groundrules | applications

Entry tags:

applications

applications

APPLICATIONS

Eastbound is primarily an invite-only game — each existing player can currently invite up to one person per month, or get in touch about further invites. Existing players can hold two characters in game. A third character can be applied, if players can prove they have met activity requirements for two consecutive months with their existing two characters and have stayed engaged with the game. If you don't have an invite, somehow stumbled upon this neck of the woods, and you’d like to stay, drop the mod journal a line — we'll try to figure it out.

As of Oct. 1, cast/game caps are off. Please note, as of Dec. 1, Eastbound only has 3-4 months of gameplay left.

WHAT CHARACTERS CAN BE APPLIED?

YES: canon and original characters, if they have a solid and consistent personality and background. Characters brought in after they've died are a-okay. For characters taken from a time point just as they're in the process of dying, please read below on meeting medical requirements.

NO (at this time): real people, original characters set in a canon environment, characters from canons or canon instalments that have been released for less than one month, characters with imported development from other games (CRAU), alternate universe, or gender-swapped versions of canon characters.

Children or characters with very specific medical/magical/environment needs: appable, but please make a note of how your character will ICly meet their requirements and stay alive. Likewise, if you are applying for a character taken just as they're dying, provide a suggestion for how they can be kept alive on arrival (this might be easier in some app cycles than others). You can bend the world a little to make miracles happen (ex: a substitute for the medication your character needs to survive can be found for a high price at certain apothecaries, etc.)

Characters that were dropped or swept by activity checks: yes, but they’ll come back without their previous memories, if they are applied in by a different player.

APPLICATION FORM & INSTRUCTIONS

EXISTING / RETURNING PLAYERS

NEW PLAYERS

PLAYER NAME: 
CONTACT:
REFERRED BY: Who invited you, please? c:

CHARACTER: 
CANON:
CANON POINT:

BACKGROUND: written or linked history both fine. Bullet points also a-okay. If no information is available in English, please write this out in short.

ABILITIES | POWERS: Include any relevant power restrictions, so you don’t break our playground.

PERSONALITY: make sure this ties back to the character’s time point and background.

SAMPLE: one or more samples to showcase the nuances of your character’s personality. Submit at least one prose sample of five comments or more. You can link memes, PSL or other game threads, provided they took place within the last 12 months. You can also write a single prose sample in the game or character canon setting, if you think you can cover good introspective ground that way, or a top level with enough variety to show how the character engages in various scenarios. 
 
INVENTORY: No world-breaking items. For living or magical beings, or anything colossal (think... Gundams...) please let's talk beforehand!

SUITABILITY: Eastbound is a plot-heavy game that typically features sleuthing, action and the undead. How is your character likely to deal with all that (and the game bear)?

NOTES: Are there any particular accommodations your character will need? How do you propose to handle that?

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

→ NAVIGATION MENU

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

PLAYER NAME: kat
CONTACT:

talldarkandgay
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: tdm thread here!

CHARACTER: Spike
CANON: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel
CANON POINT: Post-Angel S5

BACKGROUND: comprehensive wiki on history here

ABILITIES | POWERS: Vampires in the universe of Buffy hold true to these details:

UNDEAD PHSYIOLOGY: For all intents and purposes, Spike appears human ( albeit pale as all get out ) and can more or less pass as one. However, he doesn't need to breathe. The lungs are still there and he could draw breath if he wanted, but it's not a necessity. He can eat human food. He's actually one of the few vampires in the series that mentions enjoying a thing or two, but overconsuming will make vampires ill as they have no need for regular food. The three things that undoubtedly out him as a vampire are the lack of reflection and/or the ability to show up in photographs, bursting into ( gradual ) flames in direct* sunlight, and the transformation into his "game face", which is an actual shift in appearance to have his fangs accessible.

He does have perks like enhanced strength, speed, and senses to make him more of a predator but the level of how much stronger depends on regular access to blood. I don't want fights to be too easy for him, so I'll be using discretion on whether he's going to get tossed around like a rag doll or finds that he actually feels top notch. ( And top notch here in game might still be less than in his home world. )

*The show plays fast and loose with the rules of sunlight. He can be in a bright room and be perfectly fine as long as the light isn't filtering directly upon his skin. This could very well have to do with being filmed in the 90s/00s BUT you know, we're going with it.

He's also a skilled fighter who was trained by the worst vampires of the century and has killed two vampire slayers to date. Spike may be reformed now but delighting in the thrill of battle is something that's been a part of him for a long time.

PERSONALITY:

On the surface level, Spike is someone that breezes his way into a room or a dire conversation and pokes light of the very serious faces and concerns around him. He's comedic effect before he's anything else. It's something he does both as a comfort to the people he cares for and a disarming technique. People aren't good for anything when they're that high-strung, not in a fight and not in developing a strategy.

Then again, even before he was a vampire, he was a man who approached things differently, and was ostracized by his community for it.

He took to vampirism with wanton destruction, having no respect for rules or for hiding that vampires were real monsters in the night. Despite the advisement from his elders, destroying villages or going after someone in a dark alley wasn't enough of a challenge for Spike. He wanted more. When he learned what a vampire slayer was, he made that a core mission of his: finding a Slayer and killing her — nothing like it on the planet. Something that was inherently opposite of what a vampire was supposed to do when they heard whispers of a Slayer, they were supposed to go running in the opposite direction.

But Spike is someone that gets a thrill out of a fight. He calls it dancing. He can appreciate the fluidity of trading blows like stanzas in a poem. It isn't just mindless violence, it's designed with a purpose. He, himself, has notably said that he doesn't want the world to end rather that it's something evil people say to be coined as evil. He happens to like the world and most of the things within it.

One of his most notable traits is loyalty and by extension, his capacity to love. In the Buffyverse, vampires are said to be soulless, murderous creatures and for a time, Spike is both. But this labeling is supposed to imply the inability to feel emotions or anything outside of hunger. He stayed with his sire, Drusilla, for well over a decade ( on again, off again ) chasing her all over the continents, and loving her in spite of her flaws and mental instability. He took care of her when she was unwell and needed nursing back to health. It's an element that stays true to his character long after Drusilla and he part.

Spike says it himself, applies the descriptor that he's, "love's bitch" essentially. When he stopped hanging on Drusilla's every word, it was an obsession with Buffy that bloomed. Unhealthy as it may have been at times, there were good things he did for her. Often times, Spike showed up for her when everyone else turned away. His loyalty extended to Buffy's family and by extension, her friends. He allowed himself to be tortured without giving up information before he had a soul in his chest to speak of. The whole reason he pursued the demon trails and fought for his soul in the first place was because he thought it was what Buffy deserved; he thought it would make her love him.

But Spike has reached a place where he died, and came back, and he's finally doing good things for the right reasons (i.e. without the influence of the woman he loves bossing him around) and he hasn't told her himself that he's returned from the dead after his alleged sacrifice. He is a man with many failings and one of them is that he's scared of putting himself out there on display to be picked apart again, as he had as a human ( and for her many times ), and to be rejected when on paper he's done everything right. His other misgivings include jealousy, which was an additional and cheap factor in not disrupting Buffy’s life. He thought she was dating someone else, not knowing it was a decoy put in place and not actually her. He’d still fought with her other ex, Angel, for the course of an episode over which one of them was going to shoot their shot first.

There's also the matter of finding himself and figuring where he fits in the grand scheme of things. When he retrieved his soul and returned to Sunnydale, there was so much going on at the time ( being manipulated by the First Evil, an influx of potential slayers they were housing and trying to protect, all the drama under one roof ) that Spike hadn’t been able to stop and ask himself what sort of man he wanted to be. He knew that Buffy believed in him because she said as much, despite every reason she shouldn’t have, and picked him to be her champion in the final battle of the series. But, he hadn’t believed in himself then. He hadn’t earned it.

Spike stayed in Los Angeles for the one friend he made that fought for him as much as the key components in the coming apocalypse. If nothing else, he can say he is a man that sees things through with the same human passion he’s always had.

SAMPLE: TDM threads here, but happy to write something else up if need be!

INVENTORY:
— one outfit, black everything ( crew neck shirt, jeans, combat boots, leather duster )
— a metal lighter
— one flask
— a single pack of cigarettes

NOTES: Per the mods suggestion on the TDM, I'll have him be using the pendant to siphon energy from people for resistance to the sun but that might be wonky for the hell of it, for challenges' sake. It'll be on a case-by-case basis! Other than that, he will be bundling up and relying on the kindness of others and probably groveling in some cases. As for the feeding, again, he's going to have to strike up arrangements with either NPCs or player characters. I'm amicable to both. I think both of these "setbacks" actually open doors to rather interesting and vulnerable CR. I'm open to the struggle of establishing these connections in game.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Plot-light? I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew right out the gate.

PLAYER NAME: Amber
CONTACT: candycigarettes@plurk
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: Test drive!

CHARACTER: Ignacio "Nacho" Varga
CANON: Better Call Saul
CANON POINT: Post-death, right after the events of 6x03, "Rock and Hard Place".

BACKGROUND: Wiki to the rescue!

ABILITIES | POWERS: He's a normal human being without any supernatural powers! For non-supernatural abilities...

Firearms. Nacho is shown to be proficient in the use of handguns and a decently good shot! While we don't ever see him pull off any crazy trick shots or shoot anyone from far away, he does seem to be comfortable and decently good with using handguns and close- to mid-range shots, despite his dislike of killing or hurting innocents.

Strong, quick, agile. Nacho is about as physically strong, fast and agile as it's possible for a standard-issue (i.e., non-superpowered) human being of his relative size/age to be! At least once he's able to successfully pull off a feat that nobody expects him to be able to when he dives headfirst into a trap house to rescue a stash of narcotics as the cops are raiding it.

Intelligence. Nacho is bright, clever and observant, and an astute student of human nature... mostly. While he occasionally does do dumb things out of impulsiveness (especially early on in the series, before Shit Gets Real for him), he's shown to mostly have a fairly good sense of cause and effect and to be very logical in his thinking. This is occasionally to his detriment, as he sometimes assumes everyone will be as logical as he is, which is, frankly, not always the case.

Good liar. His reserved nature helps him out a lot in this respect, as it makes him difficult to read even when he isn't lying. This quiet, observant nature combined with his intelligence and shrewd way of thinking makes him an effective liar, who is good at knowing what to say to deceive those around him. This is made evident with how he's able to pull the wool over the eyes of the Salamancas and convince them he's loyal to them when, in fact, he is not.

PERSONALITY: Nacho is intelligent and reasonable, shown to be logical in his thinking (mostly-- bar a few small moments of impulsiveness that we'll dive into later) as well as bright and observant about other people's psychology as well as the ways of the world. He's bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish fluently, and he's willing to think before speaking or acting (mostly). He's shown to have a good head for business and money, and to understand when doing something would be a bad idea; he talks Tuco out of killing Jimmy because killing a lawyer for no reason would bring unwanted scrutiny on their crew. Hilariously, his logical thinking can actually work against him, as he assumes everyone will be as logical as he is; this is shown when he didn't realize a newbie criminal would actually call the police for help after Nacho stole his baseball cards.

He's also deceptive and tends to be a good liar who is able to fool many people easily. Granted, fooling Tuco isn't exactly hard, considering the... Tuco... of it all, but he's shown being able to trick other people who are also very clever and observant themselves. He's shown to have a sense of how to modify his own behavior to be more appealing to the people he wants to believe him. He acts slightly differently around Tuco, Hector and Lalo, because they are all different people and he seems to know, whether through instint or observation, how to slightly modify the way he acts in order to better get along with different types of people.

He's helped in this regard by the fact that he is reserved and quiet and tends to prefer to observe and make judgments and plans before acting. (Again, mostly!) While some of this partially brought on by stress as he becomes even quieter and more withdrawn as the series goes on-- he's a bit more expressive and prone to joking around in earlier seasons-- it's also just clearly part of who he is even when times are good, since even when we first meet him, he's a relatively reserved person who prefers to ask questions first and shoot later. He generally plays his cards close to his vest most of the time.

Despite his intelligence and general observant nature, Nacho can be short-sighted and impulsive in times of desperation. Usually, he prefers patience, observation and playing the long game over rushing in and doing something stupid, however when something important to him is threatened (this is most often his father, who he's very close with) he can become rash, impulsive and prone to seeking out immediate "quick fixes" out of desperation. Usually, this involves planning to kill his cartel boss higher ups. This is shown to be a short-sighted approach on his part, though, as while he doesn't succeed in killing any of his bosses, each one he removes from duty is replaced by one that is even sharper and more dangerous than the one before.

Nacho has strong family values and despite his tendency towards subterfuge and deception, is shown to be very loyal and sincere where his family is concerned. This especially true when it comes to his relationship with his father. Nacho values his father's life and their relationship above all else, and is even willing to sacrifice his own life for the sake of his father's, even committing suicide to guarantee his father's safety. He's also shown to crave a fatherly figure and fatherly guidance, something he often turns to Mike for when his dad cuts him off over Nacho's inability to severe his criminal ties.

Nacho can be greedy and money-hungry, and other than his father's safety, the one thing that can make him behave rashly is the promise of huge sums of money. This is more true in the early seasons, though; by the time he dies, he doesn't seem to care as much about money and material things as just making sure his father is safe. However, when we first meet him, he's very prone to seeing dollar signs and that can also make him do stupid things, such as casing the Kettleman's home in an obvious way that gets him picked up by the police. It's implied but not outright stated that his criminal activity was originally picked up by him as a "get rich quick scheme" and his intention was likely to get in, get rich and get out; however, Nacho eventually discovers that there isn't an easy "out" when you get as deep into the criminal underworld as he is.

He can have a temper at times, although less so than many of the other cartel members we meet. When we first meet him, he attempts to fight Jimmy physically despite being restrained to a chair in police custody. However, Nacho's temper dissipates the longer the series goes on. While he can have a temper, it's made apparent that Nacho isn't a sadist and doesn't like hurting other people for no reason, and that even when his ego is challenged, there are limits to the amount of violence he's willing to inflict on somebody. He shows obvious disgust when Lalo talks to Hector about torturing a hotel owner, and although he's willing to beat up guys in his crew who don't pay up when he's forced to, it's pretty evident that he doesn't enjoy it.

Lastly, this brings us to the final element of who Nacho is as a person-- he can be surprisingly compassionate at times, especially towards those he views as innocent, vulnerable or in some way undeserving of violent retribution. He allows the customers to leave Los Pollos Hermanos when the cartel takes it over as a ploy to get to Fring. He shows obvious guilt the first time he shoots someone and is clearly preoccupied with thinking about it to the point of injuring himself while working in his father's upholstery shop. While he doesn't seem to feel bad about betraying the dangerous, sadistic cartel leaders-- either of his own violition or when forced to by Gus Fring, saying they are "psycho sacks of shit" who deserve to die-- he clearly does feel for those he considers weaker, more vulnerable or innocent and dislikes to see innocent people who aren't in the game being hurt by the hardened criminals who are. Nacho has a moral code and while he is willing to do some pretty terrible things for both noble and less-than-noble reasons, he has a line and is of the opinion that "there are some things you just don't do"-- such as threatening someone's child or treating innocent people like collateral damage.

SAMPLE: Test drive! Let me know if that's not enough variety and I'll whip something up or grab a meme link.

INVENTORY: Only the clothes on his back. Dead men have no need for Earthly possessions.

NOTES: n/a

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Ooh, plot-heavy if available, please! That would be neat.

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

Check out this post and see where your character fits, if you have a second! It's just to help orient him in Arc V. If you're not very sure, you can wait until the Arc V information drops next week c:

NOTES

Pietro’s speed ability is fine, no worries!

Reading your time point, it seems as if Pietro is coming pre death, so he won’t count as death-touched here — do correct if that’s not the case, and he’s coming in with a distinct flavour of rigor mortis!

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Pietro joins the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem, which we will be exploring in Arc V. You can retain his TDM intro and threads!

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

NOTES

Drop a line if you need any future mod accommodations to upkeep Bucky’s cybernetic arm! It looks pretty self-sufficient, but if it ever needs… maintenance, we can figure something out. Alternatively, there are quite a few tech or prosthetic savvy characters in game — thinking of the likes of McCoy, Viktor, Kahl, Eleven…

Someone’s pilfering that $20.

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Since you’re going for plot light, let’s have Bucky just join the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem, which we will be exploring in Arc V. You can hold on to his TDM intro and threads.

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

NOTES

Thank you for the background bullet points!

As with our other necromancers, there will be some natural limitations to Merrin’s death-raising ability, and she’ll struggle to deploy it against the local undead outside of some very specific circumstances (Arc V will provide some opportunities!) Please know that she will count as death-touched for Eastbound purposes — she will simultaneously have more power over and be more vulnerable before the dead and undead lieges of Akhuras. You’ll typically get the appropriate details during events!

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Merrin joins the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem, which we will be exploring in Arc V.

As the party approaches Alem, Merrin can one night overhear tour guide Mazyar stomping around the abandoned camp fire, seemingly aggravated as he mutters into his communication pendant. He is conversing with another, far calmer man — whom she can later identify as the Merchant, if she hears his voice again.

Mazyar accuses the Merchant of condemning his protegees to suicide by delivering them to Alem, shouting that Taravast gave weapons against Alem, Ke-Waihu gave people, Rakkathu gives the entirety of his undead command — when so many entities and citadels turn against you, isn’t it maybe a sign that you are the one to blame? Should Alem not think of its own faults in this conflict? Or must they all continue this game whereby Alem is a gathering of martyrs?

hello, thank you! and yes, pietro will be coming pre-death. :)

PLAYER NAME: Lia
CONTACT:

cosmology
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: I'm in the game with Yelena Belova

CHARACTER: ~~Powder~~ Jinx
CANON: Arcane
CANON POINT: The end of Season 1, Episode 6 after being reunited with Vi only to get separated again.

BACKGROUND: Wiki background

ABILITIES | POWERS: Jinx is a self-taught engineer who uses her knowledge to develop new kinds of weapons and explosives. Without any formal training, she learned the foundations of engineering, how to use ancient runes, and how to incorporate hex gems (technology derived from magic crystals) to make more powerful weaponry.

At a later canon point, Jinx becomes the subject of an experiment to save her life; the experiment succeeds but she is permanently chemically altered. The experiment gives her enhanced speed and strength and turns her eyes from blue to pink. The chemical effects also appear to exacerbate her existing emotional problems and hallucinations.

PERSONALITY: Jinx is not a good person, nor is she trying to be. She was raised among gangsters, thieves and killers by the kingpin of the undercity, who encouraged her most destructive traits. While she sees herself as different— she isn't just another disposable goon, she is Silco's daughter— Jinx still fulfills her role as an arm of Silco's operation. Where some parents might notice a child's brilliance and put them through school, Jinx's genius and creativity are directed toward making weapons for use against Silco's enemies. Silco undoubtedly cares for her but he also manipulates his daughter's emotions to keep her close. With that said, Jinx is not blameless for her actions. She is a highly destructive individual who causes mayhem without regard for life and limb.

Deceptively cunning, Jinx demonstrates on several occasions that she is thinking a few paces ahead of others. Her reputation as a loose cannon leads others to dismiss her, so she often hatches and executes plans on her own. Because chaos is a hallmark of any Jinx plan, others view her work as sloppy, but she typically accomplishes whatever her goal was, whether it be in spite of the chaotic elements of her plan or because of them.

Jinx is not the type to accept that something can't be done. When she hits a road block, she finds a way around it. Her expertise in engineering weapons and explosives was not developed overnight; she started toying with explosives as a kid (yeah) and grew up to rival some of the most educated scientific minds with far more resources available to them. Jinx is also extremely independent, out of necessity, she would say, as most people in her life have died or abandoned her. She believes that she can do everything for herself and doesn't need anyone's help or company.

(The voices in her head are company enough.

Which brings us to...)

Jinx experiences auditory and visual hallucinations, most often of people whose deaths she feels responsible for. She openly talks back to her hallucinations even in the presence of others, unbothered over how it makes her look. She is very much caught in between her past and her present. Despite Silco's urging, she has yet to fully let go of Powder, the child she was before she made a terrible mistake. She has created childlike dummies of the two boys she accidentally killed and keeps a stuffed bunny from her childhood. When she sees a pink-haired girl who vaguely resembles Vi, Jinx momentarily loses herself in memories of her sister and botches the job.

Jinx fears abandonment above all. She doesn't develop connections to other people, save Silco, because everyone else has either died or left her. This fear is reinforced when Vi, previously thought dead, is confirmed to be alive but resurfaces with another girl, Caitlyn, of whom Jinx is deeply jealous. The mere perception of having been replaced drives Jinx to extreme measures- namely kidnapping Vi and Caitlyn so she can force Vi to choose between them.

Her strongest desire is to feel valued. She never felt valued when she was younger; she felt like a burden, a jinx to everyone around her. Silco is able to maintain her trust and loyalty by giving her the respect she has always craved.

SAMPLE: TDM from a different game

INVENTORY:

1 halter top
1 pair fingerless gloves (the left glove has studded knuckles)
1 studded belt
1 pair striped pants
1 pair steel-toed boots
Zapper (shock pistol)
Pow-Pow (machine gun)

NOTES: None

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? N/A because TDM, I think.

...skin of teeth timing!

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

Check out this post and see where your character fits, if you have a second! It's just to help direct her in Arc V. If you're not very sure, you can wait until the Arc V information drops next week c:

NOTES

Worse comes to worst, one of the Scavengers can supply coarse, poorly sedated healing — but they would first direct Tess to PCs, such as Wen Qing, McCoy, Anduin, etc, who have some healing ability. Feel free to assume Mazyar instructed her to knock at their doors, if you need the extra IC incentive!

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Tess joins the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem, which we will be exploring in Arc V.

The Scavengers seem to orbit Tess, attracted to her survivor streak — or perhaps watchful if she perishes, and they might have the chance to claim her wares and waters. A polite bunch! Either way, she enjoys efficient and largely taciturn company — barring nights, when even the Scavengers who hold the watch entertain themselves with chatter.

Some appear grateful for the chance to visit Alem, beloved house of the skyless gods, the 'Gate of Heavens.' They praise it for being the wall and unyielding obstacle that has resisted months, if not years, of dire attack, preventing the eastern forces of undead liege Rakkathu from advancing westward. But one murmurs, Alem is not all so glorious, so sacred. They say, when they raised her, the citadel would not stand, bricks crumbling, foundations decaying, the work of every day destroyed overnight... until workers put the blood of good beasts and better men into the binding paste. And what of the chains on Alem's bridges of judgment? Left there to symbolise freedom from oppressors, why is it at night you hear them rattle as if waved by skeletal hands?

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

NOTES

All those caveats and measures regarding his feeding and sun sensitivity sound great! And if he's not squeamish about feasting on undead things too, Alem should be a... treat.

As a vampire/effective undead himself, Spike counts as death-touched in Eastbound, which comes with some pros and cons during certain plot stages (typically higher exposure but also fleeting control over the undead and their lieges). You'll get a heads up during events when that's noteworthy!

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

To keep things plot light, let's just have Spike join the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem, which we will be exploring in Arc V.

Many thanks and sounds good re: her death-raising ability and counting as death-touched!

PLAYER NAME: Crin
CONTACT:

crincakes
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: TDM top-level here! also kiki is how I found y'all in the first place but I wouldn't count it as a formal referral.

CHARACTER: Stephanivien de Haillenarte
CANON: Final Fantasy XIV
CANON POINT: 6.2 (Technically, he hasn't really appeared actively in any quests past 6.0 but he's around and is somewhat appraised of current events in Garlemald, as the Manufactory engineers have been contributing to the rebuilding efforts)

BACKGROUND:
This will be a mix, as—unfortunately—his wiki page hasn't been updated for beans, and only contains a small amount of the Heavensward (3.0) Expansion information.

Stephanivien de Haillenarte is the oldest son of Count Baurendouin de Haillenarte, Lord of House Haillenarte, one of the Holy See of Ishgard's four High Houses. Ishgard is a strict theocracy at the time that Stephanivien is born and for the majority of his adult life, and the power that rests outside of the church lies squarely in the nobility, and especially among the four High Houses, who are the top nobility descended from four of the historical twelve knights of King Thordan I.

House Haillenarte of the four high houses is focused on the forging of armaments for the Ishgardian military and thus heads the Skysteel Manufactory, responsible for the creation of large war machina such as ballistas and cannons. Stephanivien developed an interest in the workings of the Manufactory as a young boy, and continued in his passion for engineering and machinistry into his adulthood, eschewing typical tradition of knightly service to instead work at the Manufactory, on the invention and development of new armaments, eventually becoming the de-facto head. Stephanivien's work, beyond the development and improvement of extant technologies, involved research and collaboration with Garlond Ironworks, seeking to further improve and develop magitek armaments, as well as the development of a new discipline of war, combining magitek and traditional aetherology to develop the "Machinists".

Since the Calamity 5 years pre-ARR, House Haillenarte has lost prominence among the four high houses due to the loss of two of their major outposts, Stone Vigil and Steel Vigil. One of Stpehanivien's younger brothers, Lord Commander Chlodebaimt, died during the sacking of the latter Vigil. Later, his youngest brother, Francel, was (falsely) accused of heresy (which is a huge deal for Ishgardians, essentially equating to being a traitor), but was later cleared of charges by the Warrior of Light, though the event has still further impacted House Haillenarte's standing.

The following incidents all occur within Stephanivien's young adulthood up until the end of A Realm Reborn, in roughly guestimated chronological order:

Encounters Hilda Ware, and gifts her with a firearm to offer her a chance to take control of her fate. Hilda later becomes a revolutionary leader for the common people of Ishgard who are oppressed under the extreme classism inherent in Ishgardian society.
Develops the aetherotransformer: a magitek device that converts the wearer's aether into lightning-aspected energy, which is in turn stored within the transformer's crystal cores, the accumulated energy which can then be used to power firearms as well as a variety of other specialized abilities.
Hires Lominsan and disgraced former commodore Rostnsthal and grants him a new life and position as a marksmanship and firearm instructor.
Offers the opportunity for training in marksmanship and his newly developed Machinist discipline which utilizes his 'aetherotransformer' technology to his own House's servants as well as other volunteers, in an effort to supply commoners a means to arm themselves and grant them martial independence.
Authors and negotiates a contract with Jessie Jaye of Garlond Ironworks for technological exchange, as well as rights to the mass production of small-scale airships.

Once the Warrior of Light arrives in Ishgard and Heavensward (3.0) begins, we have the direct start of the MCH (Machinist) Questline, and a series of events which I have outlined below:

Stephanivien recruits the Warrior of Light—or "WoL"—(the player character) into the machinist's guild. As he is introducing WoL to the discipline, servant of House Haillenarte and Stephanivien's right-hand-woman Joye rushes in with news that the master of marksmanship Rostnsthal has resigned. Stephanivien, WoL and Joye track Rostnsthal down and convince to return to the Manufactory, and subsequently learn that he was paid a large sum to by an unscrupulous individual which led him to leave.

Stephanivien's father Count Baurendouin de Haillenarte comes by the Manufactory for a surprise inspection and demands that Stephanivien stop being a machinist and engineer, announces news of an upcoming Very Important Tourney, and demands that Stephanivien take up traditional knighthood. Stephanivien instead continues to develop new technology, including a flying auto-turret that can be powered by the aetherotransformer to be utilized by machinists in combat.

Stephanivien's father shows up at the Manufactory again, this time with the news that the great dragon Svara is en-route to Skyfire Locks (a Haillenarte redoubt) and that they are in dire need of reinforcements. Lord Haillenarte wants Stephanivien to show up as a knight, Stephanivien intends to bring his machinists to serve as the reinforcements and drive off the draconic attackers.

The battle at Skyfire Locks approaches, and Rostnsthal is thought missing, only to be found having intercepted someone creeping around the manufactory looking to start trouble. WoL and Rostnsthal frighten away several other suspicious individuals. Negative rumors begin to spread about Rostnsthal, which Stephanivien believes are being spread by some rival of the Manufactory. Rostnsthal admits that much of the rumors are true, and declines to join in the conflict, given the effect that his reputation might have on the manufactory, which was likely what the original mysterious patron who paid him likely wanted.

Stephanivien, WoL, and rest of the machinists (sans Rostnsthal) are able to mount a successful defense, and earn Count Baurendouin's grudging respect. At this point, a~~n asshole~~ knight from the rivaling house Dzemael named Tedalgrinche shows up to ~~be a classist prick~~ call the machinists useless, and essentially inciting Stephanivien to a challenge at the upcoming tourney, which Stephanivien accepts. Count Baurendouin despairs at House Haillenarte's potential performance, given his lack of trust in the machinists and the declining state of their House, which Stephanivien publicly refutes. Stephanivien's privately confides to WoL that the machinists aren't quite ready, and that more training will be necessary. He discusses strategy with WoL, as well as additional training to help prepare the machinists to give a good showing at the tourney. He also encourages Joye—who is expressing doubts of her participation—of her competency and how she is much needed.

The day the tourney, several crates of firearms are discovered to have been deliberately smashed in sabotage. WoL and others chase down and scare away several other potential saboteurs, and report the findings to Stephanivien, only to be met with an explosion from outside the manufactory workshop. A full crate of the auto-turrets have been destroyed, and Joye despairs of having to forfeit House Haillenarte's place in the tourney. Stephanivien commits to repairing the damaged weaponry, and sends the rest of the machinist colleagues on ahead to give a strong show of confidence for the tourney, before privately admitting to WoL, Joye and one other machinist that they will need to compensate for the decrease in firepower from the other machinist's due to the compromised equipment. Even while acknowledging the worsening odds, Stephanivien remains confident in the machinists success.

Stephanivien has done all that he can to counterbalance the manufactory's misfortunes, and meets arranges to meet with WoL at the site of the tourney. He does an inspection of the arena and devises a strategy for the tourney. WoL, Stephanivien, and the machinists are successful in the tourney. Tedalgrinche seems mocking of their victory, but Count Baurendouin de Haillenarte's doubts have been fully put to rest, and he officially hands over full authority of the Skysteel Manufactory and workshop to Stephanivien.

This is not the last of Tedalgrinche, who proceeds to continue to try and harass and sabotage the Skysteel Manufactory and the machinists, orchestrating the following:

The kidnapping of Joye's father and blackmailing her into an arranged marriage so she will no longer work at the Haillenarte manor and the manufactory.
Invites the assistance of House Haillenarte and their machinists for an operation spearheaded by House Dzemael that is set up to be an ambush.
After Stephanivien and the machinists free Joye's father AND successfully repel the draconic "definitely-not-an-ambush", accuses Stephanivien of instigating insurrection and reporting him to the Holy See, such that failure of to clear this suspicion will result in seizure of the workshop and imprisonment of its employees.
After Stephanivien gathers evidence of Tedalgrinche's deliberate sabotage and wrongdoing, as well as the falsity of the claims against the Manufactory and mounts a counteraccusation, Tedalgrinche schemes and has the evidence and counterclaim against him dismissed.

Tedalgrinche then challenges Stephanivien and the Manufactory to a trial by combat ultimatum to clear the false insurrection charges: slay the dragon voivre Veri Selen, or be judged guilty by the Holy See. Rostnsthal tries to turn himself in falsely as the one causing insurrection to have the charges be dismissed without the combat trial, but Stephanivien won't hear of Rostnsthal sacrificing himself on false charges. WoL, Stephanivien and the other machinists convince Rostnsthal to change course, and Stephanivien agrees to the combat trial.

On the day of the trial, Stephanivien arranges a feast to lift the spirits of the Manufactory, and then Stephanivien, WoL, and the machinists set out to the site of the trial, where they are met by Tedalgrinche and a priest of the Holy See who has been tasked with overseeing the trial. Veri Selen has been reported on its way with a large force of other dragon minions, and bait has been provided to lure Veri Selen to the trial location, while Tedalgrinche and the priest move to watch from a higher vantage point to witness the trial while remaining out of the battle.

In the course of the battle, and with the arrival of Veri Selen itself, the priest and Tedalgrinche knocked down from their vantage point, and Tedalgrinche disarmed. Stephanivien sends most of his machinists to defend Tedalgrinche and the priest. WoL, Stephanivien and all the rest of the machinists are able to successfully to defeat Veri Selen and his minions, and out of gratefulness of saving his life Tedalgrinche renounces the accusations against Stephanivien and the manufactory and offers a boon. Stephanivien then requests that Tedalgrinche swear an oath to stop opposing the machinists and interfering with the Manufactory. Tedalgrinche at last recognizes the value of the machinist force, and agrees to stop ~~being a dick~~ interfering, and instead will work alongside Stephanivien to integrate the machinists into Ishgard's military.

Thus ends the Heavenward MCH quest line.

BACKGROUND (cont.):
After this point, we enter the Stormblood (4.0) Questline:

Due to the ongoing conflicts and the attempt to liberate Ala Mhigo (the major plot point of the Stormblood expansion) Stephanivien has found himself swamped in the manufactory with commissions for both armaments and machinists, having even had to relinquish Joye off to "some far-flung deployment", so he asks that the WoL step in to help fill a request made by Hilda Ware to train new members of the city watch led by Hilda Ware, who was instrumental in bringing an end to the Dragonsong war and the establishment of the new, more egalitarian, bicameral parliamentary system being implemented as Ishgard's new method of governance.

Stephanivien is buried under orders for the main Ala Mhigan conflict as well as other demands, but still manages to find time to assist WoL and Hilda as they are investigating a theft and upcoming big ceremony protection as a part of the city watch: first in trying to identify the origins of a bullet utilized in the heist, and secondly to inspect the stolen item (a sacred ceremonial sword) for tampering by the supposed "thieves", as suspicions develop that someone is trying to disrupt the ceremony. He discovers that the sword has been altered to include a small bomb that he invented for training exercises for the Temple Knights intended to be remotely detonated. He crafts a device to trace back the location of the paired detonator. Then, on the day of the ceremony, works with Hilda, WoL, et. al. to discover the culprits who are trying to discredit the new commoner-staffed city watch and ruin the ceremony. Stephanivien further aids WoL, Hilda, and the watch in capturing the mastermind behind the disruption, which does much to secure the authority and reputation of the new Ishgard watch.

Which ends the Stormblood Questline.

Throughout 5.0 (Shadowbringers) and subsequent 5.X patches, Stephanivien continues his work overseeing the manufactory. He arranges with WoL to discover a problem plaguing Joye and Hilda, and—upon discovering that it is a lack of inspiration in developing new machinist techniques, works with WoL to try and secretly assist by attempting to inspire Hilda and Joye with a demonstration of the new techniques WoL developed. Their plan works, though the "secretly" aspect less so, as they are discovered by Joye and Hilda, who thank them both for the assistance. After this point he has shifted almost entirely to focusing on operation of the manufactory and new technological developments, while Joye takes the reins in instructing new machinists and running the guild in that respect.

He also makes a brief appearance in the Ishgardian Restoration questline, a monumental effort that is spearheaded by his youngest brother Francel. Stephanivien, and their remaining siblings Aurvael and Laniaitte come to visit Francel in the Firmament to both congratulate and commend him on his excellent work, as well as to volunteer each of their individual aide to Francel's efforts. Stephanivien himself makes to shift spending his time specifically on the newly opened "Featherfall" branch of the Manufactory to encourage and entice prospective buyers to visit the newly developed and restored areas of Ishgard to bring in much-needed funds for the restoration.

In the advent of Endwalker (6.0), Stephanivien is a part of the Ilsabard contingent, some of those selected among the Eorzean city states to enter Garlemald to the far north and take down a 'group' known as the Telephoroi who are threatening the entire planet with destruction. In Garlemald, He works with other engineers from different city-states and the locals to re-engineer and design extremely fuel-efficient ceruleum heaters to be used by the Garlean refugee population suffering under the destruction of their capital city and a sharp demand for energy, especially as Garleans are incapable of using alternative magical means. The Skysteel Manufactory as well as many other of the Warrior of Light's allies also assisted in the acquisition of materials to prepare the Ragnarok for its deep space trek to the far edge of the universe. Throughout the remaining patches and the current period, Stephanivien has continued work on meeting the demands of the manufactory including contributions to the ongoing work in Garlemald.

ABILITIES | POWERS:
( For reference/personal edification: a video of most his martial/fighting abilities here, and a list of the relevant abilities—only those below level 80—here, mostly because walking around with a giant automated robot seems... excessive. I'll detail them in a more practical sense below under "Job Abilities" )

General Knowledge and Expertise
Stephanivien is first and foremost an engineer, and an extremely talented inventor. He has a good eye for potential, as well as the ability to scavenge other wreckage of machines and magitek for specific components to construct his new inventions, as well as the reverse-engineering and improvement of extant standard mechanical devices.

He is also well-studied in the field of aetherology, which is the study of the 'magical energy' known as aether inherently ambient in the world as well as stored within living beings, which has allowed him to develop a multitude of inventions based on utilizing of an individuals innate stores of aether. Foremost among these is the conversion of aether by aspecting it towards lightning to use functionally as electricity to power magitek as well as other technological abilities that augment firearms (and potentially summon ammunition from thin air) through the 'aetherotransformer'.

As the leader of the machinist guild, and inventor of the discipline, the man is also a solid crack shot.

Job Abilities
The Machinist Job that Stephanivien has developed results in a special augmentation of firearm related abilities, as well as the control of small automated robots. I've included a list of the more unique abilities (that aren't just... fire bullets in increasingly fancy ways) and their descriptions below:

Heated Slug Shot - Fires an arc of 8 hovering bullets that hone in on a single target.
Heated Clean Shot - Summons two small hovering rounds that fire two sequential sets of flare-like blasts towards a single target
Gauss Round - Fires a sharply tapered, needle-like round towards a single target that splits into an electrically charged tripod for increased damage
Ricochet - Tosses a small dodecahedron towards a target and fires at it, causing a ball of lightning to discharge against the expanded pentagonal plates with a spherical radius of approximately 7.5 feet, focused on target and causing residual electric damage to anything within sphere (willing to have this radius drastically reduced)
Hypercharge - Aetherotransformer is deliberately overcharged with aether/energy causing it to spark and allowing for five instances each of two possible charged attacks, Heat Blast and Auto Crossbow:

Heat Blast - Shoots an large orb of plasma-like energy (presumably a super molten metal fireball?) at a single target
Auto Crossbow - Shoots out continuously fired arrows originating at a distance of up to twelve yards in a 12 yard cone shape (willing to have this size drastically reduced) to hit all targets within range

Rook Autoturret - Summons a small hovering auto-turret that fires plasma-like blasts at target, can be forced to detonate/self destruct for final burst of damage
Wildfire / Detonator - Fires a large orb-like contraption that explodes with slow-burning pitch that covers a target and increases damage received from attacks / Explosion of said contraption that forcibly ignites the remaining pitch (automatically occurs after ten seconds if not triggered earlier) that deals set damage to target.
Drill - Fires a large spinning bullet that "drills" into target, causing significant damage.
Flamethrower - Typical flamethrower at starting from point-blank range in a stationary position in a cone of 8 yards (cannot move while utilizing flamethrower)
Bioblaster - shoots out a 12 yard cone of toxic gas that causes slow poisoning damage that persists for 15 seconds
Air Anchor - A blast of sharp picks (like for mountaineering) attached to chains that anchor in the air around a target, encircling it within the chains to bind it, that then explode.

It's worth noting that all of these are possible regardless of the type of firearm actually equipped.

PERSONALITY:
Stephanivien is, deeply, irrevocably kind. He believes firmly and steadfastly in the good of mankind, and is a strong advocate for development and change, constantly striving for the improvements of the future.

Stephanivien's whole motivation for the development of the Machinist war discipline is to grant the opportunity and ability for Ishgard's common man to be able to take up arms to protect their home, and grant them martial independence in a highly class-stratified nation who's entire focus is geared to a thousand-year active conflict that dominates all aspects of society. His opinions and actions towards the equal value of all people and the desire to elevate and enable the freedoms of his fellow Ishgardians—with his desire for the future encompassing a striving for social revolution as well as a technological one—has him considered quite radical by others, as well as occasionally naive, when he finds himself surprised that others do not value people as equally as he does. He is a man highly aware of the privilege granted to him by his societal position and committed to leveraging that privilege to elevate others so that equality may one day be achievable, while also remaining very conscious of the power that his position can inflict towards other people and works very hard not to pressure others against their wills. He does not hold grudges against those who have gone against him out of need or force from others who wield their power against him, even going so far as to offer a job and position to one of Tedalgrinche's lackeys who was strong-armed into participating in the hostage-holding of Joye's father, setting him up with the opportunity to become a machinist and a job in the manufactory to address his needs for employment. He is deeply invested in the progress and the successes of those he has reached out to, or assisted in some way, and completely lacks any sort of envy at the achievements of others, and is instead deeply excited and proud of their advancement, even beyond his own capabilities.

His kindness and belief that all are to be treated equally with dignity and respect has been shown to strongly shape those touched by him. Hilda Ware attributes Stephanivien's assistance with not only granting her "control over [her] fate", but also challenging her own biases. Another minor NPC speaks of how Stephanivien always "works to make the manufactory a place where commoners like me feel welcome." Rostnsthal contributes Stephanivien's granting him a job as an opportunity to learn from his many past mistakes. Stephanivien also works hard to encourage those who are not confident in themselves or feel undeserving of their responsibilities and the respect he gives them, like Joye. Even Tedalgrinche, who actively strove against Stephanivien and his works, as well as harming those that Stephanivien counts as dear to him, is changed by Stephanivien's decision to save and protect him. When Stephanivien merely asks Tedalgrinche's oath that he stop interfering in the opposition of his machinists and the operation of the manufactory as his requested 'boon', it deeply surprises Tedalgrinche, such to the extent that his dialogue is the following:

"...Is that all? No chests of coin? No promises of power? The workings of your mind are truly an enigma to me. But you shall have my word on this, nevertheless. Indeed, we shall discover the best means by which your fine machinists might contribute to Ishgard's defenses."

In multiple instances, through smaller changes such as gaining confidence to pursue one's desires and confidence in one's abilities to full heel-face turns, and the complete changing of one's opinions and stance, most every person that Stephanivien interacts with whose life he has reached out and touched in some way has resulted in that person's personal development for the better. Stephanivien is the kind of person who makes one a better person by just being around them, through his unstinting support and encouragement, and his personal humility towards the effects he has had on the people he has touched.

SAMPLE:
prose-style sample (cw for jury-rigged surgical debridement of a zombie(?) bite)
action bracket style tdm top-level with a couple threads going

Happy to provide an additional sample if needed!

INVENTORY:

His firearm
Small (Rook) Auto-turret
Aetherotransformer (which comes with some tools)
Small weaponsmithing toolkit including basics like pliers, tongs, scrap metal, smaller hammers and whetstones.
His trusty prospectometer*

NOTES:
*So, in FFXIV, it's not actually clear what the prospectometer is, other than the fact that it is a device that Stephanivien carries around with him and utilizes often, and that it somehow actually knows/can predict things, such as detecting "potential" in individuals he has never met before, locating the general direction missing persons, etc.

Basically, it's an item of unclear limitations but always correct predictive powers to give a Watsonian excuse for Doylist commands present in quest steps (e. g. Go to X Region to track down NPC Y). I am equally happy to have him operate without it, but since he refers to it regularly in conversation throughout his questlines as well as just generic NPC text I figured I would be better off including it than not. Possibly could be something that could be used (with permissions) to detect if a character has some special power about them?

Also, again, huge huge thank you for the extension

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO?
Plot-heavy would be swell!

Edited 2023-01-21 09:06 (UTC)

Heya! Thanks for the app — what you have so far looks great! Since you're right that the samples would benefit from a tiny bit more variety, but it's clear off the existing ones that you have a solid voice for him, let's do this —

If you can answer here over the next 48 hours in 1-5 lines, describing (in IC prose/brackets or purely as an OOC answer, whatever is easier), how Nacho responds to:

— a small child has stabbed him — accidentally, but the wound's ugly. What does he?

— there's a queue at this merchant stall, and Nacho's the one tasked with urgently delivering a critical note without drawing attention. Unfortunately, peasant-Karen's been holding up the line talking down the radishes. What does he do?

Really, 1-5 lines is absolutely enough, don't overthink this & shout if you need more time!

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

NOTES

In the interest of her tinkering streak — she’s welcome to cruise the Arc V forges and tinker some with or create new companions / weapons!

It reads off Wiki that she was resuscitated with shimmer but that, unlike some of the drug’s other consumers, doesn’t need new doses to stay afloat. If that’s incorrect and she’ll need periodic shimmer supplies, give a shout, we’ll figure something out for her.

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Sure thing, she can arrive with the desert crossing event, as the party heads on to seized citadel of Alem.

Thank you for your application!

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

Check out this post and see where your character fits, if you have a second! It's just to help route him in Arc V. If you're not very sure, you can wait until the Arc V information drops next week c:

NOTES

Since the prospectometer seems a bit ambiguous in use, might be better off leaving it behind! Alternatively, maybe it can come with, but not function.

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Stephanivien can join the motley crew during the desert crossing event, as the party heads on to seized citadel of Alem.

As Stephanivien might overhear the chatter of some of the merchants in Mazyar’s employ, as he keeps watch at night or helps with the snail-caravan. They are bemoaning both their destination — the looming, condemned citadel of Alem — and the many recent changes in trading patterns across the realms. The Dawn’s Reach Trade Company is increasingly using its reach to seek out unusual artefacts for its elusive employers, muscling out smaller traders out of their search areas in the process. Frozen salt hub Sa-Hareth is now completely cut off, turned into the main fortress of the ever-growing empire of undead lord Anurr. And the mermaids that previously swarmed in every sea and some rivers have now all but mysteriously disappeared from their usual haunts.

Yay thank you!

And I'll just have him arrive sans the prospectometer since it saves him the trouble of trying to constantly fix it, and in some ways is far funnier if he just bemoans the loss of it instead.

Tell you what, especially since we're heading into an area with a steady stream of merchants — feel free to find items among their wares that always look almost like the prospectometer but are never quite it. Forever teasing.

I love this holy crap.

Stephanivien acquiring a small horde of contraptions that all look somewhat like the prospectometer (Which, tbh the player doesn't even know what it looks like, so I'm just imagining an increasingly ecclectic collection of items that no one else can see how they are related at all) but all do completely different and randomized functions.

Thank you! And no worries about the shimmer: canon hasn't settled that question yet but Jinx's canon point comes before her transformation.

Haha, I thought this might happen! You got it. I'll do OOC explanations if that's cool. Let me know this works!

—For the first one, there would be an initial instinctual anger at being stabbed, but he'd quickly tamp that down and not act on it because the stabbing was 1) accidental, and 2) it's a kid. So then he'd try to tie off the wound to not bleed out while trying to reassure the kid that he's going to be okay. And then if possible he'd try to figure out how a little kid got a knife big enough to make that kind of an injury/be mildly horrified a small child was given/allowed to have a knife like that.

—For the second, say nothing, just cut to the front of the line and glare intimidatingly at anyone who objects. Gently but forcefully, push peasant-Karen aside, saying only as much to explain himself as he absolutely needs to. Hand in the note. Leave. (Does this possibly draw more attention than he's supposed to? Maybe! Hopefully everyone just thinks he's a jerk and leaves it at that.)

Hope that works for you! Let me know if you need anything else.

Edited 2023-01-23 07:03 (UTC)

Thanks for answering that, all good now c:

ADMIN

When you have a second, have a last read through the game rules and comment to the TAKEN LIST.

Join

eastbound,

lostcompass,

westwhere. Feel free to make an OOC intro post on

lostcompass, if you want!

All game updates are posted on

lostcompass, but you can also follow

eastbound. You’ll get a private message with an invite to the informal game discord server, once you comment to the Taken List.

If you’re not already served on that front, we have some custom codes to help you set up a character inbox or permissions post. Both are entirely optional, and feel free to customise at will!

Your character is exempted from activity requirements this month.

NOTES

Your character receives a shiny new Arc V pendant with a mirror inside, which serves as a translator and communicator for written, video and audio interaction.

INTRO

Since we're only a few hours ahead of the Arc V information drop, let's just say he will join the party during its desert crossing to the seized citadel of Alem.

PLAYER NAME: Kerry
CONTACT: i only accept contact by kitten messenger (pm)
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: kitten mail

CHARACTER: Adrienne Peters
CANON: Original Character
CANON POINT: November 2019, at the airport

BACKGROUND:
World Background:

Adrienne comes from a very normal-seeming Earth, it's what she'd always believed. There's an underside to this, a world of magic, of supernatural beings (vampires, shifters, fae creatures) that is kept very hidden from human knowledge. There are rules, and prices paid to magic lest it takes its toll out on you, and humans that find themselves knowing about the world are often in danger or can be contested over (depending on how they found out). If you do find out? Don't draw attention to it, don't leave a trail of it anyway. Humans won't believe you and anything magical will have you now on their radar.

History:

Adrienne's early life started fairly boring, being born in Minnesota to Swiss-German and American parents, an only child whose most exciting adventures were the infrequent trips to Switzerland to visit her grandparents. Life changed for her when she was fifteen when, whilst sleeping over at a friend's house, two men broke into her home, killing her parents in the invasion. The invaders were never caught, and Adrienne was taken in by her aunt, though unfortunately also had to relocate to Oregon where her aunt lived. Though her first few months there were miserable and difficult (including her), she completed school, broke the heart of the first boy who tried to love her, and worked through the summer. She'd applied for a chemistry degree at one of the community colleges, working part-time as she studied.

After graduating, Adrienne took the next steps as a new chapter of her life, trying to close the book on the pain of her teenage years. She was studying medicine in New York, spending half of that time studying in a bar, sporadically working in said bar, and meeting the person that would end up being her best friend (Julia). Their friendship took a while to settle in, Adrienne's bossiness clashing with Julia's calmer voice of wisdom, but somehow, their conversations kept coming together until they never stopped. Adrienne stayed in New York, starting her residency in pathology, on track to being known as a skilled pathologist with a good eye for detail. Her "quiet" (busy) life ended up taking a hit when she fell pregnant, in the third year of her residency (a couple of one-night stands turning consequence) and against what the other residents would have said was sense kept the baby. Her daughter (Isabella) was born in June, the hospital daycare saved her when she returned to work, and despite some struggles, Adrienne completed her residency, continuing her studies to specialise in a fellowship in pediatric pathology.

Though Adrienne tried to keep her life simple and quiet (refusing to fall in love, raising her daughter, spending more time at home), the world decidedly was not as simple. Though she thought she knew her best friend, Julia had kept a secret since they'd met: she was a vampire. She was shocked, somewhat afraid, though despite the glimpse of danger something accepted it -- not easily, she refused to speak to Julia for months, though half a bottle of wine and a curious text ended up bringing their friendship back. Adrienne had rules, though they eventually eased as she became comfortable again except for one: she loved her friend, but she didn't want to know more than necessary about that world. She wanted safety. So Adrienne knew that vampires, magic, and more creatures than she cared to ask about existed, but details didn't cross her path. At least until she jokingly asked Julia a question when she was stuck analysing a cell sample and it hit a little closer to the supernatural than she expected, but those were the exceptions.

Things calmed down, years passed, and then Isabella became sick. It was a slowly progressing illness, months of testing that felt more torturous because she couldn't help, though no answer came, not one in time. The diagnosis came too late for Isabella to recover, and Adrienne took her loss hard. Her sabbatical lasted longer than planned, though in her spiral, the days weren't noticed. Eventually returning to work, her usually friendlier bossiness was snappier and her confidence was pushed to an extreme, more reckless than anything: no one died, her work was still careful enough (and checked) that her patients were safe, though reckless driving leading to her being injured in an accident gave her a time out. Surgery, physio, and seeing a mandated therapist started getting her the help she needed. Her grief slowly started being worked through, her drinking cut back, and she started a plan of where to go now.

This plan involved a real sabbatical from work and volunteering with Médecins Sans Frontières. Adrienne needed space and physical distance from her pain, and it gave her hope, a potential purpose that she could do something to help. Though she signed up for a year, Adrienne stayed with Médecins Sans Frontières for two years before returning to New York. Despite the distance and healing that she'd begun would be enough to help settle back into her life. She stayed in New York for a few months, catching up with friends, touring the hospital, but the more time she spent there the more old memories and pain surfaced and all she wanted to do was run. So Adrienne signed back up, knowing that she could offer more help with Médecins Sans Frontières, more than she could currently in New York.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

★ MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE. a trained pathologist, Adrienne is knowledgeable in studying and diagnosing diseases found in cells, masses or tissue samples. With a medical degree, she is trained in first aid, patient care, and wound treatment. During her time with Médecins Sans Frontières, she stepped a little away from pathology and practised more general care, focused on patient care and treatment.

★ LINGUIST. Adrienne is fluent in English and German and is conversational in Arabic and French.

PERSONALITY:

★ KINDHEARTED. Though she can be bossy and brash on the surface, Adrienne has a good heart at her core: she knows what pain is and doesn't want others to feel that pain. Whilst she's generally quite private, friendships with Adrienne tend to last, those closest to her seeing her most caring side, a woman that is fiercely protective of the people she loves. At work, her heart is seen in her determination, her dedication to finding answers to the children whose cases cross her desk, or the gentle words she has when face-to-face with a patient or family. Her words are her strength to others over physical affection, listening, trying to find the best thing to say to make someone feel better, or turning her brashness onto the person who caused pain to protect a friend. As for the children she works with they see the softest side of her, a softness that is reserved just for them: a mother who wants them happy and unafraid whilst their ills are cured.

★ AVOIDANT. Adrienne has a problem with connecting to people, not because she can't but out of a refusal to do so. Whilst she's friendly and kind, particularly in her work, many of her friendships and the people that she knows are surface friendships: she avoids letting people in and really getting to know her. Some of this stems from the loss of her parents -- she'd been hurt and didn't ever want to feel this again, almost being afraid of letting people in only to be hurt by them. After her daughter dies this ends up magnified: it's no longer just an emotional connection to others that she avoids but her own emotions, not processing her grief, trying to bury it and in the end only becoming reckless. She pulled away from a lot of people, hid behind 'I'm fine' and isolated herself in her pain. Outside of emotions, Adrienne will avoid anything she really doesn't want to deal with, maybe accepting that it exists but u-turning away from the topic if it gets too close to it, incredibly obviously changing the subject from it. Trying to get her to touch a topic she's pulled away from tends to be hit with refusal or denial. Or a little rudeness.

★ OVERCONFIDENT. Confidence is usually a bonus, though too much confidence can lead to someone being more impulsive sometimes arrogant-seeming or even reckless. For Adrienne, it's mostly the first issue -- she has a strong belief in herself, in what she knows or just that she's right that she hates waiting for the proper chain of events to happen, wanting to get around it to get to the end. Her confidence ties in with her bossiness, she knows (believes) she's right so she tells people what they need to do rather than listening to another solution. Her confidence does mean that she misses things, sometimes overlooking the small detail or misreading the room. At her worst, her confidence makes her reckless, almost believing that nothing can bring her down, recklessly fearless -- "it hasn't happened yet, I'm fine, it won't happen" (except it does).

★ BOSSY. It's a confidence thing and a little bit of a power thing, even if Adrienne doesn't have the power in a situation. She's gotten good at telling people what to do, what should happen or what she thinks needs to happen, even if she's not in charge. Adrienne's learned that sometimes the person in charge doesn't have all of the answers and if she does she's not the most subtle about going about it, telling people what needs to happen rather than explaining what she thinks. She's not apologetic about it, not when she believes she's right (unfortunately, she usually is) and the only thing that tends to save her is that she manages not to be rude about it. Though she's good at giving orders she is also a team player, and good at following directions -- if she believes in it, if the task feels wrong or feels like it wastes time then she's more than happy to disagree with it and try and demand a different path. And it is a demand.

SAMPLE: link + link

INVENTORY:

★ her medical i.d.
★ her phone
★ a worn, stuffed rabbit

NOTES: none specifically!

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? plot-heavy if possible, lets throw her in

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spike — buffy the vampire slayer/angel

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ignacio "nacho" varga | better call saul

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Stephanivien de Haillenarte | Final Fantasy XIV

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adrienne peters ★ original