The OOC Hangout Thread (New people introduce yourself here!)

[Magni Prime]

Reptiles:

Likely the most versatile group ever made, the Scutes are well known to be two things: unpredictable, and dangerous. As a group, they are the most diverse. Highly intelligent, some of them are intensely strong, others highly devious. Scutes rule by guile and wit. They are the mind, using tricks and deception better than most. If anything, their pride is a downfall. Prizing whatever skills are available, one specialty is often at the cost of others.

Scute society is composed of some intense minds, capable of valuing brute strength but preferring devious natures more. The ability to out-think an opponent and pounce upon opportunity is often more effective than the 'fuzzy' way of handling things. In direct opposition to the Taws nation, Scutes hold a cold contempt for the mammalian shifters. Nothing like they hold for humans or Vanes, but still . . . they would rather just be left in charge and push the fuzzy ones off into the sea.

Scutes have tried to balance power with intelligence, and come up with a council not unlike the council of myth for themselves. Three snakes hold council for intelligence, the advisors for whomever is in the lead role for their people. Few dare to underestimate the ability of Scutes in gathering intelligence and using it wisely, save one group. Only the Arachnids are better, and such is what keeps the Chitons safe from an invasion of reptilians. As a rule, Scutes don't respect Chitons, but with the masters of deception and traps in their ranks, the Chitons are never taken lightly.

Led by a single monarch, more often than not female, the Scutes both mirror and reverse the Taws nation. Both are ruled by a single person, but where the Taws let dominance and prowess in battle lead, Scutes let the mind meld with power. Deviousness is as prized as power, and among them females are typically more vicious. An empire of opportunists, spies, and soldiers, few are famous for any heroic deeds. If anything, that proves how dangerous the Scutes can be: by the time you realize what you are up against, it is already too late.

Scute Blessing: Those of the reptilian type have two things they are known for, being aware and intelligent. This shrewd habit translates over to other forms as well, giving them unusual insight and ability to perceive their surroundings with clarity in any situation.

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Ariels: Legends of both mind and folly, these winged ones still echo despite being gone for generations. Say what you will of them, they left a mark that none can deny. Some wish to follow their footsteps, and we could likely pull it off with a few clues. Let the others be afraid, we know what it is like to be brilliant. The trick is not to let it blow up in your face. Too bad the Ariels learned that lesson too late.

Taws: Noisy, arrogant, thugs . . . how in the hell did they get so powerful? Always ready to self-destruct, the Taws nation is chaos incarnate. Few among that stinking group have realized that a surgical strike is far more effective than a battering ram. Keep an eye on them, if for no better reason than to watch them fight among themselves- free entertainment.

Chitons: Our animal cousins eat bugs, and many feel we should just squash these things. Single-minded, they can be dangerous only because of how stubborn that group is. Got to give them credit, when a order is given, they do not stop. Ever. We would put them in their proper place under our heel if not for those damned spiders. Tricky, and indecipherable creatures those. Even the Chitons fear them. If they employ their greatest fear, best not to provoke the nest.

Vanes: Dammit. We had a good thing going here . . . sure the humans got riled up from time to time, but those hunters used to be the crazies. Now thanks to the worst eco-terrorism act in history, the whole world is not only aware of us, but hunt us! If we could go where those damned fish go, let's just say sushi for the world would be on us.  

[Magni Prime]

Insects:

As much as 90% of life on Earth is insect in nature. An overwhelming dominance of highly adaptable creatures, filling niche after niche in every ecosystem imaginable. Such is translated as both a strength, and weakness of the Chiton empire. The peoples of this group are taken to a single-minded goal, everything done to serve the community first- and the community serves the monarch. Most are insanely strong, few are brilliant, and all are intensely loyal to Chitons alone. They are most known for how well they work as a group . . . and how deadly the swarm is. Worse yet, they have the subgroup of Arachnids on their side. The only group known to out-think the best of the Scutes.

Despite a few rogues, almost all Chitons live for their brethren. Willing to do anything and everything to help them, this group is borderline xenophobic. Taws and Scutes are tolerated, but barely. Humans are largely ignored until they become a threat. If anything, the Chitons are the worst for the reputation of shifters next to the Vanes, only in second place because of the recent upheaval of the world economy. Humans are often beaten until they are near death, and doing so is considered merciful. Those that put up a good fight are nearly always marked in some way. Either as a person of interest, or worthy of conversion into one of their own.

As a rule, the society of Chitons tends to value females highly, males are just there. As in most colonies of their minute cousins, females are typically larger, stronger, and have a high opinion of themselves. Males are not treated as refuse, but the women are more dominant. Over the history of the Chiton Empire, never has there been a single emperor; only empresses. Honor guards are often of the same type, Queen wasp protected by other wasps, etc. All are typically dangerous when threatened, but the greatest fear for the Chitons is the one faction that is both their ally . . . and predator.

Though tolerated among the Chitons with grace and deference, the few shifters of arachnid form are given a wide distance. Almost a nation unto themselves, the Arachnids are widely seen as the most dangerous type of shifter available. Even the Taws and Scute leaders grow nervous when dealing with spiders. Truth be told, the arachnids would love nothing better than to create a nation of their own, rife with webs and trails of carnage. Only numbers keep them down. Of all shifters, the arachnids have the highest mortality rate when trying to convert a human. As for purebloods, again the odds are stacked against them. Most arachnids have multiple births (twins, triplets, and more) lowering the chances of each child's survival. Even those that do survive face the normal odds of becoming a shifter.

Still, the arachnids encompass a few types of creature. Predominantly they are the various spiders and scorpions. Literally the brains and the brawn. Often the arachnids have a different base from the Chitons and both prefer it that way. Even the two major types of arachnid don't care for each other, but understand they work well together and leave such at that.

Shifter Blessing: The Chiton empire has the unique ability to communicate with their animal cousins when in the mid-point or full animal form. As the animals are not sentient, a shifter will get only basic information from any insect of a different type, and only a sparse few details from the same. For instance, a roach could get trails to food and how long an infestation has lived in a home. A termite could only get that the roaches live in a home in large numbers.

Arachnid Blessing: Oddly enough, the Arachnids have one other blessing. Due to the venomous nature of the creature, all arachnids have a resistance to common venoms. Shifter venom has full potency, but if a shifter scorpion is bitten in human form by a black widow, at worst he will get a welt.

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Ariels: The high and mighty have fallen to the earth and gone. No big loss. All that mattered of them was their knowledge, and that is now dust like them. Long since gone, they and their accomplishments are gone. Who cares about ancient aeries abandoned and forgotten?

Taws: Loud and useless, they are barely any better than the base humans that have primed this world for disaster. Sure, the Vanes set it in motion, but even the dim humans have seen their doom coming. We will survive long after they are dead. If possible, we can hurry them out the door to make room for our kind. The better kind.

Scutes:What is worse than a gecko? A gecko with a brain. They are too busy trying to figure out what we have known for generations, the Scutes are almost worthy. Almost. When we are able to take them down, their bodies will taste just as succulent as the Taws. Perhaps more, because these people think, so it might even be a challenge.

Vanes:We have no need for fish, nor of the oceans. If not for their recent antics, we would not even acknowledge them. Swim deep, and away from us, and we won't hunt you. Instead, they throw a fit because the humans are stupid. We all know the humans are stupid! Now because of them, we are hunted. Let any Vane beware if they find our colonies. Their oceans won't save them from us.  

[Magni Prime]

Humans:

Legends of hunters have trickled down through history. Since the discovery of the first tainted ones, the wolves, humans have taken up arms against them. In the dark ages, superstition cost far too many hunter lives, but this is the modern era. Holy relics are not the weapons of choice, and battles are no longer done in the dead of night. What worked for superheroes and myths isn't enough anymore.

In the last century, as weapon technology and information sharing have exploded in complexity, the methods of hunters have become far more effective. Silver is not required, but mercury doesn't hurt. Fire is dangerous, but a magnesium-tipped bolt comes in damned handy. Faith can save your soul, but unless that cross packs a big boom, don't think it'll save you. The one thing that has not changed over the centuries has been the crazy talk. Most people that don't encounter a creature refuse to believe what slaps em in the face. Centuries passed, hunts went on in secret so that participants are not forced to be run out of their homes for being 'crazy' enough to believe in monsters.

The fishies changed all that. When boats began to come back bathed in blood and gutted, hunters knew what happened. Sure, some terrorist assholes claimed responsibility at first to get a name, but that was just stupid. Soon all the posers had to admit something bigger was going on. Then came the announcement . . . Some abomination came on a beach and brought friends. Enough to make a believer of the whole town, and now hunters are what we always were- heroes.

Able and ready to fight the damned things, we are trained better than ever and even get respect! Walking the streets armed to the teeth, nobody messes with us. Better than a cop, trained like a soldier, skilled as a tracker, and itchin to make the world right again. Bring-it-on!

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Taws: The old enemy . . . and the worst. These things are the best at hiding among us, and the hardest to track. Don't worry, they will show sooner or later. Vigilance will show them, and when they change, we'll be there to bag-n-tag!

Scutes: Pains in the keister, pure and simple. While they need to be taken down just as bad as the other monsters, these guys are patient and smart as a whole. Just keep your eyes open and your head low around these things. We can take em, but only if we aren't stupid enough to fall for em.

Chitons: Raid anybody? Nothing like a giant bug hunt to prove that these things are monsters. Trophies to show the world what we are talking about. Bad part is that their armor makes em tough. Not hard to outsmart, if you can get them alone. Probably the easiest to find, but take em head-on and you will quickly find out why you don't stand in an ant hill!

Ariels: Yeah, some legends are about saying some of these monsters flew once . . . but so did dinosaurs. Without a single confirmed sighting in living memory and then some, why worry about legends when other monsters are very real?

Vanes: Well, they have guts. They finally did the one thing that helped us out- came out and struck hard. If the wetties hadn't made their move, who knows how much longer this stalemate would have lasted? For that we tip our hats . . . just long enough to light some explosives to go fishing with. Respect or not, they are just as much a monster as the rest.  

[Tanakietsu]

*droops himself over the fem-Talon* Sometimes I like this one the best. Tee-hee. Especially if I've thrown a few down the hatch.
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Sooo much info niisama. I'll read it all in the morning when I'm a bit more myself.
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*big hug for the Snowman* Whee, so good have you back!  

[Alexander Magnus]

Anytime. The invites are there to let those I like/trust come in and either play or critique. Likely the latter. The only criticism I faced was the major plot point . . . I had said that a global coordinated attack decimated the Navies of most powers in a matter of days. The Vanes (fish-shifters) were sick of the oceans being a dumping ground, and made a move of their own. Eco-terrorism. Without shipping lanes (or the defense of them), global economies collapse, and the world is irrevocably changed. Not only were shifters discovered in a MAJOR way, but the globe was given a major crisis on top of that.

Crazy monster-hunters were suddenly the experts the world needed. Taking their name from the mythical "Silver Bullets" to kill werewolves, the hunters are called Silvers. Think of them like the Nazis. There are not actually a whole lot of them- but there are a vast majority of supporters.  

[Ruined Horizon]

Such is but a fraction of what I had written, Tana-kun. I wrote a whole history, and even recall a fair amount of what I never wrote down. Bits of chimeras, and what the true nature of the Council of Myth and the true leader of all Shifters was.

And Tana is always welcome to hang off me, regardless of persona. 3nodding  

[Alexander Magnus]

If you desire, you are welcome to come and read as well, Welian . . . I worked a LONG time on making this RP, but it is 3 years old and never had a life. sweatdrop  

[Tanakietsu]

Hmmm, something is a bit off wiff dat Ruined Horizon. Not quite as grumpy as I like. x3 I remember you bringing this up a while ago, but I am still impressed none-the-less.
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Tana may have been a wee bit out of sorts last night. n_n But my therapist said that I probably don't need to see him anymore other than occasionally just to keep track of how things are going.
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Tana guesses these Ariels are nigh extinct? He also enjoys the idea of a were-chameleon much more now. Especially one Hell-bent on creating nothing but chaos. >_>;;;;  

[Ruined Horizon]

Yoder's return has put me in less of a mood to express dourness. That, and Tana is damned sexy- that will improve anybody's day.

Yoder: The problem brought up was that person felt it was nigh impossible to disable the world's navies within a few weeks. My thinking would be those that never need to surface, never need to seek out air, and are intelligent enough to use tools have a perfect place to disable rotor blades, rip holes in the hull of ships, and essentially take down boat after boat in short order. As for what I want of it- perhaps it is only conceit. Those voices I value saying this idea was a good one. We could tweak it, could change it, and even sell it as an offshoot of the popularity of the show Grimm . . . but it reminds me of one inescapable fact. I am a damned good player of games- and a damned poor runner of them.

Ariels: Oh, yes. The bird shifters were the most intelligent and did massive amounts of research in their hidden aeries. Unfortunately, they overstepped some bounds and are known to be extinct. In fact, they are so reviled among shifters that the mammals that can glide/fly (bats, sugar gliders, etc) are all but shunned. Insects do not have that problem because those that can fly are vastly different than the birds. Lizards barely have any gliders. They prefer to stay on the ground.

The Vanes are the question mark. They were deep, quiet, and stayed out of the way until they chose to say no more to dumping of any sort in the ocean. Then they claimed oceans to be soverign property, and all oceanic travel was stopped. It collapsed the world economy, and nations reformed like mad to deal with information on a pure basis. The internet still works, but practical application is something like the steampunk visage. Make what works out of what is available, instead of the best on the planet. Island nations like Britain and Japan were especially hit hard.

In fact, Japan is almost deserted, and a treasure trove for techies. The catch is getting there.

Oddly enough, Australia has reverted to it's roots as a prison colony and said "We don't give a ********." Shifters have communities there, and there is a tentative peace between shifters and non.  

[Magni Prime]

Okay, so there is now a thread where I copypasta'd the story and everything in the OOC subforum. Read when you have time and feel free to talk about it.  

[Tanakietsu]

I guess my next big question - and I haven't gone and read anything beyond what's in this thread - is when I think of were-anything it's a transformation into either the animal itself or an anthropomorphic version of the animal. From what I gather those of the various groups are in a constant half-human, half animal entity in which transformation itself is absent. Because Tana thinks it would be very convenient to be able to transform into a human form, mixed form, and animal form. Though if this isn't part of the world, I understand, I was just looking for a little clarification. This is mainly because of the navy thing. Also, that whole inconvenience of monthly/lunar cycle. But if that's all explained elsewhere, I'm just saying this before the reading of it.