Pageturner

[Bryden]

In an alternate world, all has long crumbled. The once-great cities are in ruin and everything is bleak. The sky is the the healthy blue it ought to be, but a rusted and dusty red. Grass does not grow. Any plants who want to make it had better be able to grow in dry earth or now- the only two ground types left any more. Remaining people live in colonies that resemble hippie communes- self supporting and totally self contained.
Business as usual, however, as the world has been this way for a very, very long time now.

The people are divided into strict castes- the protectors, the healers, the feeders, the holders, and the keepers.
The most useless of these are the keepers. But nobody realizes just how powerful these 'useless' ones are.

The keepers hold all of the knowledge- all of the books. They live in their own specialized colonies on the outskirts of the usual communities, housed in towering fortresses lined with books.
Few are left who know the art of the page, and fewer still who care.
But the power is great. Wouldn't you love to read out a picture? For what you say aloud to come alive- literally? As far as the rest of the castes are concerned, Keepers can tell stories and make pretty pictures appear in the air. But it is so much more then that.

They can read into stories, too. Go into these worlds and retrieve what they need. Or take themselves into a story to stay. And with a world so bleak, who wouldn't want that? Why do you think there are so few left who know the art?
But this power is a secret. And with good reason. The power can be harmful to both book and user. And there are too many who would abuse it.

Particularly the fanatics- religious crazies who think books are for burning, and are known to perpetrate great acts of violence to keepers.
And as the keepers are seen like useless relics in an illiterate world, the fanatics are gaining power. Fast.

Something must be done if the world is to survive.

[Bryden]

Bio skeleton:

Name:
Age:
Quote:
Class
Appearance:
Personality:
Abilities:
History:
Other:

Names can be as normal or strange as you like- this world is a melding of realism and fantasy. (So some of the books might be familiar, like Wizard of Oz, others might be brand-new.)
Ages can range as far as you like. I do love kids in an RP, but note that making a powerful geezer is always a blast.
Quotes, in honor of Eva, who always throws them in anyway.

To explain the Caste/Class system:
You are born into the group your parents were in. People ARE allowed to marry outside of their caste, but it is extremely rare and rather taboo. In those RARE (see that word? It means don't everybody jump into mixed-couples) RARE cases, the child is allowed to choose which side of the family to follow.
Protectors are warriors
Healers are doctors and medicine (wo)men
Feeders are farmers, and that is no easy job around here
Holders are the political leaders
Keepers... I explained this XD
The fanatics could almost be considered a caste of their own, as the members abandon all they did before in favor of perusing The Ideal.
Personality and appearance ought to be self-explanatory, but as a heads-up you can make them look strange as you please, so long as they are humanoid. Odd hair colors welcomed!
Abilities will fit in with castes, as only protectors are actively trained to fight, but anyone can attempt to teach themselves (that doesn't mean you get to be a feeder who is also a kung-foo master- you're attempting to farm in a wasteland you don't have time to get a black belt by yourself! Be reasonable).
History is a no brainer
As is Other

Have fun with it people!

[Bryden]

IMPORTANT NOTE DO NOT SKIP THIS

You see what I did there? In MOA? About the killing? Yah, well its here too. YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK PERMISSION TO KILL ANYBODY'S CHARACTER.
Does that include mine? Yes it does.
Does that mean you get to have a random whirlwind sweep up and kill everyone threatening or annoying you? No it doesn't. You need to have a realistic, legitimate reason for killing them. It must fit into the story. They must be given a chance to defend themselves, no one-post kills and no sneaky pillows-to-the-face.
Is this a guarantee that somebody is going to kill you? Certainly not! Just because there is an option, it does not mean it WILL happen. In fact, I'm betting that nobody will enact this power at all. I jut want everyone to know that is COULD happen.
Why am I doing this? Because we've all gotten too soft in our writing. We need to write for the very lives of our characters. There has been too much backbiting and undermining and glomming on RPs around here of late. We can all do better then that! And we all know it. We've been letting ourselves get away with too much. And I am tired of it.
Our laziness ends here. If you can't handle it, don't join in the first place.

That said, I do encourage everyone to join. I want us all to grow and learn and become better writers for this. Sure, it might take some time to get used to, and the system may need perfecting. But I hope to one day have ALL RPs on the site like this. Have faith. You know you can write your way out of anything, and I'm talking to every person here. Remember tat it isn't everyone else against you, as everyone has equal power here. Even the weakest character could get in a lucky shot and kill the most powerful. Don't be afraid.

I sometimes feel like each story is a parallel world, and when we stop writing, the world slows and stops. This RP is so much about that, that I want it to live. For the characters' sakes.

[Bryden]

Name: Aja Rellina
Age: Fourteen
Quote: (oh, we had one, but it was too badly stuttered to be understandable)
Class Keeper
Appearance: A waif of a girl, looks underfed and probably is (but, then, most children are these days). Slouches a lot, as if trying to make herself disappear. She is skinny, but very tall, more so then plenty of adults, giving the impression of a scare crow in a dress. Her hair is violently blue (natural color tone in these parts), skin is chalky (less to do with natural tone, more to do with never going outside), and her eyes are blue striped with gold (natural again).
She wears her uniform clothes- various baggy outfits, both pants and dresses, all in uniform blue-with-gold colors of her Library. Like a flag on your body.
Personality: Shy, nervous, an utter mouse of a person. Aja barely speaks to the people she is very close to and knows very well. Strangers pretty much assume she's mute, for all she talks. Any sort of violence, including that in books, makes her blanch and usually head for the hills. Cannot handle swearing or yelling or rough speech of any sort (can you blame her? She grew up in a whispering world). She's really just a frightened little kid.
Abilities: She could be the greatest keeper of them all. She has an amazing tone, a natural gift for eking out the feeling of a passage, no book is too tick or pages too thin. No text too cramped. She was reading before she was talking! She's an amazingly fast learner, you need only tell her something once and she GETS it. Just as good of a teacher. Her gift shines... shame about that stutter. You need a steady, even voice to work the art. But Aja stammers and spoils it all. Every single time.
History: Orphaned at a young age, Aja was raised by the one who is considered the greatest keeper in recorded history. And keepers KNOW recorded history. Everyone was in awe of him... to her, he was just "Grandfather". He taught her everything he knew, and recognized that she could surpass him, easy. In spite of her stutter, he always encouraged her, even as she was teased by the other keeper children and withdrew totally into the books she couldn't read herself into.
But about a year ago, he went into a book... and never came out. Nobody will agree to go look for him (its a pretty intense book), and the only one who would if she could- Aja- can't.
Alone now, Aja is stuttering worse then ever and is treated like an invalid by most everyone else.
Other:


Name: Wode Ninck
Age: Twenty five
Quote: "I don't care. Burn it all."
Class Fanatic- originally a Protector
Appearance: Young and dashingly handsome. Real 'Tall dark and silent' type. Dark eyes, dark hair- you know that brown shade that's black until the light hits it? If that came in red, it would be Wode exactly, oh wait, it DOES come in red here! Tall and striking, very strong, though by no means a walking triangle. Not enough food around to fuel a body like that. Even the scars on his torso and the long one across the side of his face only add to the overall effect. Ladies, eat your hearts out. Strong, handsome, and with a dreadful lot of power- oh, the whole shebang!
Personality: Charming, winsome, brilliant in conversation and in battle, of course. How could he not be? But also cruel, sadistic, vengeful, total perv- still think he's a catch? We all knew that was coming, didn't we? Wode is everything you DON'T want in a powerful man. But he's so charismatic that the Fanatic rising practically belongs to him already.
Abilities: A gifted swordsman and firesmith- read "pyro with a knife". He can kick your ass twelve ways to Sunday. And he'd rather make it slow and painful.
History: He wanted to be a keeper. SO BADLY. But his parents were both protectors, and he had no choice. Even the keepers who would have accepted him had to bow to the whims of his parent and the local holders. It pissed him off a lot. He channeled his rage into a hate for the keepers, and then channeled THAT into his training. He learned fast and became a very dangerous teenager.
When a recruitment officer for the Fanatics came a-knocking, Wode threw it all away to sign up and win his vengeance. He's torched enough since seventeen to fill the library of congress... and the flames hunger for more.
Other: No patience whatsoever. He'd be the best if he could hold his horses for half a second. But he can't. And he vehemently refuses to take criticisms.

[Gafe]

I like the idea, bravo. Expect a bio sometime this week... I hope.

[Gafe]

Name: Delphos Pallatea
Age: Seventeen
Quote: "Gather 'round everybody, you're up for a tremendous amount of impossible sightseeing!"
Class: Keeper
Appearance: Del's muscles are not very pronounced. He does his share of work, at the book fortresses... which isn't enough to be called active exercising.. He walks with perfect posture and joyous paces, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Although he hasn't completely developed as an adult, it is apparent Delphos would make quite a good holder; except he can't.
His hair is one strange thing: it curls up, in a spiky manner, at the top, but falls quite gracefully straight in the back and front. It is colored in an. . . auburn redish, blondish mixture of color. Del's eyes are the old, boring brown color; sure, they sometimes show his brilliant understanding of several topics, but the dull brown nonetheless. His skin is not pale, but rather tan (because, if there's one thing he likes to bring up via words is sunlight).
His attire is a strange thing, what with a black shirt and pants under a heavy navy-blue coat that reaches his knees which is under an almost-black purple that is under a white cloak itself. All in all, this outfit screams heavy. And a book under his arm, always with a book (just one). He states that all the clothing lets him channel his words in a better way. Somehow.

Personality: Delphos loves the spotlight, though perhaps not in a passionate way, he does in unspoken appreciation. When he goes outside of the book fortresses, he doesn’t hesitate in making ‘pretty pictures’ appear for the entertainment of others. He is familiar with hard work (working in those fortresses ain’t a breeze, you know? Especially since Keepers started travelling into books), but is, obviously, not a big fan of it as he would much rather sit down and enjoy a good read. He’ll still do his bit to help out, of course.
Delphos and language have a connection similar to mutualism: he can’t live without them, and they come out in a splendorous manner out of his mouth. He liked to believe they need each other. It is fit to say that, more of a reader, Del fancies himself an orator.
And then there's the subject of love. He has never experienced the feeling, he has never felt a unique feeling of appreciation for another, has never shared his life experiences with anyone in a romantic way. And this makes Del blind to several things.

History: Delfos was born to a couple of Keepers lucky enough to have never encountered - or be encountered by - the Fanatics. Honestly, his parents were nothing special, his father actually lacked much talent because he usually did not carry out his duties. But still, he was raised and educated in the way of Keeping by his mother and father who did a decent job at it. At the age of twelve, a book fortress neither of the three had ever been in, called out for aid from other Keepers, as several of their own had been... disposed of by the Firefanatics. Del's mother decided to send her son to help out and be trained by other - and surely better - Keepers.
Upon arrival he was awed by the Keepers he met and their superior skill, and resolved to surpass them one day... but not in the strict sense of the word. He wanted to perform the 'pretty pictures' to others, to non-Keepers and become known for his ability to create. Books are alright, but speaking the words in the books, reading them out loud gives him much more pleasure. He actually tends to sneak out of the book fortress to entertain some people every now and then. But in his arrival, he was also awed by the tremendous hate and destruction the Fanatics cause. Deep down, he is afriad of them.

[Vale]

Name: Allaster Kain
Age: 30
Quote----about him: "Allaster remained aloof from the world's suffering. Bent only upon his own perfection of being a Keeper, he remained inside several texts---until of late in which he has appeared with a new agenda."
Class: Fanatic---Once A Keeper
Appearance: Allaster has a type of platinum blonde hair which shimmers like snow on a wedding dress. Assuming people still remembered what snow was. His eyes were said to be like quarter sized dullen emeralds, the mark of a man who has seen too much to keep reading. He stands roughly half a book shelf high, averaging around 6'1 to 6 feet. He was one of the Teachers of Keepers until he entered a book and became far more callous. (Brave New World). His ideals changed and his eyes lost their shimmer---leaving the dull clovers behind. One might have said that he was beautiful once, now his purpose is to destroy every single text in existence----but to what end?
Personality: Allaster was once a man who could enlighten entire colonies with the words that would dance out of his mouth, a gifted Keeper in a few colonies but not even close to Legendary Standings. He is currently only a shell of his former self---destroying text after text. He once believed that the lost in the past pages of history lied the salvation to the future. Needless to say, "Things have changed."
Abilities: Mediocre Endurance and Strength, his true power lies in his ability to Water-Craft: A Trait in which is believed to be from his days as a Keeper. While other Fanatics slash and burn, Allaster freezes and moistens books.
History: Allaster Kain was born to Two Keepers from a Snow-Ridden Colony and ever since his indoctrination of the Library, he's always had an affinity for texts which recalled the times of great oceans, and snowy mountain peaks. Upon his 25th Birthday, his Library was frozen in a solid chunk of ice---all of it's texts destroyed, and Allaster was no where to be found.

Now it is known, several years later, that he leads a coalition of other Fanatical groups to the North, destroying much in which he helped build.

Other: He is slowly losing his eyesight.

[Bryden]

You are both very in. Feel free to post in the topic! ^^

[Eva]

Fuck yeah I would've thrown in a quote.


Name: Samara Poe
Age: Thirty nine.
Quote:
From- "Find peace in the embrace of the truth."
About- "Ever hear about the Justicars? They're like Heretics with more firepower..."
Class: Former Protector. A Heretic, but she's all fancy and calls herself a 'Justicar'.
Appearance: Samara looks like someone who used to be really beautiful. She hasn't lost all of her charm, of course. A few wrinkles here and there, and her hair doesn't have that natural shine it used to, but overall, she could've aged a lot worse.
Samara's hair is a honey blonde with a gray strand in some spots. It is shoulder-length and usually tied into a bun or something similar. She stands at 5'11, an imposing woman if you ever did see one. Her face is actually quite stunning, with sharp cheekbones and a solid square jaw to contrast her constantly lit violet eyes(a color so rare that she can't help but be irrationally proud of it). Her skin is...still fresh, but not that great.
All in all, she's still an attractive woman with a strong frame. I mean, she's only thirty-nine. You people and your grossly inflated sense of age!
Personality: Samara is the type that will do anything in pursuit of her goals. She is utterly convinced of her own righteousness, so you can't do much to dissuade her once she gets the idea that what she's doing is correct. But she is not necessarily hard-headed. Samara can be convinced of things BEFORE she makes up her mind, and is quite rational during these times. Just don't try anything AFTER that time.
Samara tends to be soft-spoken and uses subtlety in her words. She dislikes vagueness and believes that it is a sign of a weak individual and a weak mind. She is very judgmental, obviously.
Abilities: Samara is a powerful psychic, capable of pushing and pulling with her mind, and quite a bit more than that. She has trained her mind and body for this since she was a child of six years old, and as a former Protector, you know she's not one to toy with. Still, there's a lot about her own powers that Samara has yet to master, and many of her techniques are still being tested. She's also got a sharp mind, so you're gonna have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on her.
History: Samara used to be a Protector, living in a colony that is now not much more than an empty hole. From an early age she showed great talent with fighting and a skill at using strange powers, so her eventual ascent into the role of Protector was not a surprise to anyone.
What was a surprise was how violently she reacted, at age 20, to the arrival of new colonists, all of whom were potential Keepers. The colony itself only had one, and for Samara, that was quite a bit more than was needed. These newcomers simply could not be tolerated. So Samara went to the few Protectors that she trusted, a group of nine women, and told them her plan. They all agreed.
So, with very little cinematics, the ten Protectors slaughtered the Keepers, new and old, as well as anyone, including other Protectors, who got in their way. Naturally, the rest of the colony saw a reason to be discontent with this, and exiled the ten of them. Not that Samara cared, mind you. Those poor fools were doomed ever since they allowed themselves to fall under the sway of the Keepers.
But what to do now? Well, Samara had an idea. She told her nine fellow Protectors that they were no longer protectors of people, but of an ideal. The ideal of realism, truth, and justice. Protectors...no. Justice. Justicars. They were the ten Justicars. So, using their abilities and other things of use, they created a small 'colony', really a base that comfortably fits a dozen people at the very most, to serve as their headquarters. And after that, the ten of them memorized the exact location of the HQ, and departed in ten separate ways to recruit followers and destroy the Keepers.
Other: The Justicars generally do not interact with other Heretics, as they believe that they are beneath them. Still, everyone else categorizes them as Heretics. Usually, when a Justicar and a Heretic meet, there is violence. It's a good thing there's not many of the first kind.

Hm. Older woman, Justicar, fanatical, Samara...I can't even in good conscience award teal points to whoever figures out who inspired this character.

Oh, Bry, if you don't approve of this character and the ideas in the bio, I have another character idea.

[Bryden]

eva, you one crazy bitch.

I love it! SO SO SO in.