Beverly Hills, California
Present Day
On any other morning, Amaranth Yamazaki - pop starlet, model, and actress - would've been savoring a late breakfast, or perhaps swimming a lap or two in the complex’s indoor pool. As it was, though, she had neither of those luxuries. Instead she was pacing tightly around the dining room of her penthouse, clearly fuming. And she wasn't alone.
"Are you fucking with me?" Her tone was rough, completely at odds with the bubbly idol persona she usually adopted in public. "First you tell me that magic is real, and now I'm supposed to believe that my life is in danger because of it? That’s just too damn much."
"Sorry, darlin'. That's just the way it is." The reply came from a man perched on a stool by the kitchen counter. He was an unusual visitor, not least because of the fact that his face was curiously ageless, and he could have been anywhere between eighteen and eighty years old. The more unsettling thing was the sort of subtle wrongness which clung to him, which was hard to put into words; it could best be described as an unshakeable sense that he didn't belong in this world. "The Demons' Court will be after you for sure, and I wouldn't be too optimistic about the Mages' Court either."
"This is nuts," the girl said flatly, cutting to the point. "And I don't understand any of it."
"Best get someone to explain it to you, then. It'd be an awful shame for you to die without realizing just what you've stumbled into."
It sank in, then, that he didn't sound like he was joking.
"Damn," she said, trying to keep her tone light. "That's the first and last time I try to help someone, then, if this is what it gets me."
"Oh, it won't be all bad." The man showed his teeth in a fashion which she wasn't stupid enough to call a smile. "I promise."
With that, he vanished from sight. Left on her own, she collapsed onto a chair. Her mind raced frantically, left with more questions than answers, and now with a mounting sense that she was in serious trouble. She liked to think she was no stranger to risk, but even this was way out of her depth.
"Well, shit," she muttered. "I'm going to need bodyguards."
COURTING DISASTER
An Urban Fantasy RP
Magic exists, of course, as Amaranth Yamazaki discovered the hard way; most people just don't know about it. Mages tend to be taught by other mages, because keeping its existence on the down-low is their highest priority. It helps that magic tends to run in families, but sometimes the child of a normal family will be born with powers, which manifest around puberty. In this case, a more senior practitioner will usually detect their mana, then seek them out and teach them how to control it, but it’s also entirely possible for a potential magic-user to go their whole lives without realizing their abilities. By and large, power levels are similar to mages in the Nasuverse, if not a little lower.
Magic works like a pyramid: mages can do a wide variety of low-level magic, but tend to have a particular field of speciality centred around a concept, with which they can do greater things. This can be as simple as an element (for example, ice magic) or something more abstract and nebulous (such as luck). Any truly great magic - that is, the bending of reality on a more significant level, which is
very roughly beyond what you'd be able to do by mundane methods over a longer period of time - comes at the cost of incredible physical exhaustion, if not actual damage, roughly proportional to the amount by which you flouted the established rules of the world. Particularly ambitious mages have been known to go blind, lose function in their limbs, or even die in the process of weaving an especially complex spell; however, this was in exchange for feats of magic which could only be called miracles.
Most mages owe their allegiance to the Mages' Court, whether explicitly or by default. This body governs the rules of magic and makes sure it's kept secret at all costs; it holds trials for those who transgress, and its headquarters also serve as a safe haven for any practitioner of magic should they need it. The Mages' Court is governed by a body of seven mages, including its head. Three of the seats are held by members of particularly ancient and distinguished families: Smythington-Clay, von Kaube, and Konoe. Another three are decided by a vote every seven years, although the slow-moving nature of the political culture means that these don't often change hands either. And the job of head of the Court is a lifetime position; in the wake of a leader's death, mages flock to headquarters and hold a vote. Of course, the length of a lifetime varies... especially because intrigue is endemic. The current leader of the Mages' Court is Faustino Dupont, from a family almost as old as the three with permanent seats, and the fifth of his line to hold the title in the last two centuries. However, he's quite old, and it's been impossible to quash the rumour mill about who his possible successor could be.
In opposition stands the Demons' Court, which began as a splinter group and has since grown in strength. While its mortal constituents are far fewer, their powers have been bolstered by their unholy masters in exchange for their cooperation. Its head is a demon with an unknown name, who delegates most of the business of governing to the most senior of those who have contracted with them, a person known only as Moloch. It's unknown whether or not the same Moloch has reigned for the entire existence of the Demons' Court, or if it passes from mage to mage like a codename. There are very few truly freelance mages, although many of those affiliated to one faction or the other only pay lip service to their Court; this is more common among advocates of the Mages' than the Demons', simply because of the nature of each.
You'll take the role of one of Amaranth's newly hired mage bodyguards, of which there are five (although I'd be willing to raise this by a couple). You've been sought out personally, largely because you're renowned for having no particular ties to either of the Courts. The job may or may not wind up being high-risk, but at least you're guaranteed to be paid well.
If you're interested in applying, fill out the following character sheet and PM it to me. I'm also happy for your PC to have secrets they've kept from the others, but please PM me your idea so that I know about it. I'll be choosing participants by
December 4th, since I want to get this thing on the road as soon as I can. The tone I'm going for will be moderately serious, but ideally with a big side helping of character interaction; please bear that in mind when applying.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask any questions you might have, and maybe even to apply.
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. I really wanted to call him Amaranth but then the main girl was already named as such. It would have been fun to beguile and deceive if it had ever gotten off of the ground ;_;
Originally Posted by Detective Blackstone
