Raiza Moran is probably the one character in the KMV who really qualifies as 'no name given'--it's an alias, and unlike Lancer/Antinomy/Nightmare she doesn't appear to have a real name, or at least I don't know it. She's also the primary character classed as 'entirely able to out-shoot Alexander, in every situation ever.' This is admittedly unusual in that she's from a normally 'realistic' universe.
Unfortunately she also has pretty bad luck, as far as story events go. Most of her informants sort of wind up dying right before she gets there, for instance, rather than right after.
I consider her pretty impressive, considering that even with the horrid luck she still has managed to actually survive to 40 (-ish, as with most KMV age figures) as a full-time henchman.
Raiza and Mona are totally the leaders of the Official Henchman Union, though. As said union has a ranking system based on seniority, Klingon promotions, and genre-savviness, this is pretty good.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sky-Flung Monoliths, 01
Somewhere within the great library of Galzburg, a door slammed open. This was, for said door, something very unusual considering it consisted of about three inches' worth of solid, steel-reinforced wood.
A younger man was sitting at a desk beyond the heavy door, studying a thick book bound entirely in leather and metal while making frequent reference to a stack of other, similarly ominous books sitting nearby. He twitched briefly at the sharp report caused by the door's impact on the stone wall nearby, recovering just in time to catch the edge of the door-slammer's sleeve in one fist as it swept past.
The woman to whom the sleeve belonged half-turned to fix him with a very high-caliber confused blink. "... Yes?"
"This is..." He paused briefly. "How did you get this far into the Special Collections?"
"Ah, that." She raised the arm that he didn't presently have a death grip on, and scratched the side of her neck, tilting her head in a slightly inquisitive fashion. "I'm Professor Bernaste, academic agent of the Magometry Research Agency. I've been assigned to retrieve a certain volume from the third section."
He stood, and released her arm. "Oh. ... My apologies, I wasn't informed of your arrival. I'm Miles."
"Miles... Miles Vandis, correct?" Bernaste flashed him the very edge of a faint smirk, although admittedly she didn't seem to be making any expression on purpose―it seemed closer to being the default state of her face. "I was reading a translation you wrote―Morganna's notes, wasn't it?"
Miles smiled somewhat vaguely at the mention. "... Yes. Not my best work, but probably the most historically interesting. Shame, that. I'll show you to the third section now."
According to the principles of narrative causality, Miles and Bernaste had gotten no further than five yards from the desk before a large explosion resounded throughout the building. As though she had been expecting it, Bernaste promptly took off running at a speed which rapidly left him trailing behind in vain hope of catching up.
---
By the time they had gotten there (or rather by the time she had, as it took him considerably longer), most of the automatic anti-fire systems had already activated, leaving patches of the section somewhat drenched but not utterly destroyed. A hole gaped in one side of the roof. Bernaste stared up through it, examining the miniature patch of remarkably blank black sky visible through it.
"Huh," she noted, in a mostly absent-minded tone.
He crouched and began to sift through the remains of one bookshelf, which although slightly charred seemed to indicate the explosion was more one consisting of air and plaster from the murdered roof. "It's not here. That's why they had to--"
Bernaste was abruptly standing directly behind him, and a bit too close. "It? ...You look rather concerned, for someone working in the Galzburg Special Collections."
Miles stood again, dropping his hands to his sides and adopting a slightly puzzled expression. "It was... largely classified that it was here. Not something that would have leaked. We never really identified it, but there was something about it..."
The expression on his face became considerably more decisive, as Bernaste rolled her eyes. "You're being disjointed, Miles. Please, collect your thoughts and respond once you can form a complete sentence or two."
"We picked... it up after the death of a man named Victor Hanover. Died in a fire. He apparently willed a considerable collection of various books to the library―mostly your typical mad scientist research material, but with one or two things which seemed definitely... shall we say, 'exceptional'. Even in the Special Collections, things that manage that much power are uncommon." He crouched again to retrieve a torn piece of paper from the wreckage. "Item #22417, we called it."
She narrowed her eyes, turning away from him and glancing back over her shoulder, her tone dropping to new levels of slight condescension. "And why would someone want 22417, Miles?"
"As I said, it was a bit exceptional even for something in the Special Collection." He seemed to be imitating her tone with some intensity. "The sort of thing which drives people mad if they read too much in one sitting. It was placed under my care because I was one of the people with the highest chance of resisting."
Something underneath both of their feet made a slight cracking noise, which echoed across the third section's large, now-disheveled room. Miles emitted a slight strangled choke and fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Bernaste turned towards him again, crouching and looking vaguely concerned in a way which didn't exactly seem to suit her.
After a brief bout of coughing, Miles glared up at her with recovered strength. "That explosion. Someone stealing a book which could make the world end is your department, isn't it? Unless, since you didn't have identification, you aren't exactly legitimate..."
---
A burst of lightning seared into the roof directly to the side of the figure, causing an intense miniature storm of clay fragments and an intense acrid smell. In response, the figure drew a gun again and ran, lending its shots back towards the origin of the lightning the particular brand of inaccuracy generally found when people try to shoot while running for their lives.
Another lightning flash crackled between the bullets, then dropped them as the lightning's creator dodged the falling bits of molten metal and leapt across the gap between rooftops. He was met with another bullet, this one less than an inch away from his neck. An automatic attempt to dodge left him unstable, and he only just managed to stop sliding down the side of the slanted roof before any lethal consequences could catch up to him.
The figure dove off of the side of the slope quite purposefully, plummeting towards the street below. As the one who had chased it watched, it hit the hard ground without any blood or snapping noises normally expected from such an impact, and after a few seconds continued running without missing a beat.
After the figure had ran, its pursuer was left alone, standing on the edge of a sloped roof, staring down at the presently abandoned alleyway as a thunderstorm began gathering overhead. Ultimately, he cursed in the sort of half-hearted way used by those who don't often do so, and turned to face the direction from which he had chased the figure.
Bernaste appeared more or less directly behind him. He twitched slightly, then turned to level a glare at her in a way which suggested this wasn't unusual. "Darian. What are you doing here?"
"Nothing much, Tobias!" Bernaste smiled, obviously investing all of her superficial energy into looking cheerful. "I like to read, after all, and--"
"Don't give me that, Darian Trevelyan. You were going to retrieve that book before we could get to it. You arrived under a false name. If you weren't obviously here and not the person who I just chased off of this roof, I'd say you were the one who caused the bloody explosion in order to run off with it." Tobias turned to briefly nod to Miles, who was very much the worse for wear at this point and had probably been dragged to the roof forcefully.
Darian turned, surveying the blackened parts of the tile. "Doesn't look like you were doing too good of a job as far as apprehending the suspect." As Tobias sighed in irritation, she smirked at him. "Besides, I'm technically one of your agents. So, mind telling me why you wanted 22417?"
originated as a short fiction fragment for creative writing. possibly will be continued. Julien is also definitely her mother's daughter, or rather considering the meta timeline Darian is definitely her daughter's mother. lol, time paradox.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
re: your color-coding...s
Theory:
Although the KMV doesn't go in for the strict Good/Bad color-coding, there are a number of different factions and so on that often use their own colors. This has most of its influence on character design. It would also probably be the basis of some kind of puzzle if there were a KMVRPG.
The Central Administration / Sigeki - Alexander's Bureau is mostly, in so much as they have uniforms, blue / silver / black. Helena uses green / white, mostly because she wants to and much like everything else she's ever done nobody dares tell her 'no'.
Most of the other Administration officers seem to go in for 'whatever they want' too. I haven't a clue what the rules are.
Lowen is mostly white / dark brown, with the occasional bronze or red detail. I play the Obscure Reference card and take a turn.
The Sphere - MRA agents are pretty much constantly monochrome (as is Miles, sometimes). Which ties into the secondary faction theory.
Trevelyans are a bit confusing; most commonly it's dark grey / white / some third actual color, in which the last color changes according to which one you're dealing with. Julien's red, and Darian seems to be green. Morganna (the first Trevelyan, way back when) was dark purplish. The second one, who doesn't have a name, was blue. I think. Again, puzzles would be made of this if I needed 'em. (Another instance of blends affecting character design: Darian is much more monochrome than the others because she was, effectively, an agent for most of her admittedly still Chaotic Good existence.)
Donovans also vary by generation. Janelle was mostly dark brown / red, and Sterling is definitely green (Mona is red / gold / green over time). Sigurd seems pretty monochromatic too, with the occasional shot of blue.
... It seems, with the exception of Sterling (and Miles, who's Neutral Good - True Neutral), that the more Lawful you get the more monochromatic you get. Also, roughly 3 of 4 Good characters with known preferred colors wind up being coded green. Except for Helena, who at her absolute best is Lawful Neutral and at worst slips into Neutral Evil (in a sort of ends-justify-the-means way).
Although the KMV doesn't go in for the strict Good/Bad color-coding, there are a number of different factions and so on that often use their own colors. This has most of its influence on character design. It would also probably be the basis of some kind of puzzle if there were a KMVRPG.
The Central Administration / Sigeki - Alexander's Bureau is mostly, in so much as they have uniforms, blue / silver / black. Helena uses green / white, mostly because she wants to and much like everything else she's ever done nobody dares tell her 'no'.
Most of the other Administration officers seem to go in for 'whatever they want' too. I haven't a clue what the rules are.
Lowen is mostly white / dark brown, with the occasional bronze or red detail. I play the Obscure Reference card and take a turn.
The Sphere - MRA agents are pretty much constantly monochrome (as is Miles, sometimes). Which ties into the secondary faction theory.
Trevelyans are a bit confusing; most commonly it's dark grey / white / some third actual color, in which the last color changes according to which one you're dealing with. Julien's red, and Darian seems to be green. Morganna (the first Trevelyan, way back when) was dark purplish. The second one, who doesn't have a name, was blue. I think. Again, puzzles would be made of this if I needed 'em. (Another instance of blends affecting character design: Darian is much more monochrome than the others because she was, effectively, an agent for most of her admittedly still Chaotic Good existence.)
Donovans also vary by generation. Janelle was mostly dark brown / red, and Sterling is definitely green (Mona is red / gold / green over time). Sigurd seems pretty monochromatic too, with the occasional shot of blue.
... It seems, with the exception of Sterling (and Miles, who's Neutral Good - True Neutral), that the more Lawful you get the more monochromatic you get. Also, roughly 3 of 4 Good characters with known preferred colors wind up being coded green. Except for Helena, who at her absolute best is Lawful Neutral and at worst slips into Neutral Evil (in a sort of ends-justify-the-means way).
Friday, July 25, 2008
Every time I think that the KMV is becoming more understandable/explicable, I come up with something like-- hang on a second, let me try to explain.
So I have the beginnings of a plot for NaNo 2008, 'Conjunction'. It's surprisingly straightforward for something involving Janelle Costley-Donovan.
Until I realize that in terms of external influence, this... basically relies on Darian Trevelyan and Tobias Aligheri (in the Sphere's backstory) beginning a group which is essentially a cross between UNIT and the Patriots, with the ultimate intention of bringing about what would essentially be a variant of Human Instrumentality from Evangelion.
... admittedly they never went through with it due to problems which are of the world-ending class (and noticing ominous changes in character alignment), but just the idea is pretty much a NaNoism-class of pure what if you try to describe it in that sort of way.
So I have the beginnings of a plot for NaNo 2008, 'Conjunction'. It's surprisingly straightforward for something involving Janelle Costley-Donovan.
Until I realize that in terms of external influence, this... basically relies on Darian Trevelyan and Tobias Aligheri (in the Sphere's backstory) beginning a group which is essentially a cross between UNIT and the Patriots, with the ultimate intention of bringing about what would essentially be a variant of Human Instrumentality from Evangelion.
... admittedly they never went through with it due to problems which are of the world-ending class (and noticing ominous changes in character alignment), but just the idea is pretty much a NaNoism-class of pure what if you try to describe it in that sort of way.
Monday, June 02, 2008
well this is something new
Three weeks after he'd gotten the news, just barely enough time to react and get any proper papers filed in this particular system, Miles Vandis finally managed to make the long trek over to Galene--longer with the train delays and the constant snowfall, they should have gotten used to it by now, and the other things he would have been commenting on had there been someone else in his compartment.
But there wasn't.
Apparently, Galene wasn't a terribly popular stop.
By the time he had arrived, most of the snow had melted (late it was summer and she hadn't disappeared she was in his mind all along, apparently) leaving him very close to literally all dressed up and nowhere to go. Eventually, he somehow managed to wind up at the outskirts of town staring at a very red front door.
After he had concluded a nice bout of staring intently, Miles was also a second or two away from losing his nerve and leaving when the door suddenly opened, revealing a nineteen-or-so-year-old with red hair and a face which looked quite familiar.
At a loss for words, he grabbed at the first complete thought. "This door..."
"Yes?" she asked, in a vaguely familiar clipped accent.
"You like it, even though it's so red?"
She stared at him for what seemed like quite some time, before smirking. "Yes, I do. It was fine for the past three generations."
"Ah, is that so." He pondered. "And, er, you are? I was under the impression that this house was abandoned."
"Oh. Looking for things of hers to pick over? Burglar, then? Enthusiastic real-estate agent?" Her voice grew sharper and snapped into a staccato rhythm.
Miles twitched, briefly trying to count how long it had been since he heard that sort of comment before reconsidering reality. "No, I'm a family friend here to see what could become of her will or anything of that sort. Why are you here?"
She scoffed, shifting her weight to the opposite leg. "Family friend, eh? I've never met you before."
And he abruptly began giving her the same type of stare she had turned on him earlier. "There are living Trevelyans, then?"
"Doctor Julien U. Trevelyan. IV. Don't ask me why they started the numbering thing. It's not as though we share the same full name."
Sadly, the stare continued. It didn't seem as though he would have reason to end any time soon.
"You're Miles, aren't you." Julien broke the silence. "I believe she said... something about you. I can't remember what. It's not important. It was friendly."
"... Yes. I worked with Darian for a while." He paused. "She never told me that she had a daughter, though."
She sighed, turning on her heel just long enough to close the door and brush down her dark grey dress shirt a little. "I get the impression that happened a lot among her friends."
"Probably. She didn't seem the type to bring it up."
"... I'll walk you back to the station," Julien decided after studying him a bit longer. "I may not be a bureaucrat, but all of the will stuff got taken care of right after the declaration. I have a friend who's much better with that sort of thing."
"Is that so." They started walking. "You were away, then...?"
"Polyscience. Since about fourteen. Finished my doctorate a month before I was forced to return."
"Ah. ... Magometrist."
"If a Doctor Trevelyan wasn't a magometrist," Julien said, crossing her arms, "the world would probably end because of sheer implausibility."
"You have a point."
alternative title: "In Regards to the Execution of the Will of Dr. D. Trevelyan III"
Just a scene that wound up in my head.
Probably about seven years before Prismatic because all timejumps of any sort in the KMV are seven years long. Apart from the Five-Year War in between Aphelion and Perihelion.
Miles Vandis; because the apparent proto-Mikkau needs the same first initial, and only certain names matter for Shout Outs anyhow, just ask Lowen or Sterling (or any of the Costley-Donovans, really.) Don't look now, miniJulien, but I think you're becoming a bit more human than you seem to aim for generally speaking.
I don't think that Miles is the original accept-no-substitutes library guy (;_;) but he certainly ended up in a similar position.
"you like it, even though it's so red" is a reference to Azumanga Daioh. Miles is not a government-sponsored Santa. Nor can he fly at Mach 100. His powers are limited to mild regeneration, grappling-hook pistols, and fieldskill lockpicking. Also gather information checks. Possibly use device.
...
I can't help but think this is mildly pointless, though. It's not as though Darian is actually dead I'd imagine (no missing presumed dead character ever seems to be in fiction...) Julien's impossible resistance to ever dying, ever, no matter how many times the world is arrayed against her (with active intent a lot of the time, as opposed to Lowen. Lowen's just selfregulation and balancing mechanisms raaaarh) is almost certainly genetic.
OoooOOoOOOoOoOoo plothooooook I am incoherent now and thus ending. Look, one scene gets tons of notes! How perfectly in character for me, really.
But there wasn't.
Apparently, Galene wasn't a terribly popular stop.
By the time he had arrived, most of the snow had melted (late it was summer and she hadn't disappeared she was in his mind all along, apparently) leaving him very close to literally all dressed up and nowhere to go. Eventually, he somehow managed to wind up at the outskirts of town staring at a very red front door.
After he had concluded a nice bout of staring intently, Miles was also a second or two away from losing his nerve and leaving when the door suddenly opened, revealing a nineteen-or-so-year-old with red hair and a face which looked quite familiar.
At a loss for words, he grabbed at the first complete thought. "This door..."
"Yes?" she asked, in a vaguely familiar clipped accent.
"You like it, even though it's so red?"
She stared at him for what seemed like quite some time, before smirking. "Yes, I do. It was fine for the past three generations."
"Ah, is that so." He pondered. "And, er, you are? I was under the impression that this house was abandoned."
"Oh. Looking for things of hers to pick over? Burglar, then? Enthusiastic real-estate agent?" Her voice grew sharper and snapped into a staccato rhythm.
Miles twitched, briefly trying to count how long it had been since he heard that sort of comment before reconsidering reality. "No, I'm a family friend here to see what could become of her will or anything of that sort. Why are you here?"
She scoffed, shifting her weight to the opposite leg. "Family friend, eh? I've never met you before."
And he abruptly began giving her the same type of stare she had turned on him earlier. "There are living Trevelyans, then?"
"Doctor Julien U. Trevelyan. IV. Don't ask me why they started the numbering thing. It's not as though we share the same full name."
Sadly, the stare continued. It didn't seem as though he would have reason to end any time soon.
"You're Miles, aren't you." Julien broke the silence. "I believe she said... something about you. I can't remember what. It's not important. It was friendly."
"... Yes. I worked with Darian for a while." He paused. "She never told me that she had a daughter, though."
She sighed, turning on her heel just long enough to close the door and brush down her dark grey dress shirt a little. "I get the impression that happened a lot among her friends."
"Probably. She didn't seem the type to bring it up."
"... I'll walk you back to the station," Julien decided after studying him a bit longer. "I may not be a bureaucrat, but all of the will stuff got taken care of right after the declaration. I have a friend who's much better with that sort of thing."
"Is that so." They started walking. "You were away, then...?"
"Polyscience. Since about fourteen. Finished my doctorate a month before I was forced to return."
"Ah. ... Magometrist."
"If a Doctor Trevelyan wasn't a magometrist," Julien said, crossing her arms, "the world would probably end because of sheer implausibility."
"You have a point."
alternative title: "In Regards to the Execution of the Will of Dr. D. Trevelyan III"
Just a scene that wound up in my head.
Probably about seven years before Prismatic because all timejumps of any sort in the KMV are seven years long. Apart from the Five-Year War in between Aphelion and Perihelion.
Miles Vandis; because the apparent proto-Mikkau needs the same first initial, and only certain names matter for Shout Outs anyhow, just ask Lowen or Sterling (or any of the Costley-Donovans, really.) Don't look now, miniJulien, but I think you're becoming a bit more human than you seem to aim for generally speaking.
I don't think that Miles is the original accept-no-substitutes library guy (;_;) but he certainly ended up in a similar position.
"you like it, even though it's so red" is a reference to Azumanga Daioh. Miles is not a government-sponsored Santa. Nor can he fly at Mach 100. His powers are limited to mild regeneration, grappling-hook pistols, and fieldskill lockpicking. Also gather information checks. Possibly use device.
...
I can't help but think this is mildly pointless, though. It's not as though Darian is actually dead I'd imagine (no missing presumed dead character ever seems to be in fiction...) Julien's impossible resistance to ever dying, ever, no matter how many times the world is arrayed against her (with active intent a lot of the time, as opposed to Lowen. Lowen's just selfregulation and balancing mechanisms raaaarh) is almost certainly genetic.
OoooOOoOOOoOoOoo plothooooook I am incoherent now and thus ending. Look, one scene gets tons of notes! How perfectly in character for me, really.
Friday, November 16, 2007
our robot overlords did I say overlords I meant protectors
Orbital Research Lagrange Station Chiron β - December 25, 310 XGY
"Don't blame me about this one," Sterling finally said from the other side of the enclave constructed from a couple of barely sufficiently thick force fields. "I did my best to try to teach them about life and what it's worth."
"Doesn't matter much if they're all trying to kill us..." Julien was examining the ruined bits of about half of her dematerialization gun in a way which was about half detached and half impatient. "Incidentally, if you could explain the whole warrior robot race thing to us--"
"I'm a mad scientist!" he replied, defensively. "Logic doesn't really figure into the whole affair, apart from a few glancing blows in a back alley somewhere."
From somewhere around the corner, a piercingly intense flicker of blue light and an electrical crackle gave the others enough of a warning to deactivate part of the force field still undergoing fire as Mikkau ducked under its shielding. Immediately afterwards a number of bullets slammed back into the floor behind him as the shield went back up, vaporizing the rest of the latest volley.
After snatching his staff focuser from where it had landed beside him, the newest arrival began blasting over his shoulder through the shield as best he could, despite the energy dispersion due to that sort of thing. "Right then! Can we move this thing towards the exit?"
"No," both of the others said in more or less unison.
"Explain why not." Mikkau turned around, in order to better handle what recoil there was.
Julien sort of stared off into space in a somewhat innocent manner. "I didn't design it to be moved, you know."
The staff clattered to the ground as its wielder focused one of his better irritated piercing stares at her. "And you built a non-movable, immensely powerful force-shield generator in the middle of a robot war uprising far away from any entrances or other safe spots why?..."
"Madness tends to imply a lack of logical forethought."
"Riiiight." Mikkau was quite clearly considering the many pleasant possibilities offered in the way of hitting his head against solid objects nearby. "I forgot about that. While working with the Bureau my mind must have been rewired to expect scientific advances to make any sort of sense. I should really get that fixed." His facial expression reset to a vaguely stony silence as he picked up the staff again and continued a largely vain attempt to clear the area around them.
Sterling gestured at the staff in his hands by way of making a point. "You build that, put in the extra work to go back and power it down to become a powerful stun versus a kill setting, and then criticize our logic?"
"That should be self-evident," Mikkau said between gritting his teeth, "as it's what I'm in the process of doing."
Part of the shield near them began unexpectedly collapsing, forcing Julien to give part of the generator yet another kick. Even the boundless applications of Kicking Technology were beginning to die down due to the extended miniature siege situation they had recently found themselves in; the kitchen had gone out of their reach a few hours earlier, and at this point the trail mix bars and dark chocolate were wearing a bit thin.
[A/N: For some reason, too much music. Another vignette. If I keep making these up out of nowhere, I can completely avoid actually finishing my novel...]
Sunday, November 11, 2007
omnibus?
In the back of the shop, amidst a couple of intellectual thrillers, operations manuals, and books which happen to be on no technology you're familiar with, you end up finding what looks like a manual on introductory category theory. It's printed on an unrecognizable almost plastic-like material and seems to be bound in an unusual, iridescent black metal with an almost waxy texture. Embossed on its cover in large, silvery letters are the words 'don't panic', which seem like... odd things to put on the cover of a category theory book.
In the end, it proves seemingly interesting enough--along with one or two of the technical manuals--to purchase. On the way back via EM lev, something ends up slipping from between two pages in the near back of the book; it resembles a small, two inches at the most, dumbbell-shaped object which appears to be built of the same black metal in which the book is bound. This object appears to be connected with a half-translucent white bookmark ... thing by some sort of fiber-optic fishing line.
As you touch the bookmark-thing, the dumbbell-thing appears to start glowing faintly in a dark bluish color, and begins hovering near your ear. The bookmark blinks slightly and a holographic overlay seems to appear, unfolding into a projector which displays an image of a woman with red, graying hair sitting in front of what looks like a banner with the symbol on it of a dragon biting its own tail. She wears sunglasses and a holographic projection earpiece which seem to conspire to cover much of her face, although you can tell that her eyes are a yellowish-green, and she wears what looks like a red satin coat with a tall band collar and laced cuffs.
"Hello," she says, with a slightly unfamiliar accent.
"Hello...?"
"Oh, you're not who I expected. Hmm. Ah well." She shrugs. "I'm Doctor Julien Trevelyan, before you can ask. And if you're also seeing me, as I assume you are, considering you just looked at me in a puzzled manner, this means that my theory has worked. And they laughed at me at the academy! And I will..." Julien pauses to emit a low, near-menacing chuckle. "...show them all." After a few seconds, she smiles again, and continues as though totally ignoring the entire last two sentences. "Regardless! This is the test of the Eye of Discord Lagrange Station Localization Transmitter. Please state your year after the tone and we will get back to you around..." She consults her watch. "Around 316 XGY, actually."
[A/N:
Uh... I don't know. Wrote this this morning longhand. I don't even like second-person, usually. But I'm still counting it for nanocount because it was written in November.
316 XGY is about ten to fifteen years in the future from Apocynthion, I estimate--most things in the KMV have this habit of not getting actual dates, so everything's in practice a bit vague. Evidently they have time travel then. Ooookay. Just don't go killing grandfathers and everything should work out.
I qualify this as one of the cases of something major coming about for the multiverse by total accident, but it could provide an interesting framework for stories if I can codify a time travel ruleset. I have a couple of ideas, a lot of which are fairly 'meta' and thus, hopefully, at least somewhat unique.
Yes, Julien has a doctorate. So does Sterling. Mikkau probably is about 90% finished with one, as is evidenced by his comment about studying under Colver for about eight years, but I don't get the impression he ever finished--the MRA probably recruited him before he got the chance to finish a thesis paper or anything.
These relatively minor character details come about in somewhat odd ways.
The idea of a category theory book with 'don't panic' embossed on its cover in Big Friendly Letters is a bit of a father-daughter injoke. I had to put it in something...]
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
CBN - Alexander
Alexander X. Kuiper
Age: 17-25 (multiple story, timeline divergence focus, cover IDs...)
Psuedoclass: Water OS, Head of Central Administration Bureau of Interdimensional Communications and Research [Lawful Good]
Homeworld: Sigeki, numerous others
History: Most of it has been pretty fragmented, quite on purpose. The backstory everyone considers him having and the backstory he seems to actually possess are... unidentifiable in relation to eachother.
In theory, Alexander Kuiper is the child of Dale Kuiper and Serena, whose former name seems to have gotten lost somewhere in the paperwork, although most people could swear it started with a T. This family lived in a fairly large city, befitting Dale's position as a fairly renowned navigator, in the southern hemisphere and to the west of the subcapital on Sigeki-the-planet. At about 19 he began working for the Central Administration in an office at the subcapital itself.
In practice, Alexander Kuiper is still the child of Dale and Serena (Trevelyan, this time). Although they tended to live in the same city, certain circumstances (i.e. this whole renowned navigator idea and the other whole renowned interuniversal personable rogue idea) tended to prevent any of the three from actually living in the same general area at the same general time. Overall he spent more time with his mother than his father, and is thus significantly more accustomed to the idea of a multiverse than anyone else in Sigeki-the-world-as-a-whole, leading them in knowledge by about ten years. At about 17 he began working for the Central Administration in a fairly minor desk job, aiding with supply routing, in an office at the subcapital itself.
After the first few battles in the Origin War's first half, before it suddenly adopted a mildly cosmic scale, he decided to wander out and save at least a few cities from being totally sacked. Within about six months he was commanding a fairly large base. Within another two, he was presumed dead and not exactly welcomed back with open arms by the Administration, which had hung up Under New Management signs in a way which was a bit too forceful.
For about another six months he adopted another pretense of working for a mercenary interested third-party group, until his former boss decided to go all-out and attempt to capture the author herself. They got the wrong person, of course, and he ended up inextricably part of the main character party and with certain overly-destructive elemental abilities that he didn't end up using much, because... overly destructive.
Less than a year after that, he was finding himself a minor hero, and the Administration had firmly kicked out the scraps of the New Management signs. One of its first new acts was to conclude quite reasonably that having a staff of people to prevent people from doing that sort of thing again was a good idea, and having quite noticed this minor hero viewpoint they decided that someone with military experience and a bit of an edge in experience would be helpful. The PR advantage of picking him in particular was, of course, overlooked entirely and not really noticed until after they'd appointed him head. At nineteen. Or twenty-one. Take your pick.
Since then much of his work is still back to being a desk job, with the occasional specific conflict with the CMD or IEC or an unaffiliated madman deciding to be nihilistic, or a survey mission when nobody else manages to show up. He also devotes thought as to gaining a three-letter acronym for his organization. Maybe later.
Ability Diagnostic Data: As hinted, he doesn't end up using the inbuilt elemental function he possesses much. For what it's worth he has the ability to telekinetically control water, which can be utilized as with most for both offensive and defensive functions. He is certainly in the class of being one of the Nice Ones that you should Beware; although it may not be as targetable as some of the OS abilities, it has some of the largest potential for region-wide destruction.
He also appears to have immensely high (relative) intelligence, being the son of someone who had a pre-exceptional magometrist strength, although his thinking patterns are certainly more logically grounded than magometrists. Er, of the Trevelyan type in particular. What Spherian-styled abilities he exhibits beyond this are limited to a minor-level empathy, which he uses to his advantage. It is plausible that he could weaponize this ability to influence the emotions of others, but it's never been tested because it would be immensely out-of-character for him to do so.
Other Notes: Despite being young to the point of total implausibility and having two distinct sets of abilities, he seems to only hover somewhere near Level 8 on mary sue litmus tests. Well, other gender. Still.
This is most likely because he's also nice and thinks well of others to the point of total implausibility, although since the Origin War the disadvantageous side effects have been considerably tempered. One of the advantages to this is that he does seem to have people behave to his expectations, although whether this is actually him or a subconscious bit of well-placed, empathic arm-twisting is just a bit vague.
He seems to have a bit of natural aptitude for higher-class CAS ships, not least the one that the Bureau has appropriated and refitted as its designated flagship.
And should really be getting a higher score on MSLTs, but I've already mentioned that.
Age: 17-25 (multiple story, timeline divergence focus, cover IDs...)
Psuedoclass: Water OS, Head of Central Administration Bureau of Interdimensional Communications and Research [Lawful Good]
Homeworld: Sigeki, numerous others
History: Most of it has been pretty fragmented, quite on purpose. The backstory everyone considers him having and the backstory he seems to actually possess are... unidentifiable in relation to eachother.
In theory, Alexander Kuiper is the child of Dale Kuiper and Serena, whose former name seems to have gotten lost somewhere in the paperwork, although most people could swear it started with a T. This family lived in a fairly large city, befitting Dale's position as a fairly renowned navigator, in the southern hemisphere and to the west of the subcapital on Sigeki-the-planet. At about 19 he began working for the Central Administration in an office at the subcapital itself.
In practice, Alexander Kuiper is still the child of Dale and Serena (Trevelyan, this time). Although they tended to live in the same city, certain circumstances (i.e. this whole renowned navigator idea and the other whole renowned interuniversal personable rogue idea) tended to prevent any of the three from actually living in the same general area at the same general time. Overall he spent more time with his mother than his father, and is thus significantly more accustomed to the idea of a multiverse than anyone else in Sigeki-the-world-as-a-whole, leading them in knowledge by about ten years. At about 17 he began working for the Central Administration in a fairly minor desk job, aiding with supply routing, in an office at the subcapital itself.
After the first few battles in the Origin War's first half, before it suddenly adopted a mildly cosmic scale, he decided to wander out and save at least a few cities from being totally sacked. Within about six months he was commanding a fairly large base. Within another two, he was presumed dead and not exactly welcomed back with open arms by the Administration, which had hung up Under New Management signs in a way which was a bit too forceful.
For about another six months he adopted another pretense of working for a mercenary interested third-party group, until his former boss decided to go all-out and attempt to capture the author herself. They got the wrong person, of course, and he ended up inextricably part of the main character party and with certain overly-destructive elemental abilities that he didn't end up using much, because... overly destructive.
Less than a year after that, he was finding himself a minor hero, and the Administration had firmly kicked out the scraps of the New Management signs. One of its first new acts was to conclude quite reasonably that having a staff of people to prevent people from doing that sort of thing again was a good idea, and having quite noticed this minor hero viewpoint they decided that someone with military experience and a bit of an edge in experience would be helpful. The PR advantage of picking him in particular was, of course, overlooked entirely and not really noticed until after they'd appointed him head. At nineteen. Or twenty-one. Take your pick.
Since then much of his work is still back to being a desk job, with the occasional specific conflict with the CMD or IEC or an unaffiliated madman deciding to be nihilistic, or a survey mission when nobody else manages to show up. He also devotes thought as to gaining a three-letter acronym for his organization. Maybe later.
Ability Diagnostic Data: As hinted, he doesn't end up using the inbuilt elemental function he possesses much. For what it's worth he has the ability to telekinetically control water, which can be utilized as with most for both offensive and defensive functions. He is certainly in the class of being one of the Nice Ones that you should Beware; although it may not be as targetable as some of the OS abilities, it has some of the largest potential for region-wide destruction.
He also appears to have immensely high (relative) intelligence, being the son of someone who had a pre-exceptional magometrist strength, although his thinking patterns are certainly more logically grounded than magometrists. Er, of the Trevelyan type in particular. What Spherian-styled abilities he exhibits beyond this are limited to a minor-level empathy, which he uses to his advantage. It is plausible that he could weaponize this ability to influence the emotions of others, but it's never been tested because it would be immensely out-of-character for him to do so.
Other Notes: Despite being young to the point of total implausibility and having two distinct sets of abilities, he seems to only hover somewhere near Level 8 on mary sue litmus tests. Well, other gender. Still.
This is most likely because he's also nice and thinks well of others to the point of total implausibility, although since the Origin War the disadvantageous side effects have been considerably tempered. One of the advantages to this is that he does seem to have people behave to his expectations, although whether this is actually him or a subconscious bit of well-placed, empathic arm-twisting is just a bit vague.
He seems to have a bit of natural aptitude for higher-class CAS ships, not least the one that the Bureau has appropriated and refitted as its designated flagship.
And should really be getting a higher score on MSLTs, but I've already mentioned that.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
IH: Perihelion - Day 1
Chapter 01 - Exodus
She tapped her fingers against the mildly chilly external window idly, staring out of it at the black void as far as she could before it faded out into a vague grey. "I'm not going to ask you anymore... why is the Central Administration so interested in me? What have I done?"
The single red eye stared serenely back. "That is not your business. ... Yet. The local commander will alert you to your purpose at earliest convenience."
"You do know that I have a legal basis for complai--" she began in turn, before a large explosion stopped her voice mid-sentence, throwing her abruptly into the window as opposed to being cliche-edly thrown into the other side of the room due to the seatbelts present in the majority of Berdit-class ships.
Lasers or plasma bolts or whatever they were flew by her window. She had already become rather possessive of the window, for that matter, as she pushed away the android who had attempted to get a better look in favor of leaning closer to the glass surface herself. After a few seconds of what passed for a glare on that particular mode of unfeeling metallic head, the robot rushed back out into the hallway.
She simply ended up staring out of the window once more, this time at the opposing ship. It seemed to predominantly be painted green and a vague dark grey shade which almost matched the faded aether surrounding it—not a scheme she was immediately familiar with. Another set of beam... objects flew past the window, this time finding impact on the end of the engine room. The response from the ship's autonomics was a predictable and immensely loud click, instantly followed by a loud whining alarm burst.
Evacuate immediately... 00. 05. 58 estimated until main reentry begins.
She leapt from the seat as the door of the cell room clanged open with a ... clang, followed by the noise of about five more troop robots rushing down the hall outdoors. Rapidly she followed them in turn, glancing at the signs posted on each hatch she passed.
A female, perfectly and oddly calm voice echoed across the PA system: "We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence... and then explode..."
She finally found what she was seeking, a single hatch prominently labeled something along the lines of 'emergency' and 'pod hold usable'. As she was in what was evidently classed as a science fiction story, aboard a mildly exploding space ship, anything involving an emergency escape pod seemed preferable to staying aboard said space ship. A few seconds' worth of twisting a strangely intricate series of knobs and so on later, the door opened, revealing an evidently equally intricate series of mostly-blinking lights in the midst of a cone-like pod. In a flying leap she cleared the back of the one chair in the craft, landing somewhat awkwardly before straightening her posture and breaking a typical guard of unusually thin glass above a fairly large red button, which she promptly slammed the side of her fist down upon to send the pod flying safely away from the actual craft, as it began plummeting towards another part of the planet below ...
--
The blunt-bodied cone managed a bit more epic firey descent before it finally corkscrewed into the scattered patches of sand and grass beneath, leaving a trail of upturned dirt mixing sand and topsoil behind it. Its one seat gyrated in place as rapidly as possible, which happened to be not quite rapidly enough, leaving her just un-dizzy enough to slam down another green button (matching the red one previously mentioned in a general sort of way) and open the door before quite effectively collapsing out of the door in a state describable at best as semi-conscious.
Beyond that point, the next few... units of time sort of blurred in much the same manner that sleep did, absent closed eyes for the majority and with closed eyes for a minor period of time towards the end. Upon reopening them, she concluded that this period of time had been for the most part just long enough for a fighter to somehow have landed within ten yards without reawakening her.
Also, long enough for a gun barrel to be pointed at her head, currently within about ten inches of her face, also without awakening her. It was almost perfectly utilitarian, entirely of the typical matte gray plastic-metal combination of which Central Administration firearms had been made until about three months ago. Only its handle seemed to have changed, evidently modified to have a better-looking and evidently well-varnished grip made of a dark red wood. On this grip rested a gloved left hand.
... which belonged to a (vaguely familiar) figure leaning against a rock, his right hand supporting his head in a way which suggested he would have gone to sleep if she had just waited for about five more minutes. She would have muttered something sufficiently disparaging if she had not felt threatened enough by the gun barrel to remain silent.
The figure sighed, shifting back onto his feet while keeping the gun leveled at her in a predictably experienced manner. "Soooo here we are then, and I'm not even sure why everyone is so deeply intrigued by your existence but they are, and so if you would just come with me without actually doing anything as deeply stupid as I get the impression you would given half a chance..." He paused. "Oh. The name's Lowen, lady. Sarisa Zoness, I presume."
"I knew I recognized you from somewhere." Sarisa said.
"Purple hair, red eyes, yeah. It's pretty distinctive." He nodded, evidently deciding she was nonthreatening for the moment and lowering the gun. "So, coming?"
"Out of curiosity, how would I have gotten off this particular rock without aid?"
"That would have been your problem." Lowen said, turning to the fighter and beginning to walk. Sarisa followed at a medium level of distance.
[a/n] Yes, I did name a ship class the Berdit. I should give it a design. Eventually.
Friday, August 10, 2007
character profile v2 - julien trevelyan
Age: ???
Psuedoclass: Worldwalker / Gadgeteer Genius [Chaotic Good]
Homeworld: The Sphere
History: Generally speaking, Julien was among the first (if not the first) main characters present in the KMV after it reset. Perhaps because of this, not much in the way of a family history exists for her; for all practical purposes she began existing when she first arrived at Polyscience as a student, where after about six years she entered into competition for a faculty position at the same with one Sterling Donovan. In the end, she exposed a past epic research-stealing incident, after which her position was duly cemented. Around five years' worth of research later, Julien abruptly resigned to move up north into the middle of nowhere, holing up in a familiar dark red front door-ed mansion.
A year after this, the Magometry Research Agency dispatched a field agent to locate her and monitor unusual behavior. Several months later that agent's cover was debunked, and both the MRA and Julien became aware of Sterling's return. At the end of the parallel file known as Prismatic, she was simply left at the edge of the world, watching the remnants of his plan dissipate into the void between universes...
Yet another year later, she vanished with her mansion overnight in what seemed like a soundless explosion which released several unidentified forms of energy.
Since this, among other things, Julien manufactured a one-off method for copying character data (creating Serena Kuiper) and began refining the world-walking engine prototype responsible for her earlier disappearance. Presently, she is traveling the KMV at semirandom, seeking two other 'uniques'...
Ability Diagnostic Data: Julien is one of the scant few able to traverse the KMV without technological assistance; this innate version consumes large amounts of energy, however (one of the reasons for her relatively rapid innovations in the field). With the use of the energy source known only as The Pencil, this ability enlarges to allow a limited form of time travel. (All uses of this jury-rigged time machine is carefully watched by the author. Neither potential time paradox result would be good.)
Other Notes: In Sigeki, several limited variants of the Trevelyan/Donovan-model transworld engine are sold by a single company founded some time ago. Serena generally takes over its running in the absence of the original, and both work with the Central Administration reasonably often (although rarely in person, for obvious reasons...)
Serena tends to wear blue and grey, while Julien wears red and white; both also tend to use different hairstyles, for the same reason that identical twins tend to.
The new glider she uses appears to be 30% Unit Zero, 30% 'Goblin Glider', 30% Mehve and 10% Fenrir/TARDIS/Other. She seems to be capable of summoning and controlling it mentallly, and can stand on it through turns and so on with minimal visible attachment, possibly through the use of magnetic force.
Psuedoclass: Worldwalker / Gadgeteer Genius [Chaotic Good]
Homeworld: The Sphere
History: Generally speaking, Julien was among the first (if not the first) main characters present in the KMV after it reset. Perhaps because of this, not much in the way of a family history exists for her; for all practical purposes she began existing when she first arrived at Polyscience as a student, where after about six years she entered into competition for a faculty position at the same with one Sterling Donovan. In the end, she exposed a past epic research-stealing incident, after which her position was duly cemented. Around five years' worth of research later, Julien abruptly resigned to move up north into the middle of nowhere, holing up in a familiar dark red front door-ed mansion.
A year after this, the Magometry Research Agency dispatched a field agent to locate her and monitor unusual behavior. Several months later that agent's cover was debunked, and both the MRA and Julien became aware of Sterling's return. At the end of the parallel file known as Prismatic, she was simply left at the edge of the world, watching the remnants of his plan dissipate into the void between universes...
Yet another year later, she vanished with her mansion overnight in what seemed like a soundless explosion which released several unidentified forms of energy.
Since this, among other things, Julien manufactured a one-off method for copying character data (creating Serena Kuiper) and began refining the world-walking engine prototype responsible for her earlier disappearance. Presently, she is traveling the KMV at semirandom, seeking two other 'uniques'...
Ability Diagnostic Data: Julien is one of the scant few able to traverse the KMV without technological assistance; this innate version consumes large amounts of energy, however (one of the reasons for her relatively rapid innovations in the field). With the use of the energy source known only as The Pencil, this ability enlarges to allow a limited form of time travel. (All uses of this jury-rigged time machine is carefully watched by the author. Neither potential time paradox result would be good.)
Other Notes: In Sigeki, several limited variants of the Trevelyan/Donovan-model transworld engine are sold by a single company founded some time ago. Serena generally takes over its running in the absence of the original, and both work with the Central Administration reasonably often (although rarely in person, for obvious reasons...)
Serena tends to wear blue and grey, while Julien wears red and white; both also tend to use different hairstyles, for the same reason that identical twins tend to.
The new glider she uses appears to be 30% Unit Zero, 30% 'Goblin Glider', 30% Mehve and 10% Fenrir/TARDIS/Other. She seems to be capable of summoning and controlling it mentallly, and can stand on it through turns and so on with minimal visible attachment, possibly through the use of magnetic force.
Friday, August 03, 2007
flavor text
The Pencil wasn't destroyed at the end of Prismatic, just lost; hence, it still exists as a massive energy source.
For some reason, Spherians seem to have a particularly large attachment to the resulting energy, and can sort of use it to overclock given abilities to a large extent (Mikkau's flight goes up almost to continuous warp speed, the limits on Elliot's shapeshifting are done away with almost entirely, Sterling can rip apart an entire battleship and throw pieces about a mile away, Julien for once might actually be able to time travel without abusing relative universe timeframes, Tobias goes from being a technophile to having full technomancy... and so on.)
Basically the only downside this seems to have is an effective massive-speed 'MP' drain, and various aftereffects normally experienced with losing all your stamina that quickly. At some point, I should add some sort of worse effect, but considering it'd only be hanging around in the hands of a Spherian for a rather short amount of time... maybe it wouldn't need one.
Also for some reason, among aforementioned Spherians, telekinesis or some variant seems to be quite popular. I don't know why. ... Very likely the Astronomer Royal.
For some reason, Spherians seem to have a particularly large attachment to the resulting energy, and can sort of use it to overclock given abilities to a large extent (Mikkau's flight goes up almost to continuous warp speed, the limits on Elliot's shapeshifting are done away with almost entirely, Sterling can rip apart an entire battleship and throw pieces about a mile away, Julien for once might actually be able to time travel without abusing relative universe timeframes, Tobias goes from being a technophile to having full technomancy... and so on.)
Basically the only downside this seems to have is an effective massive-speed 'MP' drain, and various aftereffects normally experienced with losing all your stamina that quickly. At some point, I should add some sort of worse effect, but considering it'd only be hanging around in the hands of a Spherian for a rather short amount of time... maybe it wouldn't need one.
Also for some reason, among aforementioned Spherians, telekinesis or some variant seems to be quite popular. I don't know why. ... Very likely the Astronomer Royal.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Collected Untitled Reports 1
The crisis began on that day...
That fool, thinking she could change something, changed nothing and brought chaos to the world.
We waited for so long after that, waiting for a sign of some kind or some way to reconstruct. But we found none... In our insufficience, we merely tried. And made things worse.
She reappeared once, but only once, and somehow she seemed different.
How was she different? Did I do something wrong again?
Please, tell me...
...
The multiversal flux has been increasing so much lately. I believe this is a result of interaction between two distinctly different multiverses. I recognize this other energy, but from where... I am not sure. Further research is necessary.
--
On that day, ... something changed ...
--
Disorientation. "It's unsurprising, really. Such a risky op... tio-- ..." The sentence is spoken through transmission static and half-finished.
My eyes opened slowly, accompanied by a pounding headache. The light faded...
... The floor in this place is certainly dirty. Far too dirty. I stood unsteadily, wiping one of my hands on the white coat I evidently wore. Plain, but serviceable. Somehow seemed familiar, like deja vu, except it wasn't in this location... that location had... I can't remember what it had, but I should.
Except... why should I?
Irritating...
Sounds came from further down the hall. The diagnostic would have corrupted at that point, probably. They wouldn't be happy about me messing with their experiment. I couldn't think of a way to break that person out of the stasis mode in which she evidently was quickly enough...
The only solution was to run; I ran.
[HV: Random ... complete chaos.]
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
nanomar commentary: 1
After a few moments, a quiet blinking noise appeared in my ear...
Elsinore, seriously, what--that's almost worse than webs of letters...
Elsinore, seriously, what--that's almost worse than webs of letters...
Monday, February 26, 2007
Character EX - Elliot Griffin
[[H.V.- Meh, if I'm ever going to form a unified KMV RP system, I need bio examples. Character creation is likely one of the points on which I'll find explanation and coherence difficult. So I've decided to practice my method on a few example characters; this might help simply via teaching by example, for that matter, and giving a good 'feel' for how most of my original characters are balanced.
... except for that fact that only trace amounts of my OCs are anything near properly balanced. But we'll just ignore that for now.
I can't escape this nagging feeling that Elliot is largely extant for the purpose of me being able to add umlauts to various and sundry äs. äää--it's just so fun.
As background, the Spherian race has been known to develop spontaneous special abilities once removed from their homeworld, for some bizarre reason.]]
-> Elliot Griffin
Age: ???
Psuedoclass: MRA Agent
Homeworld: The Sphere (?)
History: Although Griffin's personal history prior to the events which led to his acceptance by the MRA is fully unreachable in official records, some information can be deduced based
on the circumstances in which he was located.
As it stands, shortly after the formation of the Agency Tobias's attention was caught by an investigation request given by a more official government agency; a supposed doppelgänger-like creature had been reported in one of the less-notable northern towns (as it would happen, near the city in which Julien would later live). Elliot was that 'creature' - and, barely able to survive in the Sphere despite his abilities, he quickly accepted a position offered when the MRA finally managed to track him down. He proved to pick up scientific techniques rapidly and soon became one of the top engineers in the Agency.
It would be fairly obvious as to Elliot's origin - a child transferred by some means off the Sphere and then returned to it - were it not for several irregularities in his background. For one, he has (unlike most of the other inhabitants who have successfully crossed worlds) evidently ceased normal aging after approximately 18, and still retains some more child-like characteristics today. He also has little memory of his pre-MRA state and has no apparent recognition of the Sphere itself; even in banestorm amnesia, the affected typically can at least recognize their homeworld after stumbling across it again.
Because of these irregularities, the other most intuitive possibility is that of an entire doppelgänger race somewhere amidst the KMV, from which he was somehow separated; however, this race has not yet been located.
Ability Diagnostic Data: Elliot obviously has doppelgänger capacities, able to almost perfectly copy any being or object of approximately human mass. (Neither water nor mirrors reflect his image in any form he possesses, and he typically casts no shadow.) He also possesses a somewhat powerful 'knockout touch' which works most effectively on human biology. Unlike most shapeshifting types of character in the KMV, he has the ability to apply a certain measure of creativity to the resulting appearances; his base form of sorts is a mixture of features from several different particular individuals, with the 'seams' smoothed together with his own creativity. His brain chemistry in so far as it has been studied also seems to have a superficial resemblance to that of a typical magometrist. The origin of this is unknown.
... except for that fact that only trace amounts of my OCs are anything near properly balanced. But we'll just ignore that for now.
I can't escape this nagging feeling that Elliot is largely extant for the purpose of me being able to add umlauts to various and sundry äs. äää--it's just so fun.
As background, the Spherian race has been known to develop spontaneous special abilities once removed from their homeworld, for some bizarre reason.]]
-> Elliot Griffin
Age: ???
Psuedoclass: MRA Agent
Homeworld: The Sphere (?)
History: Although Griffin's personal history prior to the events which led to his acceptance by the MRA is fully unreachable in official records, some information can be deduced based
on the circumstances in which he was located.
As it stands, shortly after the formation of the Agency Tobias's attention was caught by an investigation request given by a more official government agency; a supposed doppelgänger-like creature had been reported in one of the less-notable northern towns (as it would happen, near the city in which Julien would later live). Elliot was that 'creature' - and, barely able to survive in the Sphere despite his abilities, he quickly accepted a position offered when the MRA finally managed to track him down. He proved to pick up scientific techniques rapidly and soon became one of the top engineers in the Agency.
It would be fairly obvious as to Elliot's origin - a child transferred by some means off the Sphere and then returned to it - were it not for several irregularities in his background. For one, he has (unlike most of the other inhabitants who have successfully crossed worlds) evidently ceased normal aging after approximately 18, and still retains some more child-like characteristics today. He also has little memory of his pre-MRA state and has no apparent recognition of the Sphere itself; even in banestorm amnesia, the affected typically can at least recognize their homeworld after stumbling across it again.
Because of these irregularities, the other most intuitive possibility is that of an entire doppelgänger race somewhere amidst the KMV, from which he was somehow separated; however, this race has not yet been located.
Ability Diagnostic Data: Elliot obviously has doppelgänger capacities, able to almost perfectly copy any being or object of approximately human mass. (Neither water nor mirrors reflect his image in any form he possesses, and he typically casts no shadow.) He also possesses a somewhat powerful 'knockout touch' which works most effectively on human biology. Unlike most shapeshifting types of character in the KMV, he has the ability to apply a certain measure of creativity to the resulting appearances; his base form of sorts is a mixture of features from several different particular individuals, with the 'seams' smoothed together with his own creativity. His brain chemistry in so far as it has been studied also seems to have a superficial resemblance to that of a typical magometrist. The origin of this is unknown.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
improvisational logic
Worldbio - Sigeki (30,0,30,15)
Sigeki is located in a system with the designation 'Kapteyn-733', near the center of the Mandelbrot galaxy. Although the system itself is near to the known origin point of IH-ian humans (a claim based mainly on the local mythos, due to their fairly nomadic nature) it has not been fully colonized until recently. Due to the multiversal fluctuations around this planet in particular, Kapteyn-733 has obtained a reputation as a sort of Bermuda Triangle of the Mandelbrot galaxy. Since the merger of Sideworld and the creation of the IH Anchor proper these fluctuations have decreased significantly.
The entire overall universe of IH has interplanetary space filled with a mostly-invisible material known as 'quintessence' or 'ether'. Although this material is not breathable and almost thoroughly non-reactive (save for plasma, which is amplified by an ill-understood process) it does provide some extent of latent pressure and, more importantly, a phenomenon known as 'quin resistance'. Because of this and the high rate of swapping between space and atmosphere, almost all ships in the IH universe are designed to be aerodynamic.
Sigeki is located in a system with the designation 'Kapteyn-733', near the center of the Mandelbrot galaxy. Although the system itself is near to the known origin point of IH-ian humans (a claim based mainly on the local mythos, due to their fairly nomadic nature) it has not been fully colonized until recently. Due to the multiversal fluctuations around this planet in particular, Kapteyn-733 has obtained a reputation as a sort of Bermuda Triangle of the Mandelbrot galaxy. Since the merger of Sideworld and the creation of the IH Anchor proper these fluctuations have decreased significantly.
The entire overall universe of IH has interplanetary space filled with a mostly-invisible material known as 'quintessence' or 'ether'. Although this material is not breathable and almost thoroughly non-reactive (save for plasma, which is amplified by an ill-understood process) it does provide some extent of latent pressure and, more importantly, a phenomenon known as 'quin resistance'. Because of this and the high rate of swapping between space and atmosphere, almost all ships in the IH universe are designed to be aerodynamic.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
PROLOGUE - CHRONICLE OF REBIRTH
...
The story begins like this...
There was, at first, a still unknown person. She wielded the power of creation over her own mind. And within herself she crafted humans, their stories, and their world as it amused her. And so this world, forged from the desires of its forger, lived on for a time as it was.
However, times change. And as the creator grew, she grew to dislike her world, the antiquated techniques she had used and the influences which she felt appeared too obvious.
A cataclysm befell this old universe, crashing into all in its path as she wished. Their creator removed this old world from existence as it amused her, as she had created it according to her amusement.
Artifacts survived. A scant few of the stories remained alive as viewed through the dim glass of the intervening years, told through those who had come into possession of these artifacts as myths and legends.
Only six bloodlines survived this catastrophe; they became powerful as the abilities they had possessed in the ancient world grew to fruition once again.
However, just as quickly, these abilities vanished. The new world which had replaced the ancient one became unstable. One of the creator's other creations was used as a catalyst, dividing the remnants of the ancient world and the existence of the new world into
barely-seperated versions of the same planet, offset only by a scant few steps on the interuniversal scale.
Once more, relative peace reigned. Another main threat to the fragility of the now-extant multiverse had not resurfaced for the typical round figure of almost 1000 years as measured by the denizens of both worlds.
...
But temporary peace does not lead to permanence.
That long divided must unite...
[A/N] Yes, I finally began actually rewriting IH1/IH: Perihelion. This is just a rough draft of the (excessively ominous) prologue. And yes, the elemental-structure existed before Sigeki and Sideworld were concieved--as implied, this isn't the only KMV there's ever been. Yes, the catalyst creation's identity should be obvious. Iris was probably the means that ... well, I ... used to destroy the old KMV. (Yes, I did have to throw in just one more wanton Romance ref. Or homage. There are still microscopic bits of the original mythos left! It's still apt! Except it's not, but...)
And one last yes; you should probably post a comment asking to have it sent / email me / give me your address if you're not Elf, UZ, or Sarai. (Elf--if you don't use your MSN as an email, please tell me.)
Not as if anyone besides them reads this blog. That's just in case. Juuuust in case...
The story begins like this...
There was, at first, a still unknown person. She wielded the power of creation over her own mind. And within herself she crafted humans, their stories, and their world as it amused her. And so this world, forged from the desires of its forger, lived on for a time as it was.
However, times change. And as the creator grew, she grew to dislike her world, the antiquated techniques she had used and the influences which she felt appeared too obvious.
A cataclysm befell this old universe, crashing into all in its path as she wished. Their creator removed this old world from existence as it amused her, as she had created it according to her amusement.
Artifacts survived. A scant few of the stories remained alive as viewed through the dim glass of the intervening years, told through those who had come into possession of these artifacts as myths and legends.
Only six bloodlines survived this catastrophe; they became powerful as the abilities they had possessed in the ancient world grew to fruition once again.
However, just as quickly, these abilities vanished. The new world which had replaced the ancient one became unstable. One of the creator's other creations was used as a catalyst, dividing the remnants of the ancient world and the existence of the new world into
barely-seperated versions of the same planet, offset only by a scant few steps on the interuniversal scale.
Once more, relative peace reigned. Another main threat to the fragility of the now-extant multiverse had not resurfaced for the typical round figure of almost 1000 years as measured by the denizens of both worlds.
...
But temporary peace does not lead to permanence.
That long divided must unite...
[A/N] Yes, I finally began actually rewriting IH1/IH: Perihelion. This is just a rough draft of the (excessively ominous) prologue. And yes, the elemental-structure existed before Sigeki and Sideworld were concieved--as implied, this isn't the only KMV there's ever been. Yes, the catalyst creation's identity should be obvious. Iris was probably the means that ... well, I ... used to destroy the old KMV. (Yes, I did have to throw in just one more wanton Romance ref. Or homage. There are still microscopic bits of the original mythos left! It's still apt! Except it's not, but...)
And one last yes; you should probably post a comment asking to have it sent / email me / give me your address if you're not Elf, UZ, or Sarai. (Elf--if you don't use your MSN as an email, please tell me.)
Not as if anyone besides them reads this blog. That's just in case. Juuuust in case...
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
CBN I : Lowen (Part B)
lole prose-bio.
Presumably, the full IH:A/P plot summary is going to be somewhere else so I won't really go into that. Which is odd. Because... that's basically his main notability...
Lowen Fengxian Tremearne / Agent 'L' / Yaridovich
Age: 19-23 (full appearance duration)
Psuedoclass: Ice O.S. / Agent / Ride Armor Marshal
Homeworld: Sigeki, Kapteyn-733
History: Lowen is the only child of Michael and Chirys Tremearne, having left home at 17-odd to enter military academics. As of the end of DeM only Chirys is still alive, albeit several systems away from Sigeki in a system with designation K-426. Michael died of old age and illness shortly after the events in IH:A; although he had been retired approximately 6 years, prior to this he had been a somewhat renowned member of the driver corps.
Overall, Lowen's military academy performance came surprisingly close to passing his father's already good record. At 19 he completed a full complement of armor and pistol training; shortly after this, he was assigned to the middle-of-nowhere base with designation MFX as a marshal-ops training objective. Some months after this, he went thoroughly missing-presumed-dead concurrent with the almost total destruction of the base itself, a still unexplained event widely referred to as the 'MFX Incident'.
A number of years later, Lowen suddenly resurfaced as a form of mercenary who quickly gained some renown. [Continuation of PERIHELION file will be transferred at a later date.] In turn after these events, Lancer contacted both Lowen and Gale (as well as a number of other crossworld 'heroes') and formed the Internal Experimental Core Agent division. Tremearne was one of the first fully-modified Agents and thus--although he has more raw firepower than most of the later generations--his regeneration speed is much slower as a whole.
During 50W, he was one of the first-wave investigators; due to this, he and the other characters often came into conflict. Currently he takes a less active role in the KMV, for now at least somewhat content to perform more of a supporting role in its infrastructure.
When in the ToO/War Canon Universe, Lowen uses the alias 'Yaridovich' and often acts as a commanding officer to Nightmare.
Ability Diagnostic Data: As the Ice OS, Lowen wields considerable offensive and defensive powers, many of which can be effectively focused and enhanced by Helena's power-set. The Ice Stone itself emits nanomachines to extract water vapor from the air, then uses powerful endothermic reactions to freeze this extracted moisture.
Due to the first time-space event tests, one of his arms was non-healably damaged, necessitating a cybernetic replacement obtained from the world known as 'Avalon'; however, due to his natural lack of internally-generated body heat, nobody outside of Lancer really knows which arm it was.
The last half is a bit clumsy-sounding to my mind, but I can't think of any way to improve it, so there you go.
... And now that that's done, any suggestions for CBN II?
Presumably, the full IH:A/P plot summary is going to be somewhere else so I won't really go into that. Which is odd. Because... that's basically his main notability...
Lowen Fengxian Tremearne / Agent 'L' / Yaridovich
Age: 19-23 (full appearance duration)
Psuedoclass: Ice O.S. / Agent / Ride Armor Marshal
Homeworld: Sigeki, Kapteyn-733
History: Lowen is the only child of Michael and Chirys Tremearne, having left home at 17-odd to enter military academics. As of the end of DeM only Chirys is still alive, albeit several systems away from Sigeki in a system with designation K-426. Michael died of old age and illness shortly after the events in IH:A; although he had been retired approximately 6 years, prior to this he had been a somewhat renowned member of the driver corps.
Overall, Lowen's military academy performance came surprisingly close to passing his father's already good record. At 19 he completed a full complement of armor and pistol training; shortly after this, he was assigned to the middle-of-nowhere base with designation MFX as a marshal-ops training objective. Some months after this, he went thoroughly missing-presumed-dead concurrent with the almost total destruction of the base itself, a still unexplained event widely referred to as the 'MFX Incident'.
A number of years later, Lowen suddenly resurfaced as a form of mercenary who quickly gained some renown. [Continuation of PERIHELION file will be transferred at a later date.] In turn after these events, Lancer contacted both Lowen and Gale (as well as a number of other crossworld 'heroes') and formed the Internal Experimental Core Agent division. Tremearne was one of the first fully-modified Agents and thus--although he has more raw firepower than most of the later generations--his regeneration speed is much slower as a whole.
During 50W, he was one of the first-wave investigators; due to this, he and the other characters often came into conflict. Currently he takes a less active role in the KMV, for now at least somewhat content to perform more of a supporting role in its infrastructure.
When in the ToO/War Canon Universe, Lowen uses the alias 'Yaridovich' and often acts as a commanding officer to Nightmare.
Ability Diagnostic Data: As the Ice OS, Lowen wields considerable offensive and defensive powers, many of which can be effectively focused and enhanced by Helena's power-set. The Ice Stone itself emits nanomachines to extract water vapor from the air, then uses powerful endothermic reactions to freeze this extracted moisture.
Due to the first time-space event tests, one of his arms was non-healably damaged, necessitating a cybernetic replacement obtained from the world known as 'Avalon'; however, due to his natural lack of internally-generated body heat, nobody outside of Lancer really knows which arm it was.
The last half is a bit clumsy-sounding to my mind, but I can't think of any way to improve it, so there you go.
... And now that that's done, any suggestions for CBN II?
Saturday, February 03, 2007
CBN I : Lowen (Part A)
beginning with standard stat, etc. bio. Fully written background will come later. Admittedly, in this case, the fully written background isn't really full... as half of it is constantly shifting...
Lowen F. Tremearne / Agent L (Post-IH)
PT Total 275/275
ST : 11 (10)
DX : 13 (30)
IQ : 14 (45)
HT : 8 (-15)
HP : 8
FT : 8
WIL: 13
PER: 13
--
SPD: 5.50 (15)
MOV: ---
HT : 6'2''
WT : 175 lbs.
Appearance: Average, Unnatural Features L3 (-3)
Wealth Modifier: Average
Reputation: 0
Left-Handed Ambidextrous (5)
= 87
Advantages:
Ally [Agent CO, 150% PT] (5)
Ally [Agent G, 100% PT] (5)
Allies [LSC, 75% PT] (18)
Binding [Freezing, Engulfing, L10, Cryokinetic] (29)
Combat Reflexes (15)
Extra Life [???] (???)
Fearlessness L3 (6)
Jumper [World, Drift] (85)
Legal Inforcement Powers [Int'l] (10)
PK Talent [L2] (10)
Regeneration [Slow] (10)
Special Rapport [Marcus/RH04] (5)
Special Rapport [Wizard] (5)
Symbol Vocalization (0)
= 290 (203)
Disadvantages:
Anosmia [Taste] (-5)
Berserk (-10)
Cold-Blooded [penalties apply for temperatures above 90 F] (-10)
Duty [Internal Experimental Core, 15 or less, Extremely Hazardous] (-20)
Enemy [Remaining SCA forces] (-20)
Guilt Complex (-5)
Loner (-5)
Nightmares (-5)
Overconfidence (-5)
Phobia [Deep Water] (-10)
Supernatural Features [No Body Heat] (-5)
Distinctive Features [purple hair] (-1)
= 189 (-101)
Skills:
Basic KMV Internal [English, assumed] (0)
Area Knowledge [Sigeki / Sideworld, 16] (4)
Area Knowledge [Galaxy, 12] (0)
Armoury/TL10 [Small Arms, 13] (1)
Armoury/TL10 [Battlesuits, 11] (0)
Beam Weapons/TL10 [Pistol, 15] (4)
Beam Weapons/TL11 [Pistol, 12] (0)
Body Sense [11] (1)
Climbing [11] (0)
Combat Sport [Archery, 16] (8)
Crewman [Airshipman/TL6, 14] (1)
Crewman [Spacer/TL10, 15] (2)
Current Affairs/TL10 [Science and Technology, 13] (0)
Detect Lies [12] (1)
Driving/TL10 [Mecha, 14] (4)
Driving/TL8 [Motorcycle, 12] (1)
Electronics Operation/TL10 [Force Shield, 11] (0)
Electronics Operation/TL10 [Scientific, 10] (0)
Electronics Operation/TL11 [Parachronic, 12] (1)
Fast-Draw [Pistol, 14] (2)
Fast-Draw/TL10 [Ammo, 12] (0)
Fast-Draw [Halberd, 16] (8)
Fast-Talk [12] (0)
First Aid/TL10 [14] (1)
Free-Fall [11] (0)
Hobby Skill [Model Aircraft, 14] (2)
Innate Attack [Beam, 14] (2)
Innate Attack [Projectile, 12] (0)
Leadership [14] (2)
Mechanic/TL10 [Mecha, 14] (2)
Melee Weapon [Force Halberd, 16] (12)
Mind Block [14] (2)
Navigation/TL10 [Space, 14] (2)
Navigation/TL11 [Transworld, 13] (1)
Piloting/TL10 [Aerospace, 15] (12)
Piloting/TL10 [High-Performance Spacecraft, 12] (1)
Running [10] (8)
Savoir-Faire [Military, 12] (0)
Shiphandling/TL10 [Starship, 12] (1)
= 275 (86)
Inventory:
Ordinary Clothing/SCA Military Uniform (old-style) [TL10, 0 WT]
Reinforced Leather Gloves [1 WT]
Reinforced Boots [1 WT]
Environment Suit [TL11, Agent Overlay, 0 WT, DR 12]
= 2 WT
Fairfrozen (ADV. Ice Force Halberd) [3 WT, cutting damage +8]
Fine Laser Pistol [TL10, 1 WT, 3d Imp/Burn]
= 4 WT
... Something about the idea for Fast-Draw [Halberd] warms my heart. :3 (Especially since it's actually possible with Sigeki-level tech...)
Most of his 'super leetness' comes from his fairly huge variety of skills. Oddly enough, a number of these overlap with 3K6 Lowen...
And yes, I did mess with his name.
Lowen F. Tremearne / Agent L (Post-IH)
PT Total 275/275
ST : 11 (10)
DX : 13 (30)
IQ : 14 (45)
HT : 8 (-15)
HP : 8
FT : 8
WIL: 13
PER: 13
--
SPD: 5.50 (15)
MOV: ---
HT : 6'2''
WT : 175 lbs.
Appearance: Average, Unnatural Features L3 (-3)
Wealth Modifier: Average
Reputation: 0
Left-Handed Ambidextrous (5)
= 87
Advantages:
Ally [Agent CO, 150% PT] (5)
Ally [Agent G, 100% PT] (5)
Allies [LSC, 75% PT] (18)
Binding [Freezing, Engulfing, L10, Cryokinetic] (29)
Combat Reflexes (15)
Extra Life [???] (???)
Fearlessness L3 (6)
Jumper [World, Drift] (85)
Legal Inforcement Powers [Int'l] (10)
PK Talent [L2] (10)
Regeneration [Slow] (10)
Special Rapport [Marcus/RH04] (5)
Special Rapport [Wizard] (5)
Symbol Vocalization (0)
= 290 (203)
Disadvantages:
Anosmia [Taste] (-5)
Berserk (-10)
Cold-Blooded [penalties apply for temperatures above 90 F] (-10)
Duty [Internal Experimental Core, 15 or less, Extremely Hazardous] (-20)
Enemy [Remaining SCA forces] (-20)
Guilt Complex (-5)
Loner (-5)
Nightmares (-5)
Overconfidence (-5)
Phobia [Deep Water] (-10)
Supernatural Features [No Body Heat] (-5)
Distinctive Features [purple hair] (-1)
= 189 (-101)
Skills:
Basic KMV Internal [English, assumed] (0)
Area Knowledge [Sigeki / Sideworld, 16] (4)
Area Knowledge [Galaxy, 12] (0)
Armoury/TL10 [Small Arms, 13] (1)
Armoury/TL10 [Battlesuits, 11] (0)
Beam Weapons/TL10 [Pistol, 15] (4)
Beam Weapons/TL11 [Pistol, 12] (0)
Body Sense [11] (1)
Climbing [11] (0)
Combat Sport [Archery, 16] (8)
Crewman [Airshipman/TL6, 14] (1)
Crewman [Spacer/TL10, 15] (2)
Current Affairs/TL10 [Science and Technology, 13] (0)
Detect Lies [12] (1)
Driving/TL10 [Mecha, 14] (4)
Driving/TL8 [Motorcycle, 12] (1)
Electronics Operation/TL10 [Force Shield, 11] (0)
Electronics Operation/TL10 [Scientific, 10] (0)
Electronics Operation/TL11 [Parachronic, 12] (1)
Fast-Draw [Pistol, 14] (2)
Fast-Draw/TL10 [Ammo, 12] (0)
Fast-Draw [Halberd, 16] (8)
Fast-Talk [12] (0)
First Aid/TL10 [14] (1)
Free-Fall [11] (0)
Hobby Skill [Model Aircraft, 14] (2)
Innate Attack [Beam, 14] (2)
Innate Attack [Projectile, 12] (0)
Leadership [14] (2)
Mechanic/TL10 [Mecha, 14] (2)
Melee Weapon [Force Halberd, 16] (12)
Mind Block [14] (2)
Navigation/TL10 [Space, 14] (2)
Navigation/TL11 [Transworld, 13] (1)
Piloting/TL10 [Aerospace, 15] (12)
Piloting/TL10 [High-Performance Spacecraft, 12] (1)
Running [10] (8)
Savoir-Faire [Military, 12] (0)
Shiphandling/TL10 [Starship, 12] (1)
= 275 (86)
Inventory:
Ordinary Clothing/SCA Military Uniform (old-style) [TL10, 0 WT]
Reinforced Leather Gloves [1 WT]
Reinforced Boots [1 WT]
Environment Suit [TL11, Agent Overlay, 0 WT, DR 12]
= 2 WT
Fairfrozen (ADV. Ice Force Halberd) [3 WT, cutting damage +8]
Fine Laser Pistol [TL10, 1 WT, 3d Imp/Burn]
= 4 WT
... Something about the idea for Fast-Draw [Halberd] warms my heart. :3 (Especially since it's actually possible with Sigeki-level tech...)
Most of his 'super leetness' comes from his fairly huge variety of skills. Oddly enough, a number of these overlap with 3K6 Lowen...
And yes, I did mess with his name.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
