⇨ GUARDIANS & HARBINGERS

[ringleaders]

STAR GUARDIANS↴ ► COLOURS: White/Gold/Accent Colour (Accent Colours are based on one's Soul Colour.) ► STYLE: Bright, fashionable, star-motifs, modern aesthetics, a tendency towards mini skirts and tall boots. Sometimes, inhuman features appear based on their familiar. ► MAGIC: "Spark" based power, manifested in the form of a magic weapon, a familiar, a familiar that turns into a weapon, or some mixture of these elements. ► TRANSFORMATIONS: Full of colours, lights, and anime nudity, they are a wonder to behold. Historically speaking, most Star Guardians are women, but that is not exclusively the case. Magic uniforms tend towards being feminine, but are largely based on the Guardian's personality, and so can manifest as appropriately masculine when needed. The "Spark" is a magical focus that comes from the soul - all souls have the capability of manifesting a Spark, but it is a rare few that manage to fully harness their capabilities with the aid of Creation. A Spark is a passion, skill, or interest that becomes enhanced to the point of being almost godly. For example, a skilled musician could manifest their instrument as a weapon, and use their magic to sway the hearts of a crowd, or perhaps use its pitch to shatter stone. A lover of animals could use their bond to communicate with the wild, or summon magical beasts to their aid. The possibilities are endless, each Spark leading to its own realm of potential. The more skilled a Guardian, the better use they will get out of their Spark, and the more it will enhance their general capabilities, such a speed, strength, and endurance. The powers of a Spark are mostly only in effect when the Guardian is transformed, which they can do but summoning the Spark from their soul and allowing it to manifest as their uniform and weaponry, in a magical light sequence that seems to both take a long time and no time at all. Familiars can be created by the Spark or uplifted from mundane (or not so mundane) animals that the Guardian kept as a companion. While the Guardian is transformed, that familiar will become able to speak, and will be endowed with a small amount of wisdom from Creation in order to help guide their choices. A Star Guardian's power is based on their creative potential: on the amount of light inside of them, metaphorically speaking. Those with the most to bring to the world around them will have the most to bring to the team as a Guardian. HARBINGERS OF VOID↴ ► COLOURS: Black/Gunmetal/Accent Colour (Accent Colours are based on one's Soul Colour.) ► STYLE: Gothic, elegant, formal, old fashioned, cloaks, cowls, robes, gowns, jewelry with no particular iconography or symbols, armor pieces. Sometimes, inhuman features appear, like horns or spikes. ► MAGIC: Corrupted "Spark" based power, manifested in the form of a magic weapon. They can have familiars also, but they don't have the connection required to have the familiar/weapon combo. They use their magic as a tool towards an end. ► TRANSFORMATIONS: Badass, creepy, and sometimes a bit traumatic, these sequences often involve some mild body horror and general discomfort - but boy does it look metal! Like the Star Guardians, most Harbingers are women. Aesthetics come across as a bit gloomy and concealing - while Star Guardians dress confidently and openly, the Harbingers hide behind clothing like a shield. Though they can use familiars as mounts and attack dogs, they lack the connection to fully utilize them as a spiritual weapon. The Harbingers also tap into their Spark to attain power, but in this case the power of that Spark is inverted. The Harbinger's intention is to destroy reality, and they are willing and ready to destroy their own Spark along with it. A Harbinger of Hope will use that hope to destroy hope. A Harbinger of Dance will use their rhythm to take away joy. That most inner part of their soul has been corrupted, and redeeming them can feel impossible at times, even though it isn't. Even if a Harbinger signed on to the Void willingly, being made into one corrupts them more deeply than they might have anticipated. The Void will find reasons within them, ways to turn them against the Creation from which they were born. This can make them temperamental or irrational at times, but they are aware of what they're doing. Their personality and desires have simply been changed to accommodate the Void's goals. They can be purified with great effort and willpower, but it's no easy task. Most Harbingers were never truly given a choice. Harbinger familiars cannot speak, unless they could already, though they can be corrupted out of existing creatures. Much like Star Guardians, Harbingers are chosen for their creative potential - a great inner light is sought, because they greater the light, the more violently it can be inverted. The light of a powerful Spark collapses like a dying star, creating the Void inside them. OOC INFORMATION↴ ► AVAILABLE SLOTS: There will be 12 Guardians recruited willingly, and 12 Harbinger corrupted unwillingly. (Or willingly, if your character is a freak, but that will probably be seen as treachery against the carnival.) You may only submit one character for this purpose, unless there end up being left over slots, in which case you can choose a second. ► IC RESPONSIBILITIES: If you take a slot, it is expected that you will have the ability to be reasonably active in this event, since you are taking a position that is in limited supply. If you are uncertain about your ability to keep up, consider waiting before grabbing a slot. Not every recruit will be constantly required for plot to move on, but the mods will be unhappy to see slots getting wasted. ► SLOT CLAIMING: Slot claiming will open up on Friday. If more than 12 of each apply, then you will have the opportunity to guarantee your entry with AC points via a bidding system. The remainder will be chosen from the list of applicants via RNG.

Comments

PAPYRUS

[spaghettimonster]

► CHARACTER NAME: Papyrus

► SPARK: Dreams

► INTENSITY: 8

► EXPLANATION: Papyrus is part of the heart and soul of his home universe - when he is killed, an entire town feels colder and sadder, and a happy ending isn't possible; people may rise up in revolt against the surviving monarch, yield to the celebrityrant's designs, or even slowly give up on hope altogether. That said, he's not a 9 or 10, he's not influential enough to prevent all of these things if enough others die. The rest of the high rating is in things like, he's an artsy person who redesigns the road through town, painting a rock formation to resemble a bridge, and experimenting with his magic to make Cool Designs. And while he's not the protagonist of his game, he's an important side character who bridges the gap to bring the protagonist into the clutches of friendship with some of the other major characters. He loves the power of friendship.

► FAMILIAR: None; Papyrus is working with what he already has, twisted and enhanced by the void. Summoned bones grind down to a dusty powder that enhances his new powers.

► POWER: The Spark of Dreams is a force of optimism, recuperation, and renewal. In a Guardian's hands it could be a subtle supportive power; a slight sprinkling of dust would help people see the silver lining, to approach challenges with hope and confidence, more bringing on hallucinatory impressions that distract people from fighting, and the heaviest doses forcing lethargy and restfulness, to push them to sleeping with happy, healing dreams.

In Harbinger Papyrus' hands, it can be used in those ways, but the force of the Void encourages him to push it and twist it. The confidence boost of a mild sprinkling also brings arrogance, an unwillingness to think things through - living buoyed by hopes and dreams alone. And as Papyrus is living with the dreadful certainty that everything must end and die, and he personally has to help make that happen... Pleasant dreams might become comas, so those afflicted by the dust never have to wake before the end of things. And dreams and waking hallucinations alike can be twisted from happy healing things to reflections of fears, nightmares.

Mechanically, Harbinger Papyrus' new powers depend on flinging dust at people, on the proximity necessary to get at them.

(edit to add:) All of that's the default, basic use he starts the event with. But since he's forming the dust in the shape of bones, he can manipulate them around in much the same fashion he does his own monster magic bones - and since these bones are more fragile, being crushed dust in the shape of a bone, he can collide them to shatter and spread dust over a large area. He figures this out partway through the event, in lethally frightening circumstances. It's great for influencing large numbers of mundane NPCs with low willpower, or seriously harming a monster vulnerable to intent. Star Guardians, familiars, and anybody who's very aware of themselves and able to work through panic and hallucinations (Batman, looking at you, even though you're not in the game) would be resistant to it all. And the kind of effect in the dust is dependent on what he charges it with when he makes it. A bone full of happy dreams of food can't change to one full of nightmares unless it's in his hands.

TL;DR, Evil Sandman.