Azerian Kelimon Posted February 4 Clone Share Posted February 4 (edited) Ra'id Liang Gaius Julius Caesar Name: Ra'id "Kaiser" Liang Nicknames: The Strategos, Al-Nayyir (The Enlightened), The Sword of God [All of the preceding are titles earned throughout his career], Kaiser [online handle] Age: 31 Gender: Male (He/Him) Occupation: Pro Gamer (Circuits: RTS Starblade, also amateur Poker circuit) Height: 5' 10'' Build: Lean, brown-skinned, of average height, with deep brown sunken eyes. Demeanor: Intense, imperious, thoughtful and decisive. Usually quiet, but sometimes capable of giving powerful speeches. Logos concept: In his normal life, Ra'id is a disgraced former pro gaming champion for the RTS game Starblade, kicked out of the official circuit on trumped up charges of match fixing. He now makes a living on the unofficial circuit, participating in lesser tournaments and fan-sponsored high-stakes matches to make a lviing. Mythos concept: Caesar was a defiant oppositionist, a peerless orator, a gifted politician, a reckless adventurer, a brilliant general and a mighty dictator. All these things and more threaten to become a part of Ra'id's life now. Logos To the average passerby, Ra'id does not look particularly remarkably. Lean and of average height, his youthful features make him look younger than he truly is, while his eyes give away an intensity and world-weariness granted by experience that no young man could ever channel. Once widely hailed as one of the greatest players the mythical and long-lived RTS Starblade had ever seen (if not the greatest), his indictment as a match fixer on trumped up charges at the hands of the Kauravi StarLeague (or KSL) officials destroyed his reputation overnight, barring him from participating in the lucrative and highly influential main circuit. Relegated to playing in PC rooms and cybercafés, he's undertaken a protracted, almost maniacal quest to uncover why, at the peak of his prowess, he was so callously tossed away. In spite of his newfound infamy, he's become something of an underground legend among fans of Starblade, as rumours of him being seen across the city's various gaming dens have surfaced, with eager rookies hoping to find him to request instruction...and unscrupulous bookies have sought him out to recruit him for unsactioned 1v1 matches against untarnished stars, seeking to capitalize on the controversy surrounding him and the lingering admiration for his breathtaking play to profit off the outcast champion. Even now, the shadow cast by his absence lingers upon the StarLeague, with other contenders being widely considered to be fighting for 'a championship of second place'. Neither can escape each other's pulll, and it's only a matter of time before his investigations set him on a collision course with those responsible for his fall. Taciturn by nature, Ra'id prefers to act, rather than speak. He is zealous in his pursuits, analytical, methodical, and relentless. Former teammates often joked about him being a slavedriver, but by the same token were always quick to remark on his dedication and devotion towards them, and how he refused to ever cut himself any slack he did not extend to others. He refuses to accept that there are some things he cannot do, and telling him he shouldn't try something without good reasons to back up that commandment is a surefire way to stoke the flames of his contrarianism. He admires excellence in all its forms, and finds beauty in watching other talents at work. 'Game recognizes game' is a phrase he is fond of, and for that reason, one of his primary hobbies is simply watching other masters pursue their craft, from painting to cooking to physical sportsmanship. He still wears his old team jacket from his KSL team, the Daozang Singularities, its colours black and white, wherever he goes. Mythos Gaius Julius Caesar did exist. That much is certainly a fact, and beyond dispute. But his life was so dramatic it beggars the imagination, and many details of it are lost at the fringes where historical fact becomes folklore and legend. Was he descended from the goddess Venus, as he so claimed? Did his enemies see the spark of greatness and danger in him, even before his career got started? Was he truly the paramour of kings and queens both, and the father of Cleopatra's child? Are the myths of him crossing blades with Spartacus nothing more than fanciful imaginings or is there more to them than that? It's hard to tell the man from the myth, in spite of the enduring obsession with him. Whatever the case may be, he left an indellible mark in history, to the point that even to this day, his name is synonimous with ruling and leadership. Proper usage of it could rescue the City from decadence...or send it into an irreparable revolutionary tailspin from which it might take decades to emerge. Ever since his Awakening, Ra'id has found his life irrevocably altered by his newfound talents. Once relatively anonymous in the wake of his fall, becoming a Rift has given his words and gestures an irresistible force that draws all eyes towards him. When he speaks, people listen. Though never particularly given to long speeches before, he finds that words flow to his mouth easily now, and his previously muted expressions seem to convey a wealth of emotion in the eyes of others. In a crisis, others turn towards him for guidance; in quiet days, people he's never met sit at his table at a café, seeking to make his acquaintance, either looking to cut deals or to beseech him to save them from their problems. In spite of his relatively plain looks, something about him sparks the imagination. And unfortunately, this fascination brings trouble with it too, as more and more fanciful rumours have spread about him in recent times. No longer just limited to the esports scene, some have attracted public attention as well. Most are total fabrications, but some (shared only amidst a very select people) are true...such as the fact he is never alone, and always has an army at his beck and call. Theme Cards Expression Commander's Presence Mystery:Every Mythos theme has a question, called a Mystery, which defines what your character wishes to discover about their Mythos. Why does everyone think I'm their salvation or their doom? Once upon a time, a man made countless enemies and inspired absolute loyalty with his words and deeds. Today, Ra'id draws people to him just like a magnet does iron. Whether he fights it or embraces, his presence draws battle lines upon the sand. Attention: {_} {_} {_} Fade:When your character's Mystery calls to them, but they ignore it, mark one Fade. If your character continues to ignore their Mythos and marks the third Fade box, you replace the theme with a new Logos theme. {_} {_} {_} POWER TAGSWhen you take action using one of the Core Moves, each power tag you have (and that is relevant to your action) adds one point of Power to your move. This improves your chances of succeeding and increases the effectiveness of your action. Each theme starts with 3 power tags. You must answer the first power tag question in your Themebook. Then answer two more of your choice. For each theme, you can only have one broad power tag. A broad power tag is one that would be useful in many different situations. Power Tag Questions Answer the first question (A) from your chosen Themebook, and then choose two more questions from the following list to answer. Your answer should be a short description no more than a few words long. Each answer becomes a power tag. A) What is the most common way you use your mythos to affect the world? Win hearts and minds. C) What useful quality does your main effect have? Unshakeable trust. D) What conditions or situations enhance your mythos expression? When we're past the point of no return. WEAKNESS TAGSWeakness Tags depower your moves but earn you Attention. They always describe something limiting (ask yourself: what actions would this weakness tag impede?). Each theme starts with 1 weakness tag. You can answer any weakness tag question in your Themebook. Extra tags! In one theme of your choice, you may add one additional power tag and one additional weakness tag. D) What are the repercussions of bringing your mythos into the world? Enemies rise up to oppose me. Destiny Alea Iacta Est Mystery:Every Mythos theme has a question, called a Mystery, which defines what your character wishes to discover about their Mythos. What is the ultimate prize I need to seize? In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are. Who can escape the weight of expectation? And who that flies high can stay eternally aloft, avoiding a long fall? Ra'id was chosen to seize glory and achieve what others can only dream of, and he will do so — no matter what it costs him. Attention: {_} {_} {_} Fade:When your character's Mystery calls to them, but they ignore it, mark one Fade. If your character continues to ignore their Mythos and marks the third Fade box, you replace the theme with a new Logos theme. {_} {_} {_} POWER TAGSWhen you take action using one of the Core Moves, each power tag you have (and that is relevant to your action) adds one point of Power to your move. This improves your chances of succeeding and increases the effectiveness of your action. Each theme starts with 3 power tags. You must answer the first power tag question in your Themebook. Then answer two more of your choice. For each theme, you can only have one broad power tag. A broad power tag is one that would be useful in many different situations. Power Tag Questions Answer the first question (A) from your chosen Themebook, and then choose two more questions from the following list to answer. Your answer should be a short description no more than a few words long. Each answer becomes a power tag. A) What is most useful about your destiny? A general always leads an army. C) What trait or emotion led to your destiny or emerged from it? Ruthless ambition. J) What ability or power did you reveal when your destiny unfolded? Fortune favours the bold. WEAKNESS TAGSWeakness Tags depower your moves but earn you Attention. They always describe something limiting (ask yourself: what actions would this weakness tag impede?). Each theme starts with 1 weakness tag. You can answer any weakness tag question in your Themebook. Extra tags! In one theme of your choice, you may add one additional power tag and one additional weakness tag. B) What personality flaw led to your destiny? Does not know when to quit. Mission Clear My Name Identity:Every Logos theme has a statement, called an Identity, which describes some aspect of your character that they believe about themselves. I have to prove my innocence. Countless hours of thankless practice, physical injuries...none of that came even close to hurting Ra'id as much as being cut off from the freedom to practice the game he most loved and prove his skills at it. It's not just a matter of honour or dignity -- it's being proud of himself, and of all he sacrificed to get to the top, that drives him to keep looking ceaselessly for a way to regain what he's lost. Attention: {_} {_} {_} Crack:You mark Crack when your character's Identity demands something of them, but they fail to deliver. If your character continues to ignore their Identity and marks the third Crack box, you replace the theme with a new Mythos theme instead. {_} {_} {_} POWER TAGSWhen you take action using one of the Core Moves, each power tag you have (and that is relevant to your action) adds one point of Power to your move. This improves your chances of succeeding and increases the effectiveness of your action. Each theme starts with 3 power tags. You must answer the first power tag question in your Themebook. Then answer two more of your choice. For each theme, you can only have one broad power tag. A broad power tag is one that would be useful in many different situations. Power Tag Questions Answer the first question (A) from your chosen Themebook, and then choose two more questions from the following list to answer. Your answer should be a short description no more than a few words long. Each answer becomes a power tag. A) What do you need most to carry out your mission? A vast network of contacts. F) Pursuing your mission had made you... Question everything and everyone. G) What is the root of your commitment to the task at hand? Love for the game. WEAKNESS TAGSWeakness Tags depower your moves but earn you Attention. They always describe something limiting (ask yourself: what actions would this weakness tag impede?). Each theme starts with 1 weakness tag. You can answer any weakness tag question in your Themebook. Extra tags! In one theme of your choice, you may add one additional power tag and one additional weakness tag. D) Why have you not succeeded so far? It goes much deeper than I ever realized. Training Four-Times KSL Champion Identity:Every Logos theme has a statement, called an Identity, which describes some aspect of your character that they believe about themselves. I am a master of Starblade. Some people are born with a gift, a thing at which they excel beyond all limits. Ra'id's gift is Starblade. It calls to him, and its secrets are revealed to him like an open book. How could he not love something as natural to him as breathing? The game is beautiful. When he plays it, this ugly, awful world becomes beautiful as well. Attention: {_} {_} {_} Crack:You mark Crack when your character's Identity demands something of them, but they fail to deliver. If your character continues to ignore their Identity and marks the third Crack box, you replace the theme with a new Mythos theme instead. {_} {_} {_} POWER TAGSWhen you take action using one of the Core Moves, each power tag you have (and that is relevant to your action) adds one point of Power to your move. This improves your chances of succeeding and increases the effectiveness of your action. Each theme starts with 3 power tags. You must answer the first power tag question in your Themebook. Then answer two more of your choice. For each theme, you can only have one broad power tag. A broad power tag is one that would be useful in many different situations. Power Tag Questions Answer the first question (A) from your chosen Themebook, and then choose two more questions from the following list to answer. Your answer should be a short description no more than a few words long. Each answer becomes a power tag. A) What do you do, or know, best? Strategy and tactics. E) What quality or trait did your training foster? Always be decisive. J) What unusual new application of your training are you exploring? Playing games of incomplete information. WEAKNESS TAGSWeakness Tags depower your moves but earn you Attention. They always describe something limiting (ask yourself: what actions would this weakness tag impede?). Each theme starts with 1 weakness tag. You can answer any weakness tag question in your Themebook. Extra tags! In one theme of your choice, you may add one additional power tag and one additional weakness tag. C) Who is after you due to your prominence in the field? My pupil that I mentored. Crew Crew A list of your crew members, and the Hurt and Help points you have for each. Name Help Hurt Rift - - Rift - - Rift - - Rift - - Story Tags & Nemeses Story Tags A space for other permanent tags you might acquire during the game. Nemeses A list of the Nemeses you gained by replacing themes. Character Progression Development A track of your overall character growth. When it's full, you reset it and choose a Moment of Evolution. {_} {_} {_} {_} {_} Moments of Evolution to choose from: {_} Choose another broad power tag {_} Gain an extra theme: Ally {_} Gain an extra theme: Base of Operations {_} Gain an extra theme: Ride {_} Get closure from your Nemeses {_} Go through a transformation {_} Leave the City {_} Make one Core Move permanently Dynamite! {_} Make one Core Move permanently Dynamite! {_} Make one Core Move permanently Dynamite! {_} See through the Mist Edited February 5 by Azerian Kelimon (see edit history) Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azerian Kelimon Posted February 4 Author Clone Share Posted February 4 (edited) Personality 'All sharp angles and edges' is a good way to summarize Ra'id Liang's personality. He is quick-witted, sharp and cutting with his choice of words, decisive in times of action, and constantly trying to see any given situation from multiple angles. Not given to long speeches, he prefers to get right to the point, and let others make of his words what they will. Though willing to work long and hard for his goals, he is naturally impetuous, and prefers to take action when he sees an opportunity rather than lie back and wait for things to unfold. Unafraid of taking risks, he's good at maintaining grace under pressure, and while quick to anger, his ability to remain stone-faced in the face of provocation has served him well in the past. While 'on duty', for what his own definition of duty is, Ra'id is indefatigable, relentless and implacable. Other people have remarked on how exhausting it is to spend time with him, and they're not wrong. He is rather different when he feels he has time to relax, however, revealing a more thoughtful, contemplative side that takes pleasure in discovering new things and broadening his horizons. Speaking at length with him during such times reveals a mind that thinks in a way almost orthogonal to common thought, always ready to offer new perspectives and challenge commonly accepted wisdom. He respects and admires excellence profoundly, in all its forms, and finds himself drawn to it at all times. Even in those that oppose him, he can admire skills that are clearly finely honed and developed. His aesthetic tastes reflect this, as he finds himself strongly drawn towards media that features particularly strong individual performances, such as albums by talented soloists and movies with tour de force showings. He is very slow to trust, and quick to assume the worst in others, but once given good reasons to grant it, his loyalty is almost unbreakable. Appearance Ra'id's appearance is a study in contrasts. Of average height and with a slim build, his features trend boyish by nature, but his expressions, usually wary, reserved or focused, tend to age up his looks, making him appear his proper age of thirty-something. He has an aquiline nose, broad lips, and sunken eyes, brown in colour, and black hair. Or at least, it used to be black, before it recently started falling off, which, after much internal deliberation, led to shaving the rest of it off, leaving his scalp bare. Early onset baldness, or a side effect of his Mythos' effect on him? Hard to say, but either way, he is not amused. He can most often be seen wearing a sports jacket in the black and white colours of the Daozeng Singularities, his former team, in what is both a show of defiance to being cast out from it and an expression of loyalty to the group in which he developed his craft, and it is impeccably matched and complemented by his choice of trousers gloves (usually biker ones) and accessories (he is fond of wearing one earring on his left ear, in particular). Combined, his looks and ensemble suggest a man standing at a crossroads -- between youth and age, past and future, loyalty and independence, as suits the channeler of the mythos of the man who fractured Rome and unified its factions. The Pride There's a lot of people out there in the world. Millions upon millions, all of them trying to make it through life without a clue on how to do it because some jackass forgot to bundle in an instruction manual when they shipped us this game. It's tough making progress. There's no retries out there in the world, no redos. Whatever results you get, you carry forward into your next challenge, and it snowballs from there. So you need luck and talent to succeed at life, in industrial quantities. I thought I had both. Turns out maybe I have neither. Not if I got any say about it, though. The game ain't over yet. And I'm not gonna quit until I win. Where to start...right. It all starts with Starblade. There's nothing quite like it anywhere in the world. The game's a miracle. Sometimes emulated, never replicated. So good it practically killed its genre, cause what was the point of trying to do better? It was a huge part of my childhood, especially after Dad got killed. He was a diplomat, you know? Stationed in the middle east, met my mom and had us there. Got killed by a drone strike. To this day I still don't know who did it. Few chances of finding out, either. Anyway...Starblade. I needed to take my mind off the fact Dad was gone, and it was the perfect outlet. You wouldn't believe the amount of hours I poured into it. Thousands upon thousands. Went from little kid to grown-up playing it. So the second I was old enough, I moved to the City to try and carve my name in its scene. It's the mecca of Starblade, after all. Can't make it big if you're not where the scene is. I didn't have two pennies to my name after moving in, but it didn't matter. You ever felt like you just knew what was going to happen? Like a gamble you were taking was all risk, no reward? It was kinda like that. Couple days later, I tore through an amateur tourney and took first place. Got signed up to the Singularities before the day was out. That's when the real grind started. Being a pro gamer sounds like a dream job, doesn't it? You literally get paid to play video-games. Except it's not quite like that. You gotta follow a diet and exercise to keep your body sharp, because you can't micro if you're feeling sluggish. You gotta spend hours and hours studying your own replays and those of others, to see what you did wrong and why. You gotta balance playing enough to learn with taking care of yourself, because it's so easy to wreck your wrists or shoulder with RSI and knock yourself out of contention permanently. And you gotta lose. A lot. I hate losing. Pisses me off, and not at the guy who beat me. I don't like not being up to snuff, but there's no other way to realise just how far from perfection you really are. So you lose, and you lose some more, and you learn to take something from it so you start losing less. And eventually, you start to win more than you lose when playing someone who's better than you, until suddenly you're better than them. And then you gotta stay better than them. Think faster, come up with new strategies, experiment to find ways to shave seconds off your timings so they don't do the same to you. It's an arms race where the weapons never change, only how well you can use them. And it never stops. Man. I miss those days. Not the shitty team houses or all the oversight or the brutal regimes, that all sucked. But that feeling like I was pushing all the boundaries...my teammates, the game's, my own...it's addicting. There's nothing more thrilling that living on the cutting edge. And then, when I finally, finally won a KSL for the first time... ...Sorry. I need a minute. I can't even describe it. 'Ultimate rush' is such a cheap way of framing it. It's more like...like a piece of you clicks into place, and the puzzle that is your life suddenly gets a little clearer. Everything makes more sense after, even things that didn't add up before. It changed everything. Everything. And that's not even counting the acclaim and winnings. The look on Mama and Layla's faces when I told them I was going to buy them a house and bring them to the City with me... ...Yeah. Those were the days. The rest was almost falling action. More victories, more accolades, more titles to go by. More freedoms, as the house system fell apart and we all became free agents, setting our own schedules. I finally got to meet the City for real instead of being cooped up all day practicing builds. It's kinda shit, honestly, once you get to know it, but...even so, there's bits and pieces of charm underneath the surface. Like hidden easter eggs. Used to be real fun, meeting up with Layla or my ex for dinner and talking about what new secrets we'd found. I could go on and on about all the little things I found in my days off. It'd just be belabouring the point, though. We gotta talk about what happened next. Unfortunately. The Fall It's hard, talking about the day they kicked me out. Makes me wonder, sometimes, am I still alive? Because it feels like I've died once already. It was completely sudden. One day, everything was just dandy. The next, I woke up to a message saying my contract to Daozeng was terminated effective immediately. Called coach Zhongda to ask why, got told about the KSL decision. Called a couple KSL insiders I knew to work out just what the hell had happened, they told me to never call again. And that was it. No more interaction. They just cut me off. Threw me out like yesterday's garbage, because to them, that's all I was. Nothing I tried afterwards worked. Calls bounced. A lawsuit stalled in legal hell (pretty sure it's still ongoing, actually). People refused to open up their doors when I rang a bell. Fans tossed rotten fruit at the walls of my flat for a couple weeks, but after that, it was like I got unpersoned. Deleted. Felt like I was going insane. I fell into depression. Went out on long walks, trying to make sense of what had happened, getting more and more worked up with each passing minute. I didn't even play for months. Felt...wrong. Like whatever was wrong with me that'd caused it to happen might leak into the game and killed it outright if I touched it. Mama was the one who snapped me out of that funk. Said it was about time I got my ass back in gear and started playing again. So I went to this gaming den...place was filthy as all hell, like, damn, owner had never met a mop in his life he liked...and I sat down and I played a couple games. And I lost. Horribly. Some little brat whose balls hadn't even dropped laughed at me and called me out for playing so badly. And suddenly, six hours had passed and I was myself again. And I knew what I had to do. It was time to get my life back. (I beat the crap out of that little punk in Starblade, by the way. Lil' B-Rank amateur got sonned that day. You might think it's petty of me to feel so smug about it, but I don't give a damn. You don't get to be known as the Sword of God if you let anyone else make a fool of you. I got a reputation to maintain against all comers, no exceptions allowed.) The Awakening 'Course, I didn't know where to start. That's the problem with getting cut off. You have to start building up connections from scratch again. Thank God I don't give up after a loss. I broke into the house of Chaser one night (you don't know who he is? Damn. Guess there really is no prize for second place, huh. We came up into KSL the same year. He was the only guy in that crop who even kind of, sort of got why the timings Sols were using back then were so whacked out. We talked secret tech every day, pretty much, and were tight ever since). He almost called security on me, but I promised to kill him if he did and half meant it. Once he finally calmed down, we talked. Apparently KSL wanted the match fixing scandal hushed up, no matter what. Told everyone that if they spoke up, their asses would meet the highway. Blackmail's got a way of making people do whatever the hell you want them to do. Learned that lesson well that night. Anyway. Chaser said the scene was not actually as hostile to me as it looked. People remember the best of the best, no matter what, and several people thought it was all bullshit. He promised to get them in touch with me on the down low, open comms for me. All I had to do was prove I still had it, let people start remembering why they called me Al-Nayyir, The Enlightened, and the rest would sort itself out. So I did. I was back on the grind again. It wasn't long before this shady-ass SOB sidled up to me one day and asked me if I was interested in a high-stakes match. Quick aside here: Starblade is huge. KSL runs only three times a year, and that leaves a lot of empty space to fill. Unofficial competitions fill those gaps. Not sanctioned, not recognized, but the payouts are huge. Even pros do it on the side under fake handles, because it's a good way to line your pockets if you win. Fans are diehard, and they'll sponsor all sorts of matches, both standard and weird, to get their fill. Long story short, this was my chance to prove I couldn't be ignored. So I signed up. As Kaiser, my main handle. It wasn't about the money for me. It was about sending a message to everyone who saw that stream. I don't think I've ever been as nervous before as I was on the night of the money match. It took place in a club, you know? A goddamn nightclub, smack dab in the middle of the industrial zone. I'm not sure if the crowd was Starblade fans but they were juiced out of their minds. Hooting and hollering like we were playing at the football stadium...and I got this real bad feeling. Sickly, nasty, in the pit of my stomach, like my dinner had curled up and died in there. And then it was time to sit down and start playing. I got shepherded to a soundproof, curtained booth. Never got to see my opponent directly. It only took ten minutes into the first match to realise who my opponent was. Genghis. The Tyrant. Only guy who could keep up with me when I was in KSL. Two-time champion. And obviously, still as good as he'd ever been. Shit. I got crushed. It wasn't even close. Thank god it was a best of five. I asked for a quick bathroom break, and barely made it to the men's room before I threw up. Did he know? Had someone sent him here on purpose? For a second, I was this close to just giving up and going home right there. And then, I looked up. And there, on the mirror...I saw myself, but not myself. Speaking, even though my mouth was sewn shut. And if I just focused, like really, really focused, I could hear it... ...And then it all clicked. Hard. And all the choices and their outcomes unfurled before me on the mirror, like I'd finally found the map to life everyone's always looking for. It was real simple. Was it enough to just be Ra'id? Or did I want to be the Kaiser once again? That's all it came down to. Yeah. When put like that, it wasn't even a choice. The sick feeling in my stomach vanished. In a master commander's vocabulary, fear does not exist. I made it back to the booth and said game on. This time, I wasn't playing around. The battlefield was all around me, and my soldiers, my braves that always counted upon me to guide them to victory, were waiting for my orders. And I looked and saw cracks in the defences, predictable gaps we could exploit. All it took was a gesture and a command, and my men streamed in, forcing it wide open. It was a risky manoeuvre. Dangerous. Bold. And that was why it succeeded. The world doesn't bow down to cowards. ...I came to about an hour later. By that point, the emcee was banging on my booth's door. It was all over but the crying. 3-1. Not a clean sweep, but absolutely devastating. No room for doubt. And the crackheads outside were screaming my name. 'KAISER! KAISER! KAISER!'. But it sounded like something else. Kai-sahr. Caesar. Hail Caesar That night sent out a message, alright. Ever since then, people remembered I existed, for good and ill. Lot of doors opened up...and a lot of thugs have tried to break my neck too. Lot of challengers trying to set up a match with me, too. I'm still going down the list whenever I got a moment. That's gotten to be rare, though. In-between the training regime, chasing down leads, and all the attention that's come my way...well, let's just say I've been busy. Like I'm back to the good old days. But things are different now. What happened that night...there's a part of me that wants to forget about the game. Move on to bigger and better things. My place as champion isn't the real prize. What is? Hell if I know. It's not exactly clear. How could I just forsake what I've been working towards like that? And yet...sometimes, it feels like I could own this city. Sometimes, it feels like I should. I'm playing a whole new kind of game now. A game with new rules that I don't understand, with stakes higher than anything I've ever seen before. So far, I've learned a couple things: A) I'm not crazy. There IS something weird going on with me, and more than that, with the city. Almost no one else can see it, but just because something makes no sense to them doesn't mean it ain't right. As in the game, in the world, I guess. B) Whatever this weird thing is, people can tell I've got it, even if they don't know what it is. You know how some people have 'it'? That, times a thousand. I know what it's like to be famous and admired, but this is different. It's more like...belief. Ironclad certitude that whatever it is they think about me is right. I can direct it, mostly, but the more I do it, the more people come after me like I owe them money. Nothing's free in life, and this least of all. C) It's alive. Sort of. It's like a voice in the back of my head, trying to nudge me in certain directions. It's not like some kind of possession, though. More like...an intrusive thought, almost? Like it comes from inside me, and it is me, but it's also not me. Not really. And it's very familiar. Every time I listen to it, it feels like I've done this before, and I can almost guess which way it's gonna go. Like things that happen were supposed to happen. Strangest feeling. I don't like it. Knowledge is power, but it feels like it's power gained by losing control. D) It's hungry. Half the time, it feels like I just lost big time against someone I shouldn't have. I can shut it out, sometimes, but any time I'm paying attention to it, the urge to go out and do some crazy shit comes roaring back in. It's very distracting. I gotta find some way to tamp down on it, and soon. E) I think people knew about this long before I did. Or at least, some people did. I've found some leads that make no sense otherwise. Someone pulled strings at KSL to get me kicked out because they were worried about what could happen if I kept on winning. It sounds nuts, but this one guy I was talking to in a dive bar got shot through the window by a sniper bullet. That doesn't happen unless you've pissed off someone with plenty of weight to throw around. And I got this letter, an actual, no bullshit physical letter, that just said "It's about time you showed up, champ. See you soon. —Glory". I don't know any glories besides the ones I won at a tournament. What the hell is going on? I gotta dig deeper and work out just what kind of game I've joined. There's a lot I have to learn, but I know one thing for sure: I still don't like losing. I'm going to win this game too, no matter what it takes. Edited February 5 by Azerian Kelimon (see edit history) Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azerian Kelimon Posted February 5 Author Clone Share Posted February 5 Name and describe a place of interest in the City. The Agon Arena is one of the greatest competitive venues the city's ever seen. Capable of hosting 30,000 souls, it has played witness to spectacular concerts, stirring victories from the City's local teams, crushing defeats, and even stirring political rallies. If a big event is going down, odds are good the Agon will bear witness to it. Built just 20 years ago, it feels like it's been part of the City since its inception. Emotions run high whenever participants take the stage, and rumours abound that once upon a time, beloved basketball star Ben Rikers committed suicide within its confines after a devastating loss. It's said that late at night, when the arena's all cleared out, anyone who remains is overcome by a crushing sense of melancholy, product of Rikers' lingering grudges and unfinished business over not being able to claim a title. Give me the name and description of a local Contact. It could be someone in your circle, or someone from your old life who you can still go to for help. Aleksandr "Sasha" Rubakov, AKA Chaser. Entering the Daozeng Singularities on the same year as Kaiser did, Chaser has had the misfortune of spending his entire career in his shadow. This is a shame, as he possesses excellent skills of his own, remaining at the top of the game for more than a decade. Though he has never won a KSL championship, Chaser is widely considered to be one of the strongest players around, as well as one of the funniest guys in the business, for which reason he is widely liked and appreciated. Extremely pale, with blonde hair and blue eyes, it's sometimes joked that he must be a ghost that haunts the Starblade scene and stubbornly refuses to pass on. Where do you go to unwind? The Grand Splendid Athenaeum used to be a theatre, once upon a time. Those days are long gone, but that doesn't mean the Athenaeum has fallen on hard times. Quite the opposite, actually; a retooling led to it becoming a massive multi-storey café, with rows of tables lining its various levels surrounding the stage, upon which various musical performers are invited to participate to provide colour to its guests' meals. Though the café skews classical, more modern performers (Jazz bands, electronic music artists, and even the occasional rock or pop star) have graced its stage on occasion. It is one of the prides of Downtown, showcasing the district's ingenuity and ability to adapt to the times, standing at the fringes of the spots where the district connects to the Old Quarter. Some envious tongues whisper that it was 'stolen' from the Old Quarter when it was renovated, but these are surely baseless allegations with no grounding in reality. What does this sprawling metropolis have in abundance? Secret beauties. The City looks grim and hopeless on the surface, but that's just the facade it's learned to present for itself. Look under the surface and you can find a countless amount of hidden gems. Street musicians so skilled they could bring tears to your eyes, old drive-in theatres that keep copies of films thought long lost, doctors who lost their license but can perform life-saving miracles. It boggles the mind that so few (almost none) of these jewels become well-known. It's almost like something (or someone) is suppressing the knowledge of them before they become widespread. But who would have an interest in such a thing? What does it lack, or need more of? Honest competition. The have-nots scratch and claw at each other looking for any meager gains they can get, but the people in power just grow more powerful, day after day, year after year. The City's upper echelons have grown stagnant and unchanging. The City cries out for renewal and renovation, but no one's managed to step up to the plate and change its workings yet. What do you fear most about the world today? The City's a cruel, cruel mistress. It's not enough to be smart, or skilled, or talented to succeed here -- something else is required to make the big time. Luck? Fate? Who knows? But it's something most people lack, and it's fleeting. One day, you can be the king of the world, and next day you can become an also-ran. There's no sure path to success, and anyone can lose it all at any time. There's no rest and no release, no matter who you are. What is a recent rumour that you've heard? Word on the street is that recently, several notable buildings across the City have been found with their walls covered in spray painted designs of exquisite beauty and elaborate complexity. There's street artists aplenty in the City, so this by itself would not be terribly remarkable, but apparently, these graffiti tell a story...and what's even more interesting is, apparently those who study them find eerie coincidences within their lives that mimic the story painted on the walls. Who's the artist behind the Neverending Story, as it's come to be called? And are the events the scholars of the paint have uncovered just that, or is there a grander design at work? Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azerian Kelimon Posted February 5 Author Clone Share Posted February 5 Hokay, I think everything's done! Reserving this post in case I need to add anything more, but aside from finding a pic, I think Ra'id's sheet is all complete! Name xDiceName xDiceResult xDiceString xDiceRolls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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