Table of Contents

Links

Plot

A dethroned prince. An empire in ruins. A brewing resistance.

Many years ago, in their old age, Emperor Erenduil and Empress Areit of the Nerevine empire welcomed a child into the world. However, the baby was never presented to the public, and great speculation arose concerning the baby's health. Twenty years later, the rulers brought their perfectly capable heir to light, and, while the situation was still bizarre and confusing to many, the murmurings died down.

Only a select few high-ranking officials knew what was going on: the presented heir was a decoy, and the real heir lurked in the shadows, posing as a bodyguard. Unable to properly manage the second form that the most powerful families were granted, he was deemed unfit to be shown as the successor, but his parents held out hope that a solution would be found for his supposed volatility.

Chasing after word of a cure, the heir, decoy, and a small group of their close companions leave the empire just in time to avoid a massacre. Their families have been slaughtered, the throne usurped by a barbaric duke, and the country thrown into bloody chaos. The group is alerted of the event by a single surviving royal, and now, the band must plan their next move. With the unique abilities of each member of the group, and with a neighboring king's help, they may just stand a chance against these invaders.

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About the Abilities

Those with royal blood -- members of the two highest families -- have two forms: one human and one animal. The animal form is the size of a large horse, regardless of the species, and can be anything from a cat to a dragon. They are endowed with enhanced senses, speed, strength, and agility in both forms.

Other elite families carry special abilities of their own: foresight, manipulation of individual elements, dreamwalking, forces, and others. While they do not have the second form, they have always been held in high regard and are often close with the ruling family.

The neighboring kingdom of Andir is a warrior realm, the inhabitants of which have given up one physical ability (voice, sight, etc) to enhance another. Their King has allied himself or herself with the misplaced Nerevines.

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About the Coup

Duke Jerrin er'Evar Priandin gained the support of minor nobles and many commoners who had grown tired of Emperor Erenduil's lengthy rule. With promises of wealth and power, Jerrin rallied his forces and used his familial ability of the element of Fire to destroy the palace, kill the high officials and the emperor and empress, and place himself on the throne. However, he gave too much power to his supporters, who are now grabbing at authority via tyrannical means. The rest of the empire has descended into lawlessness and ruin; cities burn and people flee, and the abilities of the surviving houses are being used to further the works of destruction. The chaos is inching closer to the borders, causing neighboring kingdoms and principalities to warily watch or prepare their own forces.

Rules

Follow the site rules. No doing the do, ultra mega gore, etc etc. Just fade it out if that pops up

For Nerevine characters, only one character can have any given ability (fire is still open, since the duke is a NPC). The exception would be characters that are siblings. Shifting is also an ability, but the creature that the individual becomes will not be enhanced or enlarged the way a royal's second form is

Maximum of 4 characters for now. No perfect characters; balance out weaknesses and strengths. Keep drama between the characters, not the players

If you use an image in appearance, please make sure it follows all WP rules and PLEASE credit it properly. It's honestly easiest to just draw them yourself, or I'd be happy to do a sketch for you

This is a semi lit to literate RP, so I expect 200+ words per response. This should be reflected in your form(s), but I understand getting stuck on descriptions, so detailed bullet points and an RP sample are an acceptable alternative

Because romance isn't the main theme, I don't mind if you have it between your characters (but that might be boring lol). Relatives are also fine

This is a brand new RP concept that I'm still fine-tuning, so please bear with me but have fun!

Role Descriptions

Heir: the only child of the late emperor and empress. He only appears in public as one of the decoy's bodyguards, though he has more authority than said decoy. His second form is not completely under his control and is especially violent, which is the reason he is not shown to the public as the heir

Decoy: either a close relative or a member of the other Second Shift family, the decoy is the publicly heralded heir and closest confidant to the real heir. He or she will be the only other member of the group to have a second form, which they will have either completely or nearly mastered. If the decoy is a woman, it is highly anticipate among nobles "in the know" that she will be the heir's betrothed, although this is not official or required. It would just be easier to explain to the public. If the decoy is a man, it is most likely that the heir will continue to be the puppet master from behind the curtains rather than ever step into the limelight

Messenger: the single survivor of the massacre of the high families. They escaped and tracked down the group, alerting them to the coup and instigating the change in objective. They will not be as closely knit as the rest of the group, but they will probably be familiar with everyone

Group Members: the children of Nerevine's high-ranking socialite families as well as nobility from the allied kingdom of Andir who have grown up alongside the decoy and heir. They will all have a house ability or, if Andirian, they may have an enhanced physical trait

Andirian King: the title of "king" is given regardless of the holder's gender, so this character doesn't need to be male. They are allied with the heir and may have spent time in the Nerevine palace in their youth. They are the commander of the renowned Andirian army and quite possibly the only hope of the usurped heir -- and they know this

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Character List

Heir: Reserved -- Mother -- Pg 1

Decoy

Messenger

Group Members

- Nelena Arivashti -- Mother -- Pg 1

Andirian King

Form

Appearance

Credits to Malachitinous on picrew

Nelena is arguably beautiful. She stands at a good 5'10, above average but not exceptionally tall. It's enough to allow her to see over others' shoulders and reach the top shelf, but there aren't many people that she dwarfs. Being on the shorter end of her immediate family, however, she holds herself to her full height and has a habit of moving her weight on to the balls of her feet, which gives her a slight lift and a calf workout. Her build is slender but well-muscled with the latter being subtly defined through her clothes. She lacks hips -- perhaps they will come after children, if she ever manages to tie down a man -- but has a full enough bosom.

Her skin is a light olive and dotted with faint freckles, which mostly appear along her cheeks, nose, and shoulders. A decent amount of time in the outdoors has left her sunkissed, darkening the spots on her face. Her round eyes are generally narrowed and framed by thick, dark brown eyelashes, which make the brilliant blue irises pop. Nelena's hair is a dark blond; it's arguably more of a silver champagne, were she to be compared to a horse. It reaches down to her waist when let down and has a slight curl to the last half, naturally forming loose ringlets. She almost always has it up and tied firmly back so as not to get in her way when going about tasks.

Each earlobe is pierced, but she only wears earrings, makeup, and other jewelry on special occasions or when there's time to actually enjoy it. She doesn't want anything shiny to bring attention to her in a fight or on a scouting mission, either. Her clothing is generally form-fitting but not showy; it could even be described as more masculine. However, when she is in the mood to show off her acrobatic skills, her attire screams "circus freak."

Her expression is often something bordering hungry, though whether it's for blood or for mischief is hard to say; it really depends on her mood. She cannot make sounds, not even grunts or screams, so nobody knows what her voice would sound like if she had one. Her movements are light and graceful, though, and she's an exceptional dancer and acrobat.

Personality

Cold || Callous || Flirtatious || Adventurous || Lone Wolf || Manipulative || Impatient || Easily Frustrated || Stubborn || Unfriendly || Malicious || Chaos

Any warm fuzzies that one may have gotten throughout their life will be completely banished within one interaction with Ghost. While her nickname started as a reference to her lack of a voice, it has progressed to fully encapsulate her personality as well. She can be a guardian angel or a haunting demon, or anything in between. Everything she expresses or does is calculated out beforehand; sudden personality breaks are just lead changes to her. Most of the time, she displays a cold and callous exterior as frosty as the night in the dead of winter.

It's undoubtedly apparent upon first meeting that she is not a people pleaser, or a people person at all. In fact, one could even describe her as a bit sadistic when it comes to her interactions with others. She knows how to find buttons of any category -- irritation, affection, fears, secrets -- and push them. Her manipulative exploits are solely for her own entertainment; she is not attracted to the idea of power over others: she just wants to see if she could swipe it. Life is a game to her. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and she may as well put herself on top for the fun of it.

Love is a stranger to Nelena. There may be a rare bout of altruism that shines through every now and again, but she is fairly certain that the ability to genuinely care for someone is far beyond her reach. It's not entirely true -- her dragon and a few "adopted" others may garner some strange version of the emotion from her -- but such things are too confusing for her to dwell on for long. She has no time for existential crises. The closest to "love" that she acknowledges to getting is being flirtatious, but even that can be difficult when one cannot speak.

This woman is not a patient individual. A combination of frustrating verbal barriers, stupid people being stupid, and the chaotic go-go-go that she prefers results in a very tempramental creature with a very short string. While she displays strong decision-making skills and a combative head, her patience, if nothing else, is what promises that she would not be a leader-type. Ghost prefers to be on her own anyway, so as long as nobody bosses her around, she doesn't mind being at the back of the pack.

Abilities

Ghost traded her voice for the ability to be completely silent at will. She can stomp around, clap her hands, and snap twigs, but she can mute all those sounds. Anything immediately touching her body or clothing will be muted, with the exception of another person or animal.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Affiliations

Open

Crush

None

Courting

None

Other