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6/21/2019 23:49:23   
  Starflame13
Moderator


The city of Bren slumbered in the early morning mists - quiet and, to the untrained eye, peaceful. But an undercurrent of power hummed in the hearts of the city and its people, pervading their lives and livelihoods alike. A hum that stemmed from the great complex that stood high above the city gates. A hum that grew in intensity, drawing forth magic and mayhem to answer its call.

The breeze rustled and rushed through the streets, catching at loose curtains and clothes, only to be chased swiftly by a slight tremor that shook the stones below. An abrupt patter of delicate raindrops heralded sparks that snapped in the suddenly charged atmosphere. Delicate swirls of frost curled along window panes even as the flames in every hearth burst to life. Shadows flickered and danced before racing away as the first rays of the sun hit the city walls, illuminating the cobblestone paths that wound their way upwards, through the city and over the last bridge until reaching the great complex itself.

The Arena breathed, and Bren awoke.

With music and laughter, with whispers and apprehension, with fear and excitement and anticipation, the people rushed about to prepare once more.

Prepare for the adventurers and warriors. Prepare for the bards and the thieves and the thousands of spectators that appeared as swiftly as the dawn melted away.

Prepare for the Elemental Championships.



Welcome, writers and poets, fighters and mages, heroes and villains, and everyone in between! Welcome to the 2019 Elemental Championships! Come ready your wits, sharpen your swords, and join in the festivities as Bren prepares for the coming tournament!

I have once again been given the privilege of serving as your Director and Judge, with assistance from Gingkage as needed. We have made great strides to improve this event from prior years, and we are excited to be joining you on this adventure!

Now that the formalities are out of the way, on to the important information:

ANYBODY on the AE forums, regardless of prior roleplaying experience, is welcome to participate in the ECs. To sign up, you will need to provide a character biography that passes both my inspection and certain general requirements. These include some form of identification for your character (typically a name, but titles and such can work as well), and the single Element your character best aligns with (whether due to abilities, personality, values, backstory, or any combination thereof). Next, provide a physical description for your character, including any obvious carried weaponry, equipment, and armor. Lastly, outline any skills, spells, and special abilities. Further details such as history or personality can be useful in shaping your character, but are not required. In the rare situation that a decision between two combatants is too close to call, tie breaker material may be taken from character bios.

Any action performed in the tournament itself, including but not limited to spells, special attacks, and magical abilities, must have some reference in your biography. You may use spoiler tags to hide certain abilities, though this does not guarantee other competitors will not peek. I will be reading (and judging) the complete bio, and there will be consequences for those who attempt to pull off actions in the arena that I was not aware of prior. It is based off of the listed abilities, skills, and so forth that your character will be balanced and admitted to the tournament. If you are new to balancing, I recommend checking out our Balancing 101 Guide, or bios that from prior years.

Applications will be open until 11:59 PM (EDT - or AE Server Time) on Saturday, July 13th. Any bios still under review will then have 24 hours, or until 11:59 PM on Sunday, July 14th, to get their characters approved. Once submissions have completely closed, I will reveal the Paragon Arenas that will be utilized this year, and randomly assign participants to each based off of the number of bios that are approved. Approved bios will be added to a sorted list at the bottom of this post. If your initial submission is not approved, you have until submissions are locked to either re-submit an updated application using Director feedback in a new post, or submit an entirely new character. To assist with re-submissions, characters not approved will be given an explanation why, and further clarification may be requested via PM. DO NOT edit your bio after posting without express permission. You must submit a new post to correct an error or update your character, and only the most recent post submitted will be evaluated.

The preliminaries, or Paragon Phase, will begin on Sunday, July 14th and last for approximately three weeks. Currently, the period is expected to end at 11:59 PM EDT on Friday, August 2nd, but I will keep everyone posted of any potential date changes.

At the end of the Paragon Phase, one finalist from each element will be selected to move on. It usually takes at least a day to process decisions and get the Finals thread ready. Anticipated start date of the Finals will be Sunday, August 4th. More information on the Finals will be released when they are closer.

Now, the Official Rules:

All normal RP Boards Rules will apply. In particular, please read and be aware of the definitions of Bunnying, God-Modding, and Meta-Gaming. Violators will be immolated, electrocuted, drowned, and pulverized. Survivors will be undone at an atomic level. Lists are kept of violators, and depending on severity, you may be barred from future participation. In addition, by participating in this Elemental Championships, you recognize my role as Judge and my say as final.

1. Characters must engage in combat.
This is a combat RP event. Your character must be willing and able to both initiate and take part in combat.

2. Do not use cross-element powers.
This is the Elemental Championship. Your character is competing for the favor of a single Elemental Lord in the preliminaries, and against the chosen of the other elemental Paragons in the Finals. No Lord will choose as their representative someone who cannot win upon the strength of their element alone.

3. You must post regularly.
Consistent activity is required. Please do not enter the tournament if you are not committed to remaining active for the full duration. During the preliminaries, any competitor who does not post at least once every 4 days (counted from the time of your last post) will automatically be disqualified. Your character will then be considered free for the slaughter - any other character in the arena will be allowed to kill him/her/them/it. You are allowed to request up to one (1) 24 hour extension or two (2) 12 hour extensions during the preliminaries via forum post in your Arena’s OOC thread. Barring emergencies, no further extensions will be granted. If an emergency does occur, reach out to me via PM.

4. Do not edit your posts (or your bios) once they have been submitted.
You may only edit your posts or your bios with the express written permission of me, myself, and I. Editing of bios or of posts without foreknowledge creates the suspicion of foul play. Proofread and double-check formatting prior to posting, and live with any errors you might have made once a post is submitted.

5. Each entrant is allowed one and only one character.
You may not enter in pairs, squads, platoons, battalions, armies, or swarms.

6. Do not use colored text or other excessive formatting.
We require your posts to be easily readable. The default formatting of the forum is the best option for this. While you may use bold, italics, and underline as normal, do not, for example, create a post consisting entirely of bold text.

7. Death has Consequences.
Characters who die in the Elemental Championships are dead in the AE RP forums. This is a Canon event with regards to normal RP Board rules. Characters who die during the Paragon Phase are still eligible to be chosen as Finalists, but this is the only free pass to revival. Dying in the Finals is permanent.

8. Have fun!
All these rules and regulations may seem daunting, but while this is a tournament and a competition, the entire objective is to have some fun. We all like to win, sure, but try to enjoy yourselves along the way!

The penalty for failing to follow the rules may result in immediate disqualification from the tournament. Failure to comply with the direction of the Director may also result in immediate disqualification from the tournament. While discussion of a ruling may be allowed, as has been stated prior, I have the final say.

General Information, Tips, and the RP Discord:
Though this is a competition, collaboration is still extremely useful and often necessary. Your character is in combat with other characters, but you are not in combat with the other players. We urge you to discuss combat and options with your fellow contestants. You are free to make collaborative posts, and to work out battle sequences. Please keep records of your discussions for collaboration, however, as they may be requested depending on how close the competition is! OOC threads will be provided for each arena for the express purpose of communication with your fellow contestants and with us.

Additionally, you may make use of the AEF RP Discord Server - which will also have channels provided for each arena. All AEF Rules apply to this server. This server is a privilege, not a right. If you do not follow the AEF rules or are disrespectful to others in the server, you will be banned, and you will need to rely on the forums for communication. The Discord server may be found here.

The Master List of approved characters below also has link buttons for PM’s to help with collaboration needs. If you need to reach me directly, you can do so via PM, posting in the OOC threads, or using Discord.

List of Accepted Entrants by Element
Fire [4]
Zhao Xiuyang, created by Caststarter!
Metelsio, created by deathlord45!
Fierra Scorr, created by Oddball! Withdrawn before the start.
Jaxdon “Jax” Davros, created by draketh99!

Darkness [5]
Sark Ynet, created by Kellehendros!
Vance Maradan, created by Cray!
Roth, created by Necro-Knight!
Exsecratus, created by Sanctus! Idle Out
The Lich, created by Starstruck!

Energy [3]
Morrigan Chase , created by Dragonknight315!
Theia Eris Fhenn d’Astra, created by Kooroo!
Aidan Shieldforged, created by TitanDragonLord!

Wind [1]
Arro the Unyielding, created by Apocalypse!

Ice [2]
Granthese, created by ergotth!
Bassareus Laverne, created by roseleaf320!

Light [2]
Nigh Weathers, created by Chewy905!
Seraphim, created by Fionnes!

Water [1]
Gary, created by nield!

Earth [2]
Shandrae Vellura, created by superjars!
Nadia Shieldforged, created by theZOMBIEis_aLIE!

Master List of Accepted Characters
Total: 20
Arro the Unyielding, created by Apocalypse, competing for Wind!
Nigh Weathers, created by Chewy905, competing for Light!
Sark Ynet, created by Kellehendros, competing for Darkness!
Zhao Xiuyang, created by Caststarter, competing for Fire!
Gary, created by nield, competing for Water!
Seraphim, created by Fionnes, competing for Light!
Metelsio, created by deathlord45, competing for Fire!
Morrigan Chase , created by Dragonknight315, competing for Energy!
Fierra Scorr, created by Oddball, competing for Fire!
Withdrawn before the start.
Granthese, created by ergotth, competing for Ice!
Bassareus Laverne, created by roseleaf320, competing for Ice!
Shandrae Vellura, created by superjars, competing for Earth!
Vance Maradan, created by Cray, competing for Darkness!
Theia Eris Fhenn d’Astra, created by Kooroo, competing for Energy!
Nadia Shieldforged, created by theZOMBIEis_aLI, competing for Earth!
Jaxdon “Jax” Davros, created by draketh99, competing for Fire!
Aidan Shieldforged, created by TitanDragonLord, competing for Energy!
Roth, created by Necro-Knight, competing for Darkness!
Exsecratus, created by Sanctus, competing for Darkness! Idle Out
The Lich, created by Starstruck, competing for Darkness!

Rosters by Arena

Cellar Arena
Nigh Weathers, created by Chewy905!
Jaxdon “Jax” Davros, created by draketh99!
Bassareus Laverne, created by roseleaf320!
Roth, created by Necro-Knight!
Shandrae Vellura, created by superjars!
Morrigan Chase , created by Dragonknight315!
Sark Ynet, created by Kellehendros!

Spike Arena
The Lich, created by Starstruck!
Theia Eris Fhenn d’Astra, created by Kooroo!
Gary, created by nield!
Arro the Unyielding, created by Apocalypse!
Granthese, created by ergotth!
Aidan Shieldforged, created by TitanDragonLord!

Fountain Arena
Nadia Shieldforged, created by theZOMBIEis_aLIE!
Vance Maradan, created by Cray!
Zhao Xiuyang, created by Caststarter!
Metelsio, created by deathlord45!
Exsecratus, created by Sanctus! Idle Out
Seraphim, created by Fionnes!





< Message edited by Starflame13 -- 7/24/2019 0:06:17 >
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 1
6/22/2019 1:33:36   
Apocalypse
Member

Name: Arro the Unyielding
Age: Half-elf, half-human
Age: 54, but visually and functionally is in her late twenties
Class: Monk
Element: Wind

Appearance
Arro strikes an imposing figure, though none of it comes from her height as she stands just shy of the average woman. No, her intimidating nature starts with her eyes: green as the wilderness and hard as iron. It continues with the mane of wild hair that reaches past her shoulders, falling in tufts of amber and brown. It drapes dark skin born from countless hours under the relentless sun of Arro’s homeland. Underneath is muscle with the firm elegance of a prowling jaguar and just as ready to pounce. Even her stride carriers her presence, each step anchoring her to the earth - immovable.

A white bandana mats Arro’s hair to her head, drawing more attention to her pointed ears. The monk’s gi is comprised of a forest-green portion that covers the legs and reaches up across her right shoulder. The tunic portion is sleeveless, earthen brown, and fits beneath the green. She prefers to go barefoot, with white bandages on her hands and feet that also wrap around her wrists and ankles for support.

Gear
While she has a small traveler’s pack, Arro walks into battle with naught but her hands and training.

Abilities
Breath of the Storm
By using this ability, Arro can absorb incoming kinetic force into one part of her body and expel it through another by “breathing” through it. The most common form of expulsion is by dispersing it evenly throughout her skin and into the air via a harmless breeze, though a more advanced technique is by focusing the energy out of a specific part of her body and creating a bludgeoning gust. These gusts lose half their impact after traveling twenty feet and become harmless wisps of wind after thirty feet. The initial energy expelled is equivalent to the energy of the blow redirected through the breath.

In perfect conditions, Arro can breathe the full blow of a greataxe from a mighty barbarian without injury. But “perfect” requires many things: sturdy stance, use of her palms, no distractions, perfectly reading and tracking the blow. The more difficult the conditions, the less kinetic force she can redirect and expel. If Arro attempts to redirect slightly more kinetic energy than she is able to, then the energy reverberates throughout her body and injures/bruises her bones and inner organs through the path of redirection. If the amount is moderately more kinetic energy than she can breathe at the moment, she redirects some of the energy and takes the rest of the attack normally. If it is far too much, then the entire breath fails and she takes the attack as normal.

Arro can only breathe through the kinetic portion of attacks. A stone thrown via magical means can be breathed through, but a hurled icicle with an additional frosting effect would only have the piercing aspect negated by Arro’s technique.

Way of the Four Winds
In the Temple of Ruinous Tempests, Arro learned the Way of the Four Winds, a martial art focused on predicting an opponent’s moves, light provoking attacks, an insurmountable defense, and brutal counterattacks. Arro is a master of the art, being able to even compete against armed opponents without the use of the Breath of the Storm.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 2
6/22/2019 4:47:52   
ergotth
AQW Lore-titician


Name: Granthese
Race: Human
Age: Unknown due abusing time magic
Class: Chronomancer
Element: Ice (best element I can think to fit time magic into the basic elemental wheel)

-Appearance
Granthese can be a very inconspicuous figure, not easy to discern from the crowd as he avoid dressing fancy like most magi and Warlocks, dressing with a long-sleeved, pure white shirt unbuttoned at the start of the chest and brown rough leather pants fit for a traveler, his most distinct feature is his shoulder-lenght hair that is pure white on the left side and pitch black on the right side and his eyes lacking irises and pupils whatsoever, a trait he hides with blue-tinted glasses to avoid startling people who share a glance with him. When going into battle he wraps his arms in bandages that go up to his chest and tie a thick, heavy book to his belt which he opens and flickers through the pages to get the right spell without the need to look at the pages as he memorized every single one of them.

-Gear
As a caster, Granthese uses primarily his hands for spells and his large tome, the Chronomicon, for his most complex spells. The record have this unique feature of shapeshifting the pages, from sheding an infinite number to launch a barrage of frozen paper to creating a miles-long page like a scroll and even increasing in size to make the cover a shield. If in any form the chronomicon is damaged, it will revert to it's original form of a small, handwritten diary with a frostbitten cover, and will take a few seconds to regenerate for further use.

-Abilities
Being one of the chronomancers, Granthese specializes in time magic, and adapted most of it to fit the need of the lord of the elemental plane of Ice. He focus in solidifying the flow of time and freezing it and anyone caught in it, draining the seconds and minutes like wringing the water of a towel.

His spells often include sheding pages out of the Chronomicon to form different arrays of runes and pages to cast spells like icy blasts, stopping time whitim small projectiles and even creating a flow of liquified time that pierces like an icy blast, cripling one's movements as they feel a chilling grasp numbing their muscles, an actual sign of Time cramping their limbs tight together. Granthese's fighting style consist of mostly crippling the movements of his opponents and leaving'em sluggish and paralized to the point the sheer icy grasp of static time causes their mind to go numb, as he prefers to approach battles with non-violent solutions. For more dire situations, he can materialize icy barriers to block attacks of medium strenght.

However, his magic can consume quite a lot of mana, to compensate this drawback, he will attempt to come up closer to his target and "steal" seconds of his life, replenishing his mana reserves little by litte as his target ages a few minutes. Too much aging can leave marks of frostbite around one's body and a persistent chill down Granthese's spine and his breath comes out wispy.

During an emergency, Granthese can warp himself inside the book like a pocket dimension, leaving most enemies confused on why he suddenly vanished and left a seemingly harmless book behind, until Granthese seizes the opportunity to jump out of the pages for a surprise attack. For obvious reasons, this can only be used once, as the enemy won't fall for the same trick twice, and damaging the book can forcefuly ejects him out of the pages.

As a last resort, Granthese will tackle his opponent and attempt to freeze time around both in an icy embrace. If sucessful, both will enter complete stasis for a few minutes until Granthese frees himself and his opponent is left unconscious. This spell consumes all his mana and take almost a solid minute to complete, requiring his enemy to be severely weakened to pull it off, since Granthese will be essentialy imobilizing himself at dangerously close range.
DF AQW  Post #: 3
6/22/2019 10:30:17   
  Chewy905

Chromatic ArchKnight of RP


Name: Nigh Weathers
Age: 23
Race: Angel
Element: Light

Appearance: Even as an Angel, Nigh appears to be a normal, albeit unnaturally beautiful, human. She stands at a short height of five feet, and sports an attractive, healthy, slim figure. Her straight, flowing, snow white hair compliments the long white dress she wears, which is not at all suited for combat. Her light blue eyes are warm but calculating, and she’s commonly sporting a kind smile. The one feature that blemishes her otherwise pristine appearance is a vile red gash that spans across her throat. The wound appears to be open, but does not bleed, and cannot be healed by any means. This wound has fully sealed her voice, rendering her completely mute. In addition, if under the effect of illusory magic or other appearance altering effects, the wound will always be visible regardless.

As an Angel, Nigh bears two large, white feathered wings, extending out from between her shoulder blades. When not in use, Nigh keeps the wings folded, which causes them to disappear, making her seem to be just a normal human. When unfurled, she has a full wingspan of ten feet from tip to tip.

Equipment:
Gilded Shout: Strapped to Nigh’s left arm is a golden Heater Shield, about the size of a plate. The shield projects a slightly-visible magical coating of light around Nigh’s body, protecting her from attacks as if she were wearing chainmail, but still causing her to feel a portion of the pain the attacks would have caused. The veil appears as a soft golden glow emanating off of her. If an attack that would break chainmail armor strikes her, her barrier will shatter and her shield will lose its golden sheen, becoming an ordinary shield.

Lord’s Words: An ornate wooden bow, carved with intricate designs and patterns. When the string is pulled back empty, an arrow made from light automatically appears nocked and ready to be fired. Arrows fly slightly faster than a normal arrow, and travel in a perfectly straight line, passing through all types of non-magical armor without leaving any marks or punctures. Arrows disappear upon striking a target, traveling 100 feet, or impacting terrain. Nigh can choose between arrows made of silver light, or arrows made of golden light.

Silver arrows create multiple minor to medium depth slash wounds around the area of impact. These wounds are shallow, appear instantaneously, and are not accompanied by pain of any kind. They do create an uncomfortable feeling after being created, but no actual pain, and do not bleed. If striking an armored target, the wounds will appear on the skin beneath the armor.

Golden arrows instantly heal minor to mild wounds and injuries (such as cuts, scrapes, and bruises) that were gained within the past five minutes near the point of the arrow’s impact, while also inflicting all pain that the injuries would have come with when they were created. For example, if someone had been cut by a sword, upon being healed it would feel like they were just cut a second time. Healing wounds created by Nigh’s Silver Arrows inflicts a much stronger feeling of pain than the wounds would suggest, as if the opponent had been struck directly and repeatedly. The healing and the pain are individual effects, and can happen independently of each other if something prevents one or the other from occurring.

Nigh owns two physical arrows, one made of silver and one made of gold, both enchanted to fly like regular arrows(not light arrows). Both arrows cannot apply their effects unless they strike a targets skin directly, and will shatter on direct contact with anything, but do not need to be fired from a bow to work. The silver arrow creates an concussive force on the point of impact strong enough to shatter bone, while the gold arrow is capable of healing major wounds, up to even regenerating a limb, while still inflicting the pain as the light arrows do. Nigh is not able to use any of her arrows on herself.

Nigh is an accomplished archer and is able to aim her arrows extremely accurately, as well as fire two of any combination in rapid succession. However, in order to properly line up her shots she must be relatively still. This means if she is in motion she will be unable to aim as accurately as she would want to, and could end up missing more often.

Maled’s Curse: A sleek, sharp black dagger, designed to pierce through a target, but unable to penetrate medium strength armors such as hide or reinforced leather. It has a cross-guard to assist with parrying, but as Nigh is unaccustomed to its use it is unlikely she will ever actually manage to parry anything.

Abilities:
Wings of Prayer: When Nigh’s wings are spread, she appears to be unblemished. Any wounds she has seem to disappear, cuts and scrapes vanish, her clothing appears mended, and even broken bones appear healed. The one exception to this veil is her throat wound, which will remain regardless.This illusion almost makes her seem invincible, as attacks will appear to not affect her at all. This is simply an illusion, in reality she is just as vulnerable as normal. Nigh uses her wings to enhance her movement and evasive capabilities by staying just slightly above the ground, as she is not able to fly higher than two feet off the ground while still maintaining normal mobility. If she does go higher, she can fly a maximum of fifteen feet straight up, and stay at that height for fifteen seconds. While elevated, Nigh cannot move more than 3 feet in any direction, and must return to the ground if she fires four shots from Lord’s Words.

Nigh’s wings are not protected by her shield’s protective coating, and damage to them can severely cripple her mobility. Damage to the wings will also dispel the illusion of perfection on her. Her wings are quite fragile, so even minor attacks could be very threatening to them. She can heal them while not in combat, but it is a slow process and she must be focusing entirely on the task. Because her wings are a part of her, she feels any pain afflicted to them as if it was on bare skin.

Hidden Whispers: Nigh can store objects in a pocket dimension that she can access by drawing a magic circle in the air with one hand. The only things in the storage space at the start of the Championships are her Bow and arrows, and Maled’s Dagger.

Probing Questions: Nigh is able to detect the injuries that other people have suffered by just looking at the person. She cannot see the exact details of an injury, but is able to discern its location and how severe it may be.

Stolen Voice: If Nigh strikes an opponent with an arrow, she will be able to “speak” through them for one minute. That person is still able to speak normally, but Nigh may also speak using the sound of their voice, emanating from their location as opposed to her own. This only works on one target at a time, and Nigh cannot cancel it manually. Nigh is not aware she has this ability, but will realize it as it becomes active.

spoiler:

Final Scream: When Nigh is in extreme danger, she may finally find her voice, releasing a deafening, terrified, pained scream. Anyone within 25 feet of Nigh that hears the scream may be thrown 25 feet away from her with substantial force if they aren’t grounded well. Anyone armed that hears the scream may have their weapons pulled out of their hands and thrown to the ground if they do not keep a very firm grip on them. The scream will shatter Nigh’s bow and shield, and cripple her wings, leaving her defenseless and vulnerable.


Traits: With her wings, Nigh is able to move incredibly swiftly, far faster than any normal human on land. She is also quite perceptive of her surroundings, and can usually react to attacks she sees quickly enough to avoid them. Without her wings, she’s still faster than average, but lacks the 360 degree movement she’s used to, and thus may move a little awkwardly. She is also not very strong, certainly not capable of carrying heavier weapons or armor while flying. As she is not accustomed to combat, she has zero skill with any weapons other than her bow and her shield, and if she used one it would more than likely be detrimental to her, rather than an asset. Due to her old ability to manipulate others magically, she has learned how to prevent similar spells from affecting herself. This means magic that alters her perception or thought processes will be less effective on her, but she needs to know the source of the effect in order to mitigate it substantially.
Post #: 4
6/22/2019 20:32:33   
  Starflame13
Moderator


We're off to a good start, everyone! First, a couple quick reminders:

1) DO NOT EDIT YOUR BIOS. If you spot a mistake or are asked to change anything, post a new version. Edits are only allowed if I explicitly give you permission to do so.

2) While listing a class can be useful in describing your character, a defined class is not needed, nor do your abilities need to be based on any AE classes/abilities.

Now, balancing!



@Apocalypse - Welcome back to the ECs! Let's see what's in store this year.

Surprisingly, not a major headache! I love the balance to Breath of the Storm between dealing and taking damage, and while some magical attacks may need to be handled by a case-by-case basis, I think the current statement is ok. Approved!


@ergotth - Hello again! I can see the reasoning behind time magic being most related to Ice, so that should work! Keep in mind that time magic can be tricky to use since it inherently leads to bunnying. We'll try to balance things to minimize that risk, but be aware of that during the competition! On the whole, the abilities seem well thought out, but I am going to need significantly more detail as to their limitations.

Firstly, your Chonomicon. I'd like some more details on the "shapeshifting" aspect - as a miles-long page won't fit in most of the arenas! Would it be possible to list a few different forms (book, shield, projectile, etc.) that it could cycle between, and then give a few details as to what entails each one? For a projectile page, for example, does he have complete control over its path or is it like firing an arrow? For a shield, does it block physical or magical attacks, or both? I like the touch of how damage causes it to revert momentarily - can he still cast the spells while its in this form? And is it as easy to damage as a standard book?

Now for the spells. From my understanding, the Chronomicon has 3 main basic spells (Icy blasts, freezing projectiles, and icy barriers). For the icy blasts - are these a short range or a long range ability, particularly in terms of freezing the muscles? If the latter, what is the range? Additionally, I'd like a maximum power level. This can either be something along the lines of they freeze muscle they strike at whatever the distance, or a sliding scale with distance (i.e, a close range hit might freeze an entire limb, while a long-range one might only numb a small area). Additionally, I am assuming that the effects are temporary and can be shaken off/warmed up over time, but let me know if that is incorrect. For freezing small projectiles, I'm assuming this is a short enough duration for Granthese to step out of the way. If so, does the projectile continue its forward motion once unfrozen, or is there a different impact? Lastly, I'm interpreting the icy barriers as stopping time in a certain area such that blows of medium strength can't pass through - is that correct? Unless anything is significantly more powerful than I realize, you should be ok without setting hard limits on mana-draining, but do keep it in mind!

In terms of the mana replenishment - I'm a little wary of allowing you to age other competitors. I'm willing to consider it on the conditions that it requires physical contact and that the drain stops as soon as that's broken. Additionally, Granthese should not be able to age someone to the point where they feel actual effects of the aging. Including the frostbite is ok, but even over the course of combat someone should not end up aged more than a day or so.

For the pocket dimension - please set a maximum duration of how long Granthese can remind within the Chromomicon - the longer the duration, the more mana it should take. Is he able to tell what is happening outside the dimension while within it? If so, it becomes a stronger ability, and the mana drain should adjust accordingly. You also mentioned in a separate discussion that the book floats - if he can control/move it while in the dimension, this ability becomes MUCH more powerful so it may need to be further nerfed or even removed.

Lastly, the freezing embrace ability is broken for a couple reasons - one in that it incapacitates an opponent without giving them a chance to free themselves, and secondly in that attacks that take a minute to cast will almost never occur due to how fast paced combat is. If you want to keep this ability, lower both the duration and the severity - one potential is to match the severity between Granthese and his opponent so that each are equally impacted. That said, I feel you have enough abilities without adding this on, if its not something you want to deal with balancing.

Very unique character and fun to see someone doing Time in the Ice-theme! Just give me some more clarification and then we'll double check the balancing.


@Chewy905 - Good to see you back again this year! Nigh is rather well balanced on the whole, but we've got a couple clarifications and one spot that needs balancing.

For the Golden Light arrows, I want to be sure I know what you mean by independent effects. For example, if Nigh was in an anti-healing area like Cellar, would that mean that the target would still experience the pain without getting healed? If so, that's fine as long as the wound itself does not cause greater physical damage. For Maled's Curse, I'm assuming by piercing a target you mean the dagger can easily break through the skin, but remains blocked by thicker armors. Let me know if either of these assumptions are incorrect!

Now, Wings of Prayer. I'm impressed with the effort that has already gone into this ability to balance it, but it's not quite there yet. I see two options: Either limit the flight itself slightly further, or limit what she can do in flight. In the former case, this would turn it less into flight and more of a "high jump" - a single continuous motion rather than hovering. In the latter case, the flight movement could remain as written while she loses the ability to fire arrows. I'll let you decide which path better fits the character you have in mind! (As an aside, in the second case, I would recommend changing the wording to something along the lines of "the longer she's in the air, the more tired she becomes/the less mobility she has" so as to remove the hard duration limit).

Lastly, Stolen Voice. We clarified that this did NOT force the target to speak, instead using the sound of their voice to speak Nigh's words from their location. I would potentially consider adding in a caveat that the voices were slightly different to a discerning ear (perhaps slightly rougher to account for Nigh's slashed throat), but as long as the former assumption is accurate, this is not necessary.

I will send you a PM for any balancing to be done with the spoiler-tagged abilities. We're almost there!


To everyone: it is common for people to need 1, 2, even more edits to get approved, especially for more complex characters! Don't get discouraged, and feel free to ask for ideas either here or in the Discord! Good set of characters so far!

AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 5
6/22/2019 21:54:38   
ergotth
AQW Lore-titician


Name: Granthese
Race: Human
Age: Unknown due abusing time magic
Class: Chronomancer
Element: Ice (best element I can think to fit time magic into the basic elemental wheel)

-Appearance
Granthese can be a very inconspicuous figure, not easy to discern from the crowd as he avoid dressing fancy like most magi and Warlocks, dressing with a long-sleeved, pure white shirt unbuttoned at the start of the chest and brown rough leather pants fit for a traveler, his most distinct feature is his shoulder-lenght hair that is pure white on the left side and pitch black on the right side and his eyes lacking irises and pupils whatsoever, a trait he hides with blue-tinted glasses to avoid startling people who share a glance with him. When going into battle he wraps his arms in bandages that go up to his chest and tie a thick, heavy book to his belt which he opens and flickers through the pages to get the right spell without the need to look at the pages as he memorized every single one of them.

-Gear
As a caster, Granthese uses primarily his hands for spells and his large tome, the Chronomicon, for his most complex spells. The record have this unique feature of shapeshifting the pages, from sheding a seemingly infinite number to launch a barrage of frozen paper to creating a several feet-long page like a scroll to wrap around something and even increasing in size to make the cover a shield for average physical and magical attacks. If in any form the chronomicon is damaged, it will revert to it's original form of a small, handwritten diary with a frostbitten cover, and will take a few seconds to regenerate for further use. While it regenerates, Granthese is limited to his most basic forms of magic and weakened spells.

-Abilities
Being one of the chronomancers, Granthese specializes in time magic, and adapted most of it to fit the need of the lord of the elemental plane of Ice. He focus in solidifying the flow of time and freezing it and anyone caught in it, draining the seconds and minutes like wringing the water of a towel. Granthese's fighting style consist of mostly crippling the movements of his opponents and leaving'em sluggish and paralized to the point the sheer icy grasp of static time causes their mind to go numb, as he prefers to approach battles with non-violent solutions.

-Specific spells

Stasis Blast
The Chronomicon, in it's default form of a large book, will open facing the opponent and release a long-range blast of cryogenic energy that pierces through solid objects, leaving a strong sensation of numbness and frostbite that last for several seconds, leaving most people shivering. By concentrating long enough he can launch a large, thick blast or without much thinking, small bursts that travel a few feet ahead of him.

Murder of minutes
By sheding pages of the Chronomicon, they will turn into white "origami" crows (around 10) that will swarm the opponent and create an incresingly cold air around him as they slow the passage of time in the air around, causing the target to feel cold and frostbitten after a full minute surrounded by the murder (term for a flock of crows). He can also redirect the crows to work as projectile, each one hitting like a thrown knife, upon impact, regardless it was thick armor or soft skin, the crows will shatter. This spell however consumes pages of the Chronomicon and damages the tome, if too many pages are removed, not only Granthese's spells are compromised, the Chronomicon will revert to it's true form and recharges.

Chrono Wall
By creating a thin wall of "frozen time", Granthese shields himself from small projectiles be it physical objects or magicaly-created projectiles (lets say, a fireball, for instance). They will slow down to almost a halt for 9 seconds and can't be too large or be composed of complex living beings, such as a person charging towards him. A drawback is that he can't dispell the effect of the wall before the 9 seconds, so for the duration of it, he must avoid accidentaly stepping back at the direction of the projectiles he halted. This is one of the few spells that can be done without the Chronomicon active and thus, lacks potency for long-lasting battles.

Literary insertion
During an emergency, Granthese can warp himself inside the book like a pocket dimension, leaving most enemies confused on why he suddenly vanished and left a seemingly harmless book behind, until Granthese seizes the opportunity to jump out of the pages for a surprise attack. For obvious reasons, this can only be used once, as the enemy won't fall for the same trick twice, and damaging the book can forcefuly ejects him out of the pages. Inside the book, Granthese have little to no awareness of what is happening in the outside world, plus those more versed in sensing mana and presence can still feel Granthese's emanating from the book. If the ground below isn't suitable for the safety of the book (water, burning embers, mud...) the book will float a few inches off the ground, but it will remain anchored to that spot unless picked up by someone else. This ability functions similar to a turtle entering it's shell. Can work for a while, but have the drawback of leaving him immobile on the spot.

Thief of seconds
His magic can consume quite a lot of mana, to compensate this drawback, he will attempt to come up closer to his target and "steal" seconds of his life, replenishing his mana reserves little by litte as his target "ages" a few seconds (emphasis on "a few seconds", Granthese is NOT able to age anyone to the point of years passing by). This spell requires physical touch and will remain as long as Granthese holds the target. Too much aging can leave marks of frostbite around one's body and a persistent chill down Granthese's spine. Abusing this spell can be painful to the own caster, as the cold will feel like pure hypothermia. The aging effect is, however, limited to a few seconds of the user's life, nothing above hours or days, just a few seconds that give the target the impression of a lapse, as if he spaced out for a little bit. This spell does not require the Chronomicon.

DF AQW  Post #: 6
6/23/2019 0:25:57   
  Chewy905

Chromatic ArchKnight of RP


Round 2! Changes are in bold. I clarified that the dagger is designed to pierce flesh rather than armor, made it a bit more clear that healing arrows can heal or cause pain even if one of those affects is prevented (Cellar have mercy), gave her stolen voice an echo, and replaced high flight with a super-jump!



Name: Nigh Weathers
Age: 23
Race: Angel
Element: Light

Appearance: Even as an Angel, Nigh appears to be a normal, albeit unnaturally beautiful, human. She stands at a short height of five feet, and sports an attractive, healthy, slim figure. Her straight, flowing, snow white hair compliments the long white dress she wears, which is not at all suited for combat. Her light blue eyes are warm but calculating, and she’s commonly sporting a kind smile. The one feature that blemishes her otherwise pristine appearance is a vile red gash that spans across her throat. The wound appears to be open, but does not bleed, and cannot be healed by any means. This wound has fully sealed her voice, rendering her completely mute. In addition, if under the effect of illusory magic or other appearance altering effects, the wound will always be visible regardless.

As an Angel, Nigh bears two large, white feathered wings, extending out from between her shoulder blades. When not in use, Nigh keeps the wings folded, which causes them to disappear, making her seem to be just a normal human. When unfurled, she has a full wingspan of ten feet from tip to tip.

Equipment:
Gilded Shout: Strapped to Nigh’s left arm is a golden Heater Shield, about the size of a plate. The shield projects a slightly-visible magical coating of light around Nigh’s body, protecting her from attacks as if she were wearing chainmail, but still causing her to feel a portion of the pain the attacks would have caused. The veil appears as a soft golden glow emanating off of her. If an attack that would break chainmail armor strikes her, her barrier will shatter and her shield will lose its golden sheen, becoming an ordinary shield.

Lord’s Words: An ornate wooden bow, carved with intricate designs and patterns. When the string is pulled back empty, an arrow made from light automatically appears nocked and ready to be fired. Arrows fly slightly faster than a normal arrow, and travel in a perfectly straight line, passing through all types of non-magical armor without leaving any marks or punctures. Arrows disappear upon striking a target, traveling 100 feet, or impacting terrain. Nigh can choose between arrows made of silver light, or arrows made of golden light.

Silver arrows create multiple minor to medium depth slash wounds around the area of impact. These wounds are shallow, appear instantaneously, and are not accompanied by pain of any kind. They do create an uncomfortable feeling after being created, but no actual pain, and do not bleed. If striking an armored target, the wounds will appear on the skin beneath the armor.

Golden arrows instantly heal minor to mild wounds and injuries (such as cuts, scrapes, and bruises) that were gained within the past five minutes near the point of the arrow’s impact, while also inflicting all pain that the injuries would have come with when they were created. For example, if someone had been cut by a sword, upon being healed it would feel like they were just cut a second time. Healing wounds created by Nigh’s Silver Arrows inflicts a much stronger feeling of pain than the wounds would suggest, as if the opponent had been struck directly and repeatedly. The healing and the pain are individual effects, and can happen independently of each other even if something prevents one or the other from occurring.

Nigh owns two physical arrows, one made of silver and one made of gold, both enchanted to fly like regular arrows(not light arrows). Both arrows cannot apply their effects unless they strike a targets skin directly, and will shatter on direct contact with anything, but do not need to be fired from a bow to work. The silver arrow creates a concussive force on the point of impact strong enough to shatter bone, while the gold arrow is capable of healing major wounds, up to even regenerating a limb, while still inflicting the pain as the light arrows do. Nigh is not able to use any of her arrows on herself.

Nigh is an accomplished archer and is able to aim her arrows extremely accurately, as well as fire two of any combination in rapid succession. However, in order to properly line up her shots she must be relatively still. This means if she is in motion she will be unable to aim as accurately as she would want to, and could end up missing more often.

Maled’s Curse: A sleek, sharp black dagger, designed to pierce through a target’s skin, but unable to penetrate medium strength armors such as hide or reinforced leather. It has a cross-guard to assist with parrying, but as Nigh is unaccustomed to its use it is unlikely she will ever actually manage to parry anything.

Abilities:
Wings of Prayer: When Nigh’s wings are spread, she appears to be unblemished. Any wounds she has seem to disappear, cuts and scrapes vanish, her clothing appears mended, and even broken bones appear healed. The one exception to this veil is her throat wound, which will remain regardless.This illusion almost makes her seem invincible, as attacks will appear to not affect her at all. This is simply an illusion, in reality she is just as vulnerable as normal. Nigh uses her wings to enhance her movement and evasive capabilities by staying just slightly above the ground, as she is not able to fly higher than two feet off the ground while still maintaining normal mobility. Nigh is also able to launch herself 15 feet vertically and horizontally, but cannot remain airborne in this way, and will simply return to the ground as if she had jumped. This action takes up a large amount of Nigh’s stamina, and she will need to ground herself and refrain from using her wings in order to recover.

Nigh’s wings are not protected by her shield’s protective coating, and damage to them can severely cripple her mobility. Damage to the wings will also dispel the illusion of perfection on her. Her wings are quite fragile, so even minor attacks could be very threatening to them. She can heal them while not in combat, but it is a slow process and she must be focusing entirely on the task. Because her wings are a part of her, she feels any pain afflicted to them as if it was on bare skin.

Hidden Whispers: Nigh can store objects in a pocket dimension that she can access by drawing a magic circle in the air with one hand. The only things in the storage space at the start of the Championships are her Bow and arrows, and Maled’s Dagger.

Probing Questions: Nigh is able to detect the injuries that other people have suffered by just looking at the person. She cannot see the exact details of an injury, but is able to discern its location and how severe it may be.

Stolen Voice: If Nigh strikes an opponent with an arrow, she will be able to “speak” through them for one minute. That person is still able to speak normally, but Nigh may also speak using the sound of their voice, emanating from their location as opposed to her own. Nigh’s “speech” is discernible from the targets own voice by a slight echo that accompanies it. This only works on one target at a time, and Nigh cannot cancel it manually. Nigh is not aware she has this ability, but will realize it as it becomes active.

spoiler:

Final Scream: When Nigh is in extreme danger, she may finally find her voice, releasing a deafening, terrified, pained scream. Anyone within 25 feet of Nigh that hears the scream may be thrown 25 feet away from her with substantial force if they aren’t grounded well. Anyone armed that hears the scream may have their weapons pulled out of their hands and thrown to the ground if they do not keep a very firm grip on them. The scream will shatter Nigh’s bow and shield, and cripple her wings, leaving her defenseless and vulnerable.


Traits: With her wings, Nigh is able to move incredibly swiftly, far faster than any normal human on land. She is also quite perceptive of her surroundings, and can usually react to attacks she sees quickly enough to avoid them. Without her wings, she’s still faster than average, but lacks the 360 degree movement she’s used to, and thus may move a little awkwardly. She is also not very strong, certainly not capable of carrying heavier weapons or armor while flying. As she is not accustomed to combat, she has zero skill with any weapons other than her bow and her shield, and if she used one it would more than likely be detrimental to her, rather than an asset. Due to her old ability to manipulate others magically, she has learned how to prevent similar spells from affecting herself. This means magic that alters her perception or thought processes will be less effective on her, but she needs to know the source of the effect in order to mitigate it substantially.
Post #: 7
6/23/2019 15:17:15   
Kellehendros
Eternal Wanderer


Name: Sark Ynet, the Broken Dragon
Race: Human
Element: Darkness

“Tell me, Lord Houkut,” the imp mewled, spreading its leathery wings in abasement before the great devil. “Tell me the secret.”

The grand balor chuckled, the cruel talons tipping his long, elegant fingers carving curls of stone up from the arm of his throne. “Ah, Opiskel,” the hell master rumbled, “you have so very, very much to learn.” Lifting one clawed hand, the horror motioned to a great mirror, a flawless sheet of obsidian set in a frame of beaten gold. “Look you now; tell me what you see.”

“A man.”

“Asinine, as usual,” the balor commented caustically. “Look deeper.”

Summoning all its debatable intellect, the imp peered at the image, voice hesitant. “A man… in torment?”

The ancient devil heaved himself up from his throne, dealing Opiskel a contemptuous kick. “I despair of you,” he sighed, as the imp fluttered upright after its impact with the far wall. “If you never learn to see beyond surfaces, you will never attain that which you seek.” Houkut crossed the room to the dark mirror, smiling as his gaze fell upon the visage within. “Let me tell you what I see.”

He reached out, clawed fingers curving in a loving caress against the tenebrous surface. “A man, old beyond his years. His hair was dark once, black as sin, grown long as a woman’s and tied back in a warrior’s queue. Now it is short, half a finger’s length perhaps, of white threaded with the last fading streaks of that black. Once his eyes were blue, piercing sapphires that shone with a fanatic’s zeal, ensnaring those they looked upon. Now one is gone,” he chuckled, the tip of one claw tapping gently, “replaced with a yellow cat’s eye beryl.”

The devil’s smile was vulpine as he recalled halcyon days, “one of our… later trades. It works perfectly, you know. No small feat of magic, but well worth the investment. It sees more than simply the surface of things. It looks within; it sees the cracks and crevices, the... fault-lines in the personalities of those around him.” There was another chuckle. “As for the other eye, mm, that gem is broken, its lustre ground out by the witness of horrors beyond number.”

Houkut paused again, his mind roaming back over those exultant times. “Once his bearing was tall and proud, his body honed to the razor-edge of fighting prowess. Now… You can see what is left. Wire and sinew, a shadow twisted over bone, all lines and angles. Yes, not a hint of softness remains. And the scars,” the balor crooned, “oh the scars. His back, hatched and crossed, each line precisely spaced a fingernail-breadth apart. Over our long time together I have taken away many of his scars. All but those. Mmhmhm, nay, never those. They are far too precious to me.”

“But Lord Houkut,” the imp whined, earning itself a cutting glare from the devil that cowed it back into silence.

“You will note, in particular, the left arm. Missing at the elbow. In its place, the wraith limb. It appears semi-solid, a vaporous form of shifting particles. Those interweaving motes confound the eye, for howsoever insubstantial that arm may look, it is quite solid. Often its shape is nothing more than that of a normal human limb, but betimes the fingers elongate into scathing claws.” Broad shoulders shrugged absently as the old horror added, “he never did learn the necessary control. It is dexterous as any mortal arm has ever been, and I am told it feels utterly normal to the touch, or when struck. Some of my finest work.”

One claw tapped the obsidian again as Houkut chuckled. “Oh yes, Opiskel. This one will do nicely. Bring me his things and then summon him here. I have one last proposal for our… honored guest before I devote myself to my newest project.”

The imp squeaked, wings opening as he turned towards the door. But a moment later the creature stopped, greatly daring, and said, “you never said how…”

The balor’s flashing eyes speared the imp to the floor, drawing a whimper of pain from the thing as the sheer force of the elder devil’s will drove it to the stone. “Is it a lesson you desire, wretch? After your ineptitude earlier? Pah, I waste my time with a being of your inadequacy.” Houkut considered for a long moment, and then waved a hand negligently. “Still, in truth it is a simple thing. Tell me now, Opiskel, how do you earn a man’s loyalty?”

“I… do not know, my lord.”

“Ah, the beginnings of wisdom.” The ancient thing chuckled. “It is easy, truly. To win a man’s loyalty you supply him with what he needs, even if he does not realize it at the time.” Houkut crossed the room, lowering himself into his throne with a malignant smile. “And to destroy him, you give him everything, everything, everything that he wants.”

Equipment:
Sark Ynet was once equipped with the strongest armor and most powerful weapons the smiths of his homeland could provide. But that was many, many years ago. Upon his arrival to the city of Bren, the once vaunted war leader now bears only the remnants of that proud equipage.

On his feet, the man wears a pair of battered leather boots with metal plates riveted to their sides to make a set of impromptu greaves. The boots are old, their laces dust-caked, their soles cracked and worn from the miles they have trod. Like their owner they bear their scars, marks of having been cobbled back together on more than one occasion. His pants are heavy canvas - black once, but now a dingy gray - though the fabric is wearing through at the knees.

An old short-sleeved arming jacket shields his torso, worn under a battered shirt of mail. On his right arm, covering his hand and forearm, is a much used leather gauntlet featuring reinforced metal studs along the knuckles. His left arm is a blackish fog of shifting and swirling particles, like some bizarre black sand, bare but for a simple silver band set with a square onyx stone on one finger. The face of the onyx is cracked, or perhaps it is actually inscribed with a design? It is hard to say, for the play of light on the stone seems to affect its appearance. At times, the surface seems flawless, while at others it is scratched and pocked, the damage appearing like an abstract depiction of a long arm, reaching out to beckon the viewer closer. Belted over the mail is a long and tattered vest that may once have been black but is now some indistinguishable and travel-stained grey-green.

Hanging from Sark Ynet’s belt is a heavy single-bladed utility knife, not unlike a short machete. It is in no way balanced for throwing, and is not rightly a tool of war, but it still makes a vicious hacking implement when other options are not near to hand. The man’s preferred weapon is slung across his back, however. Once the ranseur was eight feet in length, a solid stave of oak topped by a long dual-edged metal spike with smaller curved tines arcing up six inches from its base. Now the lower two feet of the stave are gone, hacked off during some ancient battle and replaced with an ugly six-inch blade of black iron. One of the ranseur’s points is also missing, sheared away in a separate encounter. What remains was ground down into a slightly curved spike perhaps two inches long.

Abilities:
Tarika’s Anguish: Sark Ynet is missing his left arm from the elbow down; it has been replaced with a miasmic composition of dark, swirling motes that still retain the same general shape. Despite this apparently vaporous appearance, the appendage is as solid to the touch as his remaining limbs, and features full tactile sensitivity. It is also quite impervious to damage, which is something of a mixed blessing. In a moment of desperation he could use the arm to block an attack, or stick it into a fire to retrieve some object of import, but it will hurt - as much as if the limb was true flesh and blood.

Pretu’s Dust: If one looks closely, they will note that specks or swirls of blackish dust are cast off Sark Ynet’s left arm, an effect that becomes more pronounced with vigorous movement. The particulates dance and whirl in the air about him, forming a faint nimbus that could be inhaled by those nearby, or absorbed into the blood through open wounds. Oddly, the dust has a sweetish taste to the tongue, though it stings if it gets into the eyes or on abraded skin.

Brenth’s Paranoia: When ingested or absorbed into the blood, the brackish motes begin to do their insidious work. Over time they migrate through the victim’s body, congregating in the nervous tissues. In low dosages, this results in a generalized ache, or a tingling sensation in the extremities. Further exposure advances to acute pains in the joints, and the perception of voices speaking just at the edge of audibility. Prolonged exposure over the course of several days - or to incredibly high dosages - is fatal. Build-up of the substance in the spinal column and brain leads to impaired motor function, crippling pain, and increasingly aberrant behaviors.

Abaret’s Ashes: With concentration and an effort of will, Sark Ynet can cause his vaporous arm to expel a large quantity of dust, suitable for creating a choking cloud of the stinging particles. The effect is short-lived, and the cloud - which expands to about three-feet in circumference - dissipates within seven or eight seconds. For those moments, however, any creature within the veil will be exposed to a high-concentration dose of the mephitic substance. The strain of using this ability causes the old wounds on the man’s back to reopen, and as such it is to be used cautiously.

Rodeken’s Tears: Sark Ynet’s right eye is also missing, a yellow cat’s eye gem gleaming in its socket. The cabochon stone is for far more than simple appearance, however. Much like his left arm, the gem functions quite well as a replacement for the eye that was lost, perhaps even better in low light. More importantly, the beryl is linked to the dusky substance shed by the phantom arm. When the motes build up in a victim’s system, the cat’s eye allows Sark Ynet a measure of insight into that person’s mind. This is by no means mind reading, as no complex thoughts are conveyed. Rather, the insight is of a general nature. He can see a victim’s drives, their desires, to some extent their feelings. Base emotions, particularly hate, anger, and fear, are passed strongly enough that Sark Ynet can often surmise their nature and cause.
AQ DF MQ  Post #: 8
6/23/2019 22:19:24   
  Starflame13
Moderator


Day two and already lots of unique character designs! Let's get to it.


@ergotth - Thank you for dividing out and thoroughly clarifying your abilities! In doing so we've hit a handful of balancing issues, but the worst should be behind us.

Starting with the Chronomicon: The three basic forms seem ok (with the understanding that any damage, physical or magical, causes it to revert), but given the variety and sheer power of the spells you have through the tome, I would rather if Granthese did not have access to weaker versions of his spells while it regenerates, so as to balance risk and reward. I saw you specifically called out that Chrono-Wall and Thief of Seconds can be cast without the book - I am ok with this on the stipulation that both spells cannot be active at once. That said, it might be a good idea to give Granthese a dagger or staff (even if he doesn't know how to use either) for minor defense if his book gets damaged or even stolen.

Onto the spells! Stasis Blast being able to go through any solid object is a bit too powerful - if you want it to pass through thin layers of cloth, with perhaps a weakened effects for thicker (or magical) armor, this should be more workable. At the least, it should not pass through thicker walls/obstacles in the arena.

For Murder of Minutes - I love the imagery of the paper cranes, but I'm a bit concerned about the use of a swarm. Swarms, even temporary ones, run the risk of acting like multiple characters if they act on their own autonomy, which seems to be implied in that they know to pursue someone and can be directed to either swarm or barrage. Personally, my suggestion would be to use the cranes as a multi-barrage strike at a single location that cause extreme cold on impact, potentially frostbite if enough of them hit. If you do want to keep the swarming as part of the action, then when the cranes are summoned they should either swarm or barrage - not swap between the two. If they swarm, they should target a single person only and not be able to swap targets. Additionally, as said before, 1 minute is too long for abilities to take effect - especially if the target is able to shatter them by hitting them (which I would make a requirement if they are able to swarm). Look into starting off with a strong temperature drop that perhaps decreases either over time, or as the cranes are shattered. Lastly, I'd like clarification as to if the spell consumes a single page per cast, or a single page per crane - and in either case, how many pages can be used up before the book must regenerate.

Chrono-Wall also needs a couple quick clarifications - in particular more detail into how big is "too large". How large is the wall itself? The bio states that a person charging through can't be frozen, but Granthese himself can be if you step into it, so I'm assuming it can block projectiles that are his size or smaller. In a single wall, this is ok for a single large projectile and too strong if it can block multiple large projectiles - perhaps it could work on a sliding scale for the larger the projectiles, the fewer it can block. Either way, it should have a maximum limit before it fails (either being dispelled early and releasing all projectiles, or by allowing further projectiles to pass through it). Feel free to ask for suggestions if you're not sure where the balance should be!

Now, Literary Insertion. This ability feels slightly contradictory in that it is intended to provide surprise attacks... but Granthese has"little to no awareness" as to what's going on outside. Let's see if we can set a definition for what "little awareness" is - whether that's sensing if someone is within melee distance of the book, or being able to sense the movement of magic but not non-magical items, or something similar. I'll leave it to you to better define the awareness in the way that best fits the character! Additionally, does he exit through the open book/can he control which direction he exits it from? If so, can someone trap him there if they pick up and hold the book closed? Perhaps a good self-defense from this would be that the book starts to freeze other people who pick it up.

Lastly, Thief of Seconds. I like the feeling of the mana regeneration and the better balance of the age draining, but I'm worried about the target experiencing a time lapse of a few seconds, as this does render them entirely vulnerable. Perhaps you could substitute a different effect - like a slight chill or a momentary jolt/dizziness. I have also assumed that the frostbite dealt to the target is only where the physical contact is - if that's incorrect, it should be toned down slightly to be less damaging.

I know that looks like a lot, but I do think things this round look much better/clearer! Looking forward to seeing the next draft.



@Chewy905 - Round 2! I like the balances to Wings of Prayer, in particular taking her stamina into account. We additionally clarified that while Nigh's silver light arrows caused wounds to appear, the wounds themselves do not hinder the target beyond the mild discomfort. This should be the balance necessary so that their ability to pass through non-magic armor isn't too powerful. Approved!


@Kellehendros - I swear, your characters get more intriguing with each passing year. Glad to see you back!

I was able to reach out to you via PM to clarify a few things about Sark Ynet's miasmic arm - namely that the particles start to come into effect within melee range under normal circumstances, that the motes were large enough for those nearby to observe the "shedding" effect (particularly during combat motions), and that the effects would start becoming noticeable after a few blows were traded (~10-15 seconds depending on the various stages of wounds/bleeding). As a toxin, it would eventually filter itself out over significantly longer periods of time, but not enough for people to recover significantly from higher dosages during combat. Since you've focused on expanding this one main ability, and included significant drawbacks for a guaranteed high dosage, I'm ok with it feeling a bit stronger as a stand-alone trait. Approved!


Really excited with all the entrants so far. Keep the bios coming!
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 9
6/23/2019 23:12:44   
Caststarter
Member

Name: Zhao Xiuyang

Element: Fire

Appearance: Zhao Xiuyang is a relatively young tall woman , face still pure coinciding with an energetic smile. She has ashy white hair, tied in a small ponytail via a small blue ribbon. Her hazel eyes gleam in the sunlight.

Her attire is a compilation of her family’s homeland and Vascole’s style of fashion. She wears a loose, white sleeveless garb that folds into itself. The garb is overlapped by a teal, light coat, decorated with peach tree branches running along the sleeves. The sleeves themselves drape a distance away from the forearm, but are tight otherwise. The coat is tied hastily shut at the waist by a white cloth, where the garb is clearly visible at around the chest and lower front. She wears white winter boots, characteristic of the harsh winters of her homeland.

Equipment:

Relevant to combat, Xiuyang does not carry much, merely a breastplate, her spear, and her gifted sword. Her breastplate and her sword are gifts from an empress from a time ago, when her empire was prosperous and healthy. Now she wanders, in respects to her final order from that very empress, in order to truly find an end to her own personal story.

Qiang Fénghuáng: This is Xiuyang’s trusty spear and main weapon, a lost artifact from one of the greatest stages in history. It consists of a blend of dark green and gold hues, with silver embroidery. It’s structurally thin and light, but surprisingly durable. A bright black and white tassel is grafted into the spear end, where the spearhead itself has been tempered evenly by the greatest of fires. The fire inside the spearhead is intense enough to pierce even strong riveted armor plates. All in all, the spear is about 9 feet long.

Qilin Jian: A double-edged steel straight sword, normally gifted by a true ruler of the land to those of great virtue. The scabbard is primarily black, with the occasional gold ring. A soft blue hue emanates from the exposed blade. The hilt has a red gem embedded in the center of the pointed pommel. Overall, the sword is a highly flexible side-arm, capable of rapid cuts and thrusts, with imbued intense heat causing severe burns. In terms of fighting style, it bears resemblance to changquan.

Attributes: Out of any of the Vascole personnel, Xiuyang is one of the swiftest combatants. In comparison to anyone who decides to focus on the art of the spear, she easily can perform wide-ranging attacks around her and far-reaching stabbing attacks. Even in close-quarters, she can use her spear quite adequately.

While far from the skill of her spear, she is still competent with her imperial sword, displaying similar wide-ranging techniques, albeit with less grace but more rapidly.

However, her lack of armor leaves her wide-open to injury from any source, having only a breastplate. She also does not possess the understanding of larger scaled tactics in comparison to tacticians, a field she is mediocre at best.

Magic:

Xiuyang’s flames, that of swirling blue and white fire, is conjured via friction and movement. While moving about, the spearhead of the Qiang Fénghuáng can be scraped against the ground or even walls, generating heat continuously, which also inturn makes the spearhead an internal mass of fire..

The ability to unleash it then comes down to the overall motion of her attacks.

Heavenly Storm: Striking a solid surface furiously unleashes a large burst of fire, blowing up away from the bladed end. These can range from just a small burst capable of staggering a poorly footed opponent to even throwing assailants through the air.

Phoenix Trail: Sliding the tip of the spearhead against a surface allows the spearmaster to craft walls of white fire as tall as her for a few seconds, burning away physical projectiles, searing away flesh that dares to be in the roaring flames and even minor forms of magic.

Birth of an Emperor: Another application is that with a weighted thrust forward, blue flames jet out of the spearhead to a point a couple feet away, effectively extending the warrior’s reach for up to half a minute if enough heat was generated.

Taoist Immortal Wisdom: With a sharp stab into the ground, the spearhead is enveloped in fire, leaving thin trails of ash-like flame for a mere second. However, these are still painful to the touch, where the spearhead is enveloped for quarter of a minute.

While these abilities are not necessarily all or nothing, growing more powerful depending how hot the spearhead is, using her magic does diminish the internal heat of the spearhead depending on how much force was generated into the motions of the spear.

Edited to clarify scraping vs. sliding on Phoenix Trail. ~Starflame13



< Message edited by Starflame13 -- 7/10/2019 23:27:51 >
DF  Post #: 10
6/24/2019 2:30:56   
Fionnes
Member

Name: Seraphim
Nickname: Sera
Race: Angel/Synthetic
Age: ~21
Class: Angel
Element: Light

Appearance
Sera appears as a tall, female human with long white-blue hair that splits near the end, forming what appear as “wings”. In addition, her hair is quite voluminous, with overlapping streaks that also resemble small wings on top of her head, and on her shoulders. Complementing this are her golden eyes, which have a glass-like reflective sheen to them, betraying her synthetic origins. Standing at around six feet tall (~1.83m), her empowering statue contrasts with her soft smile and relatively calm composure, which only masks her true ability in combat.
Her body is relatively free of scars and damages: a combination of her tougher synthetic skin material, as well as from illusory magic from her angelic nature which gives her a rather flawless aesthetic. And like her delicate appearance, she walks and strides lightly and articulates her movements smoothly: this follows through with her combat style.

Gear and Equipment
Her outfit revolves around being lightweight and flexible, and follows a tri-tone colour scheme of light-grey, dark-grey and gold.
Her upper body is clothed with a tight, light-gold turtleneck which reaches down to the top of her waist, with a light-grey crop-top adorned with golden decals. A golden band clips the two garments together, minimising their movement during combat situations.
Her lower body is adorned with tight, dark-grey short tights which reach down to above her knees, with two vertical diamond openings on each thigh. On top of this she wears a short, baggy light-grey pant with matching golden decals, held in place by a large golden ornamental belt. Her ankles are protected by light-grey leggings enveloped with layers of golden armour plate, and heavy-duty light-grey and gold boots designed for durability and wear finish off her attire.
Although Sera can engage in combat without physical weapons, she also has at her disposal a large greatsword, “Serendipity”. The size of the sword contrasts with Sera’s rather sleek build, and is ornamented with a large golden crossguard and small golden winglet-shaped hilt, complemented with a sharp and reflective silver blade. However, the sword has a unique feature where the front of the blade can be discarded, and the two blade edges can fold forward to form an anchor-shaped scythe. Because of the sheer size for both forms of Serendipity, this weapon is mostly used for slashing and blunt-force damage, rather than as a thrusting weapon.

Abilities
Sera’s appearance changes subtly when she is prepared for combat: the “split” in her long hair becomes more apparent, spreading apart as if they were wings. As she is not a “true” angel, her synthetic hair takes on the roles of her wings and amplifies her angelic power. Her internal components are synthetic as well, and have been modified to utilise angelic magic and be powered by mana.

Minor Regenerative System: Sera’s internal MRS is a synthetic liquid, gold in colour, which runs her entire bodily components. It is also a running storage of mana, and helps to channel her angelic power, abilities, and superior strength. As noted by its name, MRS can gradually repair any damage to Sera’s physical structure and internal framework, but is limited by the mana capacitated in her body, and by the speed at which it repairs: for example, when Sera overclocks her programming and exceeds her normal physical limits (see below), the MRS repair rate will be insufficient at maintaining repair, leading to potential structural damage seen as cracks in her skin. The MRS itself is generally non-volatile and is relatively stable and inert, however, can be frozen upon direct contact: the viscosity of the liquid, however, greatly slows down any physical changes to it. Her skin itself can absorb light energy and magic, which allows her MRS synthetic liquid to run at maximum capacity; however, if she were to be in a completely dark environment, this ability would not be able to function.

Mana Recovery: When Sera’s bare hands touch a surface with sufficient mana capacity, she can slowly transfer and replenish the mana within her system as a form of mild mana drain. It cannot deplete the source of mana as it works via an osmotic basis, and is only an emergency measure when she is depleted on magical energy. No other part of her skin has this ability, as they are coated with a thicker polymer coating for greater physical and magical durability.

Synthetic Hair: Sera’s hair is made of a smooth, reflective and highly-durable polymer. Because of its synthetic origin, it does not age, and stays the same length. It is almost impervious to physical damage and has the ability to reflect light, although it can be susceptible to other forms of magic and does not repair quickly. The hair is a focal point of her angelic power, and sources of her energy can be channelled through it for other offensive or defensive capabilities. This, therefore, is her main defence mechanism and the free-flowing nature of her hair allows it to be a flexible
physical and magical shield.

Overclocking: Sera can override her physical limits to enhance her physical strength, speed and light magic for short bursts of up to twenty to thirty seconds every few minutes. Each time this is activated, a shockwave of light magic radiates from her and spreads with up to a twenty metre radius, which can damage physical and magical defences. However, this comes at a risk of faster structural damage to her body. With enough structural damage, minute cracks can appear on the skin, which are stress points that can be easily targeted by enemies.

Capoeira: The primary form of martial arts pre-programmed into Sera’s synthetic setup, this is a form of physical combat that revolves around rapid kicks, spins and punches and focuses on power and speed of each movement. This sequence was initially loaded in only as a physical test of Sera’s physical limits, but has stayed with her ever since. Her heavy golden leg armour, combined with the speed, fluidity and sheer brute strength of her movements make this her main attack method.

Serendipity: Sera generally uses a combination of circular or arcing slicing and slashing motions for both the greatsword and scythe forms of this weapon, which matches the fluid motions of her “chosen” form of martial art. The weapon itself is mostly designed to wear down the enemy’s physical and magical barriers, prior to completing her assault with physical combat.

Edited to fix the attachment to include your image of Sera. ~Starflame13


< Message edited by Starflame13 -- 6/24/2019 19:46:08 >
DF  Post #: 11
6/24/2019 11:22:01   
nield
Creative!


Name: His true name cannot be pronounced above-water, but you can just call him Gary.

Race: Aofeyfetarl: Aquatic variant.

Gender: Gary is what we would understand as male

Age: 163 cycles of the moon

Element: Water

Appearance: Gary is a towering giant… by Aofeyfetarl standards, at any rate. At an awe-inspiring nineteen inches, he stands a full foot above the norm. Brilliant, double-lidded aquamarine eyes, adapted for visibility in the dark of the deep ocean shine out from the ultramarine tones of his face, topped by soft downy feather-like turquoise-blue hair. Curiously for an aquatic being of avianoid descent, Gary’s nose and mouth resemble those of a cat, with his nose being aquamarine like his eyes and long, finned ears protrude backward from the sides of his head, which are in themselves sensitive to vibrations, allowing him to hear with their entire length.

Much of Gary’s body, arms and legs is covered in a soft, somewhat fluffy cobalt-hued fur that, when soaked holds about 10 litres of water, due to this fur covering his body, Gary does not wear clothes. Along his arms and legs he has azure proto-fins which seem to have been caught somewhere between the evolutionary steps of wings and fins which, while they allow him to swim with far greater ease than a human, do not permit him flight, merely giving him the capability to glide at a 1:1 descent ratio. While Gary has webbed feet, his hands are free of any webbing, allowing him greater dexterity with his hands as compared to others of his kind. Also unlike others of his kind, Gary has both a set of lungs and a set of gills, allowing for respiration both above and below water.

Capabilities: Gary is capable of more than one would expect of a creature of his diminutive size. From a standing start Gary can leap 5 feet straight up into the air, using his proto fins for assistance. From a running start he can leap forward 3 feet and up 4 feet before reaching the apex of his jump. He’s also far stronger than his size or physique imply, able to lift twice his own weight when soaking wet and throw objects with comparable force to a regular sized human.

As an aquatic Aofeyfetarl Gary has the capability to impart rheopectic properties unto water and freely manipulate that same water around him to a distance of ten feet, with the most water he can be affecting at once is about 20 litres, additionally, he can only be affecting one discrete unit at once. Water that Gary has made rheopectic is equivalent to solid steel, in strength and durability, if not weight. He can manipulate the water when trapped in his fur, giving him a not-insignificant amount of protections across his body and arms, if not his head. For offense Gary usually utilises a halberd made of this rheopectic water, generally of a volume of about 3 litres.
AQ DF MQ AQW Epic  Post #: 12
6/24/2019 12:45:59   
nield
Creative!


Addendum post! (fun fact kids, this is what you should do if you forget something in your bio, don't go editing your post!)

To affect 5+ litres at a distance from himself, Gary would have to stand stock still and concentrate completely on the task, leaving him open to an easy kill and if something broke his concentration he'd lose that water and need to go recollect itself
AQ DF MQ AQW Epic  Post #: 13
6/24/2019 21:14:45   
  Starflame13
Moderator


Edited @Fionnes post to fix the attachment and include the lovely drawing of Sera. Glad to see a solid mix of new and old faces here! Now, onward to balancing.


@Caststarter - Welcome back to the ECs!
 
I confirmed with you already that Xiuyang is human, and we discussed a bit of how the fire creation worked with the internal flame of the spearhead. The conclusion of that discussion was that the internal flame starts at a certain level which is depleted when Xiuyang performs the various strikes/motions required for it to burst into flames. Depending on the depletion, later abilities may have weaker flames/effects, with the power level being proportional to how much internal heat is remaining. We also clarified that Birth of an Emperor requires a relatively straight thrust with a well-planted stance. Additionally, I'm ruling that abilities that create long-lasting fire (such as Birth of an Emperor) cannot be used in tandem with other abilities – and must be ended before another ability can begin. Lastly, if Xiuyang is able to restore the internal flame of her spear by generating more heat via friction, this cannot occur in tandem with the use of any of its other abilities.

Keep in mind that the spear doesn't start with infinite heat, so you will need to treat the internal heat similarly to how others manage mana/ammo. As such, the more powerful versions of the spells will deplete significantly more than a weaker version. Additionally, in losing too much heat, the capability of the blade to pierce through stronger materials will also be lost. Approved!


@Fionnes - Why hello there! Glad to see you on this side of the forums! Sera is a very good first bio, but we have a few modifications to make.

First with Serendipity - can you clarify a bit more what the weapon looks like in its scythe form? I've never seen a scythe that was anchor-shaped, and from the description I'm picturing the outer edges of the blade folding outward so they make a "T" with the hilt. Is this correct, or is it a more traditional double-bladed scythes with blades on either end of the hand grip?

For the abilities -MRS also needs a bit more clarification. When running at full capacity, what is the maximum amount of damage it can repair? Prior healing characters have been able to heal 1-2 major injuries (say, repairing an entire limb) before running out of mana, so aim for around there. Additionally, does Sera's skin absorb ALL light (natural, synthetic, and magic)? Absorbing light from all sources is too powerful - perhaps she absorbs a normal amount from natural light, a weakened amount from synthetic light, and none from magical light attacks (though she could take little to none damage from those, depending on the power level). Additionally, you state that this ability does not function in a dark environment - is this just the regenerative part, does this also impact her ability to channel her strength/other abilities?

The next couple abilities are mostly good - Mana Recovery needs the additional caveat that Sera will not be able to perform this ability with the arena itself, and I'm assuming that since her Synthetic Hair is the main feature of her that requires mana to function.

Now, Overclocking. As written this is a very powerful ability for two reasons: duration and range. The average arena is 20m in radius so the maximum I would allow a shock wave to be is 5-10m. 30 seconds is also an extremely long time in battle - a good reference for time is that a round of combat in Dungeons and Dragons (attack, interaction, and reaction) takes only 6 seconds. As such, Sera's enhanced abilities should only last for 5-10 seconds. The longer you want the enhanced strength/speed/magic to last, the shorter the range of the shock wave should be. I will leave it to you to decide which feature you want to prioritize!

Lastly, you state multiple times that Serahas superior strength - just how much faster/stronger is she than the average person?

Very solid first bio on the whole! Feel free to reach out, either here or via Discord, if you need any suggestions for further balancing!


@nield - Good to see you back! Let's take a look at Gary.

On the whole, the concept is well done. I would like some clarification on what you mean by "one discrete unit" - does this mean he can only manipulate one continuous "stream" of water at once? For example, if his halberd is active, will he be able to harden the water in his fur for armor? We also clarified that he cannot take control of water that he has yet to come into contact with - but since a second submission will be needed I'd prefer if you would state this explicitly as well.

For the rheopectic water abilities - these are much more balanced with your addendum, but not quite where they should be. I'd like a hard limit on the range Gary has before he must devote full concentration to the water manipulation - either a hard number (<10 feet) or similar qualifying statement (once it exits melee range or once the "stream" no longer has contact with him, perhaps). I do like the 5+ liters limit, so lets keep that regardless of your choice for distance limitation!

Should be a quick round of edits for you, but let me know if any of the prior assumptions/clarifications were incorrect.


Wow, lots of elemental variety so far! Keep up the good work, everyone!
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 14
6/24/2019 22:57:25   
nield
Creative!


Name: His true name cannot be pronounced above-water, but you can just call him Gary.
Race: Aofeyfetarl: Aquatic variant.
Gender: Gary is what we would understand as male
Age: 163 cycles of the moon
Element: Water

Appearance: Gary is a towering giant… by Aofeyfetarl standards, at any rate. At an awe-inspiring nineteen inches, he stands a full foot above the norm. Brilliant, double-lidded aquamarine eyes, adapted for visibility in the dark of the deep ocean shine out from the ultramarine tones of his face, topped by soft downy feather-like turquoise-blue hair. Curiously for an aquatic being of avianoid descent, Gary’s nose and mouth resemble those of a cat, with his nose being aquamarine like his eyes and long, finned ears protrude backward from the sides of his head, which are in themselves sensitive to vibrations, allowing him to hear with their entire length.

Much of Gary’s body, arms and legs is covered in a soft, somewhat fluffy cobalt-hued fur that, when soaked holds about 10 litres of water, due to this fur covering his body, Gary does not wear clothes. Along his arms and legs he has azure proto-fins which seem to have been caught somewhere between the evolutionary steps of wings and fins which, while they allow him to swim with far greater ease than a human, do not permit him flight, merely giving him the capability to glide at a 1:1 descent ratio. While Gary has webbed feet, his hands are free of any webbing, allowing him greater dexterity with his hands as compared to others of his kind. Also unlike others of his kind, Gary has both a set of lungs and a set of gills, allowing for respiration both above and below water.

Capabilities: Gary is capable of more than one would expect of a creature of his diminutive size. From a standing start Gary can leap 5 feet straight up into the air, using his proto-fins for assistance. From a running start he can leap forward 3 feet and up 4 feet before reaching the apex of his jump. He’s also far stronger than his size or physique imply, able to lift twice his own weight when soaking wet and throw objects with comparable force to a regular sized human.

As an aquatic Aofeyfetarl Gary has the capability to impart rheopectic properties unto water and freely manipulate that same water around him to a distance of ten feet, with the most water he can be affecting at once is about 20 litres, additionally, he can only be affecting one discrete unit at once, which is to say that all parts of the water he is affecting at once must be in physical contact, but this does not necessarily mean he has to be all in on either offense or defence, as a thin stream of water between his fur and halberd would be enough for the water contained in both to be considered a discrete unit.

Water that Gary has made rheopectic is equivalent to solid steel, in strength and durability, if not weight. He can manipulate the water when trapped in his fur, giving him a not-insignificant amount of protections across his body and arms, if not his head. For offense Gary usually utilises a halberd made of this rheopectic water, generally of a volume of about 3 litres. To affect 5+ litres that he is not in physical contact with, Gary would have to stand stock still and concentrate completely on the task, leaving him open to an easy kill and if something broke his concentration he'd lose that water and need to go recollect it.
AQ DF MQ AQW Epic  Post #: 15
6/25/2019 7:40:48   
Fionnes
Member

Name: Seraphim
Nickname: Sera
Race: Angel/Synthetic
Age: ~21
Class: Angel
Element: Light

Appearance
Sera appears as a tall, female human with long white-blue hair that splits near the end, forming what appear as “wings”. In addition, her hair is quite voluminous, with overlapping streaks that also resemble small wings on top of her head, and on her shoulders. Complementing this are her golden eyes, which have a glass-like reflective sheen to them, betraying her synthetic origins. Standing at around six feet tall (~1.83m), her empowering statue contrasts with her soft smile and relatively calm composure, which only masks her true ability in combat.
Her body is relatively free of scars and damages: a combination of her tougher synthetic skin material, as well as from illusory magic from her angelic nature which gives her a rather flawless aesthetic. And like her delicate appearance, she walks and strides lightly and articulates her movements smoothly: this follows through with her combat style.

Gear and Equipment
Her outfit revolves around being lightweight and flexible, and follows a tri-tone colour scheme of light-grey, dark-grey and gold.
Her upper body is clothed with a tight, light-gold turtleneck which reaches down to the top of her waist, with a light-grey crop-top adorned with golden decals. A golden band clips the two garments together, minimising their movement during combat situations.
Her lower body is adorned with tight, dark-grey short tights which reach down to above her knees, with two vertical diamond openings on each thigh. On top of this she wears a short, baggy light-grey pant with matching golden decals, held in place by a large golden ornamental belt. Her ankles are protected by light-grey leggings enveloped with layers of golden armour plate, and heavy-duty light-grey and gold boots designed for durability and wear finish off her attire.
Although Sera can engage in combat without physical weapons, she also has at her disposal a large greatsword, “Serendipity”: the size of the sword rather contrasts with Sera’s rather sleek build. Serendipity is a double-edged greatsword with three distinct blade sections made of strengthened carbon steel: left, right and tip, with a golden crossguard extending towards the tip, which bifurcate the left and right blades. The tip of the sword can retract backwards, allowing the two sides of the sword to fold forwards towards the centre of the blade, forming a single-edged thicker scythe blade: this becomes Serendipity’s second form.

Abilities
Sera’s appearance changes subtly when she is prepared for combat: the “split” in her long hair becomes more apparent, spreading apart as if they were wings. As she is not a “true” angel, her synthetic hair takes on the roles of her wings and amplifies her angelic power. Her internal components are synthetic as well, and have been modified to utilise angelic magic and be powered by mana.

Minor Regenerative System: Sera’s internal MRS is a synthetic liquid, gold in colour, which runs her entire bodily components. It is also a running storage of mana, and helps to channel her angelic power, abilities, and superior strength: with up to thrice the strength of an average person, though her movement speed is similar to that of an average athlete or martial artist. As noted by its name, MRS can gradually repair any damage to Sera’s physical structure and internal framework, but is limited by the mana capacitated in her body, and by the speed at which it repairs: for example, when Sera overclocks her programming and exceeds her normal physical limits (see below), the MRS repair rate will be insufficient at maintaining repair, leading to potential structural damage seen as cracks in her skin. This system can only repair the skin and internal structure, but is insufficient at repairing missing body parts: for example, a broken finger can be slowly regenerated, but a finger that’s no longer attached cannot be grown back. The MRS itself is generally non-volatile and is relatively stable and inert, however, can be frozen upon direct contact: the viscosity of the liquid, however, greatly slows down any physical changes to it. Her skin itself can absorb natural light energy and around a third of the equivalent energy from synthetic light (but cannot absorb the light energy from magical sources), which allows her MRS synthetic liquid to run at maximum capacity; however, if she were to be in a completely dark environment, this regenerative ability would not be able to function, but her MRS will still be fully functional.

Mana Recovery: When Sera’s bare hands touch a surface with sufficient mana capacity, she can slowly transfer and replenish the mana within her system as a form of mild mana drain. It cannot deplete the source of mana as it works via an osmotic basis, and is only an emergency measure when she is depleted on magical energy. No other part of her skin has this ability, as they are coated with a thicker polymer coating for greater physical and magical durability as a defence barrier.

Synthetic Hair: Sera’s hair is made of a smooth, reflective and highly-durable polymer. Because of its synthetic origin, it does not age, and stays the same length. It is almost impervious to physical damage and has the ability to reflect light, although it can be susceptible to other forms of magic and does not repair quickly. The hair is a focal point of her angelic power, and sources of her energy can be channelled through it for other offensive or defensive capabilities. This, therefore, is her main defence mechanism and the free-flowing nature of her hair allows it to be a flexible physical and magical shield.

Overclocking: Sera can override her physical limits to enhance her physical strength, speed and light magic for short bursts of up to ten seconds every two minutes: this effect doubles her usual output capacity. Each time this is activated, a shockwave of light magic radiates from her and spreads with up to a five metre radius, which can damage physical and magical defences. However, this comes at a risk of faster structural damage to her body. With enough structural damage, minute cracks can appear on the skin, which are stress points that can be easily targeted by enemies.

Capoeira: The primary form of martial arts pre-programmed into Sera’s synthetic setup, this is a form of physical combat that revolves around rapid kicks, spins and punches and focuses on power and speed of each movement. This sequence was initially loaded in only as a physical test of Sera’s physical limits, but has stayed with her ever since. Her heavy golden leg armour, combined with the speed, fluidity and sheer brute strength of her movements make this her main attack method.

Serendipity: Sera generally uses a combination of circular or arcing slicing and slashing motions for both the greatsword and scythe forms of this weapon, which matches the fluid motions of her “chosen” form of martial art. Because of the sheer size for both forms of Serendipity, the weapon itself is mostly designed to wear down the enemy’s physical and magical barriers, prior to completing her assault with physical combat.
DF  Post #: 16
6/25/2019 15:04:11   
Silver Magna
Member
 

Name: Sypher Walter
Nickname: Smolweaver/Beansprout
Age: 15 (Appear as a 10 years old girl)
Race: Human (Debatable)
Class: Master Soulweaver
Element: Fire

Appearance:
She looked like a harmless girl but her eyes always gave it out. Roaming on the battlefield for a long time shaped her into a fierce warrior. She normally dresses in Mastersoulweaver armour and armed herself with soul claws. She also hid the dagger under her sleeves to deliver a surprise blow to her enemy. If things get a bit intense, she might use smoke bomb to retreat ... for now ... or she might use poison darts. As long as she stood still, you never know who was victorious until the end of the battle.

Equipment:
Smoke bomb, Soulclaws, daggers, Soulforged Sword. A tiny crossbow with poison darts.

Ability:
-Expert Swordmanship and hand to hand combat. It is because of memory inheritance, the unique, unseeable and mysterious bond in Walter Clan. Through blood shedding, life threatening event and discovering an urge to fight, Sypher Walter’s blood was awaken and allowed herself to inherit the knowledges and skills on combat from her ancestors. Tho the memory might not be comprehensive, it already turned Sypher from a child to a fierce warrior.

-Soulweaving. Through learning from Tomix, she chose to use soulthread to fight instead of weaving a clothes with it. Most of skills include trapping an enemy with her soul-chain

-Soulblinking. She also learned it from Tomix. It is a movement technique which allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. As speed is the main factor of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps. But using it could exhausted Sypher and she claimed she was a bit ... ‘winded’.

-Flame. Her soulally, Kaiser, Was the fire elemental spirit of Resolve. Being taught by him, she learned how to play with fire by using it to tackle enemy’s eyes. A dirty move indeed but a skill to survive the battle.

Little Background Story:
When she was born, she was weak, small and dying in her father’s arms. Desperately seeking a cure, her father tried so many forbidden spells and tonic to save Sypher but all of them were fruitless attempt. He never wanted to give up. His resolve lead him to a spell, Tanislav’s last will. The most hideous, disgusting and inhuman ritual on Lore. An Tonic that was rumoured to cure all diseases by sacrificing the whole village. He didn’t care and insisted to perform it. The tonic did wonder on Sypher and the baby grew strong day by day. However, the forbidden spells began to take trolls on her father’s battered body. Knowing he could no longer stay with her and raise her, he left her with her youngest uncle, Argent. And He was never seen again ...

Maybe he would come back one day ... but not today.
Post #: 17
6/25/2019 21:58:55   
  Starflame13
Moderator


Not even the first week and we already have lots of good bios! Keep up the good work, writers!


@nield - All the changes look good! Try to not let the tiny guy get squished before he reaches the arena. Approved!


@Fionnes - Things are looking good! We clarified via PM's that Sera's hair is approximately waist-length, as I forgot to ask that in my initial go-through. All the other edits look good. Approved!


@Silver Magna - Hello and welcome! Sypher on the whole seems relatively straightforward, but we're missing a handful of details.

First, general equipment: For the items that have ammo (smoke bombs, poison darts), can you give us a rough estimate on the total amount available? For smoke bombs - about how big of a cloud of smoke does this form? Just enough to hide Sypher, or larger? A good balancing trick is that the larger an effect something has, the less ammo it should have. Can you also give a brief description of the shape of the soul claws (are they the standard curved spikes at the wrist, or something more dramatic), and a description of what kind of sword the Soulforged sword is (slim vs. broad, long vs. short, curved vs. straight, etc.). Additionally, is the sword one that is worn in a sheath, or is it pulled out of the air like the DF-style soul weaving ability?

Now, abilities, starting with Soulweaving. As a broad term, this is too vague as if it encompasses everything that the soulweavers of DragonFable can do, it's way too many options. Since you mentioned specifically her "soul chain", let's focus on developing that as Sypher's main soulweaving feature. The chain should have a maximum length (maybe 10-15 feet), and the length of the chain should be proportional to the amount of mana/energy/soul that Sypher uses to maintain it. (As an aside, do her abilities drain from mana or are they tied to her soul directly?) I'm suggesting that length as its a reasonable amount for Sypher to have full manipulation of it as long as she maintains contact with part of the chain - any longer and it should be treated like a basic whip in terms of motion. Since the purpose of this chain is to wrap around/restrain enemies, I also need to know how hard it is for someone to break out of it - this is to ensure that you avoid "bunnying", or forcing another character to behave a certain way. Good limits would be that it breaks fairly easily to magical attacks or can be sliced through with a sharp weapon, but requires significant strength to actually rip apart. If the chain itself is dependendent on Sypher's mana, she should be able to repair/restore it - as long as she drains more mana each time this is required.

Soul blinking is much clearer, but needs a few limitations so it doesn't become too abusable. Specifically, there should be a maximum distance Sypher can "blink" - and the distance should scale with the amount of mana that it takes up. For example, maybe she can make multiple 5 foot "blinks" within a short amount of time, but one long 20 foot blink tires her out. I would put 20 at the maximum for this type of ability, and it should drain a significant amount of her resources. Additionally, since this is fast movement and not teleportation, there should still be a slight time delay for people to react to - even if this is only on the scale of a second or two.

Lastly, Flame. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "tackle" an enemy's eyes with fire - is this a literal fireball Sypher is throwing at them, or is she using extremely bright flames in order to blind someone? Personally, I'd lean towards the second option with Sypher surrounding herself in blinding-yet-harmless flames just to buy herself time to escape, but I'll let you decide if that needs a rework in a different direction.

As an aside - be careful about bringing in official Artix Entertainment NPCs into a non-game-canon role play. As the characters themselves are the property of their creators, we don't want to run the risk of accidentally re-interpreting their character into something that doesn't fit the creator's story. See Rule #6: Respect the NPCs created by members of Artix Entertainment and limit their involvement in RPs for further clarification.

I love the story tease so far, and I'm excited to see what Sypher brings to the ECs once the details are squared away!


As always, feel free to ask questions either here, in PMs, or in the Discord server!
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 18
6/26/2019 12:56:27   
deathlord45
Member

Name: Metelsio
Age: Unknown but has seen the rise and fall of countless kingdoms
Race: Devil
Elemental: Fire

Appearance:
Standing at around 6 foot 7 inches tall, clad head to toe in metal armor. Metelsio is an imposing figure on the battlefield compound the layer of spikes that make up part of his blood red armor. There is a set of spikes on both his knuckles and a large one on the back of his palms as well as at his elbows, knees and heels. Complementing the regular spikes are two sets of L-shaped spikes on the insides and outsides of his forearms the outside aiming towards his hand while the inside sets aim away from his hands. His helmet has a wedge shaped pseudo-spike on his forehead above his face plate. He also cares two maces at his hip for breaking of armor and bone.

Capabilities:
Years of training and combat has allowed Metelsio move fairly freely in his armor. Said training has also gifted him super-natural for a human strength(i.e. He can throw lighter beings about 30 or more feet with very little strain. He can also slowly over the course of several hours punch his way through solid stone fort walls.) and a enduring resilience to match his strength. Given his armor style he's focused most of his time in to CQC and making the most of his spikes to grapple his enemies to hold them in place as he breaks bones with one of his maces. His fiendish biology also grants him a greater resistance to heat and flame as well as poisons of the regular world.
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 19
6/26/2019 22:05:03   
  Starflame13
Moderator


Only one new bio? You all are slowing down :P Keep the words flowing!


@deathlord45 - Short, sweet, and simple! Read through future posts to check for typos, but otherwise looks good. Approved!
AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 20
6/26/2019 22:35:30   
Dragonknight315
Member

Name: Morrigan Chase
Element: Energy
Race: Half-Elf/Half-Human
Gender: Female
Age: Around early thirties

“I will live.”

Appearance/Equipment:

One might wonder why a scholar would need a sword and armor. But these are trying times, and one look at Morrigan shows a life full of them. Morrigan shows a mix of elven and human descent. She stands around 6’2, lean but toned with pale skin, yellow eyes, and short pointy ears. Contrasting her otherwise soft features, a web of red lightning-like scars descends from her left face all the way down to her side, but only her left cheek and collar are visible as a black sash wraps around her left eye and ear.

Morrigan wears a full set of simple leather armor with metal plates on the shoulders and bracers. Atop this armor is a teal silk cloak. Both this cloak and her armor are enchanted to resist magical fire and electricity, preventing Morrigan and others from igniting her robe and leather gear. Natural sources of the two are unaffected.

On her left side, a sheathed onyx broadsword is attached to her belt. On the other side, she has a small pouch with a healing potion and around 30 silver coins.

Weapon: Heavensbolt – From a civilization long lost, this weapon stands as an enigma of its own. At first glance, it appears like an ordinary broadsword, though the whole weapon is a solid onyx in color. Unusually, the blade appears to be stronger than fine steel, and it is cold to the touch.

Through Morrigan’s research, Morrigan has found that the blade has magic conducting and absorbing properties. Heavensbolt has its own reserve of mana, and while Morrigan cannot directly draw upon it, she can funnel her own mana to the blade. Furthermore, Morrigan can use the blade to block or absorb magic-infused abilities, removing a portion of the effect and leeching mana into the blade. While larger attacks and other sources will allow her to absorb proportionally more mana, Morrigan must still take the brunt of the attack. (As to what Heavensbolt can absorb, it has to be something that can physically contact her blade, but it’s up to interpretation. Someone shoots a fireball at her, or if she strikes a magically-empowered barrier? It will be weakened and leeched. Someone casts a hex on her, something without contact? No change whatsoever). Lastly, if Morrigan can stab the blade into an opponent with mana, she can slowly draw the mana out of their body.

By focusing on the blade, Morrigan can “activate it,” causing a spiraling pattern of lines to glow with teal light along the blade. When activated, the blade sparks with electricity along its edge, empowering her strikes. Activating Heavensbolt will steadily drain it of mana, and Morrigan can have the runeblade active for up to 2 minutes before exhausting it. When exhausted, Morrigan must replenish its mana completely before activating it again.

Training & Miscellaneous: In her years of study as a scholar, Morrigan has a fundamental understanding of magic as a whole. She is quick to sense and recognize the presence of magic, and as a result, she can adapt accordingly.

In recent years, Morrigan has applied her devout focus to improving her physical health. She is slightly stronger and more agile than the average human, nowhere near the talent of a specialist or athlete, but better enough to have a slight edge. While she is somewhat proficient with her runeblade, she lacks the overall technical skill in martial arts or close combat, leaning wholly into her unique magic and equipment.

Morrigan does have a notable disadvantage in that her left ear and left eye are damaged, rendering her partially blind and deaf.

Magical Abilities: A mage and scholar at heart, Morrigan can sense the presence of mana-based magic. She can draw upon the mana within her body to perform her magical abilities. Normally, these abilities require her concentration to manifest, physically taxing to her as well as mentally. Morrigan must visualize the effect and make the appropriate gestures to let the magic flow (giving her a wind-up for her attacks). When under intense stress, her magic may “flare up” on its own, releasing itself with the same effects of her magic but without the somatic components and in a likely self-harming way. Because of the method used to evoke her abilities, she can only focus on one of them at a time.

---Lightning Evocation: Morrigan is able to form her mana into electricity. Upon making the appropriate gestures, she can flow her mana through her hands, building it up to be released. The longer Morrigan performs the gestures, the more mana Morrigan will build up, and the more potent the effect will be. If she stops making gestures, she can hold the spell for a brief moment before it must be released or else the mana is wasted. Due to these factors, Lightning Evocation requires more time to activate. Morrigan cannot use Lightning Evocation while channeling Force Evocation. She can utilize Lightning Evocation in two forms, Lightning Curtain and Lightning Surge.

· Lightning Curtain: This technique allows for Morrigan to attack a wide area at the cost of control. Upon release, several steaks of energy will erupt forward from Morrigan’s hand. These streaks will zigzag through the air, grounding themselves at random up to 20ft away in a 90-degree arc from Morrigan. However, these streaks will prioritize anything conductive in the area. Normally, these bolts are not immediately lethal, stinging and potentially paralyzing upon use. However, if Morrigan can pour more of her mana into the attack, or if the target is weakened, it can be a finishing blow.

· Lightning Surge: Morrigan can forgo range and deliver the electricity through physical contact. Upon making the appropriate gestures, she has a brief moment to reach for her target. During this moment, her hands will glow with a blue aura. If she makes direct contact with a surface, the energy will be discharged through it with devastating effect. If she fails to touch anything, then the spell is wasted.

---Force Evocation - Wave: Her original expertise, Morrigan is able to project her mana into an invisible wave of pure kinetic force. The intensity and area of the wave are inversely proportional to the range of the target. For example, if fully aware, Morrigan can wave her hand and send a small wave forward to deflect a dagger or other projectile within 20ft of her out of the air, but nothing heavier. If she releases the wave against a target within 5 feet of her, she can likely push an average human over (or at least knock them back). After traveling its max range or comes into contact with something, the force wave disappears (either fading or transferring all of its kinetic energy.)

Regardless of the use, Morrigan has far more control over this ability than her Lightning Evocation, but it is more mana intensive. Morrigan cannot use Force Evocation while channeling Lightning Evocation.

---Force Evocation - Plus/Minus: In addition, Morrigan can use her Force Evocation on herself as a means of utility. She can purposely weigh herself down to make her somewhat harder to move or knock down. Inversely, she can make herself lighter to help her jump or climb. Effectively, she can make herself either twice as heavy or only half as much. Once the gestures have been made, Morrigan can keep this effect on her through concentration alone. However, using this ability for extended periods of time can exhaust her, and she cannot concentrate on her other spells while it is active.

spoiler:

---Synaptic Upheaval: In moments of extreme stress, Morrigan can lose control over her magic, potentially harming her and anyone around her. However, Morrigan can purposely lose control and release all of the remaining mana within her and her runeblade at once. When released, a burst of both lightning and force erupts from her, pushing back and electrifying everything within a 15ft radius. The consequences of this are severe. First, Heavensbolt will be deactivated for the rest of the round, unable to absorb magic. Second, Morrigan will be out of mana herself, completely exhausted and stunned from releasing all of her magic. If given a moment, she could slowly rise to her feet, but she will be far weaker in all aspects.


AQ DF AQW  Post #: 21
6/27/2019 21:58:31   
Oddball
Member

Name: Fierra Scorr

Race: Human (Flame-Touched)

Element: Fire

Age: 27

“For everyone’s sake, my journey cannot end.”

Appearance:
Standing at a height of 5’8, a common thief or bandit may assume that this woman dressed in robes dyed a deep red, with gold thread carefully, and expertly, coating the outer rim and several seemingly random locations further up, would be easy prey in the back of an alley in the middle of the night. They would soon learn of their mistakes, through a swift and thorough beating courtesy of this robed fighter.

Atop this warrior’s head, lies a beautifully detailed golden circlet, a gem that is equally parts Red, and Ice-Blue sits neatly in the center. Tied nearly back, some have whispered that “She has hair like the Dusk’s horizon.” With the tips fading to an almost white which reaches down to about a quarter of the way down her spine. (Auburn, fading into a faint blue)

However, no sighting reports of this traveler have ever detailed the colour of her eyes, adding just another mystery onto the pile that surrounds this wanderer.

Equipment:
Mostly relying on swift movements, and her ability to dodge, Fierra wears naught heavier than Leather, wearing a leather vest and chaps under her robes. This does leave her arms exposed, however.
Fierra carries a blade attached to her right hip wherever she goes, however she much prefers dispatching enemies with her hands and feet, and mostly carries the blade with her as a memento of her fallen comrades. On the rare occasion, she will draw her blade.
The blade itself is very standard in design, its only notable feature being a small pattern engraved at the bottom of the sword’s blade, one that is very similar to the patterns of the thread weaved into her robes.
In both design, and functionality, the weapon resembles a scimitar.
Also at her right hip, is a large container carved from a Gourd, full of an unidentifiable Black liquid that has shown to be highly flammable.
On her left, she carries Seven spherical objects of varying sizes, these objects are made of primarily leather and glass, and contain a substance that, upon coming in contact with a surface, or the air around it, will cause the object to shatter and cause a fire wherever it had landed. The size of these bombs decide the scale of the fire, leading up to a 4.2ft radius on the largest one.

Abilites and fighting style:
Pyrokinesis: Born from two exceptionally powerful pyromancers, Fierra’s birth came the same day that the First of her tribe had settled their small village, and thus she was heralded as the “Flame-Touched”, a fire wielding warrior of great power…
However, as the years went by, something felt wrong. While the other children were capable of conjuring their flame, Fierra had made no progress since the moment she could walk, something that distressed her parents greatly. But, one day, during an almighty storm, lightning struck their village center, sparking a fire that could have quickly spread across the village. It was at this moment Fierra stepped forwards, revealing that, while everyone else could conjure their flame, she was capable of controlling it, and quickly defused the situation that had the elders of the village in panic.She is, however, only capable of controlling fire that is deemed “Free”, and cannot use the flame that others have conjured, limiting her pyrokinetic powers.
Fierra is also limited in what she can use her Pyrokinesis for, and is incapable of just, naturally, throwing fire about. Over time she has developed a small number of tricks she can use her flames for.

Fists of Fire: Fierra can wrap small amounts of her flames around her hands, this doesn’t do much to increase her striking power, but it does apply a small boost to her striking speed, putting her striking speed at just below an average combatant.

Flame Cone: By taking a large, two-second, swig of her drink, Fierra can gather enough liquid in her mouth to, reliably, blow a cone of flame in a 50 degree angle in front of her, this fire can travel for Seven feet before its effect starts to fade, and by 10 feet the fire is completely gone

Soul of Fire: Usable only if she has used her largest bomb, Fierra can keep the flame swirling around her entire body creating both an excellent offensive tool, and a decent defensive one She can only keep this ability active for 18 seconds, and afterwards she will “Burn out”, stopping her from using her pyrokinesis for 75 seconds.

Due to her standing as the “Flame-Touched” Fierra’s body is capable of withstanding the element to an outstanding degree, causing almost all heat to feel like it was a cool summer’s day. This, however, has lessened her resistance to the other elements, especially the cold.

Fierra is able to keep her flames alight for an absolute maximum of 55 seconds, and fire that she has claimed as “Her own” is incapable of being influenced, if there are any with abilities similar to her own.

Fighting Style:
Fierra utilizes a stance she refers to as “Free-flow, a style of combat that has most of her blows followed by another, this is a slow and methodical way of fighting and those who rely on quick, disorientating strikes may find her an easier opponent than most.
AQ DF AQW Epic  Post #: 22
6/27/2019 22:33:37   
  Starflame13
Moderator


Almost to the end of the first week, people! Keep an eye out for arena teasers tomorrow~


@Dragonknight315 - Why, hello hello! Let's take a look at who you've brought to the table this year!

Morrigan feels well thought through for the most part - I think we just need a couple minor tweaks/clarifications. First, Heavensbolt. As-written, it has the potential to be activated indefinitely through mana absorption, which is too powerful. As such, I suggest having two main "forms" - an absorption phase, where it can be used to partially deflect blows, and an activated phase, where it drains its own mana and cannot absorb any more. If you do not want to go this route, the maximum duration of how long it can last while activated should be dropped significantly, and a maximum amount of mana it can hold should be set before it deactivates permanently.

Now for your magical abilities. Lightning Evocation feels a bit too powerful in that she can charge the Curtain/Surge significantly - perhaps the longer she holds the spell, the more the lighting frays at her nerves and causes her pain? Another option is that it could become harder to concentrate the longer she holds is, thus increasing the chance of a flare up/accidental and harmful release. Play around with what fits the character best! I would also like you to adjust the wording on Lighting Curtain from "finishing blow" to "stunning" or "paralyzing" blow - this is simply to avoid trapping other characters into set reactions to the ability.

I will message you any feedback to do with the spoiler tagged abilities. Almost there!


@Oddball - Good to see you over here, Odd! Fierra feels well balanced for the most (although you have the strangest choices so far with number durations), but I have one area I'm concerned with. Namely, the duration that she's able to maintain control over her own fire. This would be fine - were it the flames from one of her smaller fire bombs, but is much too long if she shatters and takes control of multiple. You can either adjust it so she can only control fire from one source (or 'bomb') at once, or adjust the time on the sliding scale so that the more fire she has, the shorter it lasts. For example, her smallest bomb might last nearly a minute, but fire from all the bombs would last a scant few seconds.

Get a new bio up with that adjustment and we should be good to go!

AQ DF MQ AQW  Post #: 23
6/28/2019 2:54:06   
Dragonknight315
Member

Simple enough! Didn't even have to wait overnight. I took all of the suggestions you added and added more clarifications.

Name: Morrigan Chase
Element: Energy
Race: Half-Elf/Half-Human
Gender: Female
Age: Appears to be around early Thirties

“I will live.”

Appearance/Equipment:

One might wonder why a scholar would need a sword and armor. But these are trying times, and one look at Morrigan shows a life full of them. Morrigan shows a mix of elven and human descent. She stands around 6’2, lean but toned with pale skin, yellow eyes, and short pointy ears. Contrasting her otherwise soft features, a web of red lightning-like scars descends from her left face all the way down to her side, but only her left cheek and collar are visible as a black sash wraps around her left eye and ear.

Morrigan wears a full set of simple leather armor with metal plates on the shoulders and bracers. Atop this armor is a teal silk cloak. Both this cloak and her armor are enchanted to resist magical fire and electricity, preventing Morrigan and others from igniting her robe and leather gear. Natural sources of the two are unaffected.

On her left side, a sheathed onyx broadsword is attached to her belt. On the other side, she has a small pouch with a healing potion and around 30 silver coins.

Weapon: Heavensbolt – From a civilization long lost, this weapon stands as an enigma of its own. At first glance, it appears like an ordinary broadsword, though the whole weapon is a solid onyx in color. Unusually, the blade appears to be stronger than fine steel, and it is cold to the touch.

In her research, Morrigan has found that the blade has magic conducting and absorbing properties. Heavensbolt has its own reserve of mana, and while Morrigan cannot directly draw upon it, she can funnel her own mana to the blade. Furthermore, by plunging the blade into an opponent with mana, she can slowly drain it from them. (It takes a moment to fully extract from the opponent, around 30 seconds for a full recharge, so it's only useful on near-death or freshly dead opponents.) It has two separate states:

---Inactive Heavensbolt: While in its "Inactive State," Morrigan can use Heavensblade to block or absorb magic-infused abilities, removing a portion of the effect (around 30%) and leeching mana into the blade. While larger attacks and other sources will allow her to absorb proportionally more mana, Morrigan must still take the brunt of the attack. (As to what Heavensbolt can absorb, it has to be something that can physically contact her blade, but it’s up to interpretation. Someone shoots a fireball at her, or if she strikes a magically-empowered barrier? It will be weakened and leeched. Someone casts a hex on her, something without contact? No change whatsoever). If her blade is completely full of mana, it cannot siphon mana (and thus, cannot block magical attacks.)

---Active Heavensbolt: With a brief amount of focus, Morrigan can put Heavensbolt into it's 'activated state," causing a spiraling pattern of lines to glow with teal light along the blade. She can deactivate it in the same manner. When activated, the blade sparks with electricity along its edge, empowering her strikes with shocking energy. However, Heavensbolt cannot absorb mana or mana-abilities during this activated state. This form will steadily drain Heavensbolt of mana, and Morrigan can have the runeblade active for up to 2 minutes before exhausting it. If Morrigan completely exhausts Heavensbolt's supply of mana in this way, she cannot reactivate it unless she completely refills it.

Training & Miscellaneous: In her years of study as a scholar, Morrigan has a fundamental understanding of magic as a whole. She is quick to sense and recognize the presence of magic, and as a result, she can adapt accordingly.

In recent years, Morrigan has applied her devout focus to improving her physical health. She is slightly stronger and more agile than the average human, nowhere near the talent of a specialist or athlete, but better enough to have a slight edge. While she is somewhat proficient with her runeblade, she lacks the overall technical skill in martial arts or close combat, leaning wholly into her unique magic and equipment.

Morrigan does have a notable disadvantage in that her left ear and left eye are damaged, rendering her partially blind and deaf.

Magical Abilities: A mage and scholar at heart, Morrigan can sense the presence of mana-based magic. She can draw upon the mana within her body to perform her magical abilities. Normally, these abilities require her concentration to manifest, physically taxing to her as well as mentally. Morrigan must visualize the effect and make the appropriate gestures to let the magic flow (giving her a wind-up for her attacks). When under intense stress, her magic may “flare up” on its own, releasing itself with the same effects of her magic but without the somatic components and in a likely self-harming way. Because of the method used to evoke her abilities, she can only focus on one of them at a time.

---Lightning Evocation: Morrigan is able to form her mana into electricity. Upon making the appropriate gestures, she can flow her mana through her hands, building it up to be released. The longer Morrigan performs the gestures, the more mana Morrigan will build up, and the more potent the effect will be. If she stops making gestures, she can hold the spell before releasing it. Holding the electrified mana will inflict pain onto Morrigan, growing more intense the longer she holds it. This pain is amplified if she chose to empower the attack with more mana. Due to these factors, Lightning Evocation requires more time to activate. Morrigan cannot use Lightning Evocation while channeling Force Evocation. She can utilize Lightning Evocation in two forms, Lightning Curtain and Lightning Surge.

· Lightning Curtain: This technique allows for Morrigan to attack a wide area at the cost of control. Upon release, several steaks of energy will erupt forward from Morrigan’s hand. These streaks will zigzag through the air, grounding themselves at random up to 20ft away in a 90-degree arc from Morrigan. However, these streaks will prioritize anything conductive in the area. Normally, these bolts are not lethal, stinging and potentially paralyzing upon use. However, if the target already severely wounded, and/or if she pours a large amount of mana into the attack, and it has the potential to be lethal.

· Lightning Surge: Morrigan can forgo range and deliver the electricity through physical contact. Upon making the appropriate gestures, her hands will glow with a blue aura, sparking with electrcity as she holds the mana. The longer she holds this ability, the more painful it becomes, potentially scaring her own hand in the process. Upon losing her focus or releasing the spell, the energy will be discharged through whatever surface she is directly touching with devastating effect. If she is not touching anything when she releases the spell, then the attack fails and the mana is wasted.

---Force Evocation - Wave: Her original expertise, Morrigan is able to project her mana into an invisible wave of pure kinetic force. The intensity and area of the wave are inversely proportional to the range of the target. For example, if fully aware, Morrigan can wave her hand and send a small wave forward to deflect a dagger or other projectile within 20ft of her out of the air, but nothing heavier. If she releases the wave against a target within 5 feet of her, she can likely push an average human over (or at least knock them back). After traveling its max range or comes into contact with something, the force wave disappears (either fading or transferring all of its kinetic energy.)

Regardless of the use, Morrigan has far more control over this ability than her Lightning Evocation, but it is more mana intensive. Morrigan cannot use Force Evocation while channeling Lightning Evocation.

---Force Evocation - Plus/Minus: In addition, Morrigan can use her Force Evocation on herself as a means of utility. She can purposely weigh herself down to make her somewhat harder to move or knock down. Inversely, she can make herself lighter to help her jump or climb. Effectively, she can make herself either twice as heavy or only half as much. Once the gestures have been made, Morrigan can keep this effect on her through concentration alone. However, using this ability for extended periods of time can exhaust her, and she cannot concentrate on her other spells while it is active.

spoiler:

---Synaptic Upheaval: In moments of extreme stress, Morrigan can lose control over her magic, potentially harming her and anyone around her. However, Morrigan can purposely lose control and release all of the remaining mana within her and her runeblade at once. When released, a burst of both lightning and force erupts from her, pushing back and electrifying everything unprotected within a 15ft radius. This attack becomes less powerful if Morrigan or her blade have less mana. Similar to her other forms of Lightning Evocation, this has the potential to be lethal if the opponent is already severely weakened.The consequences of this are severe. First, Heavensbolt will be deactivated for the rest of the round, unable to absorb magic. Second, Morrigan will be out of mana herself, completely exhausted and stunned from releasing all of her magic. If given a moment, she could slowly rise to her feet, but she will be far weaker in all aspects.


AQ DF AQW  Post #: 24
6/28/2019 6:31:46   
Oddball
Member

Round two, let's go!

Name: Fierra Scorr

Race: Human (Flame-Touched)

Element: Fire

Age: 27

“For everyone’s sake, my journey cannot end.”

Appearance:
Standing at a height of 5’8, a common thief or bandit may assume that this woman dressed in robes dyed a deep red, with gold thread carefully, and expertly, coating the outer rim and several seemingly random locations further up, would be easy prey in the back of an alley in the middle of the night. They would soon learn of their mistakes, through a swift and thorough beating courtesy of this robed fighter.

Atop this warrior’s head, lies a beautifully detailed golden circlet, a gem that is equally parts Red, and Ice-Blue sits neatly in the center. Tied nearly back, some have whispered that “She has hair like the Dusk’s horizon.” With the tips fading to an almost white which reaches down to about a quarter of the way down her spine. (Auburn, fading into a faint blue)

However, no sighting reports of this traveler have ever detailed the colour of her eyes, adding just another mystery onto the pile that surrounds this wanderer.

Equipment:
Mostly relying on swift movements, and her ability to dodge, Fierra wears naught heavier than Leather, wearing a leather vest and chaps under her robes. This does leave her arms exposed, however.
Fierra carries a blade attached to her right hip wherever she goes, however she much prefers dispatching enemies with her hands and feet, and mostly carries the blade with her as a memento of her fallen comrades. On the rare occasion, she will draw her blade.
The blade itself is very standard in design, its only notable feature being a small pattern engraved at the bottom of the sword’s blade, one that is very similar to the patterns of the thread weaved into her robes.
In both design, and functionality, the weapon resembles a scimitar.
Also at her right hip, is a large container carved from a Gourd, full of an unidentifiable Black liquid that has shown to be highly flammable.
On her left, she carries Seven spherical objects of varying sizes, these objects are made of primarily leather and glass, and contain a substance that, upon coming in contact with a surface, or the air around it, will cause the object to shatter and cause a fire wherever it had landed. The size of these bombs decide the scale of the fire, leading up to a 4.2ft radius on the largest one.

Abilites and fighting style:
Pyrokinesis: Born from two exceptionally powerful pyromancers, Fierra’s birth came the same day that the First of her tribe had settled their small village, and thus she was heralded as the “Flame-Touched”, a fire wielding warrior of great power…
However, as the years went by, something felt wrong. While the other children were capable of conjuring their flame, Fierra had made no progress since the moment she could walk, something that distressed her parents greatly. But, one day, during an almighty storm, lightning struck their village center, sparking a fire that could have quickly spread across the village. It was at this moment Fierra stepped forwards, revealing that, while everyone else could conjure their flame, she was capable of controlling it, and quickly defused the situation that had the elders of the village in panic.She is, however, only capable of controlling fire that is deemed “Free”, and cannot use the flame that others have conjured, limiting her pyrokinetic powers.
Fierra is also limited in what she can use her Pyrokinesis for, and is incapable of just, naturally, throwing fire about. Over time she has developed a small number of tricks she can use her flames for.

Fists of Fire: Fierra can wrap small amounts of her flames around her hands, this doesn’t do much to increase her striking power, but it does apply a small boost to her striking speed, putting her striking speed at just below an average combatant.

Flame Cone: By taking a large, two-second, swig of her drink, Fierra can gather enough liquid in her mouth to, reliably, blow a cone of flame in a 50 degree angle in front of her, this fire can travel for Seven feet before its effect starts to fade, and by 10 feet the fire is completely gone

Soul of Fire: Usable only if she has used her largest bomb, Fierra can keep the flame swirling around her entire body creating both an excellent offensive tool, and a decent defensive one She can only keep this ability active for 18 seconds, and afterwards she will “Burn out”, stopping her from using her pyrokinesis for 75 seconds.

Due to her standing as the “Flame-Touched” Fierra’s body is capable of withstanding the element to an outstanding degree, causing almost all heat to feel like it was a cool summer’s day. This, however, has lessened her resistance to the other elements, especially the cold.

Fierra is able to keep her flames alight for an absolute maximum of 55 seconds, and fire that she has claimed as “Her own” is incapable of being influenced, if there are any with abilities similar to her own.
However, Fierra is only able to keep the smaller fires active for the full duration of its intended lifetime, and if she adds additional flames from her bombs, the time it is active drastically decreases, lasting only just a few seconds if she is forced to use all of them at once
Her larger fires are also kept "alive" for a less amount of time than her smaller ones, her largest one having a span of 20 seconds, at maximum.

Fighting Style:
Fierra utilizes a stance she refers to as “Free-flow, a style of combat that has most of her blows followed by another, this is a slow and methodical way of fighting and those who rely on quick, disorientating strikes may find her an easier opponent than most.
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