whatever they want to work on. Stop bothering me, I have my own ongoing research to do!

- One doesn't simply pass/fail this class and move on or have a couple of years then call it done. As an advanced class, there are always new things to discover once you learn the concepts, and she has students who choose to use the school facilities to advance their Magitek education past the regular curriculum. This class is ongoing for late year students and graduates who chose to stay in the school, and is more of a supervised study group, as students will be less or more along in their studies

-- Entry into this class requires stellar performance in her other Engineering classes, a recommendation from existing compatible classes, or demonstrating knowledge of the concepts taught in those classes

This list could probably be condensed into the subjects of electromagnetic magic and magic as applied to engineering. Students tend to progress through subjects very linearly in Salem, since Salem's subjects are tailored to particular forms of magic and the students' magic remains constant no matter what their interests may be, so it's more of a Year 1 Electromagnetism, Year 3 Electromagnetism, Year 4+ Technological Magic sort of deal when it comes to naming classes (Salem teaches magic first and foremost, after all, so it's most probable that the mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering classes will be teaching principles of technological manipulation and Magitek as relatively fundamental parts of their curricula too). Easy to remember for OOC purposes, too. 

Besides the above and the working out of history/hammerspace mechanics, all looks well in order. Let me know what you have in mind with the latter two character aspects.

 

 

 

 

On 7/22/2019 at 1:50 PM, dragon4111 said:

Ah I see I really don't want to redo my whole post.

Don't worry, what you've got now looks good. Ghalan's definitely low-key paranoid enough that he'd instantly assume someone's pranking him. 

[Buck Testa 5,505]

@Lektra Bolt

No not anyone can learn magic. The ability to even use magic is a One in a Million trait, meaning among every sentient being on the planet, there are only a few thousand magic users. Your chance of becoming magical doesn't have a connection to you being a human or Pelijae either, both have the same odds on being born that way.  Of those few thousand, not all of them are even that powerful. The ones that attend the school are more the exception rather than the rule. 

Also We've made a point of saying that Pelijae aren't significantly better than humans in any way physically. They would tend to have better sensory abilities and some Pelijae can live longer, but in terms of physical ability they are rather comparable to a human. A pelijae can be athletic certainly, and their magic can help them be stronger, but that wouldn't be a race wide trait. 

On 7/22/2019 at 11:43 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Actually I just happened to catch Sahalia the lizard girl as I was scrolling around, though don't remember how I ended up there lol. She's awesome and I believe Lektra and her would maybe be friends 😉

 

Sahalia would definitely get along with Lektra. As would her husband. I have 3 other characters in the RP besides them though. 

My main would be Druantia: 

The youngest student to have ever attended Salem University, Dru has left one hell of a first impression on her fellow classmates and faculty. On her very first day attending school on the campus she ended up getting into a magical duel with the janitor that was so intense that all of the teachers had to get involved. The Gymnasium building was also utterly destroyed in the process. 

Druantia possesses an abnormally large magical aura and has very little control over her magical abilities as of yet. Before she had started going to the university, she had merely been willing her magic to do things intuitively with varying degrees of success. Her Magic has also seemed to have developed a personality of its own comparable to a barely trained dog, and it can get easily excited causing Dru's magic to go on a rampage much like during her duel with the Janitor. As such she currently has inhibitor bracelets that restrict her down to 1% of her normal magical levels, which places her more in line with the rest of the student body. She's still quite powerful even in this severely hampered state, but she's much more manageable for the faculty now. 

Unlike other magic users whose power revolves around elemental affinities like lightning or fire, Dru's domain is that of Flora. She seems to have complete control over plant life in all its forms and is frightfully creative on how they can be utilized even with her limited intuitive control over her magic. Though she did not know a single spell when she first arrived at the University, she hopes to formally learn magic and take control of her power entirely, instead of letting it run wild like it does without shackles. 

 

[Buck Testa 5,505]

2 minutes ago, Lektra Bolt said:

 That's um, a lot of a lot. Wow. Did she start out with those bracelets? Who made them? Did you guys ever decide who made them?

They're from Professor Duality and was placed on her after the duel in order to bring her powers under control. Dru's magic quite literally has a mind of its own, and if it gets to excited it drags the girl along for the ride and almost killed her for it. With the bracelets, her magic is effectively shackled and she is able to better handle it as well as the extreme moodswings that it can induce. Before the bracelets were placed on her, she had dangerous moodswings induced by her magic's emotional state that caused her to be quite terrifying. Now it's much less intense, though she still is rather unstable. 

Think of her Magic like an Untrained Clifford the Big Red Dog. Normally Clifford does what the girl wants, but if it decided to go off on a full sprint and she had him on a leash, she ain't stopping him at all. The Bracelets bring that "Clifford" down to a much more manageable size for her. 

[Passion 3,484]

Now, let's replace Ira with something more fitting my affinities. Yes, I bet you know where this is going already. And since I love adapting characters from different franchises and trying to put myself into their shoes... the application for now is an outline and might be a subject to change.

Yes, no, maybe D: say something the suspense is killing me!

Spoiler

 

Name: Velvet Crowe

Gender: Female

Race: Human-ish

Age: 31

Position: Self-defense/martial arts teacher;

Affiliation: Villains - or at least so do they believe.

Appearance:

Description: ... I'm lazy, just look at the pictures k? Thxbai.

Apparel: Velvet is not the one to follow fashion trends. In fact, she's not the one to follow fashion. Or trends. Her worn out, raggedy costume is all she needs on a daily basis and, even in spite of many remarks of various nature towards it, doesn't plan on changing. It is a life-hardened shell reminding her of everything she's gone through and by now has become an inseparable part of herself.

Personality: Having many of her positive traits erased or washed out over years, Velvet is remorseless and knows not mercy nor pity. Consumed by long cherished hatred and despair, she will not stop at anything to achieve her goals. Having her way is worth any sacrifice. This, however, does not mean she is a mindless brute forcing her way through every obstacle. Velvet is fully aware that sometimes, in order to achieve something, one must take a way around. Her patience, although limited, dictates her to play her cards carefully to ensure she is on the winning side.

Velvet tends to express indifference towards all events, knowing they are nothing but temporary nuisances in her quest for vengence. She rarely allows her emotions to surface, and even then they tend to be shallow. She's practical, and even though her instincts developed a healthy dose of carefulness in her actions, she will not hesitate to take any shortcuts leading her closer to her goals. Even if it means removing inconvenient people on her way out of equation.

Backstory: Velvet was born as a second child to a family of five in a small village of undisclosed location. She was the middle child, having an older and younger brothers on her sides. Sadly, her younger from her by 5 brother was born with an inexplicable disease, which was quickly connected to magical energies developing in an inexplicable way within his body. Due to that, he was very fragile form his first years and throughout his entire life required constant care and attention. Their parents could not handle this burden and the family was split, with children deciding to fare for themselves with the help of villagers. Their parents left to be never seen again. At the time, Velvet was a sweet child, always taking care of her younger beloved sibling and cherished by her small village for her deeds. Her much older sibling was always fascinated with magic and all the good it could do for humanity. Over years he studied subcategories belonging to light magic, with all its healing, protective and offensive aspects used against potential evils of this world. Velvet however did not know much about his studies, as she was busy cherishing younger brother and spending time with him on a dialy basis.

It was during one of the nights, not different than any other, that her life changed forever. For reasons inexplicable, she woke up past midnight only to find both her brothers missing. Her initial search was fruitless, until she remembered the seaside shrine of unknown origin they used to visit to moongaze, situated at the top of the cliff. As she reached the location, she could not find any words to describe the horror she witnessed. Her younger brother, hovering in limbo above the seemingly endless abyss of the shrine's vast orifice reaching deep into the ground. Her older brother, wearing odd tunic. A number of shadowy figures with darker tunics surrounding the shrine. And unearthly voices and sounds coming out from the shrine's abyss itself. She tried to confront her older brother, who explained that in order to gain power capable of fighting evils of this world, a sacrifice of a pure heart was necessary. It was then when she realized her older sibling was a fanatic and attempted to stop him, however she was quickly pinned down with immobilizing magic. She was forced to observe how everything developed, thrashing about in desperate attempts of freeing herself and saving her closest family. It was all in vain and she had to witness the entire ritual. As the sacrifice was complete, rays of powerful bright energies were sent into the sky. The distraction caused her bindings to disappear as the men observed the event. Velvet did not waste time and, with her heart full of despair and resignation, throw herself into the abyss to save her brother. As she stepped past the ledge, all she saw was darkness, with damned voices coming from below. She fell. And as she fell, her memories became more and more chaotic.

She remembered being rejected, she remembered her core self being altered, her most negative emotions of hate combined with despair being amplified and overwhelming many other emotions she used to feel. She remembered searing pain pulsating through her left arm, awakening powers inside her she never knew she had. And then she remembered being thrown out of the pit back onto earth in front of her brother. What happened next was all foggy to her. She knows she went berserk and, using her newly acquired powers and deformed arm, removing a few of the shady cultists from the surface of earth. Eventually however, her experienced older brother had subdued her and forcefully send her into dungeons situated in one of the ruins nearby, the main headquaters of the cult he belonged to.

Velvet spent about 4 years in ther prison, being kept as a gift from the demonic powers in hopes of every turning her to the cults side, but she thrived in her aplified hatred, never forgeting the betrayal she suffered from the hands of her brother, keeping herself alive just for revenge. She became consumed and obsessed with this idea. At once, she spent these years discovering new facts about herself. Most notable change was in her appearance. Her left arm was now charred, pulsating with red/violet smoke while uncovered. Initially, it was a giant claw, one that made her look like a monster. With pass of time, she learned how to control this transformative power and although she was never able to fully restore her arm to her regular flesh, she was able to at least regain its original shape. Ever since then, she would cover the arm with bandages.

Other changes she noticed were of various natures. She felt stronger and faster, her reflexes seemed to have accellerated. But at once she lost any sense of taste and no food would be able to satisfy her. Instead, she began feeling a hunger. A truly maddening over time need for feeding herself with life force of other beings. No matter how much she consumed however, she would never be sated. Her arm would always demand more, feeding her the life force of creatures she consumed. Animals were a mere substitute, what she required was living, sentient beings. She felt that should she encounter beings powerful enough, she could grow in power just by consuming them. The question of morality did appear in Velvet's mind at initial stages, however she discovered morality ceased having any meaning to her. She did not feel compassion, guilt or shame. It was as if she was turned into a merciless predator, performing the deeds to keep herself alive. Over the years, the cult has provided her with sustenance in form of sacrifices. What she once tried to prevent and found despicable now became her own ritual repeated over time. She became a monster. A being that would by all accounts be considered evil beyond the scope of imagination of many. And she quickly accepted it. However she never ceased understanding that in order to survive in this world once she regained her freedom, she would need to keep a low profile.

Eventually, she was released by one of the higher rank cultists. He turned out to be one of the villagers from her home village and informed her that her brother has gotten mad the power promised to him was not enough and left in search of ways of accessing the mytical demonic realm, to use the demon's powers against them. Provided it existed. The only reason Velvet did not strike the man down at the time was because she needed a guide to lead her out from the dungeon without raising too many alarms. As they reached a safe place however, she quickly turned against the man and promptly assimmilated him, feeling no guilt whatsoever. She needed his strength to go on, and he turned out to be just in her reach at the moment.

Over years, Velvet travelled the world in search of traces of her older brother to enact her revenge. She would search for clues in towns and cities, but then stick to the woods, feeding off of wild animals. From time to time, stories of tourists mysteriously vanishing in deep forests or mountain ranges would surface, but Velvet would never leave any traces for anyone to pick up on. With time, she understood that searching for her brother via conventional ways would be futile and she required a different approach. And what would be the best source of information if not the owners of the mystical energies that were granted to him? By then, the possibility of gaining access to demonic realm seemed more real to her with time than the ones of finding her brother. That's when she was found by the one called Shahal Blackrose, or rather one of his lackeys. Before being robbed of his life, he attempted to bargain for it by providing her details of the madman who wished to merge the demonic plains with real world. And Velvet instantly picked up on this idea. It would allow her to gain the information she required, then enact her revenge on demons themselves and consume them, and finally reach her brother to pay him back for everything he's made her suffer.

Getting into Shahal's plan was not hard at all for her. The fact she removed one of his subordinates in cold blood, not even flinching, and the fact she made it visible she emanated with pure hatred towards the so-called Salem University seemed to be a free entry ticket for her. Her poker face, devoid of many emotions, also seemed to be a strong card to play. Or was it? She was not actually sure if she managed to fool anyone, nevertheless the end result mattered. She was in, and it so turned out that infiltrating the University would not be as hard as initially planned. At least on the surface. The University seemed to suddenly fall short on martial combat instructors, and Velvet's skill showcase quickly proved her to be an adequate candidate for the position. And she never truly mentioned the real reason behind her joining the viallinous crew. To eradicate the demon vermin her brother served and then to eliminate her own brother, so her revenge can be complete. Evil? Villains? University and students? World safety? It meant nothing to her. She would eliminate anyone who would stand in her way. Foe or ally alike.

Nevertheless, the stories and legends of a beast roaming the world with surprisingly accurate description of her transformed, demonic arm spread across various corners of the world, as even she was not able to avoid one or two witnesses being left alive. This forced her to not bring out her arm in public view, what would put her in danger of being recognized for ruthless killer she could become if she wanted and instantly persecuted.

Abilities:

Velvet is not your regular magic user. Her transformation granted her a few abilities that actually help her in dealing with magic herself. Her regular, non-transformed form shows itself in augmented strength, speed, reflexes and stamina. This change allowed her to learn various martial arts over the course of her travels, however her abilities far exceeding those of regular humans allowed her to develop her own fighting style, unachievable to vast majority of Earth's beings. She also seemed to develop minor nullification of weak magical energies, which seemed to passively emanate from her at all times. It proved an interesting defensive and offensive tool she took time to master, although had very few chances of actually testing in practice. The University could turn out ot be a good testing ground for that innate ability. Even in her physical state however she is able to use her demonic arm powers to augment her physical abilities a bit further, but the extent is heavily limited in that form.

Her transformed state however turns her into a real monster, literally and figuratively. Velvet's shadow arm increases her strength exponentially to earth-shattering levels. It becomes her main shield and weapon. Her arm contentrates her nullification aura and becomes a tool for dispelling magical energies directed at her. It also grants her access to specific, innate shadow martial arts she seems to known instinctively now. This effectively increases her reach by the range of a few specific magical assault abilities projected over her arm. The arm itself is also her main tool for devouring life force. Should she get a firm grasp at her victim, Velvet can proceed to drain their life energies. An eventuality of this action is the victim being devoured by being transmorphed into particles of pure energy and drawn into her arm, provided they are weakened to a point they are no longer able to resist.

The form however has its flaws. Being the weapon and shield alike, it means Velvet is not very great at deflecting attacks that aim to trade the damage inflicted or dealing with multiple enemies all at once. Additionally, the arm can be used for a limited time and requires short breaks between each reactivation (short as in it can be reactivated in the same combat mulitple times, but there are moments her defenses and offensive abilities are weakened).

 

[Duality 10,740]

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

I didn't mean to imply that it's magical, sorry

What would you consider tall? If you mean taller than the average for adult females when compared to IRL, then a bit, yes. If you mean such a tall girl that it becomes along the lines of a family genetic mutation or some kind of enhancement/enchantment, then no. So please tell me what you consider tall or what you think I should do here

Listing her Anthro stuff as an ability is just meant to pretty much say this: Just because she is not as animalistic as others and just has ears/tail/claws/tiny whiskers as visible features, she is no less capable

I wasn't trying to imply she is actually better in some way than other Anthros, in fact being someone who researches a lot she's not all that athletic. It's just the absolute bare minimum to stay in shape and keep her pretty figure

Let me know if you need that section changed somehow or clarified

No, no, I know you weren't implying magical or somehow superior physical strength compared to other Pelajae, it's just that Pelajae strength comes from muscle, so if you want any sort of strength beyond the norm associated with your character's Pelajae type instead of with their magic it requires that your character is physically bigger, taller, or generally more muscly than the norm. There are a couple of Pelajae in the RP who are very strong indeed, but one's a 7-foot chönkily built athlete (big cat) and the other is 8-foot and built like a bag of cement (elephant). Obviously it doesn't have to be that drastic, but non-magical strength has pretty much the same rules of physiology in Salem as IRL, Pelajae or otherwise.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

I had kinda hoped I could pull that off, since cells do have an electrical component. I don't want to just cop out to yet another power type or say I built the fountain of youth, as she's looking a bit stacked already. What do you suggest, as yes, it had been my goal to have a teacher with the body of a student?

If you think that's stacked you should see the guy who chucks around black holes for fun. 

She's not technically a multipower yet, so you could go that route if you so chose, but Denim's lore was, I think, quite a novel circumvention of such a necessity (read from that post to the bottom of the page for the full story; most of the more out-there lore propositions have some debate around them when introduced). If you want to try adapting it or coming up with something along similar lines, I'm sure he'd enjoy discussing his take on immortality with you.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

See here's the thing. I don't believe everyone will have the full suite the same way she does, and it's quite probable that the vast majority have one or two of the three, but not electromagnetism like her. If someone has only electricity, they can't be in a class that teaches electromagnetism, as they can't do magnetism or technology manipulation. If someone has only magnetism, they can't be in a class that teaches electricity or technology manipulation.

The thing is, though, all electrical currents generate magnetic fields and all moving magnets generate electrical currents in nearby conductive materials. Electricity and magnetism are quite closely bound into a single phenomenon, and even if someone could only directly control one or the other it would only take a bit of training and technique to be able to manipulate both with ease.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

On the other hand, I believe technology manipulation comes mostly but not entirely as a result of having a combination of the ability to manipulate electricity and magnetism, since many computer components are electrical and also metallic in their composition.

Circuit boards also have different components than just metal or electrical. I actually looked this up to confirm what I remembered: The substrate most commonly used in printed circuit boards is a glass fiber reinforced (fiberglass) epoxy resin with a copper foil bonded on to one or both sides. To be able to create or manipulate this using magic to build something that has circuit boards, someone has to have technology manipulation specifically. That or it has to be done the non magical way or simply purchased premade, because the fiberglass is neither conductive nor metallic.

For a pure technology manipulator mage like this girl who has it as a superpower, I would implement this without the electricity or magnetism portion and just hand waving or thinking. So a mage technology manipulator would hand wave or think, but there would be no electricity coming off like her

Wait, what are the specifications of what you call technology manipulation? I assumed it was just a specialisation of electromagnetism manipulation, but if it extends to non-magnetic/conductive materials it seems to be delving into earth elementalism or similar. 'Technology' is a very broad concept, after all.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Now about the engineering progression. Are you sure about condensing this? I wanted a logical progression that doesn't immediately teach the magical concepts but makes sure to leave it open to be compatible, especially since building Magitek as I implement it is a branch of enchanting. It's quite possible that there are some people who might want to learn to build and program initially non magical machines for others to then enchant runes into/onto. I wanted to leave the possibility open for some people going to her classes to not necessarily be into Magitek themselves, but building enchantment compatible technology. Remember that Magitek can be used by anyone once built and the enchantments put in place, so one needs to know how technology works to be able to then meld the two. While it may seem that some of the classes are non magical, the idea is that it's taught with the intent to have the end goal of having items compatible with enchantments.

How should I clarify that the building classes that seem non magical are actually technically magical, since the stuff built is made to be compatible with enchantments?

Also as an aside, at least for Lektra herself as compared to other enchanters, she is unable to enchant non metallic substances. Magitek she makes is mostly metallic, and the non metallic portions are just there due to how stuff is built

What do you suggest I do here though?

As long as the core idea is technology compatible with enchantment it should be fine. Technology by itself can be taught at any old university, after all.

The point of keeping classes condensed is that they're relatively power-specific and similar enough that people with that specific power can go through all of them linearly. Someone who can control water doesn't have much else to do with their studies except go through the Hydromancy subject from Year 1 to Year 4+. Someone with electromagnetic/enchanting/technology-manipulating abilities and with such an inclination doesn't have much else to do except go through the 101-104 technology/Magitek classes linearly - hence it's more descriptive and convenient to just call it all Magitek Year 1 to Year 4+. It's mostly a matter of convention, but it's a lot harder to keep track of 6 different classes IC than a couple of subjects with specialisations/year levels tacked on when necessary.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

The programming class also teaches runes and rune writing (pretty much programing for enchanters)

Hah, you'd be up against my character on that one. I've been building the lore of runes since the start of the RP, and so far it draws on Plato's Theory of Forms, Christian theology, symbology, the theory of meaning, and aspects of linguistics, coding, and the study of human intelligence. Dr Duality only teaches runic theory classes, so there shouldn't be any conflict in subject matter, but it might be worth giving the IC thread a once-over to see what's already been established about what runes can do.

On 7/24/2019 at 2:24 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

Also just to clarify, are you implying you've built the world so anyone can learn and eventually do any magic, regardless of what kind of proficiency they'd actually have in it? So someone who has darkness can actually study say, fire and eventually after a period of sucking at it to be able to do fire magic with practice to become as good as someone who is more natural in it? I figured specializations are more rigid, in that people have a proficiency and are unlikely to be able learn magic not affiliated with whatever they discover they are more proficient in, so most people don't bother. So an electromagnetism class sounds like it would not be good for anyone who only has magnetism, electricity or is just a tech manipulator, which is why I had split the classes up

As an example, I have gotten the impression that while 'The Avatar: Master of All Elements' cases are possible here, it's extremely unlikely unless someone discovers they are very good with multiple elements. Even HP mages tend to specialize, since they discover they naturally suck at certain magics while being much better at others. Like someone is good at Charms but not as good at Anti Dark Arts, while another can be amazing at Transfiguration, but suck at just about everything else so they don't bother

Confirm or deny? Or explain please? 

No, my apologies, I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort. What you're born with you're stuck with, basically, although plenty of people discover new powers as they push the bounds of what they can do. Since mages are so rare and powers so diverse, though, it's best to merge classes and generalise subject matter as much as possible to make sure that you don't end up with no students in any of them because so few people actually have the particular power the class is tailored for.

 

 

 

On 7/24/2019 at 10:35 AM, Passion said:

Now, let's replace Ira with something more fitting my affinities. Yes, I bet you know where this is going already. And since I love adapting characters from different franchises and trying to put myself into their shoes... the application for now is an outline and might be a subject to change.

Yes, no, maybe D: say something the suspense is killing me!

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Name: Velvet Crowe

Gender: Female

Race: Human-ish

Age: 31

Position: Self-defense/martial arts teacher;

Affiliation: Villains - or at least so do they believe.

Appearance:

Description: ... I'm lazy, just look at the pictures k? Thxbai.

Apparel: Velvet is not the one to follow fashion trends. In fact, she's not the one to follow fashion. Or trends. Her worn out, raggedy costume is all she needs on a daily basis and, even in spite of many remarks of various nature towards it, doesn't plan on changing. It is a life-hardened shell reminding her of everything she's gone through and by now has become an inseparable part of herself.

Personality: Having many of her positive traits erased or washed out over years, Velvet is remorseless and knows not mercy nor pity. Consumed by long cherished hatred and despair, she will not stop at anything to achieve her goals. Having her way is worth any sacrifice. This, however, does not mean she is a mindless brute forcing her way through every obstacle. Velvet is fully aware that sometimes, in order to achieve something, one must take a way around. Her patience, although limited, dictates her to play her cards carefully to ensure she is on the winning side.

Velvet tends to express indifference towards all events, knowing they are nothing but temporary nuisances in her quest for vengence. She rarely allows her emotions to surface, and even then they tend to be shallow. She's practical, and even though her instincts developed a healthy dose of carefulness in her actions, she will not hesitate to take any shortcuts leading her closer to her goals. Even if it means removing inconvenient people on her way out of equation.

Backstory: Velvet was born as a second child to a family of five in a small village of undisclosed location. She was the middle child, having an older and younger brothers on her sides. Sadly, her younger from her by 5 brother was born with an inexplicable disease, which was quickly connected to magical energies developing in an inexplicable way within his body. Due to that, he was very fragile form his first years and throughout his entire life required constant care and attention. Their parents could not handle this burden and the family was split, with children deciding to fare for themselves with the help of villagers. Their parents left to be never seen again. At the time, Velvet was a sweet child, always taking care of her younger beloved sibling and cherished by her small village for her deeds. Her much older sibling was always fascinated with magic and all the good it could do for humanity. Over years he studied subcategories belonging to light magic, with all its healing, protective and offensive aspects used against potential evils of this world. Velvet however did not know much about his studies, as she was busy cherishing younger brother and spending time with him on a dialy basis.

It was during one of the nights, not different than any other, that her life changed forever. For reasons inexplicable, she woke up past midnight only to find both her brothers missing. Her initial search was fruitless, until she remembered the seaside shrine of unknown origin they used to visit to moongaze, situated at the top of the cliff. As she reached the location, she could not find any words to describe the horror she witnessed. Her younger brother, hovering in limbo above the seemingly endless abyss of the shrine's vast orifice reaching deep into the ground. Her older brother, wearing odd tunic. A number of shadowy figures with darker tunics surrounding the shrine. And unearthly voices and sounds coming out from the shrine's abyss itself. She tried to confront her older brother, who explained that in order to gain power capable of fighting evils of this world, a sacrifice of a pure heart was necessary. It was then when she realized her older sibling was a fanatic and attempted to stop him, however she was quickly pinned down with immobilizing magic. She was forced to observe how everything developed, thrashing about in desperate attempts of freeing herself and saving her closest family. It was all in vain and she had to witness the entire ritual. As the sacrifice was complete, rays of powerful bright energies were sent into the sky. The distraction caused her bindings to disappear as the men observed the event. Velvet did not waste time and, with her heart full of despair and resignation, throw herself into the abyss to save her brother. As she stepped past the ledge, all she saw was darkness, with damned voices coming from below. She fell. And as she fell, her memories became more and more chaotic.

She remembered being rejected, she remembered her core self being altered, her most negative emotions of hate combined with despair being amplified and overwhelming many other emotions she used to feel. She remembered searing pain pulsating through her left arm, awakening powers inside her she never knew she had. And then she remembered being thrown out of the pit back onto earth in front of her brother. What happened next was all foggy to her. She knows she went berserk and, using her newly acquired powers and deformed arm, removing a few of the shady cultists from the surface of earth. Eventually however, her experienced older brother had subdued her and forcefully send her into dungeons situated in one of the ruins nearby, the main headquaters of the cult he belonged to.

Velvet spent about 4 years in ther prison, being kept as a gift from the demonic powers in hopes of every turning her to the cults side, but she thrived in her aplified hatred, never forgeting the betrayal she suffered from the hands of her brother, keeping herself alive just for revenge. She became consumed and obsessed with this idea. At once, she spent these years discovering new facts about herself. Most notable change was in her appearance. Her left arm was now charred, pulsating with red/violet smoke while uncovered. Initially, it was a giant claw, one that made her look like a monster. With pass of time, she learned how to control this transformative power and although she was never able to fully restore her arm to her regular flesh, she was able to at least regain its original shape. Ever since then, she would cover the arm with bandages.

Other changes she noticed were of various natures. She felt stronger and faster, her reflexes seemed to have accellerated. But at once she lost any sense of taste and no food would be able to satisfy her. Instead, she began feeling a hunger. A truly maddening over time need for feeding herself with life force of other beings. No matter how much she consumed however, she would never be sated. Her arm would always demand more, feeding her the life force of creatures she consumed. Animals were a mere substitute, what she required was living, sentient beings. She felt that should she encounter beings powerful enough, she could grow in power just by consuming them. The question of morality did appear in Velvet's mind at initial stages, however she discovered morality ceased having any meaning to her. She did not feel compassion, guilt or shame. It was as if she was turned into a merciless predator, performing the deeds to keep herself alive. Over the years, the cult has provided her with sustenance in form of sacrifices. What she once tried to prevent and found despicable now became her own ritual repeated over time. She became a monster. A being that would by all accounts be considered evil beyond the scope of imagination of many. And she quickly accepted it. However she never ceased understanding that in order to survive in this world once she regained her freedom, she would need to keep a low profile.

Eventually, she was released by one of the higher rank cultists. He turned out to be one of the villagers from her home village and informed her that her brother has gotten mad the power promised to him was not enough and left in search of ways of accessing the mytical demonic realm, to use the demon's powers against them. Provided it existed. The only reason Velvet did not strike the man down at the time was because she needed a guide to lead her out from the dungeon without raising too many alarms. As they reached a safe place however, she quickly turned against the man and promptly assimmilated him, feeling no guilt whatsoever. She needed his strength to go on, and he turned out to be just in her reach at the moment.

Over years, Velvet travelled the world in search of traces of her older brother to enact her revenge. She would search for clues in towns and cities, but then stick to the woods, feeding off of wild animals. From time to time, stories of tourists mysteriously vanishing in deep forests or mountain ranges would surface, but Velvet would never leave any traces for anyone to pick up on. With time, she understood that searching for her brother via conventional ways would be futile and she required a different approach. And what would be the best source of information if not the owners of the mystical energies that were granted to him? By then, the possibility of gaining access to demonic realm seemed more real to her with time than the ones of finding her brother. That's when she was found by the one called Shahal Blackrose, or rather one of his lackeys. Before being robbed of his life, he attempted to bargain for it by providing her details of the madman who wished to merge the demonic plains with real world. And Velvet instantly picked up on this idea. It would allow her to gain the information she required, then enact her revenge on demons themselves and consume them, and finally reach her brother to pay him back for everything he's made her suffer.

Getting into Shahal's plan was not hard at all for her. The fact she removed one of his subordinates in cold blood, not even flinching, and the fact she made it visible she emanated with pure hatred towards the so-called Salem University seemed to be a free entry ticket for her. Her poker face, devoid of many emotions, also seemed to be a strong card to play. Or was it? She was not actually sure if she managed to fool anyone, nevertheless the end result mattered. She was in, and it so turned out that infiltrating the University would not be as hard as initially planned. At least on the surface. The University seemed to suddenly fall short on martial combat instructors, and Velvet's skill showcase quickly proved her to be an adequate candidate for the position. And she never truly mentioned the real reason behind her joining the viallinous crew. To eradicate the demon vermin her brother served and then to eliminate her own brother, so her revenge can be complete. Evil? Villains? University and students? World safety? It meant nothing to her. She would eliminate anyone who would stand in her way. Foe or ally alike.

Nevertheless, the stories and legends of a beast roaming the world with surprisingly accurate description of her transformed, demonic arm spread across various corners of the world, as even she was not able to avoid one or two witnesses being left alive. This forced her to not bring out her arm in public view, what would put her in danger of being recognized for ruthless killer she could become if she wanted and instantly persecuted.

Abilities:

Velvet is not your regular magic user. Her transformation granted her a few abilities that actually help her in dealing with magic herself. Her regular, non-transformed form shows itself in augmented strength, speed, reflexes and stamina. This change allowed her to learn various martial arts over the course of her travels, however her abilities far exceeding those of regular humans allowed her to develop her own fighting style, unachievable to vast majority of Earth's beings. She also seemed to develop minor nullification of weak magical energies, which seemed to passively emanate from her at all times. It proved an interesting defensive and offensive tool she took time to master, although had very few chances of actually testing in practice. The University could turn out ot be a good testing ground for that innate ability. Even in her physical state however she is able to use her demonic arm powers to augment her physical abilities a bit further, but the extent is heavily limited in that form.

Her transformed state however turns her into a real monster, literally and figuratively. Velvet's shadow arm increases her strength exponentially to earth-shattering levels. It becomes her main shield and weapon. Her arm contentrates her nullification aura and becomes a tool for dispelling magical energies directed at her. It also grants her access to specific, innate shadow martial arts she seems to known instinctively now. This effectively increases her reach by the range of a few specific magical assault abilities projected over her arm. The arm itself is also her main tool for devouring life force. Should she get a firm grasp at her victim, Velvet can proceed to drain their life energies. An eventuality of this action is the victim being devoured by being transmorphed into particles of pure energy and drawn into her arm, provided they are weakened to a point they are no longer able to resist.

The form however has its flaws. Being the weapon and shield alike, it means Velvet is not very great at deflecting attacks that aim to trade the damage inflicted or dealing with multiple enemies all at once. Additionally, the arm can be used for a limited time and requires short breaks between each reactivation (short as in it can be reactivated in the same combat mulitple times, but there are moments her defenses and offensive abilities are weakened).

 

Looks good! The merging of the daemon and normal realms may or may not be Shahal's end goal, but what he tells his minor lackeys hardly has much bearing on the truth. 

[dragon4111 914]

@Lektra Bolt

Umm if I may interject Ghalan is a normal strength man but keeps his body built thanks to the rigors of his military training.

[Passion 3,484]

8 hours ago, Duality said:

Looks good! The merging of the daemon and normal realms may or may not be Shahal's end goal, but what he tells his minor lackeys hardly has much bearing on the truth. 

Well I just followed what I managed to find in OOC, but hey, betraying someone whose whole existance is dictated by betrayal. What could possibly go wrong?

Then again, she would not tell her story to anyone so easily so he probably cannot know.

[Duality 10,740]

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

I see. No no I'm good just being average. I had just wanted to make sure it's listed that she's not any weaker than a full animalistic Pelajae, or somehow handicapped. Is that OK or I need to write it differently?

It's quite all right as is, I was just making sure that I understood. The DM is held to a somewhat higher standard of character comprehension than most other potential readers. 

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

But ok how would you suggest I do? I actually read that discussion, and I'm not actually sure why she's long lived except as a species trait. Just seems weird that Neko live long too

Can you think of a way to manipulate her into slower aging that doesn't add another power or proposes her building the fountain of youth?

It's part of how magic affects her particular species, since each race has magic affect them in a slightly different way from all others due to their various cultural differences - magic is centred within the user's psyche and hence is deeply shaped by everything normally termed 'subjective', and cultural subjectivity is the most powerful form of subjectivity in terms of psychological pervasiveness. Perhaps the Neko race and the Kitsune race have similar cultures in the respect that grants magic users among them longevity? The cultural aspect in particular that magical Kitsune grow old on would probably be the extensive traditional mythos of the area relating to magical foxes of old and their immortal exploits. I haven't heard enough about the Neko to make any connections, though.

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

I just figured there might be other mages who aren't Lektra and aren't electromagnetic that can still manipulate electrical signals, no? Would you say it's impossible? 

I dunno how control over electricity would work without some sort of electromagnetic ability, except as a sort of indirect control like how earth elementals would be able to mess with the metal conducting the signal, but nothing's impossible in this universe if you can come up with a convincing explanation for it. 

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Alrighty so how do you recommend I rewrite them? Make it a progression of more of the same rather than spit up like now?

Enchanting is a bit broad though (How many enchanters do we have lol) but still separate from electromagnetism. Lektra specializes in enchanting to make Magitek, not enchanting in general. Maybe she should still teach this as a separate class? 

Something like that. The main thing to keep in mind is that the classes are tailored to the various uses of particular powers, not so much to the mainstream divisions of subject material included in the scope of each power. Since Lektra has electromagnetism and Magitek enchantment as her specific powerset, the classes she teaches would probably be split along those lines. Pure electromagnetism and applied electromagnetism are almost the two subjects, I think, but obviously the division is up to you.

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

Orly? Sounds like they would spend a lot of time chatting and discussing theories. Friends

hip is magic

On 7/25/2019 at 6:19 PM, Lektra Bolt said:

I'll take a look when we get me figured out. Did you ever have a full in universe profile for your character and what she can do? I'm just seeing the pony profile

Also I'd like to decide history together when we iron out the powers. I'd like her to fit in, so she may not be a company heiress in this. I don't know yet 🤔

I don't think I ever condensed it anywhere into a single document, but the majority has been set down in text at some point or another in the IC thread. She's grown a lot from what I initially envisaged her as, so I'm actually quite glad I didn't set her profile in stone early on. The bullet-pointed short version, off the top of my head, goes something like:

• Her sole natural power is that of hydromancy, and as such she is dean of the hydromancy department. She is also the Vice Principal of Salem and a teacher of both hydromancy and rune theory (the latter of which was the subject of her doctorate).
• Her extensive history with and esteemed position in Salem is the result of her being Gabriel Lazel's favoured research assistant and later research partner for a few years before the University opened and for many years afterwards until he died. Their research primarily concerned the nature, properties and applications of runes, since one of his powers (he was a multipower) was rune manipulation, and he was intensely interested in the theoretical side of their use.
• After his death, he bequeathed her an artifact of as-of-yet unexplored origin that he either made or discovered at some point during his career and the properties and nature of which tied into a significant portion of their research together. This object, called the Wand/Stylus (it changes form to suit the user), is equivalent to the concept of itself, which, since runes are made up of the combination of an object and a concept, makes it of obvious interest in that field. It grants her the ability to create and manipulate runes, although not the ability to imbue much power into them, meaning it is easy for her to make runes but hard to make them physically do anything without an external source of energy and significant concentration. It's been playing a fairly large part in her personal storyline IC, what with inadvertently created A.I.s and psychedelic coma dreams, but that's all laid out in the other thread.
• She is partially responsible for the maintenance and advancement of Salem's colossal and highly influential runic network, referenced extensively IC, and indeed helped Gabriel and several others create it. Her clothes, desk drawers, and other personal effects are almost without exception enchanted in various ways - she has had a very long and complicated career in which to gradually build up an array of all-circumstances conveniences, tools and failsafes to surround herself with.
• Dot Dash / Deedah is her niece, and her profile is laid out fully somewhere in this thread, although I don't know if it's linked properly to the OP.

Let me know if you want to know anything else about her; I much enjoy developing her as a character. 

 

 

 

@Denim&Venom

Are you waiting on someone in Miko's class to post? Dr Duality's just waiting on Angelscape's most recent reply at the moment.

Edited July 27, 2019 by Duality

[Denim&Venöm 18,918]

5 minutes ago, Duality said:

. 

@Denim&Venom

Are you waiting on someone in Miko's class to post? Dr Duality's just waiting on Angelscape's most recent reply at the moment.

I'm waiting on everyone in Miko's class to post. Everyone is whining at how long it's taking and now that we have the oppritunity to wrap things up, no one is bothering to speak up. 

And I was kinda hoping Angel's discussion would lead into a flashback for Miko and her past. There isn't much to add other than Angel agreeing with the VP on Miko being insane and disagreeing with the school board. 

[Passion 3,484]

@Denim&Venom I think your Angelscape profile might have been wiped off of the surface of this thread after one of IPB upgrades, wasn't able to find it for reference of my post.

[Duality 10,740]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:06 PM, Denim&Venom said:

I'm waiting on everyone in Miko's class to post. Everyone is whining at how long it's taking and now that we have the oppritunity to wrap things up, no one is bothering to speak up. 

It might be a good idea to mention the people in question to let them know who you're waiting on, since the who's in and who's out of the class is starting to get somewhat convoluted. I know @Mentis Soliloquy for one mentioned being a bit confused as to what was going on in the class, and I think everyone else has actually walked out already except Dru. Come to think of it, Mentis' character might have walked out as well; I can't quite recall.

On 7/27/2019 at 10:06 PM, Denim&Venom said:

And I was kinda hoping Angel's discussion would lead into a flashback for Miko and her past. There isn't much to add other than Angel agreeing with the VP on Miko being insane and disagreeing with the school board. 

Like I said, I'm down for it, but if you want it you're going to be the one initiating it - I don't know enough about Miko's past to start up any flashbacks about it. I've only spoken in quite general terms about her past so far.

 

 

 

On 7/28/2019 at 5:00 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

But yeah, all she really does as far as physical activity is exercise the absolute bare minimum to keep her pretty figure, as calculated by various projections of exactly how little/much time and energy needs to be efficiently expended

Ah, so a smidge on the appearance-focussed side, I take it? 

On 7/28/2019 at 5:00 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

I had actually wanted to write it as a hybrid of human and traditional feline Anthro, and not a separate Anthro species. Mom was a feline, dad was a human. She just happened to get hit with the random gene stick that she only has traditional anime Neko features and that's it. I guess if we make it as a separate species it could work, unless anyone objects? I mean we have felines here who don't age slower and might need a retcon

What do you propose?

Ah, I see, I thought Neko was a Japanese cat species in its own right. A selection of manga should've been on the required reading list for DM school, honestly.

Maybe she could have some sort of mildly powerful personal slow-aging artefact/potion/spell/macguffin from her as-of-yet undefined past? It could provide a sort of plot fixture around which to frame/inspire some sections of her life to date, something like Duality's Stylus.

That or her genes could've gotten mixed topsy-turvy somehow and instead of aging five years for every one human year like a cat she ended up aging one year for every five human years via anti-cat quasimagic. Or her experiments are inundating her body with broad-spectrum electromagnetic radiation and slowed aging is just a bizarre symptom of her magic aura passively absorbing all that excess electromagnetic energy.

Alternatively, there's no known explanation and her magic/DNA/radiation damage is just weird like that somehow in a way that seems to be making her age slower and she explains it to people using a variety of these explanations because they're the most convincing she can think of

[Duality 10,740]

On 7/31/2019 at 12:59 AM, Lektra Bolt said:

What do you think we should do for history? Should she be an heiress? I think if she was then she would not have much time to teach and research. I was actually thinking she's a one woman company. She introduces herself as a company, but then says she has no employees

If she is over 40 do you think she would have helped in the building of the school? Probably familiar with the other enchanters? How would we integrate her into the school story?

What would the 'company' actually consist of if it had no employees? Would it just be a hollow trademark or would she be the self-employed sole employee? If she was working full-time as a teacher she probably wouldn't be able to do enough on the side to be able to practically call herself a solo company, unless she just inherited the trademark of her parents' since-dissolved company and decided to keep the trademark as a conversation starter.

If she's in her forties Lektra would have been a teenager when the school was built. The founders were all in middle age or thereabouts, having advanced far enough in magic and maturity to reasonably undertake such a weighty task. Even Duality was only helping out on the side as an understudy for Gabriel - she barely did anything except while being supervised as a junior member of a much larger group. Familiarity with the other enchanters is pretty much a given, though.

She could have started at the University a few years after it was founded to do her practicum - all teaching qualifications require you to teach for some time in a real-life classroom, and Salem is pretty much the only place where an enchanting teacher can teach for real. Starting at a school in their early twenties as part of the practical side of their teaching qualification and applying for a full lecturer position there once the qualification is completed is a common career tactic among teachers, I've heard.

 

 

 

@Buck Testa

I think @Denim&Venom is just waiting on you for his classroom post, since your characters are literally the only ones who haven't walked out yet (out of the 5 or so who were in there at some point during its duration). He has said that his next post will most likely be the concluding one, so it's only one last post and Dru's free and away to enjoy the rest of her first day of classes.

[Passion 3,484]

D'oh. Seems I've taken too long of a break here since everything is at snail's pace now

That being said I'm off to mountains so don't expect me to have a lot of time to do stuff this week.

[Duality 10,740]

You're up @Denim&Venom.

Let's get this RP rolling again, shall we? 

[Denim&Venöm 18,918]

1 hour ago, Duality said:

You're up @Denim&Venom.

Let's get this RP rolling again, shall we? 

Okay so before I write something up, what's the plan post- Miko's class? 

[Duality 10,740]

5 hours ago, Denim&Venom said:

Okay so before I write something up, what's the plan post- Miko's class? 

Probably just setting people loose to wander around NPC classes if applicable and generally set their own tone for the rest of the first day. We've gotten a few new characters since that class began that not many people have encountered yet.

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

So yep waiting waiting waiting

[reader8363 1,281]

Sorry for being quiet, couldn't think of anything to write and life was in the way

[dragon4111 914]

@Denim&Venom

Now you've done it.

[dragon4111 914]

 

@Duality

Now how visible are arcane spells? Do they appear like in some anime?

[Duality 10,740]

1 hour ago, dragon4111 said:

 

Now how visible are arcane spells? Do they appear like in some anime?

They're generally visible by default (although it does depend somewhat on the type of magic), but non-novice mages usually do them invisibly for the sake of discretion and good practice. If Ghalan's looking to make a dramatic scene they'd be trivially easy to make visible, though.

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

Well he's not usually trying to but when he's mad...Like really mad right now well his magic begins to show.