A quest set in an AU of the Bleach setting, following a custom created character. That being: Kalina, skilled Kido user and member of a subterranean empire.
It has a sister quest occuring elsewhere in the same setting over on SB.
If you were to ask an internet search engine to define it, it would say the following:
"The phenomenon whereby a minute localised change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere."
Everything has an effect on everything else. A flap of a butterfly's wings can disturb the air near it. That air then moves in a different way. If that air hadn't been moved, the atmospheric conditions would have been in the wrong place to cause that typhoon that was now killing hundreds of people.
You see?
There was once a miracle, and that miracle had knock on effects. Things that would have never happened if not for the miracle occurring.
Some of those things were good, some of them weren't.
In a town called Karakura, something happened- no. It would be more fair to say that "something will happen."
While the tense used was for future events, that doesn't mean that it isn't inevitable.
Time doesn't just flow like a steady stream after all. There are many things that can cause time to flow improperly.
And so events in the future can propagate changes to the past.
You, for example. Are a result of this. Just one more bit of air displaced by the butterfly's wings.
Time for character creation. Your path comes first, in other words this will be your race or class in another game. I need to know it before I can describe anything from your character's perspective.
I'll give a brief description of each option first and an example character:
Shinigami, gods of the departed that help the fallen. (Rukia)
Quicies, holy archers serving their king. (Uryū)
Superhumans, the next stage of humanity.(Kanonji)
Fullbringer, wielding souls and emotions as weapons. (Chad)
Soulcasters, resolve is their blade, kindness their power and both are their shield.(Orihime)
Bounto, children of madness who seek the old ways (Jin Kariya)
Hollows, lonely wanderers of the empty desert (Grimmjow)
"Beasts", children of ancient gods who now protect the world with animalistic forms (Original)
"Kami", some of those ancient gods who return to earth after a long absence (Original)
"Beneath", those who lurk in the shadows, plotting conquest (Original)
"Angels", The western world's answer to Shinigami (Original, but also represents witches from Burn the witch in this AU)
"Out of context", Those who just don't fit in with the rest of the world, outsiders to all (Original)
As you see, about half of them are "original" to this AU. I've given you as much as I could without spoiling things about the factions that other factions wouldn't know. Those aren't their real names, just cover names.
There is also a second part to each path, your "connection" to your race.
Paragon, you are one of the "nobles" of your faction. A leader and a powerful one. This would make you part of one of the noble clans if you were a Shinigami or it would just give you great potential if your faction didn't have nobles.
Freak, you are an outsider, you're not appreciated for your faction for one reason or another. This doesn't make you evil but it does make you unusual. It isn't enough to set you against your faction though, at least as long as you don't do something else to anger them.
Outsider, you never knew about all this supernatural ghost stuff in the past. You grew up as a normal human and discovered your power later in life. This means you'll be starting off with a lot less information and training but in return you're not judged in any way. There won't be unreasonable expectations or discrimination.
To give a few examples:
Ichigo starts as a Shinigami/Outsider (though someone seeing him a few arcs later would say he's a Shinigami/Freak)
Rukia is a Shinigami/Paragon, as is her brother.
Chad is a Fullbringer/Outsider, Uryū is a Quincy/Outsider but with more education than you'd get, Orihime is a Soulcaster/Outside though that's a special case. Soulcasters are so rare that you can only take them with Outsider.
While I can't tell you much about the hidden factions, I will invite you to ask me what specific combinations would make, feel free to ask either before or while voting.
Beasts/Freak makes you part of a faction connected to Beneath, Angels/Outside makes you a living superhero in the style of Marvel, DC and My Hero Academia while OOC/Outsider makes you something from a different anime series entirely. Feel free to ask for more combos or characters you want to be told the combinations of.
And now, with that all said:
[ ] Race/Connection (Write in)
Hello everyone. This is my first quest on SV but I've written a few others, one that even take place in the same AU as this quest (That quest is still fairly new and ongoing so you have a chance of running into the other main character). For reference, the other quest chose "Beast/Paragon" but it would probably be best for you to pick something different if you wanted to see other parts of the setting. If you do choose Beast/Paragon though, you won't be the same subrace as the other quest.
The AU that this quest uses has a lot of extra things in it. I didn't create this AU but I also don't want anyone reading up on it and spoiling themselves on the twists.
This quest uses a modified D20 system and the character sheet will be below.
The vote here is the first part of character creation. It's to determine your race and any "special details" about your character. The next vote will be for the more basic things like name, gender and if you want to get involved in the canon storyline, and if so, how much.
Also, once you have a name, I'll try to change the name of this quest to reflect that.
I'm creating this quest in an effort to boost interest in the greater world's story. I have a rule where I wait for at least three (Though I like more) votes before locking it in regardless of time. It normally takes a while to get votes from my small pool of voters in the other quest so I'm creating this one too. If you like this story… well, I don't want to post a link to the other one yet as I want to keep them separate until the characters meet (And if they don't look to be on track to meet for ages, I might provide a link in the quest itself).
You are a Gaian, a kami from long ago that abandoned the surface world and went underground. You
gain a spear that is made from rock and wood. This spear deals 1d6 damage + 1d6 damage per 5 ranks in
Weapon Attack you have above 1. You are a spirit of life, as such you become more powerful as you gain levels.
As such, at third level you gain 2 Shikai abilities. Each third level later you gain an additional shikai ability. Your
shikai abilities must be drawn from two of the following types. (Earth, Fire, Light, Space, Water, Barrier, Sand,
Primal, Metal, Plant, Summoning, Bone, Dragon, Spider, Healing, Darkness, Weapon and Gravity). At eighth
level and every three levels thereafter, you gain a Terra Ability chosen from the Terra abilities list. Gaians do not
eat, breath, sleep or age past maturity. Gaians have Darkvision out to 60 feet. You may shut off any Shikai Ability
you do not wish to use. This is a living race.
Surgery
The character can use the Treat Injury skill to
perform surgery without penalty. See the Treat Injury skill
description.
Reiatsu Defensive Aura
You may concentrate your reitasu into an aura that
bolsters defense giving those allies in your aura +1 natural
armor + 1 per three levels. This aura is activated as a move
action, and dismissed as a free action. It remains active as
long as the user wishes and extends 30 feet from the user.
The aura is dismissed if the user is knocked unconscious or
killed. Only one reiatsu aura may be active at one time.
Talented
Pick any three skills. These skills become favored
skills. This feat can be chosen multiple times. This is an
extraordinary ability
Deadly Touch
Each day, you may cause wounds with a successful touch attack as a standard action. You can deal a
total number of hit point damage equal to your character level x your charisma modifier. You may divide the
damage up however you choose. The target may attempt a fortitude save (DC 15 + character level + charisma
modifier) for half damage. Alternately, you may use this ability to heal those with undead traits.
Special: You may spend 30 Reiatsu to add 1d6 damage to the damage dealt. You cannot spend more than your
Wisdom Modifier x 30 to add d6's of damage.
Skill Focus (Intimidate)
You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving that
skill. If you have 10 or more ranks in that skill, this bonus
increases to +6.
(For context, Intimidate is one of the skills used to control your reiatsu)
Talented
Pick any three skills. These skills become favored
skills. This feat can be chosen multiple times. This is an
extraordinary ability.
Martial Study (Blade magic)
You have unlocked Blade Magic (The simple description is because spellcasting is at once complex and very simple. For the sake of the discussion, just know that this gave your reiatsu a massive boost.)
Gaian Power
You gain an additional Shikai Pick
Blooded
You add your Con bonus to your hit points gained
per level (minimum 1/level). This feat applies retroactively.
This feat can be taken multiple times, but then only adds +2
HP per level. This is an extraordinary ability.
Heroic Attribute (INT)
You gain +2 to an attribute of your choice. This feat
can be chosen multiple times. This is an extraordinary
ability.
Talented
Pick any three skills. These skills become favored
skills. This feat can be chosen multiple times. This is an
extraordinary ability.
Spellcaster
When you take this feat, you begin casting Kido of one of the Hado/Bakudo/Reido
spell list from grade 1. The number of Kido you gain per grade is equal to your
spellscore modifier, which is chosen upon selecting this feat from amongst your Mental
Statistics but is normally charisma. You gain an access to an additional Kido grade bracket every second level after
taking this feat.
This counts as 3 Reiatsu Feats instead of 1.
Leadership
Having this feat enables the character to attract
loyal companions and devoted followers, subordinates who
assist her.
Enlightened
Your Spellscore is treated as 4
higher for acquiring Kido and determining
any spell orientated effect.
Gaia's Wings
You gain a burrow speed equal to your land speed. You may only burrow through loose dirt and soil.
Super Gaian Power
You gain 1 Bankai ability.
Special: You may take this ability multiple times. Each time gain an additional Bankai ability. You cannot have
more Bankai Abilities than one half the number of Shikai Abilities you have.
Earth Son
You may assume the form of any normal human hiding your nature from the world as a standard action.
You gain a +10 to Disguise Checks. This grants you a +2 bonus to Charisma while you are so transformed and
you lose access to your Shikai Picks, Bankai Picks and Terra Abilities, but not your Gaian Spear. It is a standard
action to transform back to your Gaian state
Prestige Class: Terra Knight:
Pressure Release
You gain a release created by doubling your Shikai Picks and adding in any you gained from feats other than
Gaian. This form can be released once per level per day for an entire encounter and replaces the shikai picks
that you have on your body currently.. It is a standard action to release Pressure Release.
Abilities:
Reiatsu Defensive Aura (AC boost to all nearby allies, activate as a move action)
Deadly Touch (Touch Attack that can deal minor damage, boosted with Reiatsu)
Soul Crush (A bit hard to describe. A weaponised Intimidate Check basically)
Gaian Cone (Cost: 70 Reiatsu, unleashes a 30ft cone AoE. Deals the same damage as a spear attack, half damage to those who pass a reflex save)
Innate Ability:
The summoning of orbs that deal holy damage that ignores your foes damage reduction. These orbs can be moved around with a move action. Enemies that move through their tile or start their turn in their tile take 1d4+2 damage per orb in the tile with them. You can fit a max of 20 orbs into a 5ft area. You can summon a total number of these orbs equal to your level.
You also have true sight 1, allowing you to see through some illusion and invisibility effects.
With Level 6 you've acquired Heavenly Rift, which allows you to summon a holy copy of yourself that can fight on the front line for you.
At level 8 you obtained the Bankai ability Slow Starter which allows you to summon one more angel per fight with every two turns that pass. Maxing out with 6 angels after 10 turns have passed.
Pressure Release: Divine Army
An advanced form of the innate ability. The doubles can make their own orbs while this is active and those orbs are stronger and faster.
Blade Arts:
Styles:
Diamond Mind 4
Techniques:
Diamond Mind
Saphire Nightmare Blade (Costs: 75 reiatsu. Allows you to focus on an attack to do bonus damage.)
Stance of Clarity (Costs: 75 reiatsu. Take a stance that gives you greater defense against a single target but less defense against others.)
Moment of Perfect Mind (Costs: 75 reiatsu. Allows you to use concentration skill instead of will)
Action before thought (Costs: 150 reiatsu. Allows you to use concentration skill instead of reflex)
Emerald Razor (Costs: 150 reiatsu. Make a concentration check to make a normal attack a touch attack)
Mind Over Body (Costs: 225 reiatsu. Allows you to use concentration skill instead of Fort)
Mind Strike (Cost: 300 Reiatsu. Can deal wisdom damage)
Ruby Nightmare Blade (Cost: 300 Reiatsu. On a good concentration roll, this can double the damage you do.)
Spellcasting:
Schools:
Bakudo 3
Spells: (More detail here: KalinaQuest: Reflection (Bleach AU Quest))
Bakudo 02: Tamashii Maki No Uchigawa (Costs: 25 Reiatsu, creates a veil that gives concealment)
Bakudo 06: Kaisatsuguchi (Costs: 25 Reiatsu, grants magical armour)
Bakudo 09: Geki (Costs: 25 Reiatsu, locks caster and target in place)
Bakudo 10: Hōrin (Costs: 75 Reiatsu, magical yellow rope)
Bakudo 16: Denkieidō Shīrudo (Costs: 75 Reiatsu, electric shield)
Bakudo 07: Sankaku (Costs: 75 Reiatsu, Generates a shield)
Bakudo 11: Suna no Naka ni Kaku (Costs: 75 Reiatsu, Creates a small burst, enemies within are marked. Marked enemies can be attack of opportunity'd more times than normal.)
Bakudo 20: Yokuatsu-teki Taikutsu (Costs: 150 Reiatsu, Bores an enemy and makes them struggle to care enough to do anything)
Bakudo 24: Taiyō o Osoreru (Costs: 150 Reiatsu, Gives an enemy light blindness)
Bakudo 26: Kyokkō (Cost: 150 Reiatsu, Concealment spell)
Bakudo 28: Tekase Zetsuboo Shimasu (Cost: 150 Reiatsu, Debuffs attack rolls, damage rolls and saves with an opponent's self-doubt)
Bakudo 14: Shin'iki (Cost: 75 Reiatsu, Sanctuary)
Bakudo 17: Shikonomitate (Cost: 75 Reiatsu, Creates a field that deflects ranged attacks)
Bakudo 19: Nami Shīrudo (Cost: 75 Reiatsu, Creates an Anti-physical or Fire DR shield that lightning passes through)
Bakudo 01: Sai (Costs: 25 Reiatsu, binds an opponent's arms.)
Bakudo 03: Han no Shokei Shimasu (Cost: 25 reiatsu, marks a target so they cannot hide)
Bakudo 21: Sekienton (150 reiatsu, Drop a smoke bomb and flee)
Bakudo 30: Shitotsu Sansen (Costs 225 reiatsu, Blasts a target back against a wall, possibly doing damage, and hold them there with beams of light)
Bakudo 31: Yokote Tsukamaidori Wana (Costs 225 reiatsu, Catches an opponent's attack in a snare when they try to pull back after a successful strike)
Bakudo 32: Kaze no Koa (Costs 225 reiatsu, Creates a large shield of wind around a larget that blows enemies back.
Bakudo 35: Mahō Juban (Costs 225 reiatsu, Magically empower armour or clothing to provide a better armour bonus, stacks with some other defence boosters)
Bakudo 37: Tsuriboshi (Costs 225 reiatsu, Creates a web or net that can be used to trap or slow enemies)
Bakudo 38: Hakufuku (Costs 225 reiatsu, Mudies the memory of someone you can lock eyes with and makes them pass out)
Bakudo 39: Enkōsen (Costs 225 reiatsu, Creates a multipurpose shield that can block all manner of things, it can even be cast using your attack of opportunity slot without needing the incantation, but doing that means you can't do much on your next turn)
In the 3976th year of the Gaian calendar, there were a few births. That wasn't unusual for this culture but the fact that the gaian that would one day grow up into you was born that year made it special.
You must understand, the living spirits that were once called Kami lived a really long time. Their lives were eternal assuming they weren't killed through violence or other means.
And so, when the eldest generation still remembered year 0 of the Gaian calendar and a few millennia before said calendar was even created, there was not much worry of being able to live on.
Some among the Kami speculated that mortals reproduced so fast because they needed children to carry on their legacy. There was good evidence behind that theory as it also explained the relative lack of children from the Kami.
Gaians had no need to reproduce quickly. They had no need to make offspring carry their legacy.
Each child was their own person. They were cared for and nurtured by the parents, obviously, but when they came of age they'd need to find a role for themselves.
The most popular path for them was that of the Terra Knights. Young gaians would join the military in search of a place that didn't already have someone filling the niche.
And so when you turned sixteen, you joined the knight academy. The greatest institution to learn the skills of a Terra Knight. It was located in the capital city of the Gaians.
At the applications desk, you had to register for the course.
"First Name?" The woman at the desk asked.
[ ] "Kalina" (Pronounced Kali-na Female)
[ ] "Lewsyr" (Pronounced Lew-sear, Male)
[ ] "Josuar" (Pronounced Joshua, Male)
[ ] "Octavig" (Pronounced as Octa-vig, Female)
[ ] Write in (Gaian names can come from anywhere around the world but they don't get the meanings of the individual names so they sometimes mix names together, examples above.)
The woman nodded, writing down your name before looking up again.
"Of the house?"
[ ] "Argengin" (A baron-ranked house. You'd be a member of the lower nobility. The family has estates in the capital.)
[ ] "No house" (You don't come from any noble house, it's likely that your family doesn't live in the capital.)
And another character creation question:
How involved do you want to be in the main plot? As a Gaian you start fairly far from it but fate could still lead you to Karakura if you wanted.
[ ] Highly connected, will be involved in all major arcs, filler and movies.
[ ] Loosely connected, will be involved in all major arcs but you'll have your own filler and movies
[ ] Unconnected, will have its own storyline that doesn't involve Karakura town until after the winter war.
[ ] Other Connection: (Write in, specify which parts you want to be involved with, like if you wanted to be in your own filler arc before the winter war but then stay out of canon until after the winter war.)
I'll describe more of the capital city later. Your noble status will affect how much you already know at the start and how much you'd need to learn later.
There is a class divide in the gaian's but it isn't a caste system. As you can see, nobles and non-nobles alike can join the greatest of the terra knight academies and there isn't any discrimination there. The culture is actually really free. It's a culture that basically says "You want to do X? Sure. Feel free." There are laws of course but, for example, honour duels are perfectly fine and commoners are allowed to challenge nobles too.
And as always, ask questions if you're curious about something.
Let's step back about a month. That's when you set off from your home village.
As far as you knew, the humans far above your hometown called their place "Constantinople", because of that your village had been named for the city's previous life. Therefore, the town was called "Byzaloom."
It was a fairly mundane town all things considered. It was located in the upper mantle and had smaller chambers than most towns. That didn't mean much when the average chamber was still a mile wide with a roof a story or so above the tallest building.
You had set off for the capital with a friend of yours called Hesiodio. You hadn't met before starting your journey but he was still pleasant enough to talk to as you travelled through the tunnels that made up the gaian's underground kingdom.
The trip would take a month, winding through tunnels that were only a short distance from magma.
The walls had been made thick though, there was little danger of you expiring from the heat. Unlike humans you also didn't need to eat or drink on the journey so you were travelling light. Your passport and wallet were all that you had taken. Hesiodio was much the same.
You climbed down flights of stairs to get to lower levels multiple times a day. The current capital of the Gaian empire was much deeper in the mantle.
Over the journey, you chatted with Hesiodio often enough to spark a friendship. You came up with nicknames for each other. He could be "Dio" while you were "Kali."
As you got closer to the capital, you ran into more travellers and traders. They were coming and going from the city and you took some time to chat with them.
Then there was a special meeting. A week out from the capital on foot, you ran into a procession. A wagon that was decorated with finery the likes of which you'd never seen.
A guard of the wagon stepped over to you two.
"Papers?"
"Papers?" You parroted back to him. Dio understood though and showed his passport to the man.
"We're travelling to join the Imperial Terra Knight Academy in the capital."
"Really?" That wasn't the guard who spoke. It was the girl in the wagon. She stuck her head out suddenly "I'm going there too, want a lift?"
"Why?" You had to ask. The kindness of nobles was a precious thing. Noblesse oblige was a precious concept though.
The girl shrugged, "It's not far and we have the same destination."
You took up her offer after some debate with Dio. You sat in the wagon with her, sighs coming from the guards.
She introduced herself as Lady Helenria. She was the daughter of an Earl from off to the east, further than your hometown but on the same level as the capital.
"Getting wagons up and down the staircases is a pain." She noted "So I don't travel much."
"I can imagine." Dio was finding it harder to talk to the lady now they were in an enclosed space. She was nice though. She had an air around her that made you like her.
The trip that would have taken a week instead took only two days.
The capital was entered through a large gate. The tunnel's roof shot upwards so you could see all of it.
You split up from lady Helenria there and made the rest of the way to the Knight Academy on foot.
Trees with the classic red flowers common in the underground bloomed bright. That kind of growth wouldn't be possible without the support of a Terra Knight.
Knights were guardians of the High King but there were enough of them, with enough strange and unique powers, that they were often given other tasks.
In this case, it was possible there was a Terra knight with the power to energise plants or something like that and they'd been tasked with helping the city by filling it with beautiful nature.
The main street was packed with shops built in a variety of styles. Merchants yelled out about their wares.
"I've got fine rugs-"
"You there sir, I've got short swords made by a master here, just fifteen hundred gold pieces-"
"Books from the surface, I've got books written by modern humanity, come see how they've changed-"
The loud cries, the sound of carts running down the road, conversations between so many people.
It was unlike anything you'd encountered before.
Finally you made it to the Imperial Terra Knight Academy. You and Dio split off from each other to register at different desks.
"First Name?" The woman at the desk asked.
"Kalina" You answered. Excitement to join the knights filling your chest.
"Of the house?" the woman queried.
"I'm not part of a house."
The woman nodded, making a note of it in her book before nodding.
You had to pay a bit to afford tuition but it was a small enough amount that almost anyone should be able to pay it easily. The high king encourages everyone to join, if the cost was too high it might become hard for some people to pay.
"Very well, you are now enrolled. Let me call someone to guide you."
The woman turned from her desk and rang a bell.
A young man, a Gaian not quite fully matured, came down. He had a bright smile as he lead you into the Academy.
"You picked a good time." He explained "We're on break for the next few days. You have plenty of time to get acquainted with the layout of the academy."
The first place he took you were the barracks.
"Each room fits four. If you don't get on with your bunkmates, you can ask for a transfer. Your room hasn't been decided yet but you'll be able to go to the administration office later today to find out who you'll be with."
He then took you around the classrooms and explained them all.
"This is the combat classroom. You'll learn your spearwork here. A lot of your other lessons like martial arts or other weapon training take place here too."
"This is the athletics classroom. They'll teach you how to flash step, avoid enemies and that sort of thing."
"This is the-" he lowered his voice as you walked in "-the library. You'll do your homework here and just over there-" he pointed "-is the Kido classroom."
There were other classrooms too. Many copies of the same type of classroom too so that multiple classes could be in the same lesson without interacting with each other.
Finally he came to a stop at an empty classroom with desks lined up against the wall.
"And this is a homeroom. I'm sorry if you're a bit turned around right now but we're on the floor under the barracks. Just up there-" he pointed to the roof "-is the same bedroom I showed you earlier. Homeroom is the first lesson of the day and they'll tell you if there are any special things going on. It's your briefing room, both for schoolwork and for any training missions your class gets sent out on."
Finally you returned to the main lobby.
"I'll leave you alone for now, you're free to wander around. Most of the rest of your class won't be here today. The nobles are in the city itself. But you might be able to find some of the other commoners. Try the library or ask around. The staff should help you."
And with that, you were free to explore.
It turns out the prefect had forgotten to tell you about a common room. You found that out when you did ask about where the rest of your class would likely be.
"What class are you even in?" Was another question and that forced you to drop by the administration office early.
"Class 5-1. Your barracks room is room 16."
And with that, and the knowledge of which of the many common rooms your class was told to treat as their own, you made your way up to the floor above the barracks.
Common room 19. Also known as Common Room Stalagmite (Or stalactite, different people would claim different names) was a warm room. Wooden benches sat at artistically decorated tables. Flowers sat in vases and small torches burned on the walls providing light.
You saw Dio at one of the tables with a collection of other students.
Joining them, Dio looked up and smiled.
"May I introduce my travelling companion. This is Kalina."
"Charmed?" You offer a smile. You didn't really know how to react to all these people that you're just meeting now.
They then all introduced themselves.
"Frisob." A boy with a crooked grin.
"Myrshai." A boy with a wooden monocle and a book.
"Seoihilda." A girl with a scar on her cheek. She looked cheery though.
"Tuilendra." A girl with ripped clothes.
No one had a uniform yet. You had been told that it would be delivered later.
Together with you and Dio, they made up about half of the class. All of them were commoners too.
The discussion meandered a bit around until it got to classes that you were looking forward to taking. You considered it for a moment and answered.
Now for the next character creation question. It's time to pick your starting feats and skills.
For the sake of making this simple, I've split them up into DnD classes. Just pick some to fill five slots. You're going to want to do this as a plan vote for the sake of simplification.
The classes aren't one to one. Taking Wizard, for example, doesn't mean you start with Kido. It means you'll get all the things you can get at first level to make Kido easier to learn when you get to it. It's a difficult class for Gaians so it's mostly theory up until the final year or post-graduation study. Your choices of classes also affect your base stats.
Tap into inner anger to grow in strength. Allows you to strike with powerful attacks and throw yourself into a rage that boosts your stats (Can't be unlocked at level 1 but this gets you the prereqs)
Bard
Learn social skills and improved Reiatsu control skills. Learn how to flare and conceal your Reiatsu and how to sense others'
Cleric
Learn how to heal. It won't be that good at first but knowledge of how to treat injuries could end up being helpful down the line.
Druid
As a living spirit of nature, Gaian's have natural abilities they can tap into like how to dig through packed earth. If you take enough druid feats though, you'd learn how to take on a form that could pass as a normal human or to take an animal's form.
Fighter
An important skill. Gaian Terra Knights are famous for fighting with lances. You'll need this to tap into that skill they are known for.
Monk
While it should be impossible to disarm a knight of their lance, unarmed combat is still taught because in some cases a punch or a grab is needed to subdue an opponent you can't afford to hurt too badly.
Ranger
Like with figher you could train with a ranged weapon. This has no affinity with your natural abilities though.
Rogue
Learn skills like hiding, sneak attacking and how to flash step better. You can flash step without this of course, it just makes you better at it.
Wizard
Focus on learning spellcraft. your kind isn't the best with it but there are practitioners who can master spells in their own ways.
Other
Specify but keep in mind that they can be veto'd if they're not abilities a starting character could get. I will warn you in those cases but you could still use this slots to get prerequisites for those later abilities.
I didn't know how social you were so I generally haven't written much about you interacting with your classmates yet.
Also, Gaian's in their natural forms don't look human. You're somewhere between a spirit, a golem and a living tree. Rocks and roots make up your body. A human would never mistake you by sight. Not without taking the druid class above to give you the ability to pass for human (If you make it clear that it is what you're taking druid for, you could take with just one feat being dedicated to Druid.)
You stepped inside the chalk circle on the floor. You were in the training room.
"Squires, draw weapons."
Your palms pressed against each other. As you drew them apart, bits of your flesh stuck and pulled. The wood and stone resisted coming apart and instead pulled harmlessly away from the rest of your hands.
Your hand caught the spear before it fell and you held it out before yourself.
Across from you, your opponent raised his own spear with a mocking smile.
"Squires, strike!"
How did you get here again?
—-------------------------------------------
On the first day of classes, you were introduced to the rest of class 5-1.
Other than you and Dio, there were the four commoners you'd met yesterday. After the six of you there were six more seats in the class.
The first nobles that you had to talk about were the two special cases of course. His Highness Prince Endymad and Her Highness Princess Mariannerie. The high king's two youngest children. You had heard they were 164th and 165th in line for the throne respectively. It was a miracle that had placed them in the same class as you. A strange twist of fate indeed.
After that you got to the lesser nobility. Sigubert, a boy that looked to be half your age and Kryako, a girl with a gruff expression and a gloomy air about her. Helenria, the lady who helped you travel to the capital was here too.
And then you came to the last member of the class. The one who you were fighting in the present.
Adamus. He was a commoner too but he'd cause problem after problem after the first day. Always when the teachers weren't watching.
He was a bully, plain and simple. He didn't bully any of the nobility though, just his fellow commoners.
Teachers were told and he was punished but it didn't stop him. He was perfectly happy to do homework when it meant he could study even more.
Because unlike you, he had natural talent. He was a savant. He mastered his first spear kata in his very first lesson. At that time you had still been struggling on forming your spear.
So the teachers weren't going to kick out a promising student, not when he could be made into a skilled knight.
He kept bullying, focusing on the boys like Dio.
Then he pushed it too far.
In an effort to toy with Dio, he made a move at you. He tried to force you to go along with him with the force of his reiatsu.
Your reiatsu slammed back against his, sending him stumbling back a few steps. When he recovered, there was anger in his eyes.
Without another word, he left the room.
That was the root cause of what happened in the present.
It was now the second week. You'd all had basic combat training and the teachers now wanted you to spar against each other.
As far as you could tell, they weren't intentionally giving Adamus the exact excuse he needed. It was just so they could find the students that needed more help than others.
When Adamus requested to have a match against you, they hadn't seen anything wrong with it.
Your mind kind of locked up for a moment while the teacher called the spar to an end. Being disarmed was one of the ways the match could be lost and you didn't exactly have a weapon anymore.
You were taken away to the nurse's office, still in shock.
That was your spear. The sign that you could be a Terra Knight. You had to return it to your body after use as you only had one. Just one-
The shards of your spear were brought to you and a teacher explained that broken spears did reform. It would take anywhere from half a week to two weeks apparently but you would get it back.
"Until you do though, you should stay out of combat classes."
The teacher looked sorry as he explained that to you. It had been his fault for setting up that match in the first place so he was apologising.
Adamus hadn't done anything strictly wrong. Sundering a weapon was a good way to end a fight. He had never expected a first year to actually be able to do it though so he hadn't thought to warn all of you and tell you about spear regeneration.
He left though eventually and you gazed out of the window.
Late in the evening, you returned to the common room.
Everyone was scattered around at different tables.
If you'd be out of combat for the next few days, you should do something during that time.
One thing you now understood was your own weakness. With that understood, you knew how to improve. You needed friends, You needed allies.
Best to make sure they like you first though.
Who do you want to talk to?
[ ] The first table (Dio)
[ ] The second table (Frisob and Myrshai)
[ ] The third table (Seoihilda and Tuilendra)
[ ] The forth table (Helenria and Princess Mariannerie)
[ ] The fifth table (Kryako)
[ ] The sixth table (Prince Endymad and Sigubert)
You may also vote on how you want to talk to the people at your chosen table.
This is just to allow you to learn more about your chosen characters. You'll have a chance to talk to all of them over your recovery time.
Right then, mechanics
First, Soul Crushing. It's Intimidate vs Intimidate or Level. You can boost your roll as either the attacker or the defender by paying reiatsu. If the defender loses, they get a penalty to all rolls for a while. If the attacker loses they become dazed for half the time the defender would have gotten a penalty.
Next: Kalina's touch attack was an attempt to use the "Deadly touch" feat. It allows you to… screw it. It's a reversed paladin lay on hands but with the ability to increase the damage further by spending reiatsu.
After that we have action dice. These are plot armour made physical. Each character has a limited pool of them that can be added to any roll. Enemies pick when to use their dice and in future combat I'll use yours to save you in case of anything truly bad coming up.
Adamus' sunder roll wouldn't have done as much damage as it did but he included a power attack with it to do bonus damage.
Gaian spears regenerate 3d4 days after they're broken.
This vote is to begin introducing you to other characters. I'm throwing you into a classroom of 11 other characters, I need to pace the introductions and see which characters you like and which characters you find dull.
As you looked around the tables, you saw Helenria wave at you. The princess looked up from a book she was reading and offered an inviting smile too.
Well. If a princess wanted to talk to you, you weren't about to turn her down.
You sat at the table with them and the princess immediately started fussing over you "Are you okay? That was a nasty shock you experienced."
"I'm fine." You admitted softly.
Helenria shook her head with some anger.
"That boy- next time we spar, I'll crack him over the head!"
…You didn't know how you'd react to that honestly. Would that be revenge?
Regardless, you turned the conversation slightly. You wanted to know why the princess cared so much about you in this matter. You'd never spoken before after all. At least not like this.
"Isn't it obvious?" She actually looked a little surprised at the question "It's because you're Helenria's friend. Anyone she claims as a friend is definitely worth talking to."
…She had just grabbed you off the side of the road originally. You barely know her either.
Is this just how noblewomen act?
Well, you'd confirmed these two liked you at least. Maybe you could ask them some questions about how they're finding the academy?
At the question, the princess sighs and looks back to her book.
Helenria looks more chipper though.
"I'm having great fun." She admitted "I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of things I can do when really pushed."
There was an excited light in her eyes. You remembered that she'd gotten high marks in every combat practical so far. Not the best, maybe fourth place? Fifth?
Compared to you, she had a lot more skill that most would guess when they looked at her.
But then your attention turned to the princess who was still reading. Helenria gave a small sigh.
"She hasn't been enjoying schooling that much."
"It's pointless." The princess commented simply, "I already can use my abilities."
"You can?" Your eyes widened.
The abilities of one's soul. The very talent you'd thought about on the day you came to the academy for the first time. A kind of "magic" unique to each Terra Knight.
And the princess had access to hers before she'd even started training.
The princess nodded "It's not too rare. My brother can do it too. Mine are a bit too flashy to show off in the common room though. I'd need to summon my spear for part of it, the other part would make a mess."
You nod and she continued.
"Since I can already use my powers, I don't think I need to come here at all. Much better to allow me to skip it and allow me to use my powers to help people."
"But wouldn't the combat training help?" You ask.
She shook her head "No, neither part is aggressive. I'd be best served staying with the reserves of any force. I can heal wounds so I shouldn't need to fight people if I don't want to."
Helenria just smiled at her friend.
"I'm sure your mother just wanted the best for you. Our powers are known to improve with training after all."
The princess gave a harumph to that and the conversation slowed. You spent a bit more time with Helenria.
The night came. You bunked with Seoihilda and Tuilendra. Due to the royal siblings each having a personal room, the normal "4 per room" rule had been relaxed.
The bedrooms could basically be simplified as "Female Commoners" which you slept in, "Male Commoners" which Dio and Adamus were in along with the others (And you really hoped that Adamus wasn't bullying them too badly at night) and "Nobles" where the rest of the nobles of the class slept.
The next few days were a bit of a blur to you. Your spear was still broken and you didn't know how long it would take to heal.
You couldn't take it out of you to look at it for the same reason you shouldn't unwrap a broken arm to look at it.
It would be gross and delay the healing process.
Helenria wasn't allowed to keep her promise. The princess' explanation of awakening powers early apparently included all nobility. Before Helenria managed to challenge Adamus to a match, she awakened her innate powers.
One of the academy's rules was that one with abilities could only challenge another with abilities. It was a means to prevent upperclassmen from challenging the younger students that hadn't awoken their abilities yet.
And so Helenria was unable to help you. As was the princess.
But could they have helped at all? All official bouts were one on one. Even if you did make friends with the rest of your class. You couldn't take them all to help you take revenge.
At least, officially.
[ ] {Morality} No, your revenge has to be through official means or it lacks true meaning to you. You need it to be known that you beat him. (Lawful)
[ ] {Morality} …You'd be satisfied as long as he was defeated. Even if you had to fight him in an unofficial duel it's fine. No one else has to know other than those you bring with you. (Chaotic)
Three days had passed, the end of the week was coming up.You might be able to feel out some more of your classmates over the weekend.
Someone like…
[ ] {Weekend Plans} You hadn't spent nearly enough time with Hesiodio since the end of the Academy's break. As far as you knew, he liked the River district so you could find him there.
[ ] {Weekend Plans} Frisob and Myrshai were becoming fast friends, one book smart and one street smart. They'd probably let you come with them as they spent time out in the city.
[ ] {Weekend Plans} Seoihilda and Tuilendra, the two girls that you shared a room with. You knew they didn't stay together during the previous weekends but you could ask them to go with you on a tour of the city.
[ ] {Weekend Plans} Kryako… you had no idea where she went during the weekends, you'd have to follow her.
[ ] {Weekend Plans} Sigubert spends his weekends studying in the library, maybe you could study with him?
[ ] {Weekend Plans} Helenria's alone on the weekends due to the royals returning to the palace so you could spend some more time with your friend.
This isn't a plan vote, you can vote on both topics independently.
The morality vote both lets me get a read on all of you as a playerbase. I need to know what you think. It will affect her allegiances (this system's alignment system) though.
The weekend plans is another vote to allow you to get to know other classmates. The royals aren't available but everyone else is. Remember that you can add to a vote if there's anything specific you want to ask them about.
Also, I'm now setting up the "Important Characters" page. It will have information about important characters you know and bits about your relationship with them.
Here's a list of information about the important characters your character knows.
Name
Race
Relationship
Details
Hesiodio (Dio)
Gaian Kami
Friend
A friend from your hometown. You don't know him that well though.
Helenria (Helen)
Gaian Kami
Friend
A noble, daughter of an earl from the east. Has claimed you as a friend? She's awakened her natural abilities.
Adamus
Gaian Kami
Rival
A bully who has it out for you after you pushed back against him. He's broken your spear in the past.
Mariannerie
Gaian Kami
Strong Friendship
A princess of the royal family. Apparently treats you as a friend due to Helenria's good words. Dislikes the academy because she doesn't think she needs it.
You've trained with her before. Her natural abilities allow her to heal and create non-physical barriers.
Sigubert
Gaian Kami
Acquaintance
He's eight years old and already better than you at spearplay. A noble son of some house or another. He noted that you're awful at spearplay and need to practice it. He's trained with you but you don't know what his natural abilities are.
Seoihilda
Gaian Kami
Acquaintance
A member of the duelling club and your class. You lost to her while you were trying to prove you could have beaten Adamus if the fight hadn't ended with your spear being broken. She's a bit disapointed you didn't prove your point.
Endymad
Gaian Kami
Friend
A prince of the royal family. Met you through your noble connections. Your divine power have made nobles set up a possible marriage Between you and him but you haven't interacted with him much in the past.
Ami
Shinigami
Friend
A Shinigami student, self-proclaimed best Hakudo student and is very interested in Gaians- or rather all people who live in different ways
Seiichi
Shinigami
...?
A Shinigami student, self-proclaimed best Zanjutsu student. A bit of a jerk but he's very strong.