Core

[Radio Noer]

Some appropriately titled, but not so appropriately tone-d background music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anLfoy2XsFw

Geoffrey waited for quite some time, his companions didn't show up. He sat at the bottom of the ladder and listened. Finally, the buzzing stopped and Geoffrey slowly climbed the ladder and stuck his head out of the manhole. Nobody was in sight and he climbed out. The city was unusually quiet. Geoffrey peered in through the dirty window of the police station and found nobody. Wherever they are, they sure didn't want me to find them. There was a loose brick on the ground. Geoffrey picked it up, felt its weight, hefted it in his hand a couple times.

Geoffrey took a step back and put his left arm in front of his face and threw the brick through the window. The glass shattered and cascaded inwards. It was time to see what the police had on file.

Geoffrey climbed through the window carefully, brushing aside any broken glass. He walked towards the back of the building, evidently a small file room was back there. The room was locked so Geoffrey decided to sit for a little while. Maybe somebody will show up, or not. Whatever, either way, I'm getting answers.

OOC: Npt entirely sure if I can dictate the defense systems of Core or anything in this update really, but I can always change it

 

[ShahJahanII]

Jan slammed the door behind him, panting. His wife had gone out for a bit, so he had to watch the baby for a while. It had been an hour before he had left the sewers to escape the Russian Mafia, but it felt like a whole day had gone by. Now, he had even more to worry about than the mafia. The guy that hired him would want to take revenge on him soon. He kicked at his desk in rage. It just didn't make sense. He had never failed in his job before. This was completely out-of-character. After taking a moment to calm himself down, he made his way to his infant daughter's crib. Looking at her sound asleep made him smile. It took moments like these to remind himself why he did what he did. Why he turned down a low-paying job of a janitor for something that payed just a little bit more, but was infinitely riskier. He heard the front door close and waited for his wife to join him. He listened to her footsteps, light on the wooden floor. She stepped in the room and rushed over to him. He held her in his arms as they watched their child sleep.

 

[arya126]

Name: Dario Mancini
Physical Description: Italian in his looks with deep and dark emerald eyes, he has a face that is usually slightly unshaven most of the time as if it doesn't grow and he doesn't shave. He has black hair that is quite a mess but doesn't stick up or anything. His hood however almost always obscures his hair and upper half of his face. Wears a padded vest made of scavenged materials that mostly protects against bullets taken form a medium to long range and dulls the impact of the duller and cruder knives. A ripped and thin tunic is worn over it, however he doesn't wear sleeves, wears shorts and a thin shoe over his foot made of scavenged grips of the old ages to help him climb buildings and run faster. He is 24, although he will look older, with defined muscles but not overly built, and a heavy tan suiting an italian.
Profession: Assassin, sometimes associated with the Italian Mafia
Background/Description: Dario is descended from his many-greats-grandfather, an Italian Assassin responsible for the Second Assassin's brotherhood, this time based in Italy. He comes from a long line of grandmasters of the order, including his grandfather. However, something happened, and it is suspected that a rival order of assassins hunted down the majority of the assassins, so his grandfather moved them to the Core to raise Dario's father in secret away from the two orders. He taught his son everything he knew, which he in turn taught Dario, even though there was no longer an order to govern over. Soon, his father always told him, eventually, the core would be liberated from the corruption that afflicted it and its people would no longer be trapped within the city.

And so from childhood, Dario trained. He is one of the few citizens of the core that remains educated, with knowledge that was passed down from his grandfather, and things he discovered himself. He knows Italian, English, Russian, and Bruike fluently, the latter learned from other kids and teenagers as he grew up. He was also learned in cultures of the old world and in the history of the world as it related to the order of assassins, especially in regards to his family. He is also trained in weaponry, and in hand to hand combat. Hidden beneath a emerald cape on his back is a crossbow and a quiver of bolts that he always carries. Hanging from his belt is a sword, and although one side of it has dulled over time, it is still quite deadly from flesh especially with a skilled wielder. But his favorite and most lethal weapon, are the two knives that are hidden in the metal gauntlets he wears on his otherwise bare arms. They protrude when he touches a button on his palm, located so its not able to be activated except on purpose. These are an old family heirloom, from a great assassin of old. He tries to avoid using firearms if possible, and doesn't own one, but is trained in their use nonetheless in case he is forced to use them instead.

Due to his Assassin training he is extremely agile, however can easily lose his balance if disrupted by another force while performing one of his acrobatics, such as running across rooftops to avoid pursuers, climbing walls, or weaving in and out of crowds. He can also blend into various groups due to his extensive cultural knowledge.

However, due to him taking out jobs for the Italian Mafia to provide for his family until it is time to raise the Brotherhood once again, he has made many enemies among the police and columbians, and is forced to live secluded from his father and grandfather, his last remaining relatives. His grandfather is on his deathbed, and he only visits him every couple of months so as not to lead his enemies to them. Nobody except the Italian don knows who he is, and he is also the only one who knows his last name besides the Russian don.

Also, Dario and his family rarely go hungry, as while the assassins are 'protectors of the people' according to his grandfather, they often take from the rich in order to help themselves and the people, and so often steal food and other resources form the rich using their unique skill sets.

The Brotherhood: The Brotherhood is the Order of Assassins. When Dario's grandfather retreated to the Core, there were only a handful left in the fight against the rival assassins after them, and he later received word all but one of them were killed, and the one who survived renounced the ways of the assassins to live in seclusion. However, it seemed the rival order of assassins was already established in the core, and was named the black snakes here. Dario's father personally aided in their destruction as did Ezio, both personally receiving targets from the Italian don a few years ago when the city united against them. However, Dario has dreams of resurrecting the Brotherhood, and believes the rumors of the Black Snakes returning prove the time to do just that is coming, and fast. Soon, he will begin to recruit other assassins.

Brotherhood Members: Dario

 

[CivOasis]

Violates rules, Arya (characters must be original work).

 

[arya126]

Violates rules, Arya (characters must be original work).

Technically, this guy IS an original work since he is descended from a non-original work. Still, this Ezio is NOT the same as the one that is used in Assassin's creed. If it helps I can change his name to something completely different, but he would still be descended from the assassins.

Changing name now.

 

[CivOasis]

It does not help. He's still a reference to an organisation from another work, this is supposed to be all original thought.

 

[arya126]

It does not help. He's still a reference to an organisation from another work, this is supposed to be all original thought.

All specific references have been eliminated. The character himself is now original, even if he is inspired by something else. But all original characters are based on something, you just normally don't know what it is unless the author chooses to reveal it. Especially since assassins and orders of assassins can be widely regarded as generic, now that any specific references have been eliminated. Just look at the inheritance series. It is quite obviously original even if it was just as obviously inspired by a mixture of star wars and Lotr.

I don't mean to argue, but this is the type of character I wish to play as, and as you seemed to have wanted, I removed all direct references to other works.

 

[CivOasis]

As GM, I am requesting that the character be as original as possible. He is still clearly based upon the game, and, in-character, is powergame-y.

 

[Terrance888]

CivOasis, just let him play.

And then have one of the gangs dedicated to wipping out the Assassins, and let him handle that. In fact, IIRC assassination was the key point of the Black Snakes, which the Police and the Gangs united to destroy. Have him be a Black Snake, then.

 

[arya126]

He is only 'clearly' based on it because you saw what he was based on before the revisions. All works are inspired by something, some more so than others. I can make him ever more generic if you want by taking out the brotherhood part and saying he only wants to recruit more assassins to take out the black snakes.

As to being power gaming....well half your players are running around with guns even though they are supposed to be rarer than food in this city, and yet my character has no gun, wants no gun, and has clearly seen weaknesses such as being off balance when attempting acrobatic stuff, a dull sword, and having an emotional attachment to a family, the latter being something nearly no other player has because their families are dead. Again, not meaning to be argumentative, but I feel as if I have a solid argument for this character, and because there are several other 'killers' among the players.

 

[CivOasis]

I've already made comments on the guns, and have adjusted the mechanics to make them less likely to function properly.

Most of the other characters do have emotional backgrounds, even mental illnesses, nevermind that most of them are fairly average fighters, without a ton of equipment, and that none so far have been quite so skilled with languages. Now, on their own, such things aren't necessarily bad, but combined...

It's like you've taken the best of everyone else's character, honestly.

 

[arya126]

I've already made comments on the guns, and have adjusted the mechanics to make them less likely to function properly.

Most of the other characters do have emotional backgrounds, even mental illnesses, nevermind that most of them are fairly average fighters, without a ton of equipment, and that none so far have been quite so skilled with languages. Now, on their own, such things aren't necessarily bad, but combined...

It's like you've taken the best of everyone else's character, honestly.

To be honest, its surprising they aren't so skilled with languages seeing as they are trapped in a city of crime dominated by various languages. Dario was taught what he needed to survive and make a life in this city from an educated father and grandfather. If you want historical basis, go look up the historical assassins the games i referenced were based on. They were all heavily educated for their time.

Well Dario WAS going to have an emotional streak regarding the black snakes and how they opposed all that his family had ever stood for, but if I'm going to have to strip my character even more to please you, thats out the window.

Yes, 'most' of the others are fairly average fighters, but then you have those contract killers, the assassins...wait what was that? Oh yes, there are already assassins, and PLAYER assassins in this game! Yet another one is being vetoed.

Also, I DID just lit in my previous post a bunch of flaws my character has, from a vulnerable family to be used against him, to balance issues when utilizing these skills he has making him vulnerable and less likely to use them often, and one of his main weapons is a dull sword. A DULL sword. I can further strip my char by eliminating this sword and his crossbow if you wish, but again, I see no reason he shouldn't be allowed to have them.

 

[JohannaK]

Well, I've never had or played any Assassins game, and I can see that it's clearly related. But I don't want to get into the discussion, please. Just say that Core is the name of the city, is not a nickname or something so, please, if you could remove those articles and write a capital "C"... but I don't think I'll read it again, so...

 

[arya126]

The Core IS the name of the city....it can be seen several times in the description.....I am completely honestly not quite sure what you mean by that comment. As to being related to the series of games, that is simply because those games have been popularized and are widely known. Without the black snakes being mentioned as rivals, they could very easily be the assassins that are mentioned, as could be any other random name due to the genericness implied there.

 

[JohannaK]

It sounds wrong anyway. And, looking at CivO's posts, I can see no single time it is called "The" Core. It's just Core. If not, the title would include the article. And the OP, and...

 

[CivOasis]

It's Core. No the. And I'm not permitting that character.

Regardless.

I am debating about putting this on hiatus until late August/early September. Is that acceptable to all involved?

 

[mythmonster2]

Oh, well. It's a shame to put it off that long, but it's acceptable by me.

 

[Optical]

Fair enough I guess. Just make sure to respond to all the characters either beforehand or when it comes off hiatus.

 

[CivOasis]

I will.
And the reason the hiatus is that long is because I will be gone continuously from late June until early/mid August, with almost 0 free time or computer access (a Molecular Biology program, immediately followed by a week camping).

 

[CivOasis]

So, I'm now putting out a poll:
How many players would be interested in resurrecting this?

Now, I also have another idea which I will run at some point - possibly before this comes off of hiatus. So, how many people would be interesting in playing a game very similar to this, though without the cumbersome formal updates? Links would be provided to character deaths, and I can elaborate further, but just a poll for now...