Heart of Star v2.0 In a distant future, the gap between man and the stars has been bridged. The expanse of the galaxy was found to be more alive and more hostile than previously imagined. But the discovery of a new energy source continues to drive human kind deeper and deeper into the depths of the void; and further into the realm of the mysterious Specters that claim it as their own. More than an energy source, the crystal shards for which brave souls venture into the depths of the galaxy, emit a unique radiation that draws energy from the universe at the sub-quantum level. Harnessing these shards and tuning their energies can produce massive amounts of power and generate fields with unique and advantageous properties. These properties make the shards incredibly valuable commodities to governments and to trading organizations. It is for the chance at unbelievable wealth that the Shard Seekers risk their lives to harvest shards from the space faring creatures that live on the outer rim of the galaxy. They venture alone or in small groups to trap the more mundane shard baring life forms while avoiding the more dangerous ones and especially the questionably sentient Specters whose raids on the settlements have become more frequent in recent times. The Game: This game will be science fiction with a hint of steam-punk in style as the shard seekers tend to use simplistic but reliable shard powered tools and devices. The feel will largely be up to you however. To learn about the universe and the feel of the game please read these short story snippets You will be starting at a Shard Seeker rendezvous, where they gather to trade in the shards they have collected and to re-stock their supplies. There will be many types of people at the gathering, from dealers and company representatives to, tradesmen and military escorts. You may have your pick of any profession you can imagine, however, we will need at least a couple Shard Seekers on board for the game to work. The game will begin with a call to rescue a shard seeker stranded out on the Outer Rim. The story is going to be written mostly by YOU, and as such there are positions for a main protagonist and some supporting protagonist available to anyone with experience who wants them. These roles come with a few minimal constraints that shouldn’t effect the development of the character you want to create. Contact me by PM if you are interested. If you feel you have a good grasp of shard technologies please make use of it. Shard technology is still relatively new in this universe so more traditional tech is acceptable. The concept of using shards is to make very low-tech tools useful in a science fiction environment. For example an arrow or bolt or bullet shot through an energizing field becomes an energy blast. Likewise simple rods can be used to shape tachyon fields into ‘solar sails’ to provide lightweight and simple transport. See a description of fields below: Shard Fields De-energizing/defensive shield – These fields convert any energy including, laser blasts and kinetic energy, into matter. The efficiency of this transfer is proportional to the strength of the shard, the intensity of the field at the point of impact and the amount of energy to be converted. Middle range energy impacts, such as bullets and energy blasts are stopped easily, while interactions at the farther ends of the spectrum, such as a stealthy knife strike or a nuclear explosion will pass through the field more effectively. Energizing/Blast field – Essentially the opposite of a defense shield; this field converts a percentage of matter into a stream of radiation that follows the trajectory of the original object when it contacted the field. Again, the efficiency of the transfer is proportional to the intensity of the field, and the strength of the shard. In general the efficiency is much lower than a defensive field and results in a blast more akin to a pulse laser than an atomic bomb. Tachyon field - Sub quantum Tachyon energy was discovered to flow between the stars in celestial winds. Tach-fields harness these currents and translate them into kinetic energy, moving shuttles, skiffs and shard seekers on glowing energy sails across and between the planets. Shard fields are shaped and controlled by special carbon fiber rods. Be creative with how you use the shards, feel free to use the short story as a guide but keep your devices relatively simple and not so powerful that they god-mode the game. Specters: Specters are dangerous space faring creatures that will be developed more in story. Characters need to know that they are intelligent and hate humans. Their sentience is questionable, but one thing is certain they, want your shards. A specter cannot be truly killed, but a strong blast at its core will slow it down enough to allow escape. AI: Most individuals on the frontier have a companion AI to control their shards fields do menial tasks and keep them sane. AI’s are not quite self aware, but can develop personalities. However, please avoid turning your AI into a second character as this will become cumbersome. In the game they will be used primarily to develop your characters and expose the plot. As such the GM may take over your AI from time to time to move the plot further. Character Template: Keep your templates short and sweet, I prefer you to introduce your character by telling in story rather than by posting a detailed profile. The exception being the history and equipment which you should PM ONLY to the GM so that they can be not only approved but also so that the plot can be integrated your character. Name: Gender: Occupation: Personality: Age: History & Equipment: (PLEASE PM TO THE GM) The Rules: 1. GM is law and can break and modify his own rules without notice. 2. No god moding. Strive for balance among all other players. 3. No controlling other characters or named Non-Player Characters (NPCs). 4. You cannot kill other players or named NPCs unless told to do so. 5. Players can make generic (unnamed) NPCs if necessary so long as they do not obscure the goals or plot and do not persist for more than a couple posts. 6. No out of character content (OOC). Keep that to the Discussion Thread. 7. Please use third person perspective to maintain the flow of the story 8. Write the NEXT part of the story. Avoid re-capping. Use showing in the present to show how the character responds to previous posts; avoid re-telling entire previous posts from your character’s perspective. 9. First Post: Character Template 10. Second Post: Introduction in the bar 11. All questions should be directed to the GM. 12. No one-liners or short posts. Let’s shoot for 100 words + 13. Read all posts 14. Abandoned characters will be re-assigned or removed by GM. 15. FLAMING, INSULTING, OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF HARSHNESS THAT IS DELIBERATELY USED TO HURT SOMEONE ELSE’S FEELINGS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AT ALL, NOR ACCEPTED ANYWHERE ELSE AROUND THE FORUM. 16. Edit before posting. 17. View the Discussion Thread for less formal details and to direction in the game. 18. Dialogue from other posts should be put in BOLD type 19. Please feel welcome to make suggestions and negotiate with the GM!
Game approved! PM me your profiles! I'm hoping to get started posting within a week or so. All OOC (aside from approved character profiles) belong in the Discussion thread HERE
Name: Gertrude "Gerty" Ruth Wingleton Gender: Female Occupation: Shard Seeker Appearance: Very short, around five feet tall, with a large round face. Her eyes are grey, and sunken deep into her skull, with heavy shadows around them. Her hair is sloppily dyed pink, with brown roots showing. Her hair is self-cut, and hangs messily around her head, with bangs covering much of her face, with the exception of two small coves for her eyes. Personality: Withdrawn, and sarcastic. She generally acts out of self-interest. Age: 24
Name: Rael Searwin (pronounced rail or rye el) Gender: Male Occupation: Became a mercenary at 18 quit aged 24 and now works as a shard gatherer. Personality: Rael takes a while to trust people but will never abanden someone he cares for (or needs). Appearance: Stands at 6ft 2. His body is muscular with short black hair. His eyes are a baby blue. Age: 26 History & Equipment: Rael carries an energising drill that converts the matter it drills into energy. He uses a special glove to release the energy for offensive attacks. He wears simple clothes over a kevlar vest.
Name: Jax Roberts Gender: Male Age: 21 Occupation: Pirate, thief and shard seeker Appearance: He is about 5’7 with a muscled build. Jax right arm has been replaced by a robotic prostethis that extends from his shoulder. He has sharp features only added to by a crooked nose. His eyes are somewhat startling due to the fact that one is brown and the other is blue and his long and shaggy hair is dark brown. Personality: Confident (some might say cocky), sardonic/sarcastic, definitely selfish, a bit narcissistic, and can be cruel or dangerous. Weapon: His robotic arm has a tachyon whip, essentialy a metal whip that can be quickly extended from his arm and that can generate a energy field around it. It is a deadly weapon that can slash or latch onto things. Also his robotic arm is extremely strong, and can be used in close quarter combat (In other words he likes punching people with it).
Name: David Hawkins Gender: Male Occupation: Shard seeker Personality: David is aloof and disinterested in most things he keeps his history close to his vest, but wears his emotions on his sleeve. Age: 35 Appearance: David is a man of medium build and height with dark hair and hazel eyes. He is rarely seen not wearing his shard-harness and never without his standard seeker issue fitted E-suit which protects him from the vacuum and harshness of space. Bio (included for story purposes, see Discussion): Born to a poor family on a failing outpost, David got his start in the United Front Corps as an infantry man but washed out within two years. He hitchhiked across the colonized planets and stations surviving on odd jobs and more than a little petty larceny. Eight years ago he found his niche in the shard seeking market. He soon became known as one of the most daring, reckless, and profitable seekers on the outer rim. He was last seen at a seeker trading post saying that he was heading deep into the Outer Rim. Six months have passed since that time and neither the trading company for which he was contracted nor any other seeker has heard from him.
Name: Amber Rugarde Gender: Female Occupation: Off and on shard seeker; whatever other jobs come her way. Some ship maintenance and mechanical experience. Personality: Appears rather chipper to most people, but under the surface she is one of the most unhappy people imaginable. Hard to not like as an acquaintance, and impossible to actually know as a friend. Amber has the personality of two people; a rough and rowdy tomboy, and a deeply scarred girl. Nobody’s seen the latter. Age: 26 Appearance: Rather unkempt, but not dirty. She wears light clothes, and has one platinum ring on her finger. Amber is 5’ 7”, and is very slender and light. Her skin is very tough, and under her clothes are many old scars. Only a partial line of one of these scars can be seen running up her spine. Dark Brown hair, green eyes. Equipment: An AI Amber calls Jay, who tries to keep her in order, and sane. She has a bag with very few items that are possibly meaningful to her, and a shard in one of her pockets. Also, a small knife is hidden up her sleeve, attached to her arm by a strap.
Name: Eric Reese Gender: Male Occupation: Shard Field Specialist, Tachyon Engineer. Appearance: Eric is 5'10 and lanky. He wear loose cloths and multi-lensed spectacles. He has messy blond hair and blue eyes if you ever get to see them. He usually gets a little too dirty before washing because the possible stabilization of his Universal Tachyon Nebulized Relocation stream is much more important. Personality: Eric is extremely smart, The extensive time spent in books and lectures causes him to be awkward around people. Age: 30 Equipment: Wears a wrist AI with constant access to the information networks. He uses it for on-the-fly programming, planning, calculation, and research. He has named his AI Einstein, consequently he is the only thing that can carry on a steady conversation with Eric. The bracer goes from his wrist up 3/4ths of his forearm and is large and rounded, giving him an off balance look. There are several thick two inch knobs spaced evenly along the bracers top surrounding the lump of grated metal that shields a golf ball sized shard glowing with a vibrant purple hue. Upon a closer look you see that they are actually mini Tach Rods. The palm side is a data display, constantly showing charts, temperatures, and other random text. His Shard harness is a large awkward shape compared to most Harnesses. Chiefly he has a large pack on the back half giving him almost a hunched look. And he has two long tach rods extending from each shoulder. One is the common carbon Fiber while the other is a bone colored gray.
Name: Gabrielle Escalante Occupation: Shard Seeker + Medic Personality: While she takes her work very seriously, Gabrielle is always up for any kind of fun. Age: 32 Appearance: She is of a slim build, about 5'8". Her skin is lightly tanned, and she has straight black hair that comes down past her shoulders, which is usually tied up in a ponytail. Equipment: She has shards imbedded into her Tach-Suit to help with creating de-energising fields. On her left hip she holds her Tach-Rod, and there is a pistol holstered on her right. On the back of her tach-suit she has a medi-pack, and her ship is equipped with medical supplies.
****Game Start**** The dry wind of the desert planet blew through the open air bar, ruffling the dirty tarp canopy. The covering stretched between the shuttle that provided an array of intoxicating beverages to a set of saloon style doors that allowed entrance into the roped-off sitting area beneath. It was quiet inside the bar, save for a few drunken seekers rambling on about glorious hauls of shards and narrow escapes from specters. A peculiar group of individuals sat at a table nearest the bar. They were all there for the same purpose. Outside the bar the lanes between shuttles were busy with activity as seekers and traders bustled about their business preparing their supplies and securing their fortunes before the short lived rendezvous was over. But inside, the eclectic group waited quietly, mulling over the morning's solemn news; a well known seeker was stranded in the deepest depths of the Outer Rim. Most people would have abandoned David Hawkins to his fate. The seeker had been missing for weeks but his beacon had been detected just that morning. Even if they were be able to find his beacon, chances were more than likely that Hawkins was dead already. But still this group gathered. Seekers, were not the kind to abandon one another. All they lacked was their mission leader. Johnathan “Bear” Billows, one of the most experienced seekers on the rim had agreed to lead the team. But the legendary seeker was late, and so the group waited, and wondered what fate had befallen David Hawkens so many millions of miles away.
"I think David will be fine when we finally get there, He was always the one to get out of impossible spots when I worked with him." Eric mumbled nervously clearly not sure of his own words. "What to drink." The barkeep made his way to their table. "Water," Eric refused to make eye contact with the grizzled man. "Preferably filtered." The man laughed with a gravely voice that could only be earned by years of the galaxies roughest liquor. "Water." He shook his head and looked on to the next person at the table...
Amber had already been sitting in her same spot at the table for hour. When it came to something she got paid for, Amber was never late. When there isn’t more than ten dollars in your pocket, and your AI keeps telling you you should eat, there’s probably a problem that should have been addressed weeks ago. But Amber didn’t particularly care, and instead was more focused on how much she lost last night gambling. And then about how she could earn it back off these guys. Amber dug through her backpack for a deck of cards. She found her worn out cards, soft from the oils of too many players’ hands. She shuffled the deck while staring off into the desert waste of the desert, and then dealt herself out a game of pyramid solitaire. She didn’t particularly care for the game; she just wanted someone else to ask her to play cards. Present herself as less of a threat that way
The waiter turned to her next, but Gabrielle was too captivated with what the man beside her had said. He was odd, one of those intellectual types - used shards rather than harvested them. In all her years of shard seeking, Gabby had learned that to succeed in the profession you had to look tough, and this man definitely didn't fit that criteria. It was peculiar to see someone of this nature so far out on the rim. Although, he did have a giant contraption running up his right forearm with a shard the size of golf-ball embedded into it. That was the one threatening thing about him. But the real reason Gabby was interested was the fact that he had mentioned David. This man knew David as well. "I'll have a Firespitter," she said, turning to the waiter, who seemed to approve of the order with a low-tone grunt. Gabby then looked back at the scientist. "Water, eh?" She tried her best to sound playful.
Jax walked over and took a seat next to the girl with the cards. His drink fizzed and popped as he rested his boots on the table, leaning back in his chair as if to show his nonchalance. “Well this is the most motley crew I’ve ever seen.” Jax said looking each of them in the eye. “Though, I’m sure by now you’ve all guessed who I am.” Jax waited, but they all stared back blankly. “I’m Jax Roberts.” Again no response. “The Jax Roberts, the most feared and respected pirate that ever lived. I was captain of the red stallion. I’m the fifth most wanted man in the galaxy…” Before he could finish a movement at the bar had caught Jax eye. There it was again, it was a man who was defiantly watching their table. He hurriedly got up to leave as he realized that he had been seen but Jax was faster. Snap, Jax had a metal cord that extended from his prostethis wrapped around the mans neck. “Tell me who you are and why you were spying on us or ill activate the energy field on my whip and fry you like a score of fyer-flies.”
Eric sat tapping methodically on his viewscreen. His water sitting untouched on the table, despite the extreme heat of the desert. "water eh?" the girl next to him said. "...wha?" Eric barely took his eye's off the viewscreen. "oh! Yeah you never know what's in these outer rim drinks" He looked up to see who was talking to him when he noticed a rowdy looking pirate approach, he quickly diverted his eyes back to the viewscreen. But before he knew it the pirate was choking someone with a metallic whip. Eric saw the mechanics at the base of the whip and realized what he wasn't kidding about frying the guy. His eyes were glued to the confrontation, not out of fear but interested to see the whip in action.
"Oh, yeah you never know what's in these outer rim drinks." Just then a young-looking man, practically a boy, with beautifully interesting eyes walked over. If only his speech was as interesting as his face. Gabrielle sat and listened, basking in the air of cockiness with a smile on her face - a legendary pirate? Fifth most wanted in the Universe? Did he know how many others like him there were in this trading outlet? Hell, most shard seekers nowadays could easily pass for pirates. Something grabbed young Jax Roberts' attention, and he turned to the corner of the shadowed saloon. The next second he thrust his arm forward, which turned into a very long whip, and bound itself around the neck of a cloaked man sitting in the corner. "Tell me who you are and why you were spying on us or ill activate the energy field on my whip and fry you like a score of fyer-flies.” Immediately, the grizzly waiter dropped his pen and pad and wrapped one arm around the pirate's neck, simultaneously extracting a pistol holstered at his side and digging it into Jax's back. Gabrielle noticed the barman duck below as well, and return only a moment later with a rail gun in his hand, aimed directly at the pirate's head. "This here's a peaceful outlet - and we intend to keep it that way!" The barman warned, cocking his weapon.
Amber leaned on her hands as she elbowed the table on top of her cards. Her head faced all of the action and she just dumbly smiled at the stand-off. We're together for two minutes, and already this garbage has to be dealt with. I bet there's not a damn soul in this bar who could even recognize him. I bet I'm more wanted than he is. He's not even careful. Walked right up onto my knife arm. Coulda stabbed him in the side and crippled him, without any effort. The she decided to draw his attention her way. "Hey, jackass! Ya done flashing your balls around? Get over here and don't get us thrown out."
“Don’t worry bar keep, I only wanted to talk to the man.” Jax flashes the bar tender a crooked smile. “Let him go now.” Said the bartender. The mans face was turning a deep scarlet as he struggled against the whip. “Hey Jackass! Ya done Flashing your balls around? Get over here and don’t get us thrown out.” “Kind of busy honey, I’ll be with you in a minute. Fine Bar keep, I’ll play nice” Jax releases the whip and retracts it backs into his arm. The man lets out a gasp as he sucks in ragged breaths. As the men lowered their guns, Jax elbows the waiter in the groan, and with seemingly no effort hurls the man across the room at the bar tender with his robotic arm. Jax turns towards where the spy was standing but he obviously fled. “Well sweet cheeks, that man was spying on our little merry gang here,” Jax looks at the girl who had been playing solitaire. “And since were not dead I would assume were not the only one’s looking for Hawkins.”
Gerty sat watching the happenings from her seat at the bar. She had chosen to sit apart from the others that had gathered, she knew they were the ones she was meeting with by eavesdropping. It wasn't hard with their loud voices. She stared enviously at their very customized equipment. All she had was a Seeker starting pack, that was provided by her employers. Her suit was loose-fitting, her shard barely larger than a desert beetle, and her craft was cheap and poorly constructed. This David Hawkins had been a speaker at her training class, and she had taken the job in finding him, not out of fondness -though he had been a fairly handsome man-, but rather at the hopes of lining her pockets. She had been camping in the area for several days, buying whiskey here, getting some smokes there, and some other things. Her eye twitched a little, as a pang of withdrawal hit her, and she slammed the rest of her whiskey to try to numb the pain. It worked a little, but her head still ached. A self-proclaimed pirate from the table she was watching began causing a scene, by grabbing a man who wasn't sitting too far from her by the throat. The barman was now distracted, and couldn't refill Gerty's glass. Scowling at the disruption, she noticed a woman half-assing a game of pyramid. Placing a few bills on the counter to cover her tab, and grimacing when she realized that she only had a few dollars left, she stood up and bypassed the 'pirate' man, who was now brawling the bartender, to sit next to the woman. "Poker, five card?" Gerty asked, pulling her last bills from her pocket, and a cigarette from her coat.
Name: Flint Richards Age: 21 Gender: male Occupation: none Appearance: 5'8" white male with a stocky build. muscular under his plain loose fitting clothing. his dark hair fell straight to his jawbone, but he usually wore it in a high pony tail. his black shirt and dark green pants were complemented with a silver belt - now dirty grey - and a watch that only told the time. carries a small duffle bag over his shoulder. Personality: perhaps seems a little cold when people first meet him, but he is proud, and his tendency to always tell the truth - even when a white-lie may be better - tends to put him at odds with some people.
Flint Richards Flint found the little pub with little effort. there were many drinking holes in this area of about the same calibre, but the directions he had received were quite specific. Inside the pub was not much more inviting than its drab exterior, and a scuffle had broken out amongst a group of patrons in a little roped off area at the far end. "looks like a good place to start" he thought to himself. It looked as though one man had wrapped a whip around another mans neck - and it wasn't until it retracted into his arm that he realised the arm was completely mechanic. - he looked familiar - most of the group didn't really seem to care about the man being strangled and continued on their drinking as did most of the other patrons in the bar, who had already returned to their conversations. The man was gasping for breath as the bartender returned the firearm to its hiding place under the bench. "Defiantly the right place" he thought. "hello" said flint.
