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oc voicetesting again
ALARIC THURN
Queen Blanche's attack dog-slash-bodyguard. Alaric was partially responsible for putting her on the throne in a bloody coup and now seeks to keep her safe. This would be easier if they weren't stuck in a timeloop replaying the same horrid events over and over and dying each time. Maybe eventually they'll get some character development, but that sure hasn't happened yet!
LARIMAR
Formerly a king of a flourishing nation, Larimar's rule was overthrown by his twin brother and if that wasn't bad enough, he was betrayed again by someone close to him after he slowly learned to trust once more. So yeah, he's doing great. Now out for revenge against two people, he will stop at nothing to make them pay for hurting him.
MALICE
The only valid vampire, Malice hates his kind, but wasted no time in mashing betray on his fellow rebels the second he had the opportunity for wealth and a more stable future. The woman who took him in (who might be his actual mom? weird) tried to turn him into a vampire noble. It didn't go well. So he ran away with his bestie, except it turns out his bestie was using him and had Malice beat up until he learned how to control his powers. Cool! He just managed to get free and is out for revenge.
REINA
Once a famous explorer and supposedly a skilled fighter, now she's working for her ex (who tried to kill her) and ultimately pretty unhappy with how her life's gone. Oh yeah, and due to some crazy bastards she's now going to be taken over by a god in an indeterminate amount of time and will cease existing... and her shitty ex is also dealing with the same thing. Thanks, world.
ZVEI, THE NECROMANCER
A deimori (demon) who is missing his memories, Zvei's become obsessed with finding a way to get them back, particularly because he's had realistic dreams of a place beyond the world... so naturally this escalated into him trying to end the world by obtaining god-like power by merging with the world tree. He's taken from directly after this point where he was forcibly ripped from said world tree and is near death but eh, it's fine. Did he learn anything from this? Hell no!
Oh look, it's another oc voicetesting post. Well, okay, I'm not voicetesting Zvei anymore but he's here because why the hell not. I wanna play him, you know how it goes. Anyway! Please help me voicetest some ocs, I definitely have some work to do with all of them!
Feel free to go as in-depth as you'd like with setup for where our characters are if you'd like to write a starter - we can play fast and loose with a generic jamjar or murdergame setting, or we can get into the worldbuilding if you want something more intense! You want to play in one of our characters' settings? Sure, we can do that! You want to steal from an actual rp? Why not? If you're not feeling like writing a starter, leave a comment with who you want and I'll give you one!
As always, murdergame settings are my beloved and I will gladly play in them, but we can do anything! Assumed cr is also totally fine if you want to skip over introductions and get into something else! I would prefer to avoid AUs right now since I'm voicetesting, but pretty much anything else goes! For inspiration, here are some memes: texting, stargazing, rain, random scenario, train to the afterlife.
The code used here is by lucavi!
Feel free to go as in-depth as you'd like with setup for where our characters are if you'd like to write a starter - we can play fast and loose with a generic jamjar or murdergame setting, or we can get into the worldbuilding if you want something more intense! You want to play in one of our characters' settings? Sure, we can do that! You want to steal from an actual rp? Why not? If you're not feeling like writing a starter, leave a comment with who you want and I'll give you one!
As always, murdergame settings are my beloved and I will gladly play in them, but we can do anything! Assumed cr is also totally fine if you want to skip over introductions and get into something else! I would prefer to avoid AUs right now since I'm voicetesting, but pretty much anything else goes! For inspiration, here are some memes: texting, stargazing, rain, random scenario, train to the afterlife.
The code used here is by lucavi!
no subject
Well, that's not really helping right now, so Reina listens instead. Truthfully, much of it goes right over her head. Technological advances though... That sounds like what Edge was working on. Is she connected with all of that? The ARI or whatever?]
I'm... not familiar with it, no.
[Maybe it's just her sucking at geography, but something about this really isn't sitting right with her. Reina shakes her head again and launches into an explanation about her guild.]
Yeah, that's right. It's a really big guild in Emirre that has expanded a lot over the past decade. While most guilds typically focus on fighting monsters and exploration, Ruby Dawn offers all sorts of services, including helping other guilds get started. There's even a whole research division as well.
[She rests a hand against her chest as she continues.]
I'm an Officer in the guild, which basically means I help train new recruits and serve as sort of an honorary guildmaster. I'm not all that important in the guild, though; I'm a fairly new recruit myself.
no subject
Yet as Reina finishes, Amaya stays calm, keeping herself level. It's not Reina's fault Amaya can't feel anything towards this other than empty.]
It sounds as if you take much pride in your position. That is good. I imagine that you did a good job of looking out for those under you, if I would be correct in assuming? Even new as you were, it sounds as if you must have risen in rank easily.
[Amaya doesn't bother smiling, but once again, her eyes soften. That'll have to be enough.]
I am not unfamiliar with what guilds do for others, at least. But it does sound like it may have been more...widespread, in your country. That is no bad thing.
[Amaya is just not going to address the elephant in the room if Reina isn't, no siree--]
...It is a shame that you were...taken, from your work, however.
no subject
I did all I could to look out for those working for me. It... doesn't always go well. Between monsters and difficult terrain, many people die trying to explore the Aeli's branches.
[She doesn't think to elaborate on what those are, because everyone knows. The Aeli is the world tree, almost a deity in its own right, with massive structure spread throughout the world that serve as its "branches". To not know of them is unthinkable.]
And... yeah. It is. I at least got to go exploring one last time, but...
[She trails off there, eyes darting out the window. It's getting darker out there, so there's not much to see. Still, it's easier to look at than the other woman as she thinks about what happened; about Aziv losing his composure for the first time in years, about how Talys looked so different from the man she thought she knew. About how everything fell apart around them so damn fast, and how the Aeli itself is in great danger...
But that at least should be fine with her death, right? Right. If she's dead, then that means the god has taken over her mortal form and has been revived. So everything should be okay now.
...Strange that the thought doesn't comfort her at all.]
Sorry, I guess I'm still coming to terms with it.
[She returns her attention to the woman with a wry smile, but her hands have gone tight on the knees of her pants again.]
no subject
Most don't usually have the ability to tell her that her gaze can be a little intense at times. Aneirin is the only one who's done so once, and all it did was manage to annoy Amaya deeply. Staring is really the only interaction she'd be allowed, and this is the first person who has no reason to see her as a leader. Nor a pariah, nor a saint, nor anything that her old world has viewed her as.
It's...strange. To simply be, in the last place that one would want to possibly be in.]
...Reina, my child. You needn't apologize at all. What you did is something very few are able or willing to do; you were willing to step up to the plate to lead others, even in grim times. To be able to take the mantle in such a manner, in such a short amount of time...even with the loss of life that you and those under you have suffered, you dared to persist in the face of it.
It is understandable that you are still...jarred, by all of this. In a better world, you would have so much more to do. None would blame you for wanting to mourn that loss.
[Amaya has really only learned to be human through her interaction with others. In a way, she spent half of her life closed off and stiff, and part of her always retreats into that as a defense. But with someone so clearly hurting in front of her, can she continue to do so?
No. In what might be perceived as an odd action, she's sure, Amaya holds out one of her hands gently. Both physically and metaphorically meant to symbolize wanting to help, she hopes.]
I know not if I can be of assistance. And I cannot imagine that this would come close to serving as a traditional confession of sorts. But...if you wish to ease some of your burden onto me further, I would be happy to help. It would seem that the troubles still ache at you so, am I incorrect...?
[Amaya isn't good at this. Even on her good days, Aneirin calls her stone faced and tells her to lighten up a bit, even if he knows as well as she does that she can't. But she wants to help. She wants to assist this woman she barely even knows, because she doesn't deserve this. Amaya is certain nothing Reina says could change her mind.]
no subject
When was the last time someone offered her a hand, expecting nothing in return, just because they wanted to help? Trey always did, certainly, but that was different. He was a member of her guild— their guild. Perhaps before that it was Aziv, and that...
Feels like a lifetime ago, really. Probably because it was.]
I don't even know where to start.
[She says, hesitantly. The words linger on her tongue, tasting like bitter defeat. After she's come so far, this is what stops her? Even at her lowest, she'd never stopped for more than a few minutes. That's one thing Reina has always, always had going for her - that she's been able to pick herself up and deal with uncertainty, even when facing the unknown.
Once more, then. She can do this. She squares her shoulders, drawing herself up where she's sitting and folds her hands in her lap again, though she ends up staring at Amaya's offered hand like it's a lifeline.
(The staring doesn't truly bother her all that much, all things considered. She's used to having some unnerving people around, after all.)]
...We were betrayed. Aziv - the leader of Ruby Dawn - and I were exploring with our comrade, Talys. We got separated from the others, and in the chaos, it seems something happened to the Aeli. I'm not sure what, but it severely weakened the structure, making the whole thing very precarious and difficult to traverse.
Talys pushed us into the Aeli's lifestream. Its... blood, I suppose. It's... kind of hard to explain, but by being submerged in it, Aziv and I became perfect candidates for the deceased gods Elu and Dus to reincarnate.
...The fact that I'm here means my time's up and Dus took my body. I'm not sure where Aziv is. Maybe he's still alive, for now.
[Not that she's complaining about that - frankly, the whole explanation sounds sort of... blank. Like she's reciting facts rather than having an emotional reaction to what happened.]
Talys and Aziv were really close. They've known each other for over ten years, and Talys helped Aziv build Ruby Dawn. So that betrayal... probably hurt him more than it hurt me.
[Some part of her would have reveled in that, once. When did that change? When did she stop seeing Aziv as a threat?
Reina shakes her head once that's out there and tries to relax a little from where she's stiffened.]
Sorry, I guess that's not a great explanation of what happened, huh? I don't really remember much after we were pushed into the lifestream and Talys started yelling about all this being part of his plan or something.
[It's not like she tuned out or anything, it just went sailing over her head...]
no subject
Amaya cannot express much. Her happiness has long been taken from her, but suppressing her other emotions for the sake of being a good leader is also something she's had to learn to do. When all she can express is sadness and anger and cold neutrality and things along those lines, one learns that people tend to like the neutrality better. It at least lets them think you're like them. And maybe if Amaya were younger, it'd make her think they were like her.
But Amaya isn't that naive little girl anymore, and Reina can likely see Amaya's expression darken as Reina's explanation continues.]
...So essentially, that Talys. He used you as a sacrifice to save the Aeli--that, or you had both been planned to be sacrifices from the very start, and the world you likely came from will soon be no more. Should that traitorous scum yet live, of course.
Gods are fickle things, after all. He'll find that out soon enough.
[Despite the venomous words that escape her, a contrast with all she tries to portray, her next words are of more neutral register. An attempt at warmth, even if it comes off subpar at best from a broken heater like herself.]
Worry not; I believe I understand the gist of it. And I am...truly sorry, to hear that you had been roped into something so heinous. You did not deserve any of what you have faced, nor the cold embrace of death for something you had no control over. In a better world and life, you would have had so much to achieve, and so much more to live for.
...Though it may not bring you comfort, I am sure that whatever afterlife your stop is--for the deeds you have done in life, the good you had attempted to do for others, it shall be repaid back to you in comfort. Security, in what is to come. If you can find comfort in nothing else...know that your deeds, they will certainly grant you a place among the Heaven's happiest. Of that, I am certain.
[Amaya's only sad that she won't be able to see it for herself. She knows her stop is almost certainly going to be much, much further along, even as she looks out the window to see if the scenery has changed. They'd likely be getting off at Reina's stop first, if she had to guess...?]
...I know it is not much comfort, but I had always been told that your deeds will reflect back to you, in one way or another, at the end of your road. If little else...I hope that is true for you.
no subject
[She doesn't know much about the gods. She never really paid much attention to religion or the teachings and stories surrounding them, but that much has always been present in what she has heard. It seems like the gods reward those who pray to and obey them, and leave everyone else high and dry.
Reina slowly forces herself to sit back and unclench her hands from her pants, shaking her head a bit as if to clear it.]
Thank you. Really, that means a lot to me. More than I can express. I've made a lot of mistakes and I've done a lot of things I wish I could undo, but I definitely didn't deserve this.
[Maybe Aziv did, but honestly, she isn't even sure about that much anymore. Aziv did seem to clean up his act as Ruby Dawn's reach expanded, after all. But that could've been a front as well, so...
Ugh, she doesn't want to think about Aziv. Or Talys. Or any of this, really. With another, more forceful shake of her head, Reina resettles.]
I want to think that I'll be judged for my actions in the end. I think the good outweighs the bad, but if it doesn't, I'm ready for that. Or at least as ready as I can be. It helps, getting all that off my chest.
[...]
Do you... want to talk about what happened to you?
[It's cautious, hesitant. She's not really sure Amaya will want to; it is a lot to deal with, after all.]
no subject
There's a distinct wave of that emptiness as Reina expresses her appreciation, for the comfort that Amaya at least hopes she provided. It's enough to make her want to leave, to exit out into this darkened scenery and hope that emptiness is what awaits. Even dead and gone, both of them, the dragon holds any sense of positive emotion away from her, and it's frustrating. Amaya must wonder if she appears normal to this woman; it's painful, all be told, but...
It's the cautious, hesitant question that gets Amaya to pause. Her look seems...blank, almost, dead eyes simply staring at Reina as she tries to process what she's just been asked.
Most people already knew of her. Her name, the power she wields--all of it is a black stain upon her, something she and Fefello Caelum itself can never take back. It's proof they hail from different worlds, at least, but...]
...It's a rather boring story, all things considered. I've tried tracing it over and over again in my mind, but by all of my thinking and calculating, it would very much seem that I went and died peacefully in my sleep.
It's...hardly a deserving death, for someone who attempted to end the world, years prior.
[Amaya's gaze goes elsewhere, at that. Toward the window, toward the passing scenery. She doesn't want to look; she imagines Reina will probably have several questions, if not just outright leave. But...
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. To speak to someone completely unfamiliar about it.]
no subject
But of course that's not the part Reina's stuck on, and given her wide-eyed stare, it's probably obvious what her next question is.]
You... attempted to end the world? Why?
[It's perhaps surprisingly not judgmental at all. It's just a question; curious, confused, certainly, but not judgmental. She could make all sorts of assumptions about it, but she doesn't know Amaya's world. She doesn't know Amaya's story. She has no idea what happened. So it's probably nothing like Livizei, and nothing like whatever Talys has planned.
At the very least, she can listen. Amaya's already done that much for her, after all.]
no subject
Amaya's look darts back when Reina actually...bothers to ask. Amaya was truly expecting her to walk away from all of this, and perhaps that would fittingly be Amaya's fate. For a brief moment, she...genuinely starts, eyes widening in surprise. She was used to having such information painted on her, and it's why so many despised her. But this is...
New. Quite new.]
...It is a long and quite unpleasant story, I must warn you. I...would not wish to subject you to it. [To be met with kindness, true kindness, from a stranger of all people--the shock is there, and it's there to stay for a moment.] ...As a result of how I spent much of my life, I genuinely believed in a terrifying power and it's wish to destroy the world. Because I...
I wanted it to suffer. As much as I.
[Amaya forces herself to calm; forces her eyes closed, letting out a shaky breath or two to try and center herself. It isn't even an unpleasant story to recall, not really, but she's never not had someone stop and actually ask about what happened before. It's a foreign feeling, surrounded by that emptiness; not as disgusting, she supposes.]
no subject
After all, when one suffers, don't they often reach out to make sure that they aren't alone in that suffering? Whether it's through companionship or revenge, it's a very common thing. Reina's not immune to it - isn't that what she did when she founded her guild and tried everything in her power to surpass Aziv? If she couldn't punish him for what he'd done to her, then she'd make sure he'd live in her shadow.
...It was a long time ago that she sought that, but those feeling still smolder in her chest, reminding her of that rage and fury, that need to do something to hurt him like he'd hurt her.
Amaya's is just on a larger scale. That's somewhat understandable, isn't it?]
I don't mind. Hearing the story, I mean. Even if it's difficult, maybe... it'd be good to talk about it. I can't say I understand wanting to end the world or anything, but I get wanting revenge.
no subject
Reina might feel a bit of an eerie, icy pressure for a moment, and there's the sound of something breaking in the background that Amaya doesn't even startle at, as she takes a breath to calm herself. If she can at least center herself through this...maybe she can do this.]
...I was raised as the heir to a cult, when I was born. I...never knew a life that wasn't under the thumb of my father or the priests and priestesses under his control. [Amaya starts with that, folding her hands into her lap as she attempts to focus and recall it all.] My father wanted me perfect. Perfect in mind, body, and spirit. A messiah raised by the holy hand of the Dragon that my Father forged a contract with, long before my birth. I was allowed nothing of my own. No friends, no interests, no emotions, no failings...my father convinced me that to feel would be selfish; to tie myself down with petty things like emotions, bonds, or anything that could be perceived as selfish, it would be unthinkable and he would not allow it. He wanted me to be perfect for that Dragon, and a perfect example for the people to follow.
My father wanted to purge the world of it's selfishness, and believed that with the Dragon's power, he would obtain that control and bend the world into a perfect, selfless populace.
[Amaya's gaze goes downward for a moment, closing her eyes as she works to center herself.]
...He didn't count on the Dragon deciding that it favored me instead. [The calm she states that with feels...dark, somehow. Dark as the bottom of a lake, dark and without hope.] He could have worked with either outcome, when it came time for me to properly attain the Dragon's blessing. But the Dragon...it had no intention of following Father's wishes unless made to; it found me, alone, bitter, and angry at the world, and decided it rather liked the darkness in my heart.
A group of people rose up to stop us, eventually. Try as Father might to keep control over the situation, he failed to do so; he attempted to draw upon more power than he could afford, and I disposed of him on the Dragon's orders and attempted to enact it's true will.
The complete and utter eradication of humanity. [...] Something that I too, wanted; my only impression of them were the sycophant villagers worshipping my Father's every step, and the ones under his thumb. Many people died; I know of at least five kingdoms that fell from the initial aftershocks of the Dragon's awakening. I rode atop her and used every once of power at my disposal from it to fend off any that would attempt to defy her.
[She...stops there, at least, for a moment. Despite it being arguably the roughest part, it's what comes next that's rougher; do you want to continue, Reina?]
no subject
And oh, what a story it is. The tragic tale of a woman who was shaped to be what someone else wanted, who took her chance at freedom and judged the whole damn world on the few people she'd had the opportunity to know. It's a lot to take in, and her wide-eyed expression says as much, but...]
...It was so, so unfair that you were stuck in that situation. I think... I understand why that darkness in your heart was there, and why you were willing to destroy humanity based on what you'd seen.
[She hadn't seen the outside world. She hadn't seen the good that humanity can do. She'd only seen a small portion, so why would she assume that others would be any different, when the ones she knew were so fixated on such a bizarre, pointless goal? Robbing humanity of its selfishness is akin to removing their humanity as a whole; to inflict this on a child, one unable to have a normal upbringing would of course result in someone truly messed up.]
What happened next?
slaps my own cheeks i am NOT letting these sit for a month--
That someone would look at her circumstances, and call them, rightfully, unfair? It takes everything in Amaya not to break. To break into the million pieces she wants to, that she desperately needs to, and for a brief moment she wonders if she's actually found someone who understands. And perhaps, that, is truly meant to be her hell.
Amaya's eyes widen, briefly, the words clearly shaking her. But at Reina's request--she composes herself, forcing her eyes shut as she recalls the rest.]
...That same group of people rose up to face me. Unlike my Father, however...they didn't come bearing their weapons blazing and ready to strike me down.
I fought against them, all of them at once, with every bit of the Dragon's power at my disposal. With every ounce of her might in my magic, I tried to eradicate them, but they spoke of...a better world. A better life, than what I had faced. They tempted me toward that life, no matter how adamantly I swore against it and them. They kept trying, reaching out to me, trying to tell me that I'm not alone. That there's better things in this world that I haven't seen yet. And that all I needed to do was take their hands, their support...all of it...
[Amaya exhales. It almost sounds like a laugh, though it's bitter. Deeply bitter.]
...They defeated the Dragon. At the end of it all, she stole away my happiness as recompense for defying her, and I passed out from the shock of all of my injuries. When I awoke...nobody was there. Not a single soul. They simply...up and left me there, healed and alive, but alone in the world.
Perhaps it was to punish me. To this day...none of them ever came back to tell me why.
[...And that, at the very least, seems to have been the hardest part of it all. Yet from the way Amaya's still shaking, it's...clear, perhaps, that she still hasn't let go of that. Maybe it's a regret--she's not sure.]
...Life somehow moved on. I met my...confidant--a demon who calls himself Aneirin. He assisted me in creating shelter, and only asked for my misery in exchange. It seemed to act as food for him. And, well. He found plenty of it with me.
Over time, the outcasts of other lands found their way into my territory. It...snowballed out of hand, when I fought to protect them--a small band of knights attempted to eradicate that area, and I scared them away for good and staked claim to the land for the people who lived alongside me.
It eventually became...almost like home. Or what I had heard in storybooks, at least--my people and I worked to keep each other safe as people came to us, as we worked to make the land something to be proud of and something to stand on it's own. It was...beautiful, I suppose.
[...Despite it all, she sounds a little...uncertain.]
no worries, i totally get it and mood lmao
As little as she likes the thought, the only conclusion Reina can come to is that yes, that's exactly what they would have done. Their focus was on protecting the Aeli, and Livizei had endangered their group and the world tree. They wouldn't have had time to help her settle in afterwards, even if they'd wanted to.]
...I'm so sorry.
[The apology is soft and for a moment, Reina's not even sure if she's apologizing to Amaya or to someone long gone, in a situation that didn't happen. She shakes her head and tries again.]
I'm sorry they left you like that. Maybe they didn't know what to say or... how to help or... Well, it doesn't really matter what their reasons were. The fact is that they left you alone when they'd offered you a hand, and that was unfair of them.
[But Amaya's life went on. It sounds like it was a pretty good life, all things considered, but the uncertainty isn't lost on Reina.]
It sounds like it was. It's nice to have some place like that, isn't it?
...But you seem a little... hesitant. Was it difficult to settle in there?
it's difficult as fuck but sometimes u gotta, appreciate u
I meant it quite literally, when I said that the Dragon stole my happiness. I...cannot feel joy, in any capacity. Nor happiness, nor elation, nor...any sort of positive emotion that it deems so.
[Amaya pauses a bit, and it's almost as if the cold, dead look in her eyes has a little more meaning. There's...sadness, in that eternal calm, and yet there's softness; she's trying so hard.]
All it leaves me with is a deep hollowness inside of my heart. Not that I deserve much in the way of happiness, after everything I tried to do...but it was difficult. When the positive things you wish you could feel, you had to imitate. To mimic. To try and fit in. I eventually gave up and still, people stayed.
It was...difficult, yes. But it felt more than undeserved, and every little annoyance I had, every bit of bitterness, it stuck with me. I was...worried I would lash out at them, if given time.
...In a sick, horrible way, I suppose that I'm thankful that I got the chance to die trying to redeem myself, than risking letting everything boil over again.
[...]
...It's kind of you to apologize, however, Reina. Please...even if I cannot feel it, I hope that you understand that this...all of it. I do appreciate it.
♥
That's...! That's horrid, how could it do that to you?
[There's a brief flare of anger and her shoulders rise like she's squaring off to fight, to do something...
And then the fight leaves her with a sigh. She can't do anything about it here and now. Neither can Amaya. She's just... stuck like this, still. Being unable to experience such positive emotions... hell, Reina can hardly imagine what it must be like, especially when she was trying to redeem herself, to do better, and to see the good in the world.
For all the difficult times Reina's experienced, especially lately, she holds onto those positive memories and feelings like a lifeline. Imagining having that yanked away from her is too cruel to truly consider.]
I'm so sorry about that too. You really have suffered so much...
[Maybe she didn't realize it was suffering at the time, but now that she's had a chance to live a more peaceful life - one without happiness, certainly - is she aware of it?]
I wish there was something I could do to help. I really do; I don't like seeing others suffering and your circumstances are just so... so frustrating. I wish I could help change them.
[But there's no point in that now. They're dead, after all. And who knows where this leads them - such sentiments are probably pointless.]