Immortal Minds: The Eternal Saviors

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

I have an idea for a past life themed RP. I'll need good guys and bad guys with one really bad guy to play the lead villain. I have some details worked out already but the story itself is of course open for discussion.

'The body is merely a vessel for the mind. In our minds we live forever, leaving behind our flesh to be born again. The gift of eternal memory grands us our immortality, and with this gift we shape the history of mankind.'

This will be the story of a group of these 'immortals' and their struggle to prevent a catastrophe from befalling mankind. All players will be in charge of their individual 'Immortal'.

'In the beginning, there were two. As their influence spread across the world over the centuries more gifts were spread and their ranks grew. Greed sank into the mind of one of the originals, and they hid themselves from their kind. Seeking to use their gift for their own gain, the ancient one has revealed themselves once more. Betraying their own kind, they now wage a war that could drastically change the course of mankind forever.'

The 'Immortals' retain the memories of their past lives after death. Their childhoods are typical, not regaining their past memories until adolescence. Once these memories return, they begin to seek out others of their kind. They work together to quell any potential threats humanity may face, using their vast wisdom to help shape the course of humanity. The 'Evil Immortal' will be the second ancient. They no longer have a desire to help humans and seek only their own gain. It would be very possible that they would also have other, younger immortals working with them, having convinced them to leave the order for a more profitable destiny.

That's pretty much what I have thus far. The setting and story itself are open for discussion. So, anyone interested?

[Ruu]

~This looks very interesting! I'd definitely want to join!

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Glad to see some interest. Any thoughts on what part you'd like to play?

[Eternal Phoenix]

I'm intrigued, but I have a question. Is there any special abilities or magic in this? Or is it grounded firmly in reality, aside from the whole past lives thing?

[Ruu]

I'd like to play one of the good guys if that's okay.

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

No powers. The characters will retain all the memories of their past lives. But there are ways you can make your character 'super human' based on their backstory. For example, my character will have extensive combat and military training, having spent all his past lives as a warrior and soldier. As a result, every time he regains his memories his training comes back to him as well. Other things you could do would be super intelligence, if your character spent all their lives as a scholar, or a talented musician, ect. But no, there won't be any magic or superhuman abilities.

[Eternal Phoenix]

Ah, okay. That helps me flip through the mental rolodex. I know who'd be perfect for this. I'm in. Good side, unless you're hurting for that main villain.

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Unless no one else expresses interest in it I don't oppose. Just know that I need at least one bad guy. It's kind of important to the whole making a story part.

[Digital Muse]

Color me interested...on the side of darkness. lols

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Alright now we're talking. Okay so far we have 3 goodies and 1 baddie. I say we wait for a while to see if anyone else is interested in joining the dark side. In the mean time, anyone wish to discuss?

[Digital Muse]

Is this story happening in the modern day? And is there a cap on how old an Immortal (who isn't one of the Ancients) can be?

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

The time period is open for discussion. I was thinking either modern day or sometime around the 1800s. The ancient immortals would have their memories dating back to early civilization (Beings that they were the first around) where all the others would be as old as you care to get into when describing your characters background. For example, my Ancient will have memories of being a Native American far before foreigners came to settle, being a Japanese Samurai, a medieval Knight, and so on. The 'age' of your immortal should be portrayed through the life experiences they have rather than a set number of years. Also keep in mind that they are only immortal in mind, each life span will be that of a regular mortal until they are reborn and their 'immortality' resumes.

[Digital Muse]

For ease of play, I think the modern day might be best (even though I have a great love of the Victorian Age).

Another question would be if technology is more advanced since the Immortals would have stored all the supposed lost information of the ages within their minds?

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

I don't think all technology would be advanced, but if you were to make your character some type of advanced scientist with the capability of creating advanced technologies I suppose that would be alright.

EDIT:
Okay so we've got three participants thus far all playing good guys. This should be enough for us to get the wheels in motion a little bit. We still need at least one baddie so we can actually get the RP underway but I'm going to go ahead and say let's get some character sheets up. We can just use a basic frame for now and once the OOC pops up we can move them to there. Here's all I need from your sheets now.

Name: (You can include your current given name or a name your 'Immortal' has claimed as theirs or both)
Current Lifetime Age: (This will be the current age in your character's current life.)
Gender: (This mostly pretains to the current gender. It is very possible that over the course of your immortal's memory they've been both male and female, you can include any sidenotes you have pertaining to that here as well.)
Appearance: (Pretty self explanitory. This is your character's current appearance but you can also include some past life details if you wish.)
Personality: (All your past lifetimes will have melded together into one personality, so be specific.)
Key Traits: (This will be all the skills your character has picked up over their lives.)
Background: (Don't care for the length, so long as you include all key details you plan to bring into play during the RP. Example: Don't say your character spent time working on The Manhattain Project in the RP if you haven't listed it here. Feel free to add more to your character if you think of something later. Have it finalized before the beginning of the RP, however.)

NOTE: If anyone is interested in playing the main villain please mention so in this thread. If you have any questions you can PM me directly or ask in your post.

[Ruu]

I have a question before I begin work on the skeleton. What is the age where an immortal regains their memories? Is it early adolescence like 13-15 or later from 16-18?

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

It will be early adolescence where they regain their past memories. It'll come with your character's puberty every lifetime. Feel free to take as much time as you need on your skeletons. I can't open the OOC until we have the bad guy and I want to give everyone plenty of time to think about all the different lives your character may have lived.

[Eternal Phoenix]

NOTE: If anyone is interested in playing the main villain please mention so in this thread.

I direct your attention to first where Digital Muse said she'd do it...I think, and second to where I said I'd do it if no one else stepped up.

[Digital Muse]

I'd prefer not be the main bad guy. Just on the side of evil.

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Yeah that's why I decided to wait a while longer. If no one else is interested then we'll call that plan B but I don't want to force anyone to play a role they don't feel like playing.

[Eternal Phoenix]

No, I could do it. It's just that my villians tend to be either so captial E Evil that it's comical. or barely evil at all. Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. That's doesn't seem to be what you want. So...yeah.

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Well it's your choice. If you think you can come up with a good character to fit the role I'll gladly welcome you to the part. We'd need to work out some of the plot for the story first, though. Any ideas on what the goals of your character would be and what they hope to gain? I don't have a very good mind for the antagonist, so I always need to work out these details with someone that does.

EDIT: Okay after discussion and consideration I've made the decision that Phoenix shall play our bad guys. Since no one else seems to be interested in joining I'm going to go ahead and say let's get started. Work on your character sheets and have them posted here when you can. After everyone has them up I'll go ahead and make the official OOC, then the first posts can be made. Take your time with your sheets and put a lot of thought into them. Nothing makes for a good story better than several very well thought out characters.

DOUBLE EDIT:
Alright, after much delay I have finally completed my character sheet.

Name: Jeremy Mirrow - Lex

Current Lifetime Age: 34

Gender: Male (Mostly male in past lives, though has been female as well.)

Appearance: Jeremy is a tall, tan skinned man with a strong and well defined physique. He has mostly dark brown hair, with only the slightest touches of gray in his roots. His eyes are bright blue, just as they have been in all his lives.

Current Occupation: Jeremy is a special agent working with the CIA in the United States. He uses the intel he gathers from his day job to help him in his true task of protecting humanity.

Personality: Lex is strong willed, quick thinking, and very calculating in every aspect of his life. Countless lifetimes of living as a protector of the people have turned him into a fierce warrior and upholder of justice. Though he works to protect and serve, he believes the laws of man are very flawed. He believes that he and the other Immortals are the best hope humanity has to protect them from themselves and would break all man's laws to stop a catastrophy from breaking out. At times he seems very cold, self-centered and uncaring. It's at these times where he is most focused on protecting others.

Key Traits: Lex is in pique physical condition and highly skilled in the use of many different types of weaponry. He is also highly skilled in the martial arts. He's used the collective memories to form himself into a great upholder of justice, being able to withstand anything thrown at him as well as being able to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. Even if it means sacrificing his life for the time being.

Background: Lex has always been some figure of justice in his lives. He's chosen these lines of work in order to expose himself to a wide variety of dangerous situations and encounters to prepare himself for the hard task of keeping balance amongst humanity. Some of Lex's more notable lives are: Apache Indian Scout during the advancement of settlements in the old west; European Soldier during WWI, dying in combat and returning in his next life to be an American Marine in WWII; A personal Samurai to Emperor Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Feudal Japan; A Pirate in the early 1800s; and he spent several lives spent as law enforcement officers in various countries. Lex spends most of his free time training his body to keep it in great condition, always prepared for the next fight.

[Ruu]

I'm so sorry this took so long.

Name: Chris Farrows-Sage

Current Lifetime Age: 18

Gender: Male, and he has only been a female once in his past lives.

Appearance: Chris is a pale-skinned young man of average height, close to six feet, and fairly skinny. He has blond hair cropped short and close to his scalp. His eyes are a jade green color though they can become a light grey depending on the weather.

Current Occupation: Chris has been accepted to a local four year college to take pre-med classes. He plans to go to medical school as soon as possible and is participating in an accelerated program.

Personality: Sage is generally a compassionate and caring individual. He doesn't like to see people in pain and has spent many of his past lives in caring for the sick and the wounded and even those with mental issues. He is a skilled speaker but his true strength lies in listening. As such, he is fairly approachable and easy to talk to. He takes his role as an immortal very seriously and actively works against threats to humanity. He has been influential in finding cures for various plagues and afflictions that humans have suffered from, but he tends to be less effective against threats from human beings or other immortals.

Key Traits: Sage has a vast store of medical wisdom at his disposal, from ancient remedies to modern day science. He is also knowledgeable of the inner workings of the mind and the various theories that have developed over the centuries. He has been both a doctor and psychologist in past lives. Sage also is understanding of human nature and therefore can be quite the diplomat if the need would arise.

Background: Sage has always filled some kind of healing, medical, or psychological role in the past. He has focused mostly on these types of problems that humanity has faced. Though he is not a stranger to combat, he is most comfortable working behind the scenes; tending to the sick and the wounded, improving morale in the despairing, and subtly influencing important decisions. He was a medicine man for the Huron tribe. He was a doctor in both World Wars I and II. He served as a diplomat under Theodore Roosevelt and was also actually a Prince of Saudi Arabia. In a few lives he served as a psychologist and in most of the others he played some kind of medical role. He is always seeking knew knowledge, especially knowledge that can help him find cures for what is believed to be incurable.

[Artorius]

Can I still join?

[Digital Muse]

ACK! I didn't see a notification in my email that this was a go. I already have my character in my head, so I shall work on my character sheet this evening. Sorry, guys.

[Digital Muse]

Name: Mai Lin Zhang (her current name)

Current Lifetime Age: 26

Gender: Female, she always has been as far as she is aware.

Appearance: A porcelain doll of a woman. Mai Lin’s features are delicate, perfect and vulnerable as a precious tea set.
She is slender and stands about 5 and a half feet tall. Her hair is a curtain of ebony that flows to between her shoulder blades and her eyes are an unusual pale brown like the color of dark honey. Depending on how she dresses, she can be mistaken for a girl of 12 up to a woman of nearly 40.

Personality: Mai Lin has one god. Herself. Her lifetimes have been spent indulging her crueler aspects and as civilized society no longer allowed for direct physical torture, she became a master at manipulation and psychological warfare. She studies humans with the same curiosity a scientist might give to a particularly interesting algae. Each lifetime that she spends as a human only serves to remind her of their foibles, deepest desires, deepest fears and furthers her ability to get them to do as she wishes.

Mai Lin also understands the other Immortals. Some feel the intense desire to protect and their narrow views make them easy to kill, at least in this lifetime. The dark ones, however, they are the most interesting ones. The ones she wishes to study. To know and perhaps, to control.

Key Traits: Mail Lin is a master at reading people. Everything from body language, unconscious facial ticks, voice inflection, everything. After a very short time speaking with nearly anyone, she can elicit more detailed information about their deepest thoughts and desires than anyone would have guessed. She has found that everyone falls into set patterns and those patterns can, for the majority of people, be predicted. Those that don’t, only need a little more conversation. She can’t read minds, however, her extraordinary skill at ‘cold reading’ makes it seem as if she does.

Mai Lin uses her seeming vulnerability to elicit a protective response in many of the people around her. She is demur, respectful, solicitous and entirely innocent on the surface. More than one lonely old man or childless couple has fallen prey to her wiles and died after making her their heir.

More dangerously, Mai Lin can whisper certain key phrases that trigger unconscious reactions from certain unstable people she’s gotten to know well. She can, in some cases, make people snap and commit suicide or murder.

Background: The first lifetime Mai Lin can remember was as a courtesan in the court of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of China around 250 BC. If anything presaged her future lives this was most certainly it. Political intrigue, spies, plots by the various wives and concubines to put their own sons on the throne were likely the strongest influence over the lives that followed.

She then remembered a tiny village in the north of Italy. She was Etruscan and Etruria and Palatine, now called Rome, were uncomfortable neighbors. Her family was poor and she remembered how she hated it; the shame of it all, the degradation, the filth. She’d been stoned to death at the age of 19 for killing a man to steal his purse. It was the last time she ever took direct action. It had been 860 BC.

Her next clear memory was much later, this time in Tiahuanaco, the great Mayan city by Lake Titicaca in Meso-America. In this life, she is a priestess; an educated woman of high status. As one of the few allowed so close to the chief, she was able to insinuate herself as his lover and bore 3 sons. Her rival, the chief’s principle wife and her son became ill mysteriously of a fever and died. Mai Lin’s eldest son ascended the throne after his father’s death, but his reign was short-lived when a power struggle threatened to throw the country into civil war. Mai Lin did not live to see him rule, she died in child birth bearing a 4th son. It was 532 AD

Then in 1098 AD, Mail Lin remembered being a Jewish woman, caught up in the struggle between the Persians and the Christians of Europe in the war over her city of Jerusalem. The Muslim men never touched the locals, but the Europeans, who couldn’t tell the difference or simply didn’t care, killed every man woman and child within the walls. Despite her best efforts and managing to garner the favor of one of the Crusader knights, her head was struck from her shoulders two weeks later.

In 1282 AD, Mai Lin once more found herself in the court of royals, this time under the rule of Philip the 4th of France. Having become more skilled over her lifetimes, Mai Lin takes on lovers, maneuvering them with the skill few men could manage. She secrets messages for the king as he moves to take over Flanders and is gifted with her own lands and titles. She dies in her old age, naturally.

In 1513, as an Italian mistress to the Pope and several other learned men of the time, Mai Lin reads Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and takes its lessons to heart. She uses her grasp of the arts, languages, subtle parlor gossip and beauty to gain what she wishes from lovers young and old alike. She dies a wealthy woman, widowed at least 3 times.

From there to the Industrial Revolution, her pattern becomes practiced and sure. Several lifetimes broaden her knowledge of the human condition, reading, mathematics, languages, cultures, philosophy, psychology (although it was not call that at the time). She also learned to manipulate the gullible desperate to contact their dead loved ones. Here she honed her skills at cold reading and earned enormous sums of money and jewelry from grateful clients.

The two Great Wars saw Mai Lin on both sides of the line. Playing others as cats paws in her own games. She spoke at length with Hitler, building his god-complex to a fever pitch and then visited St Petersburg to feed Stalin’s paranoia. It was all a grand game to her now. Humans lit a match and she stood back and watched it all burn.

And now, she begins again. She has read all she could on the interim times that she had slept. Oh to have been here during the Cold War, she laments often. How much closer could I have pushed them? And Jack Kennedy? Such a roving eye, I wonder if Jacqueline could have been pushed over the edge?

[Eternal Phoenix]

Name: Mikhail Tereschenko-Methion

Current Lifetime Age: 34

Gender: Male, but has alternated between the two with every lifetime.

Appearance: Mikhail is the blandest looking human male most people will ever see. His height is average. His build is physically fit, yet typical. His features never draw a second glance. His brown hair and eyes are just as unremarkable.

Current Occupation: Methion runs the Russian political machine, as well as the majority of the Russian Mafia. He has influence all throughout Europe, and even into parts of the West and Asia. However, officially he is just the CEO of Cherenko Oil, a multinational oil company.

Personality: Methion is a strong willed, highly intelligent, and multi-lingual revolutionary, always searching to better the lives of humanity. The rule of those who have earned it through mere birth or luck disgusts him. To him, greed, pride, apathy, and even compassion are equal social ills. His ideal world is one driven by not by those ills, but by strength of will and spirit. Those with the strongest will and spirit are the rulers, regardless of morality. He will do anything, up to and including mass genocide, to achieve his goal. He's not insane or fanatical, simply dedicated beyond all reasoning him out of it. At times he can appear virtually sociopathic in his disregard for the lives of both his enemies and his followers, but it is always a front. He has always hated the brutal necessity of killing, but not even his own weakness will stop him from pursuing that ideal world. He only acts overtly when his plans are foiled, preferring to let others do what is necessary for his goals.

Key Traits: Over the centuries, Methion has acquired a mastery of human psychology, meaning he can talk just about anyone into just about anything given enough time and he has a knack for selecting the right person for a given job. He is a master politician, knowing exactly when to remain loyal, when to betray, when to tell the truth, and when to simply lie. Various lifetimes have honed his strategic planning abilities to a fine edge. However, actual battlefield tactics are his weak point. He was always average to poor in direct combat, so he stuck with poisons and traps when defending himself proved necessary. As technology has advanced into the electronic age, so has his knowledge.

Background: Methion has always been a revolutionary, in every lifetime. He has always fought the corrupt (in his mind) systems of human governance. He has worked in every life to weasel his way into a place of authority, be it within the system as he once did, or with the people as he does now. He has been a part of many revolutions throughout history. This is the man who was Hannibal’s top advisor, the Mongol who drove the Khans ever forward in conquest, and who was instrumental in casting down the rule of the Japanese Emperor in favor of the Shogun. This is the man who was Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, George Washington, and Vladimir Lenin. His advice fueled the rise of the Persian Empire. His words of defiance were remembered by the Germanic tribes who ended the Western Roman Empire. Now, he is virtually running the one of the largest nations on earth, and there isn’t a professional criminal in the Old World who doesn’t both know his name and fear it. He’s making inroads into the New World, but these things take time, do they not?

**********************************************************************************

Name: Serine Gasparov (normal person)

Current Age: 29

Gender: Female

Appearance: Serine is slightly above average in height. She has a very athletic physique to go with her average build. She has light brown hair that ends just below her shoulders. Her hair is darkened to black for actions as the Faceless Queen.

Current Occupation: Right hand woman for Mikhail Tereschenko. She carries out his every wish, in addition to leading the feared rogue spy ring the Drone Legion as the Faceless Queen.

Personality: Serine is as strong willed as Methion and with an unbreakable spirit. She is absolutely devoted to him, regardless of the cost. She believes not in his vision of a better world, but in the man himself. She will sacrifice everything, up to and including her life, to help him. She is a warm, friendly woman who would neither shed a tear nor crack a smile watching children being brutally murdered. In short, she is Methion’s ideal world citizen.

Key Traits: Serine is a gifted intelligence analyst and operative. She finds patterns were none seem to exist, and deduces opponent’s plans before they can be enacted. She has an instinctive grasp of human psychology and thus commands fierce loyalty from the Drone Legion and fear of her attention from the intelligence community. There are few who are better at the non-violent aspects of intelligence work and spycraft. As for the violent aspects, she is a decent markswoman and competent in melee, but she vastly prefers to have one of her Drones do that sort of thing if possible.

Background: Serine was born in the Ukraine. Her parents were poor. When the fact that she had started puberty was obvious, they forced her into prostitution for food money. They kidnapped a few other girls and were on their way up in the world, when the Mafia dispatched the fast rising star Methion to either get the Mafia’s cut, or shut them down. He told Serine’s parents how things were and they cooperated fully. Then, as he was leaving, Serine asked for his help. Without any shame or begging, she asked Methion to save her. He froze. No one he had yet met in this life had ever asked like that before. She was perfect. Methion went back and spoke to her parents again. This time they refused the new deal. So he had the men with him kill everyone but Serine. She came with him. They’ve been side by side every since.

Serine formed the Drone Legion several years ago at Methion’s request. It took years of dedicated effort to collect the most skilled and desperately poor young candidates and weed out the disloyal and nonbelievers. The Drone Legion in it’s current form is a small group of less than twenty. It consists of men and women several years younger than Serine, who she saved in much the same way that Methion saved her. They are fanatically loyal to her alternate persona, the masked Faceless Queen.

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It isn't too much, is it? I can make changes.

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