Space Opera/Court Intrigue rp - Character creation

I suppose I could change one of the skills to be able to take more than one kind of mission. Since he was made ambassador, he might need some negotiating skills.

 

That would make sense. It'd mean I'd have to overhaul my character, but, you did get in first, so I'm happy for you to take the mantle of talkative admiral.

 

Ah, no, you don't need to change your character. I mean I wouldn't have changed anything if not for you, so I won't take your character archetype.

 

For context: the character I'm in the process of making is an Admiral with in Diplomacy and Logistics.
You can see how things overlap.

 

Yeah, no problem, I'll change diplomacy to something else, you go ahead with those two.

 

Just had another idea for a character and shared it with @Tjf not sure if I should post it for you guys to see. But now I'm kind of wishing I could play two characters. But with the timezone difference being so terrible playing two characters would be a bad idea I think.

Plus I don't think @Tjf would let me.

 

I've posted a pm response about the character. I like him, just think there need to be some balance changes. As for how to go about playing two characters, I'm not sure.

BTW, I'll be back to regular posting soon, I've just got one last essay to do for this unit, and then I'll have some free time back, for a week or two at least.

 

So, I completely forgot about this, but my character's nearly done... is there still room for me to join?

 

Sure.

 

Name: Amandeus Arkhis Valica (the first name denotes his family, the second is a peronal name, the third denotes his caste)
Picture/Appearance:

Age: 46
Class/Faction: Admiral of the Sakra Solar Syndicate Government-in-Exile
Skills:
Diplomacy
Logistics

Retinue/Planet/Army: The resources of the Government-in-Exile: effectively, a single fleet of moderate size but high skill, and a collection of starbases, dockyards, and mining stations in an otherwise dead system to keep the fleet maintained and the civilians housed.

Personality/History: Arkhis began his service to the Syndicate having passed the caste-trials to serve as a naval officer, first as a gunnery officer and then, after sustaining severe wounds during a fight with pirate ships, helping manage fleet logistics from aboard the starbase while his body was repaired with cybernetics.

After contact with the Terran Empire, with the Syndicate shifting from needing to see to all its own defences to needing to keep its ally on side, Arkhis took on further caste-trials to serve as a diplomat within the human empire.

His diplomatic career was ended by the sudden retirement of the previous governor, as Arkhis - a figure acceptable to both the powerful fleet command and to the Sakra's overlords - was pushed up into the post.

History of his Race: Records from the Federation show the Sakra ruling several systems including at least two habitable planets, fielding a fleet capable of, if not stopping human expansion, at least channeling it down other pathways until the Federation collapsed. Further details are, naturally, scarce.

On their arrival, the Terran Empire found no signs of habitable planets, either within the Syndicate's former borders or in the lone system they now occupied. The sole fleet at the exile's disposal was not enough to prevent them being vassalized by the humans; but their remaining strength was still enough to exact some concessions; for example, that the leader of the Syndicate's Government-in-Exile would have a position at the Imperial court.

 

Accepted

 

Excellent. Where does he come in?

 

I'll write an introductory post for him soon. Just have to think of something first. Welcome aboard

 

Probably him arriving, making his introductions to the emperor, and getting offered a selection of jobs... if the emperor isn't, otherwise occupied.

 

Aaaaaand my second character-

Name: Vladimir Noapte, “Lord Noctis” (Formal), "Legate" (Rank), "Blade of the Emperor" (Infamously)

Picture/Appearance:

Spoiler: Pictures

Spoiler: Others

As an Eternal Warrior, Vladimir is tall (over 7') and physically powerful. Being genetically engineered he has enhanced strength and durability; out of his armor, he looks like a solid wall of muscle. He has long dark hair that oftentimes has an oily sheen to it. Noctis is a world of perpetual night, and through generations of settlement, the humans who live there are suited to its environment; he is no different. His eyes have adapted and are pitch black, further they appear to take up the whole of the eye; as a result, he has a hyper-sensitivity to light and can be easily blinded if he isn't wearing his helmet. Like all people from his world, he has incredibly pale skin and his facial features are best described as gaunt or sunken. His armor is midnight-blue with a bronze trim. It is decorated in a vampire motif and adorned with skulls of noteworthy opponents for the purpose of terrifying any in his presence.

Age: ~350 chronologically (The massive amounts of genetic engineering he was subjected to have made determining his physical age nigh impossible. It is unknown now whether his aging process has been massively retarded, or if he is effectively immortal.)
Class/Faction: Military: General (Ground)

Skills: Combat specialty: +5 to all combat rolls, +10 to ground battles (Military background)

• Transhuman Physiology - The process of turning a human into an Eternal Warrior is the most intensive and dangerous form of genetic engineering known. With only a 50% survival rate and the fact that a subject can begin the procedure no later than the age of 10, it is outlawed on all but nine worlds within the Empire. However, the finished product sees a human with bones stronger than carbon steel and muscle mass dense enough to stop small-arms-fire. Two hearts, three lungs, and an incredible resistance to disease are part-and-parcel of the process. Eternal Warriors have been known to spit acid and survive in the vacuum of space without a space suit. To date no Eternal Warrior as ever died from age or illness; only injury has ever felled them. And they are built to be damned near indestructible.
• Precognition - Once per encounter may re-roll a failed roll. Must accept the second result, even if it's worse. Bonus against surprised attacks

Retinue/Planet/Army:

Spoiler: Army

10,000 Eternal Warriors: Each and every one of them was once human. They are not human anymore. Through extensive genetic alteration, modification, and engineering, they have been transformed into superhuman warriors of unmatched strength, speed, durability and skill. They form the core of Noapte’s army.

Spoiler: Planet

Noctis: A world orbiting on the outer edge of a white dwarf star's habitable zone. With over 80% of the world's surface area covered in water, evaporation has resulted in near-permanent cloud cover. It rains constantly over what land area there is and with the star so far away even at mid-day there is little more light than there would be on Earth just after dusk. Humans have adapted to the world growing pale with limited ability to absorb sunlight. Noctis' mantle is generally composed of a hyper-dense alloy noted for its incredible durability. This alloy is extremely useful for construction and as star-ship hulls. As such mining is Noctis' principal industry and the alloy its signature export.

King de jure of Noctis, Vladimir exercises very little control over his planet's politics. All of his political clout is soaked up making sure the world doesn't outlaw the creation of Eternal Warriors and in maintaining his fleet's supply of: new recruits, ships and materials.

He does have a very nice rain soaked villa however.

Spoiler: Starship

Endless Night: A Primus-class DREADNOUGHT, the Endless Night serves as Noapte's flagship. The Primus-class is one of the largest (~20km in length) warships humans have ever built. Considered under-gunned for its size, the Primus-class' real payload is in its Eternal Warriors contingent. The ship is designed to carry a full brigade (~1,500 warriors), the training and medical facilities for them, all their support vehicles (tanks, aircraft, artillery, colossuses etc.) and facilities to manufacture and maintain them. Less a warship and more a 'City in Space'. Even though the ship is under-gunned it still maintains as much firepower as any other DREADNOUGHT; further, it operates overlapping shield generators and its hull armor is second-to-none. As a result, the ship can give as-good-as-she-gets and take twice as-much-as-she-can-give.

Spoiler: Fleet

Nightfall Battle Fleet: The Endless Night's support fleet includes several BATTLESHIPS, many CRUISERS and numerous ESCORTS. Just as the Endless Night is built more as an Eternal Warriors delivery vehicle rather than a dedicated warship, so too is each vessel in the Nightfall Battle Fleet. Each BATTLESHIP in the fleet is built to carry a battalion (~300 warriors & equipment), and each CRUISER a company (~100 warriors & equipment). The ESCORTS (corvettes, frigates & destroyers) carry no warriors and serve as support vessels and screening ships.

Spoiler: Allies

Commander Lokan Shryke: Vladimir Noapte's "Number One", Shryke is fanatically loyal to his legate and friend; he is Vladimir's most trusted ally. An outstanding Eternal Warrior, Lokan has a stronger grasp of military strategy and tactics than his legate, but is not a beloved commander. Shryke is the only person that Noapte permits to speak to him as an equal. All others must pay him the proper deference. All save The Emperor.

Sextia: A human slave of Noapte's (so named as she is his sixth), Sextia serves as Vladimir's personal assistant. Initially rebellious, Sextia has developed both an admiration for the Eternal Warriors of the Nightfall Battle Fleet in general and an adoration of Vladimir Noapte personally. She's highly possessive of him and is prone to jealousy against other women, but is readily eager to serve him in any way he might require. She has retained a snarky attitude however and will antagonize her legate in the hopes he will 'discipline' her. Over the years she has developed into a capable administrator and her day job involves coordinating the fleet; although not a part of the military it's understood amongst fleet she speaks as Lord Noctis’ voice.

Spoiler: Sextia

Captain Jeremiah Rush (AKA " The Lust Rider"): An Eternal Warrior and captain of the Endless Night's rapid deployment and assault forces. Rush is a lascivious man with unquenchable carnal appetites; he rides into battle on an assault bike and will always strap a naked woman to the back of it. The women are tied between two vertically mounted trophy racks over the rear tire and facing the back of the bike. The women are splayed, their arms tied to the racks while their legs are restrained to either side of the rear bumper. Their pussies grind against the tail-light and are stimulated by every rev of the engine. Their mouths and noses are covered by a mask that floods their respiratory systems with an aphrodisiac gas that further stimulates their sexual arousal. Amongst the women of the fleet Rush is lusted after and feared in equal measure. They know he is utterly insatiable and completely domineering but will bring them such exquisite pleasure heretofore unknown by any woman. Amongst the men he is widely reviled. But he is also too efficient and effective a warrior to be replaced.

Mother Selene "Mistress of Sanctity": Mother Selene is an Eternal Warrior, high priestess of the Sect of the Sapphire Hearth and Chief Chaplin of the Nightfall Battle Fleet. Her mission is the ensure the spiritual purity of the soldiers and sailors of the fleet. She is a mature woman who is a century older than Noapte and appears physically to be in her mid-forties. She has been a part of the fleet since she joined the Church, and most everyone in the fleet has "worshiped" with her. It would be impossible to list her sexual partners. She feels as though she is 'aging out' however, as fewer and fewer people seek her services. She is still the one Vladimir consults when faced with a crisis of conscience however, and it is his reliance on her that has kept her in her position.

Personality/History: For more than three-hundred-years Vladimir Noapte has served the throne of the Terran Empire. In all that time he has served twelve monarchs and has come to be known as "The Blade of the Emperor". For the last two-and-a-half centuries he has been in command of the Nightfall Battle Fleet. Granted command at his 'young' age upon the death of his predecessor, due to his precognition, Noapte passed over several more experienced and accomplished warriors. Unlike other fleets that battle external threats, the Nightfall is typically deployed within the Empire fighting rebellions and insurgents. As such, he has developed a reputation of brutality and fear. He is the "Boogeyman" of the Empire. Parents tell their children to be good and loyal subjects or else he'll come for you. He's the monster under your bed that'll kill the boys and enslave the girls. Amongst the upper echelons of the Empire, he's seen as a necessary evil and they reluctantly tolerate him even as they despise and fear him. No one in (or out) of all the empire wants to see the Nightfall Battle Fleet, as it typically means impending doom. Only the Emperor is spared the need to feel dread in his presence, as Lord Noctis' loyalty to the throne is absolute.

But it doesn't matter to him who sits on it.

 

So, literally just Konrad Kurze?
...I mean, we are in a 40k knockoff...

 

Konrad Curze is definitely the inspiration, but Vladimir doesn't suffer from dissociative identity disorder. His legion also operates more like 'The Emperor's VIII Legion' rather than 'Curze's Night Lords'. There is a difference between the two. The Emperor's VIII Legion was recruited from "The Night's Children" individuals who "bought into" the Emperor's vision for humanity. They were deployed against civilians and insurgents because the Emperor destroyed the conditions that created 'The Night's Children' in the first place. If he used them like he used the other legions, as front line shock troops, if they went through a particularly harrowing battle and suffered massive casualties it would risk destroying the legion. So he typically held them back and deployed them against worlds that were brought into Imperial Compliance and then rebelled against the Imperium. What they did was a job, yes it was brutal, savage, barbaric and inhumane but it was also quick, efficient, and effective. They weren't excessive, they weren't genocidal, and they weren't monsters (not yet at least).

When the Emperor found Nostromo and Curze took over command of his legion their numbers could finally be replenished with recruits from Nostromo which had similar conditions to those that created 'The Night's Children'. But without Curze Nostromo slipped back into corruption and crime and all the legion received were murderers, rapists, thugs, and criminals. They corrupted the legion. They reveled in the terror and fear that they evoked in others. It was like handing Ed Gein, Tommy DeSimone, David Berkowitz, Samuel DeStephano, Peter Sutcliffe, Charles Manson, or Ted Bundy superhuman abilities, power armor, immunity from prosecution and saying: "Go kill some people".

Generally a bad idea.

The Legion changed after they found Nostromo, and not for the better. The Night's Children numbers dwindled and whatever "honor" the Legion had was shredded and incinerated. By the end Curze recognized just how far his Legion had fallen and said, out loud, to others: "I hate this Legion". It why he blew up Nostromo. To stem the tide of rot that had destroyed his Legion.

Noapte leads a legion similar to "The Night's Children" rather than "The Night Lords", and that's how I'm playing it.

But yes. He's heavily based on Konrad Curze.