sneakyonfoota
10-06-2006, 10:48 PM
Four souls (two men and two women) are seized at the moment of death by an entity calling itself Artisan. Artisan promises to give a new body and life to the soul that proves itself most worthy. Those who decline the offer will be sent on their way. Once a soul accepts, he or she may not leave the competition.
When the souls regain consciousness they find themselves in featureless human-esque bodies made of wax. Their genders are clearly defined, however they lack the distinctiveness of hair, nails, facial features or genitalia. The Artisan then tells them that the competition they had agreed to was created with the intention of creating what the Artisan calls the "ideal form."
The Artisan creates golems, monsters and homunculi for various applications. Despite the pseudo-life he has instilled his creations with, they lack the "spark of life" that has eluded the Artisan for many years. To compensate for this perceived flaw, the Artisan hopes to achieve the ideal form with the help of the four souls using his constructed bodies. With a soul bound to one of his creations and guiding its evolution, the end result may--the Artisan reasons--yield the ideal form he is seeking.
The contestants have access to all of the Artisan's resources, however they must recruit the help of Apprentices and students in order to modify their forms. The contestants may transmigrate their souls into new vessels to control, but they can't customize their bodies on their own. There will be routine "events" held by the Artisan to test the bodies conceived by the contestants and their student teams.
The reward is any body the victor desires to be inserted into any time with any life--all will be arranged by the Artisan. With his immense resources, the victor may be as unscrupulous as he or she desires.
Setting:
The Artisan's "Academy" is a large and ancient stone fortress situated over a tall cliff overlooking a misty sea to the east. The surrounding realm is full of rolling hills; strewn, mossy ruins; marshland; and a dense deciduous forest, becoming evergreen at the foot of an impenetrable mountain range. If one travels far enough north or south he or she will reach the border of the Artisan's country, marked by an opaque wall of mist. There is no telling where or when one will emerge after stepping through its veil.
The Academy is home to numerous students (the most distinguished are known as Apprentices) and staff from many different times, countries and perhaps worlds. Due to the nature of the Artisan's work, the students learn a wide variety of subjects ranging from simple sculpting to organic chemistry to metallurgy to costume and weapon design. For convenience's sake, there is an enchantment preventing language barriers.
Control characters (may be used by others pending permission, please PM if interested)
The Artisan (called by his apprentices "Master" or "The Master Artisan") - appears to the four souls in the place between worlds as either (depending on the person) a humanoid being of brilliant light in a dark void or a somewhat distorted humanesque entity of shadow in space of dazzling white light. When in his country, the Artisan takes the form of an old man in his 70s wearing a simple brown wool cassock with the hood drawn over his eyes with a simple cord belt and leather sandals. His nose has a slight bend, he's shaven, and his teeth are stained from years of tea drinking.
Roxinis - (mid 20s, from the twentieth century North America)
Roxinis wishes to one day succeed the Artisan. He manifests his talent in the form of vicious chimaeras and other creatures bred for mass destruction.
Nebula - (early 30s, from 2000 BCE, Kingdom of Kerma)
A princess of Nubia, Nebula possesses a cool, calculating mind and favours function over form--thus reflected in her mechanical-looking creations of metal and precious stones.
Lorien - (early 60s, unknown time and place)
One of the oldest of Artisan's pupils, Lorien is highly regarded in the Academy. His work is marked by the graceful fusion of several seemingly alien elements into a cohesive, beautiful and effective creation.
Stat sheet for four souls (aka established identity):
Name:
Age (at time of death):
Appearance (when alive):
History:
Stat sheet for apprentices/other characters:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Physical description:
History:
When the souls regain consciousness they find themselves in featureless human-esque bodies made of wax. Their genders are clearly defined, however they lack the distinctiveness of hair, nails, facial features or genitalia. The Artisan then tells them that the competition they had agreed to was created with the intention of creating what the Artisan calls the "ideal form."
The Artisan creates golems, monsters and homunculi for various applications. Despite the pseudo-life he has instilled his creations with, they lack the "spark of life" that has eluded the Artisan for many years. To compensate for this perceived flaw, the Artisan hopes to achieve the ideal form with the help of the four souls using his constructed bodies. With a soul bound to one of his creations and guiding its evolution, the end result may--the Artisan reasons--yield the ideal form he is seeking.
The contestants have access to all of the Artisan's resources, however they must recruit the help of Apprentices and students in order to modify their forms. The contestants may transmigrate their souls into new vessels to control, but they can't customize their bodies on their own. There will be routine "events" held by the Artisan to test the bodies conceived by the contestants and their student teams.
The reward is any body the victor desires to be inserted into any time with any life--all will be arranged by the Artisan. With his immense resources, the victor may be as unscrupulous as he or she desires.
Setting:
The Artisan's "Academy" is a large and ancient stone fortress situated over a tall cliff overlooking a misty sea to the east. The surrounding realm is full of rolling hills; strewn, mossy ruins; marshland; and a dense deciduous forest, becoming evergreen at the foot of an impenetrable mountain range. If one travels far enough north or south he or she will reach the border of the Artisan's country, marked by an opaque wall of mist. There is no telling where or when one will emerge after stepping through its veil.
The Academy is home to numerous students (the most distinguished are known as Apprentices) and staff from many different times, countries and perhaps worlds. Due to the nature of the Artisan's work, the students learn a wide variety of subjects ranging from simple sculpting to organic chemistry to metallurgy to costume and weapon design. For convenience's sake, there is an enchantment preventing language barriers.
Control characters (may be used by others pending permission, please PM if interested)
The Artisan (called by his apprentices "Master" or "The Master Artisan") - appears to the four souls in the place between worlds as either (depending on the person) a humanoid being of brilliant light in a dark void or a somewhat distorted humanesque entity of shadow in space of dazzling white light. When in his country, the Artisan takes the form of an old man in his 70s wearing a simple brown wool cassock with the hood drawn over his eyes with a simple cord belt and leather sandals. His nose has a slight bend, he's shaven, and his teeth are stained from years of tea drinking.
Roxinis - (mid 20s, from the twentieth century North America)
Roxinis wishes to one day succeed the Artisan. He manifests his talent in the form of vicious chimaeras and other creatures bred for mass destruction.
Nebula - (early 30s, from 2000 BCE, Kingdom of Kerma)
A princess of Nubia, Nebula possesses a cool, calculating mind and favours function over form--thus reflected in her mechanical-looking creations of metal and precious stones.
Lorien - (early 60s, unknown time and place)
One of the oldest of Artisan's pupils, Lorien is highly regarded in the Academy. His work is marked by the graceful fusion of several seemingly alien elements into a cohesive, beautiful and effective creation.
Stat sheet for four souls (aka established identity):
Name:
Age (at time of death):
Appearance (when alive):
History:
Stat sheet for apprentices/other characters:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Physical description:
History: