Question 19

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

DeathClutch, what if he wants to overthrow Vondra because he just thinks Vondra is doing a terrible job and thinks he can do better?

[DeathClutch19]

DeathClutch, what if he wants to overthrow Vondra because he just thinks Vondra is doing a terrible job and thinks he can do better?

That is totally plausible, I just feel like its super cliche

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

That is totally plausible, I just feel like its super cliche

I'd say it's more of a trope. Tropes can be cliches, if handled poorly, but I don't think this one would wind up being cliche in our setting. The groundwork is already laid for a rebellion against Vondra, with his iron-fisted rule and people who voice their disapproval being jailed (as in one Orange Crush post) so it'd almost be a waste to not build on it.

[Citadel16]

add your own spin to it. make vondra someone he knew or something. it isn't a trope if you hit it with a personalizing hammer. 

[breakingamber]

I'm going to do something on an impulse. VANILLA TIME!!!!!!

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

add your own spin to it. make vondra someone he knew or something. it isn't a trope if you hit it with a personalizing hammer. 

 

Personalizing hammer. I like it.  

[breakingamber]

What do you think of this? For Portland?

 

Based on my Abaddon thread, do you think I'm going to insert a picture? Of course not.

 

Eliot Murdock scampered towards Chimera's zoo - there was no other word for it, scamper, as undignified as it was, was the only word that could be used to describe Eliot's movement. Sparks. They're here. The "Empire of Light" was at the entrance to Chimera's lair. I hate them. I hate them all. They'd burned down his world, his wife, his daughter... Sparks! Why did you burn down my street of all places? Ordinarily, he'd think dinosaurs are cool, but not here. Not in a world infested with Epics, with so little wiggle room for error. Then, he saw Chimera come out of his lair. 

 

The Epic was dressed in wolfskin, but he could detect, with his keen senses, that there was a tiny glint under the skin. Body armor. Surrounding him were a strange collection of animals. A wolf with porcupine quills, and wings. A bear with snake teeth. And a dragon up above.The two factions exchanged words like blows, when suddenly, Chimera asked a question that left Eliot Murdock grasping for straws. Even though he had come here for protection from the wolves, including Lightwards, Corpsemaker, and Altermind, and he had figured Chimera would be kindest to vanillas seeking refuge, but this question had caught him off guard. He knew that all Epics were jerks, and some of them just wanted to kill everyone and everything. He assumed that Chimera didn't really care about the vanillas under his "protection", and just wanted them for his experiments. He was fine with that. As long as he was safe from other Epics.

 

"What of the humans out there?" Either Chimera really cared, or... sparks. He just wanted more "experiments" Then he noticed the snakes circling around to flank the Empire of Light. Eliot let out a very audible whimper.

 

Someone edit this for me.

[DeathClutch19]

add your own spin to it. make vondra someone he knew or something. it isn't a trope if you hit it with a personalizing hammer.

Yes, Vondra is an old "Friend" from his CIA days. That could work. He would come to The Dalles to see a familiar face, and once there he realizes the poor rule of the people and decides to bring down the current government.

 

Edit: Ansgar was a friend of Vondra's son who served in the Military.

Edited April 16, 2016 by DeathClutch19

[Aonar]

Alright. I know Eternity got shot down pretty hard last time, but I think I've settled on a couple pretty solid fixes. Here's a new version of Eternity's powerset, hopefully revised enough that it's unobjectionable.

 

Primary: Temporal Manipulation. Eternity can bring time to a halt. While time is stopped, he cannot alter the things that are not also outside time. He can bring other nearby persons and objects outside the flow of time as well. When outside time, he can shift nearby things in and out of time at will; when in the regular flow of time, it takes an extreme amount of concentration and effort to shift things outside without moving himself as well. With nonliving matter, it will be removed from existence. With living matter, it is impossible to place it outside of time without consent, and even with consent it is extremely difficult to shift them physically. Whenever he steps back into the regular flow of time, everything he took with him will attempt to return with him, unless he dedicates effort to keeping it there. (The same rules apply for living and non-living matter.) If an Epic is brought outside time, their powers are nullified. However, all living matter brought outside time cannot be changed while it stands outside time; it cannot age or die, and cannot be injured.

 

Secondary: Minor Precognition. Eternity is aware of things that would harm him slightly ahead of time; his Temporal Manipulation kicks in instinctively before he would suffer harm.

 

Sorry if that's a little confusing, (I'm trying to do this from mobile, and it's a tad annoying.) but I think it should clear up the issues brought up, and allow me to keep the character the way I'd like them. Thoughts?

[Edgedancer]

Does this Character Work??

 

Name: Ansgar “Vali” Lindquist

 

Age: 28

 

Appearance: Pale skinned, Male, Blond hair, Blue eyes, Fairly tall around 6 feet, he wears black tactical gear that covers his entire body, and occasionally a japanese noh mask to disguise himself. He carries a colt M1911 and 2 K-bar knives sheathed on his thighs.

 

Personality: Mostly level-headed thanks to being educated and working for the CIA, but at times his temper can get the best of him. He prefers working alone because people cannot be trusted however using his background in psychology he often manipulates people he comes across. He is willing to do almost anything to survive. Has no remorse for killing. Most things don’t bother him,, being laid back is his key to survival. However he does hate Government and tends to appose authority. He avoids Epics as much as possible because even with his background, killing an Epic is highly improbable.

 

Skills: Extremely athletic due to his background in hockey, which also helps in hand to hand combat. Good with a gun and knives as well as trained in most types of combat thanks to his CIA days. He is educated so people rarely take advantage of him.

 

History: At the age of 18 Ansgar came to Seattle to play hockey in America. After his first year in the minors his lack of ability was clear. So he used the money he made to attend Washington State University. After attaining a degree in criminal psychology, he joined the CIA. Ansgar became a field agent and was sent off to many countries to carry out “peaceful negotiations” which was code for assassination. During his time as a field operative his codename was Vali because he was raised in born and raised in Sweden. Ansgar now goes by Vali to everyone but close friends. Shortly before the outbreak of epics Ansgar left the CIA and started a private investigation firm in Seattle. When the first wave of Epic attacks began and Seattle was ravaged, Ansgar gathered up his weapons and gear he had from his CIA days and headed to The Dalles in Oregon. He had heard that The Dalles were a safe haven for regular people like himself, that had not become Epics.

Does the CIA let his secret killers just take off after they became disillusioned with their jobs, taking their gear with them to do their own thing out in the open?

 

The age thing was simple, 18 + 1 year of hockey + 4 years of college + 4 years of CIA + 1 year off of the CIA doing his own stuff = 28 years old.

You forgot the 2 year recruitment process, I think, plus the near decade since Epics showed up.

 

I would just prefer him to be 28, I've had enough experience with govt. Agencies my dad works for the NSA and my cousins work with other agencies, I can assure you that this situation is totally plausible, it may not be a normal occurrence but it'd be plausible.

I'm sorry but unless you just put your family on a watch list by openly proclaiming that some of the secret government hitman have chats about their job with your relatives and those then tell you, I think that "relatives in other agencies" are not exactly a valid source of information for the really down deep matters like this.

 

Alright. I know Eternity got shot down pretty hard last time, but I think I've settled on a couple pretty solid fixes. Here's a new version of Eternity's powerset, hopefully revised enough that it's unobjectionable.

 

Primary: Temporal Manipulation. Eternity can bring time to a halt. While time is stopped, he cannot alter the things that are not also outside time. He can bring other nearby persons and objects outside the flow of time as well. When outside time, he can shift nearby things in and out of time at will; when in the regular flow of time, it takes an extreme amount of concentration and effort to shift things outside without moving himself as well. With nonliving matter, it will be removed from existence. With living matter, it is impossible to place it outside of time without consent, and even with consent it is extremely difficult to shift them physically. Whenever he steps back into the regular flow of time, everything he took with him will attempt to return with him, unless he dedicates effort to keeping it there. (The same rules apply for living and non-living matter.) If an Epic is brought outside time, their powers are nullified. However, all living matter brought outside time cannot be changed while it stands outside time; it cannot age or die, and cannot be injured.

 

Secondary: Minor Precognition. Eternity is aware of things that would harm him slightly ahead of time; his Temporal Manipulation kicks in instinctively before he would suffer harm.

 

Sorry if that's a little confusing, (I'm trying to do this from mobile, and it's a tad annoying.) but I think it should clear up the issues brought up, and allow me to keep the character the way I'd like them. Thoughts?

So, is there any kind of limit on the amount of material he can bannish outside of time, even if it only is at once. (so could he do it with an entire house.)

Edited April 16, 2016 by Edgedancer

[Aonar]

So, is there any kind of limit on the amount of material he can bannish outside of time, even if it only is at once. (so could he do it with an entire house.)

 

Could he banish an entire house? I'd say probably not. There isn't a hard limit on what he can banish (he could do a house's weight in solid steel pretty easily) it's mostly limited by complexity. (IE why living things are ridiculously difficult.) It'd be easier for him to do a wall, or a section of a wall, but even that is probably approaching his limits.

[Blackhoof]

Yeah, he could always have been simple military if you want him to have some combat skills. Plus, that is how he could know/know of Vondra. CIA is cool, but we don't know much about how they work (given that they are a spy agency) and we especially don't know how they handle their assassins. They don't even admit to having them, as far as I know.

 

And as was pointed out, the RP is set ten years after Calamity has risen, I believe. So if you want your character to be 28, he would thus be 18 when Calamity rises.... so his career isn't going to be happening in that case anyway.

[Voidus]

Yeah, he could always have been simple military if you want him to have some combat skills. Plus, that is how he could know/know of Vondra. CIA is cool, but we don't know much about how they work (given that they are a spy agency) and we especially don't know how they handle their assassins. They don't even admit to having them, as far as I know.

 

And as was pointed out, the RP is set ten years after Calamity has risen, I believe. So if you want your character to be 28, he would thus be 18 when Calamity rises.... so his career isn't going to be happening in that case anyway.

They do not, and I'm pretty sure that if they do indeed perform assassinations that they definitely don't just cut loose their assassins when they feel like a career change and leave them with their equipment.

Someone from a street gang might work to serve your purposes? They don't have a starting age, they definitely do employ hitmen and they still might have a good contact network.

[Edgedancer]

Could he banish an entire house? I'd say probably not. There isn't a hard limit on what he can banish (he could do a house's weight in solid steel pretty easily) it's mostly limited by complexity. (IE why living things are ridiculously difficult.) It'd be easier for him to do a wall, or a section of a wall, but even that is probably approaching his limits.

That sounds much more reasonable then, assuming that I understand it right and the "nneding consent from living people" also counts when he's already out of time.

 

[Kobold King]

Yeah, he could always have been simple military if you want him to have some combat skills. Plus, that is how he could know/know of Vondra. CIA is cool, but we don't know much about how they work (given that they are a spy agency) and we especially don't know how they handle their assassins. They don't even admit to having them, as far as I know.

 

And as was pointed out, the RP is set ten years after Calamity has risen, I believe. So if you want your character to be 28, he would thus be 18 when Calamity rises.... so his career isn't going to be happening in that case anyway.

 

 

I think this is your best bet, DeathClutch. There were a lot of National Guard units working in the States, but most of them were destroyed. Maybe he has a list of units and their deployment details that he's using to search for surviving divisions, which would lead him to The Dalles eventually just before he loses hope?

[mail-mi]

One small thing, Twi. I know this is late, but Gregory's like 22, not a teenager.  Though I guess Vaughn could see him like a teenager...

 

Also, is there anything for Reader to do? 

Edited April 16, 2016 by mail-mi

[Edgedancer]

One small thing, Twi. I know this is late, but Gregory's like 22, not a teenager.  Though I guess Vaughn could see him like a teenager...

 

Also, is there anything for Reader to do? 

Well, the last major attack lead to Reader being locked away, so...

[Voidus]

Is there anywhere else that needs any more Vanillas particularly? I'm in a creative mood and I want to stretch myself into focusing on details other than powers.

[Edgedancer]

Is there anywhere else that needs any more Vanillas particularly? I'm in a creative mood and I want to stretch myself into focusing on details other than powers.

It may be a bit ironic, given that you didn't want to focus on powers, but there's still spots open in Jack's squad.

[Voidus]

It may be a bit ironic, given that you didn't want to focus on powers, but there's still spots open in Jack's squad.

How long has his squad been around? Is it possible they'd want to keep one or two ungifted soldiers around just in case something unexpected happens? Given that Epic abilities and gifting isn't particularly well understood.

[Edgedancer]

How long has his squad been around? Is it possible they'd want to keep one or two ungifted soldiers around just in case something unexpected happens? Given that Epic abilities and gifting isn't particularly well understood.

I'm not sure if we ever set down the exact time but it's around for quite a while now. The members would be people that Jack considers suited for the job, so I don't think that he'd keep non gifted soldiers around.

[Voidus]

I mean a gifted soldier would be fun, I do enjoy the Immortals from the Wastelands RP, but I would probably rather a pure Vanilla. But I'll probably make one anyway.

[Edgedancer]

I mean a gifted soldier would be fun, I do enjoy the Immortals from the Wastelands RP, but I would probably rather a pure Vanilla. But I'll probably make one anyway.

If you feel like you can take all of that, go ahead.

[DeathClutch19]

Thanks for the input everyone, i'm just going to make a new character. I've had Ansgar written for many years and have used him in almost  all my first RP posts, so that is why I am not going to change him too much. That being said my new character will still be a Vanilla. 

[Voidus]

If you feel like you can take all of that, go ahead.

Unfortunately I find myself having more free time than I though I would right now so it should be easy enough.