[Other FULL] Railways: A Journey to The End of the World [M]

[Tixen]

Sorry about this taking so long, but here's my SU. And yeah I've been on a bit of a RP hiatus myself, but its definitely time to end that nonsense.

Name: Heather Williams
Age: 26

Appearance and Attire:
Heather is a small, fine boned woman, standing around 5'3". Despite many of the citizens of Bellson being quite thin at the moment due to malnutrition, she seems in suspiciously better health than most, having a fairly healthy looking pale complexion. The only sign of strain is that she seems constantly tired. She sports large dark brown eyes, giving her a fairly youthful and innocent appearance, along with fine features and a heart shaped face. She sports long, dark brown wavy hair, which she often weaves flowers into in her free time, mainly for the nice aroma they produce, and it further adds to the sense of innocence that she has.

Clothing wise, she prefers to dress modestly. She tends to sport long, lightweight simple dresses, her favourite of which is light blue, and has some small lace details on the ends. Over this, she often sports an off-white cardigan, which has clearly seen better days and is a little too large for her. Her footwear is practical, always wearing a pair of sturdy lace up leather boots under her dress. She wears a small brown leather belt over her hips with a pouch on it, in order to carry some of her possessions. It also has many small charms attached to it.

Hometown: Bellson

Personality:
Upon first meeting her, Heather comes across as being very timid. She's soft spoken, polite, and often struggles to look people in the eye. She's the kind of person who is likely to do anything that is asked of her, regardless of whether she wants to, in order to avoid having to say no. Her reasoning behind this is that being defiant is just going to make people angry or dislike her, something she would rather avoid. Due to her upbringing resulting in many people's dislike being placed upon her person, she considers avoiding confrontation to be a priority, even if it will only be detrimental to her. When the situation comes for her to make decisions, Heather is so used to doing what other people tell her that she can struggle to reach a conclusion. She will often head to other people for advice and simply do what they tell her, or spend several days mulling the decision over.

Despite most of her personality being quite submissive, she does have a streak of inner steel. Her desire to survive outweighs any timid behaviour, any morals, and any hesitation she might have. If there is a choice between doing something awful and surviving, or being morally correct and wasting away, she'll go through with whatever she needs to in order to protect herself. This thinking also extends to improving her life situation, such as marrying someone she doesn't love because he's richer than she is. This doesn't mean that Heather doesn't have morals, however. Whenever she does do something that goes against what she believes is correct behaviour for self-gain, she will feel horribly guilty about it afterwards, and, depending on the severity of the crime, will beat herself up about it for a considerable amount of time.

One of her more notable quirks is that she is rather neurotic. Heather becomes scared easily, especially by anything potentially supernatural, and has difficulty removing her emotions from decisions. She's quite aware of this fact, and is rather annoyed by it, as she wishes she could distance herself from some of the things she's had to do in order to survive. It would make her a lot less stressed, and probably assist her with her current difficulty sleeping and fear of spirits. Her negative views on this aspect of her personality prevents her from seeing the positives of being emotional. It allows her to be empathic towards others, easily putting herself in other people's places, and ensures that she does not go through life without giving a thought to any mental consequences of her actions. But, she cannot see this. Heather cannot see any good in her person. She has a very negative view of herself, despising herself for some of the things she's done, and yet finds that she cannot stop doing things she feels guilty about. Still, she has hopes that she will one day be able to redeem herself in her own eyes, and forgive herself for breaking her own moral code.

Strengths:
Desire to survive: Heather's upbringing has taught her that surviving is the most important thing. It doesn't matter if what is necessary is morally wrong, she'll still go through with it. She's of the opinion that even if it will hurt to go through with it and she will feel regret over it, surviving is worth it. This is one of the few times that Heather has any steel or strong willpower to her personality.

Innocence: Due to her appearance and general temperament, many people who meet Heather quickly come to the conclusion that she is a very innocent, naïve sort of person. This works to her advantage as people assume that someone so innocent couldn't possibly be involved in anything shady, right?

Stronger than she looks: Despite her appearance and bone structure, for the past few years Heather has been helping carry the weight of your average adult around fairly regularly, which has resulted in being fairly athletic. She's reasonably light on her feet as well, and this combination means she's fairly good at evading people when she wants to.

Weaknesses:
Extreme Doormat: Heather struggles to say no to people, not out of kindness but more due to her timid nature. She has difficulty standing up for what she wants, which often results in people with stronger wills pushing her around as they see fit, whether they're aware of it or not. In circumstances where she does want to refuse, she is more likely to simply avoid the person who has the request, rather than outright say no.

Superstitious: She is utterly terrified that the spirits of the dead are going to appear one night and torment her for the rest of her life before dragging her down to hell. As such, she will jump at anything, and can quickly become scared. She carries a large number of good luck charms and spirit wards upon her person, and will always take the time to go through various procedures in order to reduce the likelihood of spirits appearing.

Uneducated: Heather has received no formal education in her lifetime. While this does not make her entirely dim-witted, it makes her more likely to believe fantastic explanations for how the world works, rather than anything factual. This is not to say that she will shun any scientific explanations she is given, but more that she just has trouble telling the difference between science and pseudoscience. She has some reading and writing abilities, but they are quite basic and she will struggle in that area.

The Reason Why:
Heather wants to escape the sins she's committed in her past. She views the sudden appearance of the Ironwood as a miracle, and is convinced that it appeared in order to give her a way to, at the very least, leave her past in Bellson behind, and she never wants to return. She is hoping that in the best case scenario, it will lead her to a way to fully atone for what she is done, giving her peace in life, and allowing her to enter heaven when she dies.

Background:
Heather was born as the youngest of seven children to a couple who lived in the city of Tarrin, most notable for its prestigious university. Her parents low social standing and wealth however ensured that Heather and her siblings never set foot within the walled inner city that housed the university, and instead spent their childhood doing anything and everything they could to survive. They all learnt from a young age that their own survival came before everything else, even morals, and so they managed to cheat, lie and steal their way through life. The children often had to fend for themselves, as while their parents were kind people, they were often too busy dealing with their own addictions to fully look after their offspring. Still, Heather has fond memories of those times when her parents were sane enough to pay attention to her. They would often tell her stories about various different supernatural creatures and spirits which existed in the world. The eldest child Marco, with a good ten years on Heather, really took over the role as the parent of their group, involving himself in increasingly dangerous plots in order to ensure that the younger children didn't have to get their hands as dirty, and would be more likely to be accepted into the community. He encouraged the younger one's to be equitable and to go out and find respectable jobs. Marco's hard work ensured that Heather, as the youngest, never really involved herself in theft, but his overprotectiveness also resulted in her becoming quite meek and letting him make decisions for her. Eventually, when Heather was 15, Marco's work finally paid off and she succeeded in being employed by a local grocer, with her employer praising her for her "neat and tidy appearance". Heather neglected to mention that they'd broken into an upper-middle classes home, stolen some of their clothes and used their facilities in order to make her appear presentable.

Heather worked there for three years. While the pay wasn't much, she was simply glad that she could help keep her family afloat. With many of the younger children now having proper jobs, Marco didn't need to involve himself in criminal activity as often, although he would occasionally pull a daring heist for old time's sake. While working at the grocer's one day, a young sandy blonde man walked into the store. She served him like normal, but noticed that he seemed to be stalling for time. Eventually, he left, and disappeared from her mind until the next day, when he showed up again. And the next day, and the next. She learnt that his name was George Williams, and was staying with his grandmother for a couple of months. Eventually, the two started to spend time with each other outside of work. She found that George wasn't someone she found herself romantically interested in, despite the fact that he was clearly smitten with her, but she didn't find his company bad either, and was greatly interested in the fact that he was always well dressed and seemed to have money to spend on frivolities. Eventually, about a week before he had to return to his hometown of Bellson, George asked her to go with him and marry him. Unsure about leaving her siblings, Heather went and consulted Marco on the matter. While her brother was loathe for her to move away, he pointed out that she would probably have a much better life with George than anything she would experience in Tarrin. So, promising to see her siblings again, Heather left with George on the long journey to Bellson.

They married shortly after arriving in Bellson, and Heather adjusted to living as the wife of a blacksmith. For a time, her and George's life were quite prosperous. However, most of the trouble in their lives stemmed around the fact that George wished to start a family. At first, Heather was fairly reluctant, and avoided the question whenever possible, only to eventually cave. However, after a series of stillbirths, the local doctor concluded that there was something wrong with Heather that would ensure that any children she had would die. This caused a bit of a rift between the couple. This only further deepened as Bellson started to struggle economically. Tensions grew higher as their money ran out and their stomachs got emptier, their situation seemed desperate.

However, one day George disappeared for a week, only to return with a large amount of money. When she questioned him about the source of this money, he avoided the question. Eventually, she caught him sneaking out one night, and he confessed what he'd been up to. George had been sneaking out after people in Bellson had died, digging up their bodies and selling their organs. Heather was originally disgusted, but understanding, until he requested that she assist him in grave robbing. This caused her to try and avoid him for several days until he cornered her, demanding that she help, as she was living off this money as well. Upset, but unwilling to say no, she reluctantly agreed and began to assist George in his underhand dealings. Over time they figured out a system between the two of them. Heather would spend plenty of time gossiping around town in order to figure out if anyone had died, and if so, when their funeral would be. When this information was found, the two of them would head out the night after that person's funeral, dig up the body, and load it onto a specially prepared carriage that George had purchased for this, so he didn't have to hire people to transport the body. He would then leave for long enough to find a buyer, leaving Heather alone in Bellson to keep up appearances, claiming that George was ill. The more Heather engaged in this behaviour, the less she slept, and the more fearful she became, expecting the ghosts of the bodies she had disturbed to come out and drag her down to hell. She felt disgusted by her own actions, but the lessons of her childhood told her to keep going, that her survival was more important than her morals. Plus, she couldn't deny George. The night before the Ironwood appeared, George left with another corpse in tow to sell, expecting to be back in a week's time. Heather then learnt of the Ironwood, and has spent the time before boarding debating back and forth on whether to leave or not. She would love to escape her current ways of surviving, and atone for her sins, plus she despises George with every fibre of her being and would be delighted to never see him again. However, she still felt reluctant to abandon him, if only because of how angry he would be if he ever found her again. But, a last minute decision resulted in her grabbing what she could, and standing on the platform the day of boarding.

Personal Effects:
Heather carries many different kinds of charms upon her person. Most of them are good luck charms or designed to ward away spirits. Some of the more noticeable one's is a cat eye shell, a tiny bell, a pouch of salt, and an old rusted key. She carries them on her at all times, and any attempts to remove them from her person will cause her to become rather distraught.

Other: Double I like trains!

RP Sample:
From a RP on this site called Soulbound from ages ago. I couldn't find the old link, but I still had a copy of my opening post.

Spoiler:

Luna dangled her feet over the edge of the seat within the train, swinging them to and fro out of sheer boredom. It was sure taking a while to arrive in Fuchsia, and the delays hadn't helped. She glanced up at her silent guardian, and the movement caused the pink clip in her hair to fall out. Yelping out loud, she quickly clambered off the seat, crawling around on the floor trying to see where it had landed. Eventually, she found it lying under the seat, having bounced off the floor and slid over there. The small girl pulled herself back onto her seat, taking care to avoid the place where a spring was sticking out from one of the checked red cushions. She swiftly stuck the hair clip back into its original position in her fringe, and tapped it once, pleased with how it seemed to be staying there.

Her brown eyes turned upwards, again looking at the Banette who floated above her, slightly to the right. Hettie looked looked as she always did - her scarf floated in the air around her on an invisible breeze that nobody but her seemed to be effected by. The Banette's red eyes glowed eerily, adding to the sombre ambience that surrounded her. But the thing that made her seem the creepiest to most people were all of the stitches covering her body, as if she'd been ripped apart and sewn back together. Luna followed the stich lines around her bonded Pokémon. They circled around her arms, around both of her legs, and then, there was those around her neck, some of them half hidden by the scarf. Of course, there were splattering's of the stitches on other parts of her body, the most obvious being around her heart and left eye.

Luna felt that familiar sadness that flowed through her every time she beheld the stitching on her bonded Pokémon. She couldn't comprehend how bad the person who'd done this to Hettie had been, to have given her such grievous injuries. She just wanted to hug the Banette and tell the bad person to go away and never touch Hettie again. Although, she'd never found out who the bad person was, or what they'd done to her to have left her with these marks - she seemed most reluctant to tell her, or sometimes it seemed that she herself didn't know what had happened.

The red eyes flashed to meet brown, and the ghost Pokémon's expression turned to one of contempt. Luna quickly turned her eyes away, wrapping her hands around herself. She knew that Hettie hated it when she felt sorry for her, and she didn't want to make her Pokémon feel sad or hate her, so she tried to keep her pity under tabs.

A ghostly hand waved in the girl's vision, causing her to look up, spotting her bonded Pokémon gesturing to the window. Curious, Luna turned around, and whooped with delight upon seeing that the city of Fuchsia was laid out just a little way ahead of them. She pressed against the glass, squashing her face in a way that would have been hilarious to people looking from the outside, surveying the city. She could see the dense, mist covered Forest of Spirits to the left of the city, the tall trees rising out of the ground and giving the city that lay next to a sense of grandeur and importance. The city itself was a sprawling mess of mismatching buildings, both modern and old, mixed together to create one being, built upon the lives of all those who lived within it. The 10 year old girl was just bouncing with excitement upon finally reaching it.

"Look Hettie!" She exclaimed, turning her face to look at the Banette. "Its Fuchsia City!"

The ghost type rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, as if to point out that she'd just made that obvious, but she couldn't help but feel Luna's excitement, and floated over the window to have a look.

Behind them, from the seat on the other side of the train, a man laughed aloud. The two spun around at the same time to look at him. He seemed like a middle aged business man, wearing neat clothes and carrying a briefcase beside him. Upon seeing the two of them studying him, he laughed sheepishly, and waved a hand at them.

"Ah, sorry sweetie, you're just reminding me of my own daughter. She's so excitable..." He paused, clearly thinking back to his own family, before his green eyes flicked back to reality, and focused upon Luna. "Speaking of which, where are your parents? Shouldn't they be with you on such a big trip like this?"

Luna's eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms, pouting. "I don't need no parents!" She stated boldly. "They didn't want me, so I don't want them!"

The man recoiled for a moment, and looked down, his hair covering his eyes from sight. "I see..." He muttered to himself, before glancing back up again at the girl. "So why are you travelling here then?"

Her brown eyes lit up, and she reached over to rummage around in her green backpack, pulling out a flyer. She walked over and held it up to the man, who went to read it, pulling out a pair of glasses as he did.

"See? Its calling for all Soulbonded human's and their Pokémon to come help the Gym Leader Janine get rid of these Team Rocket bad people." She stated proudly. "I'm going over to help them out."

The man jerked back in shock, staring at her as if she'd just sprouted a second head. "Y-You? You're just a little girl, and you want to go up against a group of thugs? Are you insane or something? That's far too dangerous for someone as young as you!"

Luna glared at the man, ripping the flyer back out of his grip. "You're mean, you know that right? I can do whatever I want to do, and I want to help get rid of the bad people. And besides, what have you done that's good for everyone recently?"

They remained there in silence for a moment, the man staring at her, before eventually turning away from the blazing strength of her eyes, which she directed straight at him. Seeming satisfied, Luna turned, just as an overhead speaker announced that the next stop was the Pokémon Gym. She picked up her little backpack, and walked over to the door as it opened, Hettie floating beside her, seeming pleased at how events had played out.

"Later, old mean man!" Luna yelled back into the train at the stunned businessman, and didn't give him a second glance as the doors closed. She was already focused upon finding the Pokemon Gym.

 

[Lucifer-san]

My SU is finished completely. Just thought I should make note of that.

 

[Flute]

Hi, I'm commenting as a placeholder so I remember to write up a reply to this in the morning. I'll delete this and write something new when I do. Good night!

 

[Jay]

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Congratulations to the three of you! Your characters are as of now, accepted.~

Welcome to Railways! Nagi is the Co-GM so she's also accepted, not that I had to write that.

There are still one or two reserves to be finished, both announced in the thread officially and not. So once we get word from these parties the RP will be poised to begin.

Also a note to those whom have not already. A Skype chat has been set up for Railways and any in the RP whom are interested in joining to get the most up to date info on the RP and all things relating to... as well as the chance to plan sub-plots and character interactions with other members, please feel free to PM me your skype name and I'll get you added in asap.

 

[Weazel]

Hello! Am I too late to reserve a slot? There's two empty slots left according to the first post, but by the sound of your last post they've already been taken?

 

[Flute]

Sorry, this is later than I said it would be. I didn't get the time to just sit down with a coffee and write this out until today.

Name:
Wallace Julius Marksman

Age:
21 (This was the age of majority in Victorian England, if it's different here please let me know. I want my character to just be the age of majority)

Appearance and Attire:
Hair and facial hair like this:

Suit like this:

Sorry the images are so small, they were all part of bigger ones that I cropped. It's hard finding good images on Victorian mens style.

Moderately attractive for the time, slim-fitting suit and well groomed hair and facial hair. Nothing really to stand out.

Hometown:
I wish city names in English had cool names. The name of a province in China translates to "Black Dragon River"

What if I just say "Omaha, Nebraska" and claim that I've never heard of such a place in real life?

Celton, Ammitta. Celton was founded 300 years ago, and at the time it was nothing more than a fishing port. Quickly people started utilising the water in Celton as a means of transportation, and it quickly grew to one of the most bustling metropoles in Ammitta. A centre for healthy trade and commerce, Celton has a great open market atmosphere. Lining every street you can see bakeries, blacksmith shops, watchmakers, and any other profession you can think of.

Art is regarded very highly in Celton, more than most other places. Children are encouraged to draw, to write poetry and music, and people are encouraged to display their best works outside of their homes. People are proud of what they create, and this is evident in everything from the shops around the city to the individual homes.

Personality:
In a word: Lost. Wallace never quite felt like he fit in anywhere he went. As a boy in school he questioned what he was learning, he didn't understand why people needed jobs to work and get money. Who said that men must do what men do? Why do other people from other places do things in different ways? He wanted to travel and see the world; to see why people do things the way they do. The jingoism around him never influenced his personality, he saw it as a cloud blocking people from seeing things how they were. The feeling of superiority of the people around him was sickening.

He wanted to be lost and not be found. There was too much of the same, life didn't have to be so boring. Wallace's legacy would be that of a bum if it had to, no matter what his background was. To die an experienced, wise peasant was better than to die a scared, sheltered nobleman. The economic empires and the men joining the army to fight for King and Country were stupid. They fight for things they don't understand against people they don't know.

Strengths:
Very sociable and charming. Good looking by the standards of the time and place, Wallace knows how to talk to people in just the right way and get them to do just the right things for him. He knows that he can use this power for evil if he wants to. He is good at getting people to trust him, and people seem to naturally open up to him.

Good with his hands. Raised by the head of a watchmakers guild, Wallace was taught from a very young age to hone his fine motor skills and work on the small mechanical objects. This skillset is able to transfer to larger mechanical objects, such as a steam engine or a cotton gin.

Good salesman. This ties in with the first two; being the son of a guildmaster, he is able to tell roughly how much objects are worth and is good at figuring out the market. Being as charming as he can be, he can make people buy things from him even if they don't particularly need them. He is also able to use this for begging if he needs to, although he doesn't like to disrespect his family by doing so.

Weaknesses:
Finds it difficult to respect others, especially when they are well-off in a position of power. This always comes to bite him in the ass. He sees class structures as a middle finger to nature. Whenever he is told to remember his place it is met with a swift and sturdy "**** you."

Reckless. That's why he's on this journey. But at least he's smart enough to hold back when he knows something's a REALLY bad idea, like gambling. Taking big risks is how he gets by, and it's what he loves doing. The rush of it all, not knowing if it's going to pay off. The possibility of landing in the dirt. He doesn't like to spend too much time thinking on things. Hesitation kills the mind.

Negative and cynical. This doesn't show when he's talking to people, at least not people he's just met, but he's often told by his friends that he has a cynical personality. He's often the first to notice when something is wrong, and although he might not speak up, it gets to him. He will often focus on the negatives of the society and culture around him, especially his own.

The Reason Why:
For Wallace, the question was never "why," but instead "why not?"
People around him never did anything extraordinary. People went to work, made money, spent their money, went home, ate dinner, slept, and did it all over again. The default. Nobody travelled or experimented, when given great opportunities they would turn them down with stupid excuses. "I just can't" was Wallace's personal favourite. People were jealous of those with life experiences but never went out to make their own. It was sickening.

Wallace went on the train, not because someone else said he should, not because he wanted to see the destination, but because he needed out of his home. Everything was the same, the same stupid people and the same toxic community. Everybody was ugly. He wanted to go somewhere beautiful.

Background:
He was born in Celton, Amitta. An urban metropolis that stunk of fish. He never felt quite at home in Celton, he felt like everybody put on a fake smile and a fake face just to get through the day. The round people put on makeup and did their hair to try to look handsome, but looked stupid and were fat besides. Walking through the streets he smelled old fish, mechanical oil, fine meats and breads for sale if you wished to have them. The range of the quality of goods just on the same street was astounding. The whole city was just a marketplace and everyone was just out to make another dollar. They were subhuman. Normal people knew that there are more worthwhile things than money.

Wallace was always well off. Son of the head of a watchmakers guild, money was never an issue. Still, he felt no connection to the money and no connection to the watchmaking. The idea of watchmaking just because that's what he's "meant to do" was sickening. The people around him seemed to rot away and die, they did nothing but run through the motions, join the rat race, and get old. Nobody was interesting and they either didn't know or didn't care. The same way Wallace didn't know or and didn't care which of the two was worse. People didn't read books and they didn't exchange ideas, they did nothing but work, eat and sleep. They were empty shells of what could be human.

In school he always did well. Everyone said that he was smart, but he was convinced everyone in that city was just stupid. He would never study, he would show up, do the work and leave. But his lack of respect, especially for those in positions of authority, always landed him in trouble. Beatings were at least a weekly thing, and in his later years of school he almost landed himself in jail because of it. He wanted to know why everyone was doing less than they could be, he chalked it up to laziness and stupidity and figured that these people didn't deserve respect. They weren't even human. People got into positions of power not because they were smart or capable, but because they bought their way in or they grew up with the boss.

Growing up his family was always well off, he was able to eat cooked meats and drink fine wine daily with his father's money. He was deluded into thinking that this was all there was to life, or that this was even a life worth living. Sitting around, working on watches and consuming fine food, drink and tobacco. He didn't realise the absolute human need for travel until he met travelling traders from the north in Celton. The tales they had and their overall demeanor blew him away. He instantly saw what he was missing, and instantly switched from valuing items to valuing travel and freedom. Nobody seemed to understand when he explained it to them, he was the only one with this undying wanderlust.

Personal Effects:
His pipe, tobacco and a small tinderbox, and a pocket-watch. Nothing that is expensive or he has any emotional connection to. In his suitcase he has more tobacco, some money from home, extra clothes and a grooming kit.

Other:
Firstly, I like trains. Secondly, I won't be able to post daily, but I will certainly be able to keep up with the once-every-two-week minimum. I'm going to Québec on Nov.12 until Nov.23, so that'll likely be my most inactive time. But I'll still be able to post during that time, just not as often as I'd like.

Also, when I write things like "They were empty shells of what could be human," I'm writing that as Wallace sees it and understands it, not as how the people in those towns actually are.

RP Sample:
She jolted awake as her alarm clock screamed at her. 5:20 AM. She dragged out of bed and poured a cup of coffee from the pre-configured coffee maker. The morning was dark. 5 o'clock in the morning is bull-**** for anybody. The intangible effects of sleep deprivation became more and more apparent each day.

The morning traffic rushed on.

She stepped outside with her coffee and lit a cigarette. The cold sharp snow lay level on the ground, undisturbed by the population and by the pollution. She walked down the street and felt the snow crunch below the weight of her body, the undying stillness disturbed by the human factor. The fast cars marched on with the slow traffic in the busy city. She ate cheap food and smoked cheap cigarettes and lived in a cheap apartment. A cheap, forgettable life.

A thousand miles away was a man she would meet in a thousand days.

Another day at work was another day at work. Crunch the numbers. Put A into B. The same nonsense day in and day out, nothing ever changed. People showed up in nice clean suits and dresses and were clean shaven and smiled as they said "good-morning" with their coffees. She wore a clean dress and smiled as she said "good-morning" with her coffee. Plastic office supplies, yellow pencils against the white walls ran the country. Nobody fought for anything.

She tried to convince herself true love didn't exist.

 

[Sweet Dreams]

Here's my SU! I loved my last character so much I'm gonna break my rule of reusing characters. (Then again, it is pretty much the same RP... xP)

Jane Folett


"Life is a series of wins and losses. I have nothing left to lose, so perhaps this time..."

26 // The Seamstress // Female​

Appearance and Attire:
Jane's dark skin, while not unheard of, marks her as an outsider in many local towns. Some people are wary of her for this reason alone, while others find her exotic. Her black hair is carefully pulled back into a ponytail so that it did not get in the way, as it is wont to do when it is loose and wild. Her eyes are an almost disconcerting blue, standing out against her skin. While she is slightly short sighted from hours of delicate needlework in poor lighting, she cannot even afford the doctor's visit that might confirm this, let alone afford the corrective lenses that would alleviate her problem.

She has a rather small stature from a lifetime of unsteady diet but she moves with a type of precision and forethought that lend weight to her presence. Various small scars adorn her body, but the most visible one is a pale line cut diagonally across the palm of her left hand.

For the train ride, Jane wore her most modest garment, one she had altered herself, hoping to avoid unwanted trouble. It is a pale green gown with a subtle flower pattern, which opened at the front to reveal creamy brown linen petticoat underneath. The sleeves of the gown stops at her elbow, from which long white ruffles draped. The neckline is relatively modest and emphasises elegance of form over enhancing the figure.

Hometown:
Gossland Gulch; a town of crime and squalor. Its constant rain and fog is as bleak as the people who live there, and the muddy surroundings did nothing to improve their standard of life. The lawless nature of the town gives rise to shifting power hierarchies and an oppressive sense of danger. Those that did not steal were stolen from, and those that were stolen from starved.

Personality:
Generally speaking, Jane is quite pleasant to talk to. She is a good listener and very amenable to different points of view although she offers little by way of interesting insights in return and as a result some people see her as dull or dim-witted. Her impersonal conversations are a way for her to distance herself from others. She is perceptive and empathetic by nature but has recently found herself feeling apathetic towards life; most days she has little energy and forgets to eat.

Jane does not see herself as having any particular talents other than, perhaps, the ability to weather out bad luck. She doesn't really believe that she could accomplish anything meaningful with her life. She often makes flippant self-deprecating comments and is easily impressed, although her constant self-perceived failure contributes to her recent numbness. In spite of what she may think, she has plenty of redeeming qualities, although they may not be immediately apparent.

In tight situations, Jane always seems to remain reasonable and never gets flustered or rises to a bait. While she is not one for taking charge or making plans, she has been known to diffuse tense situations and calm others down in times of crisis. She dislikes disruptive or antagonistic behaviour and is not afraid of stepping in to keep the peace or resolve situations as quickly as possible.

Jane also has strong maternal instincts. She tends to take care of those younger or more vulnerable than her without even realising it, whether it be fussing over their clothes or simply checking in on those that she cares about. Taking care of others also helps her take care of herself and raises her spirits.

Strengths:
Calm - Radiating calm and control, she is a very dependable person at all times and can act as a rock to those more prone to panic. Her demeanor can also help others regain their equilibrium in certain situations.

Maternal - She can't help but to take care of others. Given enough time and friendship, she will treat anyone like a concerned mother hen. The benefits go both ways, as she takes better care of herself and feels livelier when she has somebody else to look out for.

Peace keeper - Whenever conflicts arise that cannot be ignored, Jane will rise up to keep the peace, either by resolving the dispute or diffusing the situation by calming parties down or trying to limit their contact altogether.

Weaknesses:
Depressed - For the past four years, she has been feeling constantly tired and numb. She can find little to no motivation to actively do anything and is constantly weighed down by feelings of worthlessness and guilt.

Distant - Although Jane acts approachable and pleasant, she keeps herself emotionally distant and overly polite. She will not reveal any personal information about herself or her emotional state if she can help it.

Low self-esteem - Her lack of belief in her own abilities leads to underachievement, or simply not attempting something that she may have otherwise been able to do. When comparing herself to others, she always eventually feels unworthy of their time.

The Reason Why:
Her life was bleak; a veil of hopelessness had draped over her. Her friends had all eventually left her, and she was barely making enough money for rent, let alone food. She was close to the end of her rope, when she caught wind of a rumour about a fantastical train ride. Free board and free food sounded too good to be true, not even mentioning all the other claims about riches and adventure. Apparently there were risks as well, but it wasn't like she had anything to lose anymore.

And anything, anything was better than being stuck in Gossland Gulch, dying a slow death and barely even noticing.

Background:
Like everyone else in her town, her family was poorer than dirt. Her father left for the mines further west when she was very young, seeking fortune to send back to his family. The money never came, and to this day Jane had no idea if he simply forgot about them, found no fortune, or simply died. Her mother was a barmaid in a tavern in town, protecting herself with a snake's tongue and generous servings of beer. It was in this tavern that Jane spent much of her childhood; collecting dirty dishes and sweeping floors and rolling drunkards over for coin.

It was also here that she first witnessed those infamous "ladies of the night" in action; low cut dresses and coquettish smiles leading men to the rooms upstairs that were always reserved for them. In the morning coins would be exchanged over the bar as hung over men staggered onto the street, pouches empty. She learned it was not uncommon for her mother or one of the other barmaids to slip an extra little concoction into a man's drink beforehand, so that he would fall asleep and not remember anything upon waking up.

It was not a bad childhood, all things considered. She got scraps from the kitchen and leftovers from the table, and she always had shelter over her head. The "ladies", many of them having been thieves or simple seamstresses before, taught her how to mend clothes or how to distract a John into being pickpocketed without them ever noticing.

She was thirteen when her mother fell ill.

The tavern, fearing it would be responsible for her mother's funeral costs or of caring for her if her mother passed, cast them onto the streets. They begged, and stole, and eventually, when she was not quite fourteen, her mother died.

She tried to mend people's clothes for them to earn money, the way some of the ladies taught her. Unfortunately, not many people trusted an orphaned beggar with their belongings, and of the few who did, even fewer ended up paying her for her efforts. She was no longer young enough to be an effective beggar, and her own deteriorating health made pickpocketing more and more of a challenge. At fifteen, she finally ended up selling herself in the streets.

The money she made was comparatively ludicrous.

Eventually she was hired as a seamstress in a small establishment that was also part brothel. Prostitution became a supplementary income, rather than the bone of her earnings.

And then, four years before she heard of a train ride promising riches and adventure, she fell pregnant and decided to keep the baby.

Eight months after that, she wasn't pregnant anymore.

But she wasn't a mother, either.

Personal Effects:
Her sewing kit and another, less modest, garment, as well as all her worldly savings all reside in a small bag she brought along with her just in case.

Other:
Due to a lack of education, Jane is illiterate. Also, there is a tiny grave marked by a small, blank stone somewhere in the Gulch's cemetery...

RP Sample:

Spoiler:

Timothy, or, as he had fashioned himself one afternoon in a flight of fancy, "Mothball", panted as he scrambled up the steep streets. Inevitably, he stubbed a toe against a losse bit of pavement and fell, scraping the palm of his hand and his already-bandaged left kneecap. He sighed, wiped his hand against his shirt a little, and retrieved a bandaid from his rucksack. He just thanked whoever was watching out for him that he didn't manage to break his glasses. Again. Scrapes, he could handle. Glasses were expensive and didn't heal.

It wasn't that there weren't other ways to reach Professor Vayne's lab. There were plenty of convenient forms of transport in the city, what with LATIOS being around to make life easier. It was just that Mothball knew he would probably end up accidentally giving somebody a black eye, or catching the wrong train or whatever, and end up getting there late. And he really, really didn't want to be late. Besides, he thought he could use some exercise.

It definitely didn't have anything to do with the fact that his sister was taking the train to go to her oh-so-prestigious job at LATIOS.

When he finally arrived in one of the main streets of the top tier, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. It really was beautiful up here. The view was magnificent, and the buildings were all so stately. He reached an arm up to run his hand through his hair and somehow ended up whacking someone in the arm.

"Sorry!" he said, cringing away from the person only to walk into somebody else. "Sorry," he repeated, smiling nervously at the man who simply shot him an irritated look and left. The streets were more crowded than he was used to, which didn't bode well for him. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and walked forward.

He promptly tripped over somebody's shoe and cracked his head against the pole of a streetlamp.

"Sorry," he said automatically, and then winced in embarrassment when he realised he was talking to an inanimate object again. In an attempt to make himself seem like less of an idiot, he looked at his watch before starting in alarm. He really had to go, because if there was just one thing he didn't want to be late for, it was this. It was a chance to get his very own Pokemon!

Mothball had absolutely no idea why the Professor invited him for this project. He was still waiting for someone to tell him the whole thing was a prank, or a misunderstanding.

Or that the invitation was really meant for his sister.

That would be okay. Certainly more understandable than him actually getting the chance to go on an adventure and do wonderful, brilliant things with his life. But, well. If there was even just one chance that this was real...

"Right," he said to himself and barged forward into the crowd. A moment later, a thump could be heard, followed by a muffled shout of "sorry".

~*~

To his surprise, he arrived at the lab a little early and with only one new bruise. His forehead was bleeding a little, but he failed to really notice. He fidgeted a little, feeling rather lost. Maybe it was rude to be early? He'd never actually been early anywhere before, so he wouldn't know.

He looked for a doorbell or something, stumbling a little but righting himself. Man, he hated his growth spurt. He wasn't half this bad before puberty hit and he shot up like one of the high-rise buildings that were everywhere in this part of the city.

He adjusted his glasses and decided to maybe wait for other people to show up first. He settled himself in a spot near the entrance of the lab, but far enough away that he didn't look as though he was waiting on the doorstep like a desperate puppy. Even though, really, he was.

​

 

[Dusty]

I can't believe I didn't actually see this before. I glanced over it, but this is a really cool idea! Count me in, I'll try to get something up tonight or tomorrow if you are still accepting.

Alright, here ya go. I'm going to look for a picture later, as well as format the SU later, but I gotta go to work for now.

Julius Ostellus​

​

Name: Julius Ostellus

Age: 28

Appearance and Attire: Julius when in his magician's attire, dresses in a dark black suit with coat tails trailing down to the backs of his knees. Underneath the suit he wears a deep purple vest made from silk which shimmers and catches the light, and under that a white shirt with frills which go down with the buttons. A top hat caps his head with a purple ribbon tied around the bottom of the taller part (If that makes any sense). He wears black trousers with shiny well oiled black shoes. To top off the appearance he wears white gloves and a neat black bow tie.

When in more casual wear, he likes to dress much more casually, usually wearing a pair of neat trousers, usually brown, as well as a plain white collared shirt unbuttoned at the top. Over that is a plain brown vest, with both buttons buttoned. He likes to wear a pair of old boots on his feet, not usually caring for how dirty they get, unlike with his formal performance outfit. Finally he wears a brown flat cap on his head, covering his wild black hair.

Physically, Julius doesn't look much like other magicians. Similar to others, he is slight of build, not physically strong. But other than that he is not very impressive physically. He is rather short, only standing at five foot eight, and he doesn't have very long limbs. He has a mess of black hair atop his head, short and usually not well kept. Even when he puts effort into it, it usually still ends up looking a bit haphazard, which is why he almost never goes anywhere without a hat and why he always keeps it trimmed rather short. In place of a mustache popular among others of his trade, Julius favors a full but well cropped beard. He has bright blue eyes which are always darting from one place to another. Finally he has an impressive deep bass voice which projects well, helpful for stage performance.

Hometown: Radune

A small city between the fork of two rivers, the Dune River and the Bass Tail River which joined at the fork becoming the Greater Dune River. Originally named La Crosse, the name was later changed to Radune, meaning "Crossing of the Dune" in some ancient language nobody speaks anymore. It's location is perfect for trade, and the town quickly grew into a smaller sized city. Primarily a trade city, it lacks in most production facilities, focusing mostly instead on growing crops in the rich soil and freshwater from the rivers.

Personality: Julius is about as dishonest and sleazy as men get. Through his career as a carnival magician, he became a master of misdirection, not only through slight of hand but through his personality and mannerism as well. He doesn't really care for others in general, except for a select few, and mostly only cares for what he can get from others. He builds for himself a false facade that comes across as friendly but mysterious, but really he despises others and their willingness to believe in the unbelievable.

He is manipulative and deceives for his own gain, and lacks any real morals. He does have a loose set of those to be sure, but apparently those do not apply to lying, cheating, or stealing. However he is very against killing or even harming others, and has an extreme dislike of blood in general.

In his travels Julius has learned much, and he loves to display that knowledge and impress others. In fact much of what he does is to impress others. Much of what he does is for coin, but he also has a need for approval, he likes for others to want to listen to him and his stories and knowledge. Although he enjoys others company and seeks approval, he is an introverted man. He will often disappear into his own room excusing himself, saying that he has to rest his mind before he can perform more tricks, or that he must consult with the spirits or something of the like. In reality he enjoys reading books of faraway lands apart from others, losing himself in his stories and facts.

Strengths: Intelligent and Educated, Sleight of Hand, Manipulative

Intelligent and Educated: Julius came from a decently well off trading family, and because of that was able to attend a modest school. Despite doing very well in school, he lacked discipline or any drive to do any more than what was required of him. He spent the time he should have been studying instead exploring the town and learning from those on the street, including street performer. His curiosity in these performers led to his career in magic.

Sleight of Hand: Part of what he learned exploring the streets in his childhood was the art of sleight of hand. Starting out by learning simple magic tricks from other performers, he soon turned his skills from simply magic to the art of pickpocketing as well, then eventually using his magic skills in order to distract and scam his audience and relieve them of their purses.

Manipulative: Julius tends to be able to manipulate people. Disguising his art of manipulation through "hypnosis", he learns what he can of people then use that knowledge against them. He also tends to eavesdrop or just pick up random facts about people he is around, and has an incredible talent of remembering particularly juicy tidbits.


Weaknesses: Immoral, Alcoholic, Lazy

Immoral: He has very loose morals, basing his entire career upon deception, lying and stealing and cheating. He refuses to murder, and can't stand the sight of blood. His loose set of morals tends to come across as repulsive to others. He tries to appear as moral to others, hiding his theft and deception behind the veil of magic, although some perceptive men can see through that.

Alcoholic: Unfortunately Julius ends up spending much of his ill-gotten gains on alcohol. While he wouldn't call himself addicted, he always ends up finding a glass in his hand at the end of the day, and tends to wake up with a bit of a hangover more often than not. After losing his job he also lost the ability to buy alcohol, and so he is a bitter man at the moment till he can scrape enough together to buy himself a couple drinks.

Lazy: He hates hard labor, one thing which led to his seemingly easy life depending on magic. He will do whatever it takes to get out of any task, from getting someone else to do it or even just avoiding promising he would do things.

The Reason Why: Julius is a down on his luck magician who lost his job as part of a traveling circus troupe to another more successful rival magician. His act had been more focused on smaller groups and deceiving them and cheating them out of their money, while his rival had been focused more on the spectacle and large scale tricks. And so Julius had been left behind in Bellson six months before the Ironwood arrived, after the troupe passed through the town.

His tricks did little to amuse the small town for long, and he eventually ditched his magician act and turned to finding odd jobs, hoping that one day he would have enough money to leave the city and pick up his job again as a magician in a larger city or with another troupe. When the Ironwood arrived, Julius' hopes had seemed to come true. An easy way out of the small backwater town with hopes of fame and fortune, he eagerly jumped at the chance.

Background: Julius was born into what would be called a middle class family. His father ran a modest trading company along the Dune river, buying, selling, and exchanging goods, and was able to spend his profit by putting his four children through school. His mother when not spending her time herding her children, sewed various garments, mostly dresses for middle and upper class ladies, bringing even more of a profit into the household.

Julius' childhood was spent mostly exploring the small bustling city, with both parents too busy with their respective works to worry about their children. All four of them were given quite a bit of freedom, so long as they were home before dark for dinner. Julius was the second oldest of his siblings, with an older brother named John, and two younger sisters named Chelsea and Maribell. Usually leaving the two girls at home or around the house to fend for themselves, John and Julius would explore.

While John would hang out with his friends and their little gang, Julius would be left out. Which was fine by him, as far as gangs went, John's wasn't really much of one, the greatest offense they ever did was using charcoal to draw mustaches and glasses on posters. Julius would watch and learn from the various performers about the town, becoming acquainted with a good number of them. From them Julius learned the secrets of trickery with slight of hand, various magic tricks to amuse, and even the secrets of breathing fire.

However street performers couldn't simply live off of the generosity of the various gawkers. And so Julius learned the darker more forbidden arts of society as well, arts of pickpocketing, lockpicking, and other ways to scam and deceive people. While he would occasionally share the magic tricks he had learned with the rest of his family, his other darker talents he never told them. Occasionally he would come home with a small pouch of money, carefully hidden from his parent's view, which he would stash in various places in his and his brother's room.

As he aged and went through school, he became more and more independent from his parents, spending more and more time on the street, eventually becoming a street performer himself under the name "Julius Maximus the Magnificent". Despite his age, his tricks amazed people, earning him a modest amount of money from earnest work, and even more from his less earnest work picking the pockets of his audience, most often taking the purses of his volunteers. His antics on the street meant that his school work suffered, and eventually he stopped going altogether, which became a point of contention between him and his parents.

Eventually his arguments with his parents increased, his parents wanting him to take on a more honest living, helping them with the trading company. He, however, wanted more independence and to pursue his growing hobby in magic. And so when a circus troupe came through town, he joined up with them and left his home behind, taking with him his meager belongings in a small chest at the age of seventeen.

He stayed with the troupe for about ten years, but he was later supplanted by another magician. His rival focused his tricks more for a large stage while Julius' talents laid more in the area of small groups. As time went on, Julius lost more and more of his audience to his rival, and by the time the troupe passed through Bellson, Julius was no longer able to pay his dues to the circus, and so was left behind to fend for himself.

He practiced his magic for a week or so, but Bellson was a small town, and the people soon lost interest in the broke magician. So he took up odd jobs here and there to pay for his food and shelter. After six months of living in Bellson, Julius was desperate to leave, hoping that another troupe would come through the town and that he could join up, once again practicing his art. The Ironwood seemed to be the answer to his prayers, a way out of the town and a hope for fame and fortunes. He also like trains.

Personal Effects: Julius carries a small chest of belongings, mostly containing goods to perform his magic. His prized possession is a large leather bound book containing all of his knowledge in magic, as well as keeping a record of all tricks he had seen so that he can try to understand and emulate that trick later.

He also carries a small flintlock pistol. As a pickpocket, he knows that sometimes things may go wrong. Not being very physically strong, he looked to the easiest form of protection he could find, that being a pistol. He usually keeps in in his chest, particularly if he is performing in front of a large crowd. He keeps it hidden somewhere in his clothes if he is performing in front of smaller crowds, the times in which he is more likely to try to pickpocket or otherwise deceive someone.

Other: Hates blood and often faints when there is a large amount of it somewhere.

RP Sample:

Spoiler:

From the RP Poke-Ronpa

Thomas Collins
Day 1
Atrium - F1

Thomas's head was swimming, not only because he had been knocked out or something, but more because of all the names and faces he had learned and was expected to remember. He had never been good with names, and so many at once was probably a recipe for disaster. Now that everyone had introduced themselves, he wondered what they were going to do next. The next logical step would probably be to explore the building they were in and try to figure out as much as they could, including where their things or Pokemon were.

He was just about to suggest this when an unexpected voice echoed through the atrium, silencing everyone who had just been debating their next move. The voice came through the PA system throughout the school, and as it spoke he could hear it's voice further down the halls as well, echoing eerily. It was remarkably cheery, and Thomas couldn't quite pinpoint even the gender of the speaker.

"....this working now? Test test, one two? Aha! It works! Um….Ahem! Attention students! The welcoming ceremony will be beginning shortly in the gymnasium. We would appreciate your attendance so that we may begin as soon as possible! The gymnasium is to the right from the atrium, and maps are posted on the wall if you get lost. See ya soon!"

With that the voice was gone. It's easy going sound seemed completely out of place, and despite how happy it had sounded, Thomas felt a chill go down his spine. All of a sudden, all the lights shut out, then one by one they flickered back on, leading to the right out of the atrium.

"Well…" he commented shakily, "it's not exactly rolling out a red carpet, but I suppose that works." Looking around, he saw all the students glancing at each other nervously. Most were speaking silently to each other, sharing thoughts, some of hope, others more skeptical about their situation. Then one student cautiously started walking towards the gym, and one by one the rest of the students followed. Thomas shrugged. It was probably fine, maybe this was all something that the Hope's Peak faculty had thrown together as a prank, or maybe to test them. The situation was strange, but they were strange students after all…


Gymnasium - F1

The wooden planked floor squeaked under Thomas' feet as his sneakers nervously walked into the gym towards the center. The gym floor was empty, bleachers lining two sides and a running track on a second story above them with stairs leading up to it tucked away in one corner. But the most noticeable feature of the otherwise empty gym was the stage which dominated the far wall across from the entrance, with it's massive red curtains pulled back to each side and a large podium with an emblem blazoned on the front of it.

As soon as all of them had entered the empty and almost cold feeling room, a voice rang out from behind the podium, one that matched the voice that had addressed them from over the intercom.

"Well, I believe that's everyone! Let's begin then, I hereby welcome this year's class to Hope's Peak Academy!" With the cheery exclamation, a small pink and deep purple blob jumped up from behind the podium and floated just above it, doing a small somersault in midair. It was the most bizarre thing he had ever seen. It wasn't quite a pokemon, that he could tell. It appeared to resemble a legendary pokemon he had read about it books, at least from what little information they had about it, called Mew. But instead of being an off white or pink like the books had claimed, this was pink only on one side, the other half being a dark purple and resembled a Bannette. It had a red jagged eye on the Bannette side which glared at them, giving both a happy and peaceable look on the Mew side, and an evil sadistic look on the Bannette side.

The entire class stood there in shock, till one student spoke up, "You've got to be kidding me, what kind of joke is this? Who put this toy here?" Similar reactions echoed throughout the students.

"Toy?" the...the….whatever it was responded with indignation. "I am no toy, I am in fact your...I mean this school's headmaster! Pleased to meet you!"

Thomas, trying to cover up his shock, said shakily, "Um, h-headmaster I guess? What the hell is going on here?"

The thing chuckled to itself, "Ooh, you called me headmaster! That has a nice ring to it! Unfortunately too official for someone such as me. You can call me MonoMew, that sounds much better!" MonoMew did a few somersaults in the air again as if happy even at the sound of it's own name.

One of the girls, Vanessa, the dragon trainer. if he remembered correctly, made a sound of indignation and said with disgust, "Why even bother talking to the thing. It's probably just some remote control thing that someone is using to mess with us."

Another student, Thomas couldn't remember his name, but the guy dressed as a ninja added, "True. It looks impressive for sure, but it can't be anymore than a toy."

"For the last time!" MonoMew retorted, "I am no toy! And I for your information am not a simple remote control thing, my insides contain technology so advanced it's priceless, Silph Co would just love to take a look at my insides I'm sure!" Suddenly MonoMew seemed to remember something. "Ah, but we are straying from the topic at hand! As students of this school, I am giving you only one assignment, to live communally here in the school!"

A look of confusion came across the students faces. "And for the duration of this communal lifestyle….forever!" The mechanical mew/bannette thing gave a creepy horrifying laugh at that and did a few more flips in midair before going on. "Oh I just love the look of shock on your cute little faces! You little bastards get it? You're trapped here forever!"

All the students broke out at once. "What do you mean forever?""You got to be ****ing kidding me, right?"" This has got to be some sick joke…""Forever? No...I can't…."

MonoMew got a strange look on his face. "What this? You guys don't want to live here? All of you came here by your own volition, right? Nobody forced you to attend Hope's Peak, and now you want to leave right in the middle of the entrance ceremony? Talk about a bunch of ungrateful shits…" Then he got an evil gleam in his red eye. "Oh course, I can respect your wishes. I did include one rule, I call it the Graduation Rule!"

Thomas' breath got caught in his throat. Despite the fact that he did want to leave, he already had a bad feeling about this.

"The Graduation Rule", MonoMew continued, "is that you are to live here communally and in order. But if one breaks that order, then that person may leave!"

Jade, the bossy trainer who had spoken up in the atrium growled, "And how exactly does one 'break that order'?" No doubt it was the question that every student there wanted to ask.

Monomew smiled. "Oh it's quite simple really. All you have to do is kill someone. I don't care how really. Beating, stabbing, burning, strangling, crushing, eating, voodoo cursing... the possibilities are endless!" He got a thoughtful expression on his face all of a sudden. "Okay, maybe not the eating part, but everything else goes!"

His removal of cannibalism did little to help the sick taste in Thomas' mouth. Kill another person? He had worked alongside his father as a doctor for years now helping him with surgery, and he had watched dozens die before him in the past. But to actually take somebody's life? It seemed absurd. But to escape? Was it really so bad here that he could actually kill somebody to escape…?

"Hahahaha!!! It's pretty ironic, don't you think?" he giggled. "This is Hope's Peak, and those who attend this school are often called the hope of the world! But your faces right now, so filled with despair! It's wonderful!"

Meghan, the rock type trainer burst out, "You can't honestly think that we would kill each other. That's just absurd!" My mind agreed with her, and I saw other students nodding at her words.

"I'm not saying you have to of course", MonoMew chuckled, "Only if you want to leave do you have to kill someone! So just live here until you die, and you're fine!" The toy or whatever jumped up suddenly. "Oh, I almost forgot with all the excitement, I have this for all of you!" Suddenly he zipped through the room dropping something. Something thunked against Thomas' chest and he instinctively caught it. In his hands was some sort of phone. Pushing the lock button hesitantly it lit up displaying the school crest, then displayed his face and name with a few options along the bottom and what appeared to be a touch screen. Looking up he saw other students with the same sort of device.

"I call those Kelber Assessment Research Device, named after a previous student who invented them, or called KARDs for short! Pretty clever don't you think? It does a lot of useful things! Like it works as a PDA, or a way to contact others within the school, it even measure vitals like heart beat, mental state, and blood sugar levels just by being near you! Of course, those aren't really useful to you a whole lot, but they can more importantly be used to access rooms around the school. Certain rooms will require your Kard for entrance, namely your rooms, bathrooms, and the cafeteria kitchen, although there are a few others too! Make sure not to lose them, they are pretty important!"

The rock trainer burst out in anger again, "You've got to be kidding me if you think we are going to buy into this little game of yours!" As if to make her point she grabbed Veleri's Kard and threw both of theirs at Monomew, one after another. He dodged the first one which sailed harmlessly past him hitting the curtain behind him, but the second caught him full in the face knocking him back slightly. She followed up immediately by racing up to him and grabbing him by the tail and smashing him into the podium and floor. All of a sudden the tail popped off and Monomew flew across the room smashing into some bleachers with a crash. Meghan was left holding a multicolored tail that beeped softly.

"No! Stop!" a deep voice resounded through the gym and the giant Declan raced forward. The guy had seemed pretty slow and stupid to Thomas before, but now he seemed as fast as a Pikachu, moving with incredible speed. Knocking Meghan to the side, he grabbed the tail and threw it as hard as he could into the air. It exploded just after leaving his hand, and he stared as his hand dumbly which was now somewhat badly burned. "...ouch. Tail hurt me…?" He looked over at Meghan who was lying stunned on the floor. "You okay girly?" Meghan only nodded a look of amazement on her face.

Her face quickly transition from amazement to anger as she looked at MonoMew who was now doing is best to attach a new tail to his body with his stubby little arms. "What the ****!" Was all that she could manage between deep breaths.

"Hey, don't blame me!" The mew chuckled a bit. "Violence against the headmaster is strictly prohibited! I let you off easy this time because you haven't read the rules yet, but that won't be tolerated again!" With a twist and a click his new tail connected to his body, and he waved it around a few times experimentally. "Welp, I think that's all I had to say in this announcement for now! Make sure to properly read the rules in your Kards under the rules section. I'll leave the rest to you!"

With that he slipped off, appearing to fly towards the ceiling behind the curtains of the stage, then simply disappearing.

Thomas looked around at all of his fellow students and the strange situation they had all been put in. "This...this can't be happening, right? I mean, killing each other? Really?" His voice shook a bit and he swallowed trying to calm himself down.

Each of them looked around at each other in fear, then slowly in suspicion. What if one of them actually wanted to kill another person to escape? Could there be such a person in this group? He didn't like doubting people, but he had only just met these people….

"Enough." Jade snapped. "If we just stand here looking suspiciously at each other, we won't get anywhere and it won't help if we can't trust each other. Not that you should, if what that thing said is true, and there is no way to escape from here. From now though, we should make sure there is no escape. I suggest we move in groups of at least three, for safety. More preferably, if possible. Let's explore what we can of this place, and meet back up at the cafeteria later to talk about what we have discovered. Sound good?"

Nobody disagreed with her, and Thomas thought it was a pretty good idea to move around in groups. Before anything though, he decided to check the rules in his Kard. He turned it on again, then pushed the part of the screen that was labeled rules.

1. The students will live a communal lifestyle with no time limit inside the school walls.
2. The time between 10pm and 7am is called "Night Time". During Night Time there are places that are forbidden to enter, so please take care.
3. Sleeping is only permitted in the personal rooms prepared for you in the dormitory area. Anyone intentionally falling asleep elsewhere will be punished.
4. You may investigate the school as you please. There are no special restrictions on your actions.
5. No violence is permitted against the school's headmaster, MonoMew. Destruction of the surveillance cameras is forbidden.
6. A "culprit" who kills a fellow student will graduate the school. However, they must not let any other student know they are the culprit.
7. Additional rules may be added by the school at any time.

​

Alright, some basic CSS. I can't figure out what exactly is going on with the strange second border thing on the bottom, but I can't be bothered to struggle with it anymore...

Oh, and basic CSS layout is thanks to Ice. Giving credit where credit is due!

 

[Nagi]

i'm officially closing reservations for this from this point on. anyone interested is advised to finish their SUs soon, as we want to get started! those who have submitted SUs already and are awaiting approval - we'll get to it over the course of the weekend c:

 

[Jay]

Due to Mayo being in the previous RP, her role is automatically reserved. The RP is now up and we have a lot of interest for the final two spots.

In this case, I have limited options and so I am giving everyone an equal chance. All reserves and sign ups have two days to post their SU's, once this is complete the best two of those remaining will be accepted into the RP! Good luck to everyone who's vying for a spot!

 

[Sephear]

William Bartholomew Hawthorne

Age: 20

Appearance and Attire: William cuts an impressive, but not imposing figure at 5'11 with a fit, lithe musculature. His fair skin has a slight tan thanks to all the time he's spent travelling, but it isn't much. He has a very handsome, if not rugged face with a slightly pointed chin, soft cheeks, and a roman nose. Some might say William was born to be a merchant, thanks to the short golden-blonde hair swept towards the back of his head, and the outlandish steely silver irises of his eyes.

There's a bit of stylistic flair to William's outfits, but not so much that it would make him seem unapproachable. He often wears a buttoned white gentleman's blouse with creamy beige buttons underneath a light brown vest with a gold-buttoned pocket on each side. When he's singing, writing, or just walking about and not conducting business William's usually wearing a bright red pointed cap on his head adorned with a single swan's feather. His belt is adorned with various pouches, and he always keeps his coin purse directly on the inner side of his right thigh to dissuade potential pickpockets. He tends to go simpler with his bottom half, favoring slightly loose-fitting dark blue-gray pants tucked into black steel-toed boots.

Hometown: Bellson, though he's not exactly sure where he was born, and he's been to quite a few different towns and villages as he grew up.

Personality: First and foremost Will is always focusing on two things anywhere he is: profit, and fun. While this might make him seem very selfish, he actually has a fairly strong moral compass, though he's most definitely greedy. He isn't bipolar, but he is very often in one of two main moods. Sometimes William feels lyrical, becoming outgoing and loud, looking for every opportunity to think up a new song or acquire a new story. The rest of the time he is very polite, and a bit reserved and quiet. He is, however, universally always very warm and friendly even while scrutinizing potential business opportunities.

William may be extremely analytical, but he never becomes what some would call cold and calculating, his scrutiny is always beneath the surface. Thanks to both his upbringing and his nature he's very good at reading people, especially any strong emotions they're feeling at the time, and if they may need something he could try to offer for a price. He's very non confrontational unless he thinks he can twist it into a bet he can't possible use. In fact, he doesn't just avoid fights/arguments, he dedicates himself not to have any if he can avoid it, always trying his hardest either to make the person like him, or weasel his way out of it.

Strengths:

Analytical: William is constantly evaluating everyone around him both for his own curiosity, and for potential profit. Thanks to practice he's gotten very good at judging someone's character and needs.

Lyrical: Will has an excellent taste for words, whether it's the spoken word, the sung, or the written. He loves to both listen to and tell stories, and has a great talent for singing. He's not quite as talented a writer, but he's decent and always getting better with practice.

Charismatic: Thanks mostly to his other talents, but also just an air he has about him, William tends to be liked most places he goes. He is very good at appealing to people with his words and actions, even when he can't get a read on their personalities.

Weaknesses:

Greedy: Like anybody else in his profession, William is very fond of money. Despite being a shrewd business man his greed can be taken advantage of still, and he has to force himself not to throw out his morals for the sake of profit sometimes.

Sappy: Despite his best attempts to let his emotions flow without them making the decisions for him, sometimes Will's strong senses of romance and sympathy completely spit in the face of his attempts at stoicism. He often finds himself unable to avoid being moved by matters of love (as long as they aren't related to him) or when someone in front of him is really suffering, sometimes to the point of extreme gullibility.

Near-pacifist: Though he's no coward, and most would certainly argue that it's better to avoid a fight when one can, William's reluctance to fight for something borders on pacifism. Sometimes one has to stand up for what they think with more than just words, but it seems William has to be absolutely forced into a fight before he even considers it an option.

The Reason Why: What kind of self-respecting merchant wouldn't see the treasure trove of opportunity in a train going to who-knows-how-many distant and exotic locations with a varied group of passengers? Especially a merchant with a bard's sense of adventure? There wasn't even the slightest bit of hesitation in William's choice, and his father completely understood.

Background: William hasn't really had all that eventful a life. When he was a very small child he ended up in an orphanage, and no amount of asking would get any of the staff to tell him anything about his parents. Despite having absolutely no idea of his real origins, he was told his real birth name: William Bartholomew Hawthorne. A shockingly noble-sounding and long-winded name for a parentless urchin. He couldn't imagine his parents had actually been anything of the sort, because if so then why leave him at all? He kept the possibility out of his mind for fear of just what it might mean if his parents were so ashamed of him that he wasn't even wanted.

The young boy couldn't help eternally being bored at the quaint little establishment, he could never get any of the other children to play with him very much or even really try to have fun. He just didn't understand how all the children could be so glum and dull when they had warm food, a roof over their heads, a small measure of toys and books to keep them occupied, and even a caretaker who really did want them to be happy. Although he didn't mind the orphanage all that much, Will couldn't help getting as excited as all the other children when a potential parent showed up to alleviate his boredom. He would always do his best to impress them with his near encyclopedic knowledge of what few books were available there, or with the songs he made up to himself when he was bored.

Unlike most orphan stories there was no long wait, no sinking hope that anyone would ever adopt him. Once he was actually old enough to care about getting picked up, it only took a little over a year for William to catch the eye of a travelling merchant from Bellson. Joseph Garrett was a very large and powerful looking man for his trade, but he seemed nice enough, and more importantly he wanted someone young enough to be as open-minded as possible for his apprentice. He seemed to have sharp eye and appreciated right a way what an inquisitive and charming boy Will could be, and decided he fit the bill just fine.

To say Mr. Garrett was a very gentle and loving man would be a lie and therefore a disservice, but he was in no way a bad man or a bad father. He was warm and kind, if firm and a bit brusque on occasion, and he really did treat William as his own son. He also took his education very seriously, opting to teach him everything he knew about life, and his business with the diligence of a complete professional. Surprisingly little of note happened after William's adoption. He had so much fun going from place to place, learning about different people, foods, and business practices. He was often chastised for sticking his nose where it doesn't belong when they were in new places, but Joseph managed to keep him out of trouble, and to keep his creative side relegated to in their home and his books.

In his teenaged years Will really started to get into his creative side, managing to gather a small collection of various poems, epics, and other stories with his allowance earned from working alongside his father. The boy could also always be heard either humming or singing to himself when he thought nobody was listening, to the occasional chagrin of Joseph. As the years went on it became harder and harder for William to decide whether he wanted to try to be a merchant, or a bard. He had the talents and now the skills necessary to become either one, it really just seemed like a choice between the practical and the fanciful. Even though it was obvious that following in his father's footsteps was the more stable path in life, Will couldn't give up on his dreams of writing and living amazing fantastic tales.

It wasn't that long after William was finally old enough to come into his own and become Joseph's full-fledged business partner that there was a great commotion in town about some amazing train showing up with no warning whatsoever, promising mysterious and exciting journeys to untold places beyond the horizon. The decision was instant, without the slightest bit of thought Will knew exactly what he wanted. Joseph was disappointed he may have to wait for them to finally start up their own shop together, but he could see the appeal of the Ironwood Express himself, and he wanted his son to be happy so he didn't try to keep him.

Personal Effects: An ornate hunter-case gold pocket watch with intricate engravings on the outside and empty grips for holding a small picture on the inside of the cover. Given to William by his father before he left, along with the advice that he'd know what to put in the case one day, and the threat that he had better never let anything happened to it unless he had to to survive. Joseph's parting words make an excellent reminder to always have the watch's chain secured around one of his belt loops.

A small inkwell kept on Will's person at all time so he can write anytime he needs to as long as he still has his feathered cap.

RP Sample:
https://www.pokecommunity.com/posts/7938571/
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[Dusty]

So, uh...are we gonna find out who has been accepted now? Its been a bit since the deadline.

 

[Jay]

My apologies for the delay, after much deliberation with my co-GM. We have decided to take the following characters into the RP:

Lord Sephear and his character William Bartholomew Hawthorne.

STARDU5T and his character Julius Ostellus.

Both of you are Accepted! Welcome to the RP.

Feel free to post!