Man, hate to...what, triple post here, but I just thought I'd say that I really enjoyed our conversation last Sunday @Dark Jack. Definitely hope you pop back on tomorrow or whenever possible. Even if we don't talk about Prophecy stuff, I'm sure there's some subject that could be fun. Plus, I always love to share my own worldbuilding stuff with people of like minds :3
Anyways, I know you're busy with Uni, but I do wonder...do you teach there or have you just taken a lot of classes over the years because I swear you were in University ages ago too, so it makes me ask "Why so long?" Haha ^^;
Figured I'd save this somewhere else. This is the stuff I've got for my character for the potential reboot.
Summary: A man with a background of fighting constantly to get ahead, to do something–perhaps anything even–to distinguish himself. He wants to innovate, to leave his mark on the world heedless of those he might hinder or harm in the process. Yet, an ambition like this is like a raging inferno: sure to burn you eventually. So it is that at some point his misdeeds, his careless actions, and indeed his thoughtlessness catches up with him. The world judges him and he realizes–finally–that the way he had been living is unmaintainable. It is not enough to claw and bite and scramble over others to move forward, nor is it possible always to win.
So he surrenders to judgment, knowing that it will hurt him, knowing that it may hinder his progress for some time. Knowing that such a thing will leave its mark. Yet, at the same time, this judgment and the repercussions of his actions have fostered in him something new: wisdom. So it is that with experience and insight as his tools, the flames of his ambition are tempered, and a new path–a more careful one–is begun.
Potentially an ex-convict in his “relative” youth, his obsession with magic and the workings and allure of Realms beyond his own have led him on a treacherous path. Recklessly, he stole from other mages, snatching research notes and spellbooks all in the pursuit of achieving the first of his many aspirations: Reaching the Realm of Dreams.
While he could certainly visit after a fashion, that was merely his soul, and all that he could do was control the nature of his dreams.
It wasn’t enough, in fact, it was unacceptable. He wished to trawl the vast ocean of ideas, sift through the concepts formed by mortal kind, and recorded in that place. The whimsy of it called to him, but so too did the potential power that such a feat might bring, and the doors it could open for further research.
Could he draw directly from the Dream, could he enchant objects that could do so? Could he sift the infinite threads and currents of knowledge and there and discover spells that no other mortal had yet to make let alone conceive of?
What could such revelations allow? Might he step from one realm to another soul and body both? The idea delighted him and since it had come to roost within his skull, he found he could not escape it.
So, foolishly, he’d stolen and pilfered, and snatched. Any scrap of magical research, any spellbook he could get his dextrous hands on. For some time he went uncontested, uncaught, his own spellwork shifting to make his deeds easier.
However, one cannot escape the consequences of their actions forever, and he was no different from any other in that regard. So it was that one day he was caught, one day he was brought up on charges. Yet, not all could be proved or even pinned on him. Surely a single man, let alone a boy, could not steal from so many mages. Surely their defenses, their precautions would have caught him sooner.
His sentence was–as these things go–far kinder than it could have been. Still, he did not fight it, realizing that there was little point. To further anger all those mages would be folly. So he plead guilty, and his sentence was decided.
A decade or more of confinement. No tools for writing. He would pay in time, and time itself would wear down his memory such that all that he had stolen would erode within his mind. Though not happy that the thief would live, many of the mages were placated by his sentence.
On that day, he learned more clearly a single lesson than he had on any day prior. Sometimes, to win a war, you must first surrender several battles. You must lose, so that later you might win, or at least survive.
Still, he was lucky, for while he was disowned, his family at least paid the fines for his transgressions. His father told him not to show his face in their community again, and left never to visit him again. It stung, but what stung more was the disappointment in his mother’s eyes and the confused dismay in the gaze of his younger sister.
He would likely never see her again and he knew the girl had adored him as only a sister could her elder brother. He could not watch them leave and he convinced himself that it was just as well that they’d never meet each other again.
For there was one thing he knew.
He couldn’t stop.
This was too important.
After all, why should only the gods know other realms? Why not men as well….
His family would be safer this way, far from him and his workings.
The years dragged on, without a book to read, without decent company to talk to, yet he would not languish. He couldn’t, he simply could not allow it. He chipped at the stone of his cell and the wood of the single bed he was provided. He drew diagrams and spellforms and incantations. Depictions of the realms as he understood them. Old spells he’d read from books he’d stolen. The guards surely thought him mad. After all, he spoke to himself, always muttering under his breath. It was nonsense to many of the guards, but the reality was simple. They were invocations, chants, notes he’d read, principles of magic. Anything at all that he could remember.
Oh, and when he dreamed he reveled in the expression of his craft. Every word he’d ever read or written swirled in endless colorful patterns around him. He made diagrams of many colors, connecting words and ideas, concepts and designs. In his dreams he kept the spark alive. While he was awake, he made sure it would not diminish.
He told himself he would forget not a single passage, nor a single phrase or pair of words…but the years wore on and slowly words slipped between his fingers like so many tiny grains of sand.
Eventually the mutterings of his captors, the chuckles and mockery of their laughter as they watched him scratch desperately at the stone of his cell…it made him think.
‘Perhaps I am mad afterall’.
It never stopped him. So years slipped by, knowledge slipped away, and eventually the date of his release finally came. He was given only the clothing on his back and what few belongings his family had deigned to leave in the custody of the prison. It wasn’t much. Some clothes, some food, a bit of coin, and better than anything else…a single thick tome.
It wasn’t all his research, it wasn’t even half, but it was better than nothing, and further there were pages that remained. He cried that day, making sure not to get any of the pages wet.
More importantly though, with the fines paid, and his sentence served, he was finally free. This time, he would endeavor to keep it that way.
With years to develop and refine mnemonic devices [name] has an exceptional memory, the sort that most mages would perhaps kill for. While he cannot simply remember anything he’s ever seen or heard, he can recall the vast majority–if only those things that he deliberately dedicates to memory.
He’s a lucid dreamer and one could comb far and wide and struggle to find a single mage as utterly dedicated as he is. Still, his many years of confinement may have taught him memorization, but they did little for many other things, particularly his demeanor. Having been isolated for so long, he finds crowds difficult, and people are–while not a mystery–a source of irrational paranoia.
Yet, at the same time, he is unflinchingly confident, perhaps to a degree that borders on insane. Indeed, he’s the sort of person who one might either consider mad or–at best–eccentric.
Still, he is fiercely intelligent, wildly observant, and undeniably thorough in his craft. While not reckless in the same ways of his youth, [name] is a man unafraid of taking risks…so long as they are calculated such that they will only affect him…or conversely individuals who no one will consider or believe.
Dream-Probe
Wants to create, or has created, an enchanted item that he can use to sift through ideas and knowledge within the Dreamrealm. It both allows him to view said ideas and concepts, but also records them somehow.
Spells
He would have spells associated with stealth, misdirection, and item acquisition. He would also have spells for recording information swiftly, as well as defense and concealment.
<Snipped quote by yoshua171> Thanks. One very likely reason that you don't remember some of these terms is that they're new. Reniam was always just Reniam, but in theme with giving the planes "-realm" names I gave it its secondary name of the Corerealm. The Ether/Dreamrealm is essentially what was called the Spirit Realm in the previous iteration, and Stupor is still pretty much what Stupor always was: the space between realms. The Divide is also pretty much the same thing, with the main difference being that it is no longer between Reniam and Hell, but rather between Reniam and all other realms and keeping out all gods rather than just the "bad" ones.
Tidall and Drigall are both "new" in a sense, though there is somewhat of a relation between them and the old Hell and Heaven. Essentially in the new version, the creator spirits divided the gods and angels between those two realms rather than the "upper" and "lower" planes. The gods who vied for dominion over the other gods, Reniam and the "mundane" (the class previously labelled "mortals") became the Everbound and sent to Tidall the Everrealm, and the gods that fought to preserve peace and freedom became the Neverbound and sent to Drigall the Neverrealm.
The sun and moon are probably self-explanatory, but the Voidband is probably the most significant new addition aside from just the complete change of structure. You see, Tidall and Drigall are actually semispheres encompassing Reniam, as depicted, and can be seen in the sky. Not in the sense of "there is the crust of another planet outside the planet", since those realms are semi-metaphysical, but in the world the "stars" are powerful magical presences in Tidall and Drigall, meaning that in the space that separates the two realms there is a completely vacant stretch of sky at night that is just uniform black (clouds notwithstanding). I have a lot of little interactions in mind with this new mechanic, but among other things this new sky-structure has an easily observable effect on how Reniam sees the moon. When the moon shines through the Voidband it is white; when it shines through Tidall it is orange; and when it shines through Drigall it is green. The sun also takes on different hues depending on what it shines through, but its more intense light makes it somewhat less noticeable than with the moon.
<Snipped quote by yoshua171> Heh, that one is hardly unique to The Prophecy, it's just an existing concept I adapted because it suited the Grand Master.
<Snipped quote by yoshua171> I actually don't think I've changed the Laws of Magic specifically, though I would have to check my notes to be sure. It's more that I've pondered the origin of magic quite a bit - where do spells come from? Why can spoken words invoke specific effects? That kind of thing - and addressing those unanswered questions made me reconsider some of the mechanical aspects of spellcraft. The short version is that internal magic (elemental, arcane, black (no longer called that) and summoning magic, as well as necromancy and the Art of the Warden) has become much more closely tied to the Dreamrealm.
Ah, but as a fellow worldbuilder, I know very well that even seemingly "small" changes can end up having a big impact on how things truly function in a world. At the very least changes to magic--particularly deeper explanations--tend to lead to a better general understanding of how things work, which makes interacting with the systems much easier and more engaging.
Fantasy Cosmology, as always--at least to me--is something I always find almost endlessly intriguing. So the addition of more specific realm details regarding where certain gods and entities are located in the planar sense is something that catches my attention, in addition to you adding the Void band. Definitely curious about that little planar substrate, as it were and what sort of properties it might have as a metaphysical plane.
I like the change in regards to the "heavenly bodies" in regards to the planes actually having a tangible effect on the sky--night in particular. It gives a cool bit of flavor to the world by changing something very familiar in a fairly simple way. Plus, the fact that the stars are actually divine presences that are just far away (or otherwise so powerful that the "light" of their power leaks into the visible spectrum of light in Reniam's night sky). That reminds me of something my friend and I incorporated into our own world (Tir an Fhairn) actually.
Tir na Fhairn doesn't have a central planet or heavenly bodies, instead its material plane is an essentially flat literal plane. It has three metaphysical planes that overlap with it. Two of those are spheres, that overlap in the middle like a Venn diagram. One of them is like is something that separates all the planes, existing more thickly where any plane would meet, but equally existing everywhere for the most part. There's also a sort of "pseudo-plane" that provides physical structure to everything else and also literally dictates the laws of physics and magic and whatnot.
Anyway, the point is, there are sort of "domains" that beings in the spherical realms create, and those manifest as stars of various hue in the material plane. The "Sun" as it were is actually a giant magical construct crafted by one of the two groups of "gods" that exist in that world. Anyways, back to the Prophecy haha.
I know the idea of contracts is something more adapted to the world than something distinctly unique to it, but it nonetheless grabs my attention. I also like that the magic is structured, and seeing as you've found deeper explanations for spellcraft in particular I'm very interested in what the reasoning for how spellcraft works ends up being.
Sidenote, I found you on discord. Turns out I already had you added haha. Granted, I know you tend to be more active here on the Guild than you are on discord haha. Legion showed up in the discord last night, so that's neat. No idea if he'd be interested in a reboot, but I figured I'd let you know incase you were unaware. I also reached out to two very reliable friends of mine, letting 'em know that if this gets rebooted I'm going to throw it their way to see if they'd join with me so we can have some adventures and whatnot :3
So yeah, I guess the question is, do you have any interest in doing that, or does it feel like too much effort on your part without any idea whether it will last a significant amount of time?
<Snipped quote by yoshua171> Oh, so many small and big things, including some that I wanted to do even while this iteration of the RP was still running, like fixing a bunch of the confusing and misleading labels I had on things. For instance, "demon lords" are no longer a thing, nor is clearly defined good and evil; all deities save the creator spirits are "gods", and pretty much all of the beings that were previously labelled "demons" are now just variations of "angels". The class of beings previously confusingly labelled "immortals" - which would now be gods, angels and demons - are now "divines", and "demons" are "lesser" divines that, unlike angels, do not have a patron god and thus require alternative sources of power. I've changed rune swords, a lot of the rules of magic (especially favored power)... so many different things. I even changed the fundamental structure of the world:
Okay first of all, props, that's a really cool graphic. Simple, but elegant even if I don't remember some of the terms lol. These changes sound fascinating and have further piqued my curiosity.
Also, I just found out that I've had you added on discord this whole time like a fool and never had a proper chat with you. We should change that, especially since we're both such avid worldbuilders haha.
There is one thing that still really fascinates me in particular about your world, and it's the idea of making bargains with Demons, for power and whatnot. Just the idea of having to go through a contract like a lawyer, and the margin for error (and the cost of such errors) being so high is absolutely intriguing to me. I remember I was going to do something with that in regards to Ilitas, but I'm thinking I'd design a different character, but keep that throughline since it intrigues me so much.
So that's where my brain's at. I'd love to hear some of the changes for various things. Like the Laws of Magic in particular :3
Heh, hey yoshua. I know the feeling... I also keep wanting to continue this RP or - more likely since I have to accept that it is well and truly dead by now - reboot it. If I ever did so, however, the setting would be somewhat different from what it was originally. In the years since I created the RP-world I have begun rewriting the story it is based on, you see, and I have made changes to a lot of various things about the world in a way I think works much better and makes a lot more sense. I've also learned a lot about being better GM in the meantime, so that would probably be rather different in a new iteration, too.
I'm already curious what a rewrite would end up making this already deep and fascinating world look like and I'm sure you've improved (somehow) with the passage of time. I know I have, that's for sure haha.
The main thing stopping me is the fact that I honestly struggle to have faith in my hypothetical players anymore. The primary reason I prefer to GM in the first place is to avoid the potential issue of the GM abandoning the RP and leaving the players hanging dry... but knowing that I will always be around as GM doesn't help much when the players abandon it instead. Obviously I don't mean to blame anyone for leaving; no one should feel forced to participate in an RP if they no longer feel like it, and as I have always said real life comes first. But twice now on just this site I have put in huge amounts of work to make RPs (The Prophecy and Night of the Hunt) only for them to peter out and die because the players just stop posting. Stuff like this really kills my motivation for this kind of thing... so unless I someday come upon a group of thoroughly dedicated players that assure me that they'll stick around for the long haul, I don't know if I'll want to put in the work all over again.
Yeah, I definitely understand how demotivating that can be. That's actually largely why I tend not to GM, especially wholly original settings because the reality tends to be that the average person has more trouble connecting with things that aren't familiar in some large way. That's not a failing, it's just a sad reality I've discovered based on my personal experience. Still, at the same time, I've come to realize that from to time it's better to try anyways, because otherwise it leaves you with this...sort of unfulfilled longing? I don't know if you relate to that at all, but I thought I'd put it out there.
I will say that my problem when I fell off--as I believe I told you--had less to do with you and everything to do with the fact that I'd made a character that didn't have enough intrigue/staying power to keep me invested in his story. Furthermore, I then fumbled the process of creating a new character who would keep my interest, much to my chagrin (ah Ilitas, if only I could have finished you). If it means anything or would help, I've got virtually nothing on my plate in terms of RPs or writing at the moment and I'd love to explore a new and improved version of the Prophecy's world.
I've got a Bleach Fandom RP I'm GMing that I need to figure out in the coming months, but my players are being startlingly patient with my current situation (IRL has some stuff going on that is a bit rough) and as I'm sure you know, GMing takes a much greater toll than being a player does. So yeah, if you'd be at all interested in doing something like that, I'd love to work with you! It might also be possible that I could rope in some friends of mine if you got us a Compendium 2.0 to work with. I know Shien still has it saved somewhere even if the current link no longer leads to anything--though she hasn't yet responded to my request for a link to the new site so I can look at things again.
Anyway...that was long and rambly, but here we are haha. I'll leave it at that until you get time for a reply :)
P.S. If you have anything like a Discord I'd love to chat more one on one as well.
P.S.S. I think my problem with I'onriyi was very much that he was a little too...unambiguously good and I've found I have a much greater enjoyment for characters who are either morally grey (with or without some good leanings) or outright evil (with shades of grey thrown in to make things interesting). So I'm confident I could make a character that--along with your exceptional GMing--would keep me around for some time :P Okay. Now I'm done lol.
【Additional Appearance Info: Wearing her Shihakusho well-cinched, one could say that Seikō is rather conservative in terms of her clothing choices. The reality is due to her experiences, she’d much rather not tempt the world. Nonetheless, Seikō is a rather attractive woman, standing at 5’4 and weighing in at around 140 lbs with an hourglass figure and sufficient assets that she feels she must conceal them. Above all, though, her brilliant, almost glowing sapphire eyes are her most defining feature, especially when paired with her barely shoulder-length raven-black hair. Beyond this, of note is the pendant that rests around her neck, almost a choker given its tightness.
【Biography: Born far out in the Rukongai in a District often raided and terrorized by the violence of the gangs of the outer districts, one could say that Seikō has always led a difficult existence. Even as a young child, she came to know that danger was always just around the next corner. Yet, sometimes one can never truly understand what is at risk until it is taken from them, and unfortunately, this has very much been her experience.
So it was at a young age, barely able to fend for herself, that she witnessed the horrible violence of the outer district. Though her parents did their utmost to protect her, hiding her away, they failed in one way.
They did not blind her to the world, did not deafen her to their screams, did not dampen her senses as the scent of blood filled her nostrils. Crying in silence and wanting to scream, she lost her parents and much of the community she’d grown up in.
Frozen in terror, trapped in a state of shock, face and shirt drenched with her own tears, Seikō remained in that decrepit place for a long time. Whether hours or days, she didn’t emerge until someone found her and sadly, they were not just a kind stranger, but rather a raider.
Still, seeing her dirty tear-streaked face as her wide blue eyes stared at him emptily, he must have taken pity on her. So it was that she accompanied the raider in his rough lifestyle.
Many years later, after hardships too numerous to count, Seikō escaped Funinjō and his posse, fleeing to safe districts. Now a young woman hardened by the many hardships of learning to survive and stay safe–and often failing–amidst such rough company, Seikō was closed off for a long time. Retreating into herself and avoiding others for fear of being hurt, it took many many years for her to begin coming out of her shell despite her resilient nature.
Still, eventually, she sought greater safety and decided that she would rather die doing something that mattered than continue to waste away in the districts forever. So it was that she began opening up, reaching out, and even occasionally letting people into her life. Though she could not wash away the pains of her past, Seikō found meaning in helping others escape the possibility of such things in their future.
With time, she heard stories even as she noticed the imperceptible burden that others seemed to bear with her around. Though it upset her to see this, eventually, she found solace in the knowledge that it wasn’t truly her fault, as she discovered the source of the problem: Her Spiritual Pressure.
Though it wasn’t titanic like some legendary shinigami of the past, it was still sufficient to cause the average soul trouble. With this knowledge in hand, she applied for the Shin’o Academy, thinking that she could better protect others from the horrors of the world if she was stronger. Yet in her heart of hearts, she knew that she was running away, trying to get as far from reminders of her past as she could. After all, maybe that distance would help her heal or…help her forget.
Years passed, and she trained, and though she was never considered particularly talented by her teachers or her peers, she was well-liked. Her kind demeanor and attentiveness made her rather popular, but as she graduated and became a member of 5th division, such things stopped mattering nearly as much, and she quickly found herself isolated. Time went on this way for some time until the steady, safe, and largely unchanging environment of the Seireitei was struck by a sudden and violent upheaval.
The betrayal of a Captain, in fact, the Captain of her very own division: Tsubomi Suzunami. Though she’d never had any special relationship with the woman, the sudden violence and instability in a place she’d thought free of such rattled Seikō moreso even than many members of her division. Worse still was that many of her peers joined their Captain in her insurrection. So it was that she found herself numbly watching as so-many strangers–people she knew but was not close to–fought eachother because of the foolish mistakes of one woman.
It was madness. It terrified her, but she’d been scared before, frozen, petrified. Never again. Acting quickly, Seikō had sprung into motion, getting as many of those who had not betrayed her and Soul Society out of the way even as she felt the true battle begin. The one between their Captain and a shinigami who she recognized as the Lieutenant of 7th Division: Yōki, Kōunora.
Eventually, in the process of serving as triage and combatant, Seikō found that she’d moved startlingly close to the brilliant and blinding display that was the two high-ranking shinigami. It was a sight that she found both harrowing and stunning in equal measure. After all, one woman was a blinding flourish of almost impossible-to-follow blades and afterimages, one flowing into the next with an ease that had to have been practiced for decades. Yet…the Lieutenant never faltered, even outclassed as she should have been by Tsubomi, Kōunora somehow managed to evade or turn away the vast majority of the errant Captain’s blows. There was something about the younger shinigami’s movements that felt somehow more honed even than the Captain’s…but that was impossible. Tsubomi had been a Captain for a long time and even if she was hardly the strongest of the Gotei 13’s upper echelons, she was couldn’t possibly so sloppy as to be outclassed by a lieutenant.
Yet she was.
Still, as enraptured as she’d been in the magnificent display above, she soon detected a presence at her side, attacking. Eyes widening, Seikō reacted as quickly as possible. Rather than attempt to block, she’d utilized kido, using a defensive spell in the same instant as she preemptively wreathed herself in Kaido.
Still, the blade struck her with a terrible ferocity that sent her flying. Gritting her teeth from the pain, she flipped in the air and drew her blade in the same instant as she dug her fingertips into a wall to slow her flight. Still, the traitor kept coming, his eyes blazing with fury as he used shunpo to close the distance.
That was his first mistake, for she saw through his every move, and as he appeared, her hilt was already in position to slam his sword down into the ground. With her other hand upraised, she paralyzed him with a spell and then left him for dead. Wiping a bit of blood off her cheek, she cast her gaze around and located one of her compatriots fighting a small group of lesser shinigami who had surely defected.
Narrowing her gaze in disgust at the sight of her ally being bullied, Seikō vanished in a flash step. Joining Kana, Shion in her defensive, the two bonded that day, even amidst that chaos and despair. It was a good thing, too, for though Seikō had shaken off her shock rather quickly, Shion was another case entirely. In the coming months, the two grew close, and as the vice-grip of depressive trauma began to loosen, their friendship began to blossom.
It would be the one thing that truly made Seikō feel secure in the world. Well…that and their new Captain, the very woman who had defeated Tsubomi.
The thought always made Seikō chuckle with a grim sort of amusement; after all, fate did have a twisted sense of humor, why should she be any different?
【Personality: Seikō is a woman who has been tempered in the fires of tragedy and pain, given time to cool, before being reforged in the very same flames. Through the many trials and tribulations of her life thus far, Seikō has been forced to be strong to survive. So it is that in the face of violence, she does not flinch but remains steady and brave as she braces herself against further misfortune. Yet still this is not the sum of her being, for not every facet of her has been forged to the same pristine finish. Quite the opposite, as beneath the brave face, the mask, the wall she puts up to protect herself from the world, there is something brittle and bleeding. Something she refuses to look at, refuses to acknowledge, refuses to accept. It is part of her and it is hurting, wailing, clawing, screaming…silent. Unwilling to look at such a part of herself, Seikō instead turns her attention outwards, nurturing others where she can and protecting whoever she can manage such that perhaps some few will never experience what she’s had to endure.
Still, her past has not just left her with nasty scars and unhealed wounds–psychological and otherwise–but wisdom as well. When one suffers and struggles and yet finds a way through the world, so too do they learn, and indeed Seikō has learned much from her trials. She has learned the importance of bonds, of appearances, and what strength truly looks like. Sadly, a gentle heart and a kind guiding hand cannot save the world…indeed, cannot save her from it either. Nonetheless, she tries, and secretly she hopes as well, hiding that tiny flickering flame of wonder away from the cruel claws of existence such that no more of her innocence might be torn away.
【Notable Traits】
【Likes/Dislikes】
✔ Hopeful people ✔ Kindness ✔ The night sky ✔ Steamed Buns
✘ Liars ✘ Fish ✘ Pessimists ✘ Violence for its own sake
Friends who bonded in a time of strife, Shion and Seikō could be considered to be inseparable. They look out for eachother…and in a world intent on doling out unpredictable cruelty and violence, it’s a good thing that they do. Though she’s never said it, Seikō’s feelings for Shion are more deep and complicated than she might like.
Yōki, Kōunora: Superior Officer
Finding the Captain inspiring, Seikō sees in her what she wish she could see in herself. True strength. Not soundness of body or soul, but mastery of self. In this way she admires the woman tremendously and tries–in all the wrong ways–to to be like her. Perhaps one day she will learn that it is not her capacities as a shinigami that afford Kōunora peace and confidence, but rather the fact that the Captain has accepted herself in her entirety. Then again…perhaps not.
【Capabilities】
【General Aptitude】
Fighting Style:
While it cannot be said that Seikō is quite a generalist, she certainly isn’t a specialist either. Instead, she combines her skills into a more comprehensive style that relies heavily on her capacity for analysis and variability. While some are exceptionally fast or skilled in one art or another, Seikō’s strength is that she can easily adapt to most situations. Thus, it should be said that–at least for now–she is too early in her development to have developed a proper Fighting Style, as it were.
Your perception gives you an edge in combat, allowing you not just to follow the movement of things much faster than you, but also to predict things more accurately than the average individual and act–or react–accordingly. Functionally, this allows the individual in question to treat half of their Proficiency in Perception as Proficiency in Hoho, but purely when reacting or attempting to predict and capitalize on someone’s future positioning. Notably, the Proficiency Tier is rounded down to the nearest number.
Notably, those who do not possess this Specialty only choose a Primary and cannot use any other class of kido. Otherwise, those possessing this specialty must choose either Hado or Bakudo as their Primary and Secondary, respectively. The Primary discipline gains the full allotment of spells for their rank, whereas the secondary gains the allotment for one tier below their Proficiency. Individuals exceeding the Grandmaster Proficiency Tier are capable of utilizing their secondary at the same rank as their primary, but they are not capable of creating new Kidō of that class. Individuals below Grandmaster cannot utilize Forbidden Kidō, whereas those at Legend or Mythic Proficiency may create Forbidden Kidō. Individuals below Adept cannot create new Kidō.
Kaido: (Kido Expert):
Unlike the other classes of Kido, Kaido requires a particular degree of aptitude to utilize at all. This Specialty allows the user access to Restorative Spells, allowing them to heal themselves and others. Individuals with this Specialty can heal themselves at their Proficiency tier and heal others at one level below such. At Expert, this specialty allows the complete restoration of minor wounds--lacerations, bruises, minor fractures, etc. Notably, at Expert, a specialist can heal more serious injuries but never completely, resulting in lasting complications that cannot be corrected. However, due to the individual’s lack of general experience, they are only capable of healing themselves at their full capacity, whereas they can heal the superficial wounds of others as well as stabilize them. At Adept tier, this specialty allows the restoration of major wounds, including broken bones, major fractures, and even the partial loss or destruction of some organs. At Grandmaster, a Kaido practitioner can even regenerate organs and limbs wholesale. Beyond the threshold of Grandmaster, even long-standing injuries can be mended, reducing or removing complications entirely.
*If Chosen as a secondary via Kido Specialist, the shinigami's Kido Proficiency will need to be one tier higher than normal.
【Artes】
Shunpo(Hoho Practitioner):
Meaning “Flash Steps,” this technique, while not the pinnacle of Hoho, is the primary Arte afforded by the Skill. This Arte allows the user to move faster than the eye can easily follow by using as few steps as possible to cross a distance. The higher the user’s Hoho Proficiency, the faster and more efficient this Arte becomes. This technique clashes against the Perception Skill, meaning that the lower an individual’s skill value is, the more difficulty they will have predicting the trajectory of or even following the user’s movement. This becomes more pronounced if the Perception Skill is at a lower Proficiency Tier than the Shunpo User’s Hoho Skill.
{Unique} Bakudo #60 Datsuraku Hada(Shedding Scales): “Interlock, defend. Lock yourself away from the world and hide…”
A spell designed by Yōki, Kōunora, the Captain of the 5th Division, Datsuraku Hada is a defensive kido utilized to protect either the user or a chosen target. When activated, this spell creates numerous ‘scales’ of dense reishi over the entire surface area of the protected individual’s body–each of these scales serve as numerous powerful barriers. However, the spell’s most distinct property is that if the damage threshold for a subset of barriers (scales) is exceeded, the scales will destroy themselves in such a way that disperses the attack. This is accomplished by the reishi temporarily adapting to the reiatsu or reishi of the opposing attack, briefly causing the scales in question to become the antithesis of the opposing force. Notably, these ‘scales’ may be replenished by channeling additional reiatsu into the spell.
This spell utilizes the user’s understanding of biological systems to harness Kaido in order to prime the body for healing before any damage has occurred. This drastically increases the efficacy of Kaido spells, in addition to wreathing the caster’s body in light blue healing kido. Unfortunately, Mae-sedai does have potentially dangerous side effects as it can lead to the generation of malformations in the body and is intensely draining if maintained for too long. Notably, the more skilled the user of the spell, the more potent Mae-sedai is and the longer it may be used without negative side effects.
Meaning “Profound Reflection”, this technique functions by arresting the outward exertion of one’s reiatsu, allowing Seiko to harness the full extent of her reiryoku. After managing this process, Seiko channels said reiryoku directly to her senses. Through this process, her physical and spiritual awareness are drastically amplified. Through [name]’s use Seiko can analyze her opponents and the environments around her with drastically increased precision allowing her to react more swiftly and accurately than normal. This technique can be utilized for up to 6 posts at base, with this duration increasing by 2 posts for every additional tier in Perception Seiko has. At Legend, the duration is increased to 20 posts, whereas at Mythic the technique may be utilized indefinitely.
*During this technique’s use, the user’s Perception Proficiency is raised by one tier for every two tiers they already have in the Skill. If the user’s Perception is Mythic, this technique gives them perception beyond that of those at their same Proficiency Tier.
**For users who have reached the ‘Master’ Proficiency Tier in Perception, this technique may allow them to win clashes that would otherwise have ended in a tie.
***At ‘Perception Grandmaster’ they may treat clashes where their Attribute or Skill was one tier below that of the aggressor as if their proficiency was tied with the aggressor, allowing them to tie.
【Zanpakuto】
Sealed State
~"They say Ignorance is bliss, but I will not let you choose it."~
Attunement(1): Phase One - Unattuned. Deviation: N/A.
Inner World & Spirit:
A vast serpent whose coils contain a frozen ocean of endless depth. Cracks splinter across the ice’s surface and throughout its form as it begins to buckle under the pressure of the Serpent’s constricting vice grip. As it tightens its grip, the serpent’s smooth obsidian scales shimmer with a prismatic sheen. Staring into her soul, always watching, the serpent gazes out into the dark beyond, its reptilian eyes speckled with flickering starlight.
This is the current form of her inner world and sword spirit, though it may change to some degree in the future.
Zanpakuto Personality: Patient and understanding, Zen'nō Kaiyō-kami is a rather maternal figure, its voice one of reason in its master’s mind. Nonetheless, their relationship is rocky as Seikō finds the ancient and ever-present gaze of her spirit to be overbearing. After all, it can see into the depths of her being where no one else can, and though Zen'nō is as gentle as possible…she has no intention of allowing Seikō to avoid her traumas forever.
Shikai
~"Constrict the endless depths, Zen'nō Kaiyō-kami(全能海洋神 Almighty Ocean God)."~
Ability: Upon entering its release state, Seikō’s Zanpakuto continuously generates an incredibly intense aura of turbulent azure reiryoku that acts much like incredibly high-pressure water. Additionally, Seikō’s Shikai focuses her reiatsu, bringing it into alignment with her Sword Spirit. As a result, there is an intense–physically tangible–force that emanates from her Shikai’s azure reiryoku at all times. This force can be used both offensively to enhance the already potent reiryoku of her Shikai or defensively to slow or weaken attacks. However, there is–unfortunately–a catch: Seikō’s Shikai is indiscriminate and constantly puts her body under significant physical strain so long as it remains active. Functionally it is as if Seikō is being constantly poisoned while her Shikai is active–unfortunately, this effect does not carry over to other individuals who come into contact with her Zanpakuto’s Shikai ability.
As with all Shikai, Seikō’s Reiatsu modifier is doubled while it is active (Mod 10).
During Shikai, Seikō’s Zanpakuto puts her under tremendous pressure in addition to poisoning her. As a result, her Resilience stat is reduced by 10 points. If at Dismal, this effect instead reduces her Strength and Mobility by 5. This can be offset by continuous usage of Kaido, but the effect is only halved (from 10 to 5, thus affecting either Strength or Mobility, rather than both).
This effect is more pronounced on other individuals and performs a check on their Resilience stat, causing a reduction of one milestone tier. This reduction carries over to the affected individual’s Skills, allowing them access to the maximum Proficiency value for their new attribute score in their affected stats.
@Sho Minazuki I apologize for the wait, but you may formally consider Kyo Gensai as APPROVED. Throw 'em in the character tab. I'm gonna give Taka(ChaoticLuck) and Metanoia some time to get their characters finished/approved so that you can have a few others in your incident collab, but if that takes too long, I'll just do something solo with you :)
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