I don't have a fancy setup for this, so I'll dive right in I guess!

Have you any preferences for plot or genre? I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned Quest (for money? fame? faith? love? babes? doesn't matter!) but I'm not too picky on plots. And genre... hmm... none of the RPs I've got in the wings right now are good ol' sword and sorcery, high fantasy romps, so that might be fun!

(I'm sorry, I'm a bit rusty/a disaster at RP planning.)

Gaaaah I don't know. I feel like this is gonna be one of those "i dunno, what do you wanna do?" things. I've mostly RP'd with a group and DM for... two years?

Allllright so this post might take a while but I'll see what I can do to make it easy to sort through! I'll include attractions in parenthesis in case that's a factor. (rom/phys)

WoW-based characters

• Lazaratria - Night Elf Rogue - Elf with a penchant for doing whatever she needs to to make a buck. Of course, if the deal turns sour or something she's opposed to comes up, there's a dagger with your name on it in one of her sheaths. (Poly/pan)
• Faliron - Night Elf Druid - Laz's bedraggled brother. After waking up from his centuries-long nap, he finds out he's no longer immortal due to plots stuff from WoW and has to track down his sister before she gets herself killed (again, that is). (Poly/IC-undecided)
• Vierona - Worgen Mage - Not much to say for her, haven't played her in game for forever and she's only lvl 20 so (idk/idk)
• Atassa - Draenei Paladin - Holy Space goats, batman. (idk/idk, pact of chastity maybe?)
• Ilanna - Night Elf Death Knight (or volkregian waifu idk man) - Night Elf forced to forsake her own culture in favor of being resurrected as a terrifying fighting force that turned against its own master. She's a cold, calculating master of weaponized frost. (Aggressively Aro/poly, as long as no emotions are required)
• Xiaolan - Pandaren Monk - Curisosity killed the cat, not the anthropomorphized panda people. (idk/idk, probably too innocent)
• Xandral - Draenei Shaman - Elemental space goat (idk, probably just not interested, maybe het/het just to throw that in there somewhere)
• Braig - Worgen Hunter - I list Braig here because I have an entire backstory for how Org XIII existed in WoW during the Cataclysm but this is post-Org, disillusioned, depressed half-druid, half-wolf Braig. He's essentially a WoW OC at this point. (Aro/homo)
• Rynseir - Blood Elf Priest - Priest of whatever main un/organized religion that might exist. Dedicates himself to protecting the weak and healing the strong. He's not exactly willing to put up with something or someone abusing him though, and he's got a darker streak (100% straight guys. Totally. 100%)
• Norixius - Blood Elf Mage - Cocky little mage. Believes himself to be better. As is the Blood Elf way. (any and all takers, honestly)
• Tyrnael - Blood Elf Warlock - Essentially Lazaratria, but with demons. (Don't touch what you can't afford)
• Larkk - Undead Hunter - idk man, she was gonna be my main, but things happened and now Tyrnael and Rynseir are. (Undead, so idk)

DnD/Pathfinder-based characters

• Khadri Moonsong - Half-Elven Arcanist - Captain of his own space ship. Knows his own strengths and weaknesses. Has a "walking stick" and is usually on the run. From what, he won't say.
• Tatahl - Elf Swashbuckler - "Charming" privateer captain (who put him in charge?) (yes)
• Vanhishika - Vishkanya (Oriental snake people) Slayer - Bodyguard for hire. Haven't played for a while and even when I did, she was a cohort to my actual character. (Probably a eunuch, she worked in a brothel for a really long time. Or so Ace it never mattered. Idk)
• Thanryx - Kobold Sorcerer - Tiny kobold whose one true passion is to ascend to dragonhood (and he has a plan to do so) (aro/only dragons)
• Siran - Tengu Gunslinger - Egotistical birdfolk with an eye for the shinies (pan/pan)
• Kilarra - Tiefling Alchemist - Disillusioned half-demon with a penchant for making things explode. (I forget, pan/ace I believe)
• Ha'iel - Raptoran Stormtalon - Half-Elf, half-air-elemental militaristic pretty boy who is in line to lead his flock. Has a pet giant bat. (only been with women so far)
• Mai'dre - Half- Elven Bard - Actually charming elf with a flair for the dramatic and (hopeless) romantic. (demi/pan)
• Renza - Fetchling/Kayal (Essentially humans from the shadow plane) Rogue - Scorned rogue who was left behind by her alleged friends to fend for herself. May or may not be a vampire. (Whoever can get her more power)
• Tsillu-Assur - Tengu Ninja - Essentially a proper archaeologist. Obsessed with the history of his desert oasis home. (Bi/Bi)
• Wyran Dawnbringer - Aasimar Summoner - Half-Angel with a celestial snake that won't leave him alone. (only been with women thusfar, kind of intimidated by everyone)

DnD/Pathfinder-based characters I haven't played/don't have a grasp on yet

• Kynis - Elven Swashbuckler - P. much a female version of Tatahl made for a campaign that never happened. (Lesbians, lesbians, happy and free with each other~)
• Zane - Half-Elven Kineticist - A psychic I don't remember making.
• Xarrnyl - Wyvaran (Greater Dragonkin) Cleric of the Sun - Yeah, what it says on the tin. (no one's been interested yet.)
• Fitz - Elven Alchemist - The chemicals went to his brain.

Other Fandom OCs

• Talos (can be altered to fit a fantasy setting very easily)

Well, we'll sort this RP out, piece by "idk hbu" piece!

Anyway, @ ur ocs!!! This is such a nice list, holy moly. How am I to chose?! Some ones that def caught my interest were: Lazartria, Faliron, Rynseir, Braig, Khadri Moonsong, Tatahl, Ha'iel, Tsillu-Assur, Wyran Dawnbringer and Kynis.

And of COURSE Talos. Glib could pretty easily adjust for a fantasy setting as well. Water mermaid instead of space mermaid, boom! (As long as this world has funky lookin', bone thin, hairless, sort of scary mermaids that essentially run on solar power.) Or hey, we can ditch high fantasy and go for science fantasy!

So idk (oh lord ur right), are there any you're dying to play?

Some of their descriptions had me thinking that a generic "we all want the same thing but we don't all GET IT, but we have to work together to even have a shot" type plot could be fun bc that might be a really neat avenue for relationships (enemies, friends, romantical-type stuff, whatever happens) to develop. Alternatively, some sort of plot where they want diametrically opposed things, but have to team up due to extenuating circumstances.

Would you like me to make a list of potential characters as well?

What, no fighting over Mai'dre with Lath? He's losing his touch. If only I could embed music or something...

A list of potential characters would be great. If you have any that go really well with a character I have, do point that out too!

Let's see... What drives the characters you chose? Uhhhh

Laz is big on advancing her means through shady and usually illegal means, but she usually means well. It ends up in some weird moral dilemmas that usually end up with Laz dropping whatever she was doing and running off. Being held in one place might be new for her. She's got a rather casual relationship going, but all night elves are super poly in Lath and my headcanons so Lathrine (the character) shouldn't mind Laz's uhhhh flirting-without-meaning-much-until-something-happens. Laz isn't often big on commitments, but gets super stubborn on ones she latches on to. (She's my main on WoW so I could go on about her forever. She's kind of devolved into an RP character since Rogues aren't having the best of time in the current expansion. I'm not big on power-gaming, but I also don't want to be useless in combat so Braig has taken her place as main-main though)

Laz would probably be some kind of attempting to rule the underground so as to weed out corruption and make it less dangerous. High hopes for a single rogue.

Faliron is all about trying to save the buggered up natural world (and his buggered up sister gah rogues are so roguey). He follows things through to the end and ends up being more stubborn than Laz on most accounts. That doesn't mean he doesn't like his freedom. I think I've logged more hours with him in flight/travel form than anything else.

Faliron takes nature very seriously. Like, who wouldn't? So anything to do with preservation and healing would be right down his alley.

Rynseir is decidedly a follower. He was kind of thrown at a paladin, Lath's Acalithel, as soon as he got out of whatever academy was training him. He latched on and trailed after her (still probably is) so he'd probably have to be assigned to someone else (someone to protect his scrawny butt, cloth healers are flimsy) or have lost track of Acalithel to follow someone else around. (See, look he has a girlfriend. 100% straight guys)

Rynseir specifically works for whatever temple/religion of healing that is allied to a temple/religion of protection and follows orders (whether or not he complains is a different matter entirely)

Braig just wants to be left alone, honestly. After the disaster of the Cataclysm (more than just the world being ripped asunder) he disappeared for like three years, only to be called (forced) back into service during this most recent campaign in Draenor. But that's specifically WoW. To be... less specific, he's a veteran of a past war that left him without a home or people, both of which were ravaged by lycanthropy and the undead. Those who didn't die from the undead were saved only by the worgen's bite and the night elves' blessing. Has lots of big pets. Uses a bow. Doesn't talk enough (then talks way too much) and despises hero worship.

Braig is still very militaristic, but goes out of his way to make everything for his superiors a living nightmare without annoying them to the end of getting rid of him ("he's invaluable, remember? That's why you went out and found him in the wilds" -someone, probably.)

KHADRI! (Or, current avatar project because overskirts are the best thing ever) He's another outlet for fantasy-sci-fi due to his magical space ship. Shaped like a dragonfly. Which he stole. Ahem. He needed to get away from the wizard mafia. Which exists. Khadri's on the run from his former teachers. Once he realized he was going to be stuck as literal arcane fuel for the ships his masters owned rather than being trained further, he decided to hijack a ship to himself and book it out of there. Of course, he dumped the ship immediately and stole one he could manage by himself (without 3-9 other crew) and started running for it. Or limping, as his leg permits. He's rather sedentary, but very clever in exchange. Tiny stick half-elf with a bad leg.

Khadri has his own agendas, but is more than willing to be a tool for others. He commands his ship under the strict assumption that trust and respect are far more potent than fear and subjugation (things he was kept under in the wizard mafia). He refuses to kill if other options are available and prefers to orchestrate any battles so as to keep his hands and conscience clean. Khadri never shoots first. Neutral Good.

Tatahl. There's not much depth to this poor man. The situation in which he was first played didn't allow for much role playing, unfortunately. His main feature was his low-as-could-be wisdom, which prompted him to get in a lot of almost "lol-random" trouble, but it was always related to plot. IE: jumping off the ship in a storm to rescue an NPC that fell overboard, searching in trees to find turtles, that kind of thing. He's a natural swimmer, combatant, and acrobat. Who ever made him first mate was really asking for it. Oh wait... he voted himself in because no one else did and who wouldn't want to be important? I guess his crew disbanded or something.

I really don't know what drives Tatahl beyond the traditional "Treasure, glory, and babes" motivation. That's probably his thing actually.

Ha'iel. Once again, back into the highly militaristic part. Ha'iel has probably changed the most out of all my characters. He started out as a wide-eyed young raptoran venturing into the world for the first real time, earning his wings, and being generally bouncy. As his first group turned against him (they were super sexist and "heterophobic" because i guess heterophobia exists now? But only among like 20-something girls and one guy?) he saw the world as darker than it was and began changing to reflect that. His second experience with adventuring didn't go much better, except that he claimed one of Lath's characters as a confidant. Dangerously resentful, he returned to his flock with his gnome-friend to await his father's final words.

Depending on how things go, his birthright to lead a part of essentially the air force of the fantasy world could make him out to be a great, worldly leader or a scheming, xenophobic villain.

Tsillu-Assur. Back to the good side of the world. Tsillu-Assur comes from essentially fantasy-Egypt, where the Egyptian culture never moved away from building great monuments and working in hieroglyphics, but their technology exploded. Steampunk Egypt, essentially. Tsillu looks back into the history, both working as Indiana Jones and an actual archaeologist/anthropologist, recovering artifacts from trap-laden tombs and studying them to better understand history. He probably works for the government or something.

Tsillu-Assur, or just Tsillu, he really doesn't mind, is driven by discovery and can get very excited about it, often getting himself into lots of trouble or talking at too great a length over anthropology. He also collects some of the shinies for himself. Who could blame him, honestly? It's part of his pay.

Wyran Dawnbringer. A half-angel whose summoning powers were just kind of thrust upon him. One day, he found himself cornered in a back alley by a couple of thugs and suddenly, a great white and gold snake appeared before him and chased them off. It introduced itself as Zazz, and that it was from the same plane as Wyran's ancestral angels. Wyran still wants his eidolon to go away. Zazz just aims to please him, but refuses to leave as it was his birthright to protect Wyran.

Wyran works for the same society as Tsillu, but he works in the field of planar biology, studying things that fall through the cracks between planes of existence. Zazz should, by all accounts, fascinate him, but Wyran firmly believes that his specimens shouldn't be able to telepathically link themselves to him.

Kynis. Well, gosh darn I have no idea.

*shrug* IDK HIGH SEAS ADVENTURE WITH WOMAN WHO WANTS TO BE PIRATE QUEEN

Talos. I've gabbed enough about this angry velociraptor. We both know everything I've written about her.

Grr angry militaristic matriarchal society. RAR

Most of this lot is from the same world (albeit different time periods) so I've just kind of... mishmashed them here... I randomly picked ones I feel like RPing, but I certainly have a gazillion more OCs if none of these strike your fancy. Made notes if I feel like there might be a good potential connection or source of tension with one of your OCs though! If any jump out at ya or if you get some ideas, let me know!

Cassandra (Cassie) Pallen- Human berserker, extremely extroverted, gleeful and vivacious, despite getting into fights that have knocked her teeth out and broken her nose on more than one occasion. (Het/het, has an endgame romance)
Colm- Dwarf healer, always singing. Good at calming Cassie down from her berserker state, so they’re not often apart. (Bi/ace)
Maud Kilakalyn- Some creature I made up and never named, but has antlers, very long ears and limbs? Archer/rogue. Smart and observant, great at keeping a cool head and her companions grounded. (Aro/ace)
Raie Taul- Dog ear man (made him up at the height of the InuYasha craze and haven’t let him go) warrior, smiley goofus with a strong dislike of monarchy and nobility and while he’s all for taking out the trash, he’s (grudgingly) willing to work with baddies to make sure worse baddies don’t come out on top. (Demi/demi, but already has smol spunky wife. So monogamously starry eyed over her that it’s disgusting)

He might pair really well with Laz, as he’s an adventurer with a lot of ties to the underbelly of society. He stays away from assassins and slavers, but has contacts with a lot of other less than savory groups for information purposes. I can see him and Laz throwing wrenches into one another’s preferred methods of dealing with corruption. Any of these four would probably work well with Laz on that count, and Cassie IS the ringleader of their group, but Raie’s the beating heart of this aspect of how they operate. Plus, Raie is one of the main characters I used with Lath when we RPed so that just seems fun tbh. (Though if I use any of these four (as in Raie, Colm, Cassie, or Maud) as my main, the other three will more likely than not at least show up on the periphery of the RP, if not as major supporting characters)

Nami Taul- Raie’s sister, also an adventurer. Likes to crush enemies with a Warhammer, though she avoids killing other sentient beings. Inquisitive and headstrong, but easily influenced. Het across the board, but is married to Lath’s OC D’iala (no other romances are allowed for her ever because they are THE OTP of my heart)

She’s also very much a follower (at least in her younger years) possibly she and Rynseir could wind up stuck together, both separated from people they’d rather be trailing after? And then they have to... *gulp* be in charge of themselves

Hiseyban Taul- Sibling of the above. Adventurer, human (adoption, ok) mage with a penchant for sire magic. Serious badittude. Short fuse, self-destructive tendencies, basically only loves their lil sister Nami. (Only likes ladies)
Iru Taul- Brother of the above. Angel (ADOPTION, OK) healer who broods a lot. Has a pet winged lion, so that kind of makes up for his annoying melancholy personality. (Demi/demi)
Aleca- Antelope(ish) taur bard. Values wisdom and knowledge seeking above all else, very contemplative and introspective. Has some other bard friends, but idk I’m most interested in her for now. Into other antelope-taur ladies.

Possibly I could fight Lath for Mai’dre on her behalf???

Ghisa- Half-elf leader of a large, famous mercenary band. The only thing he values more than getting paid is making sure his mercenaries are well taken care of. Pretty good at ignoring his moral compass and not feeling too bad about wholesale slaughter. Rides a giant komodo dragon-looking lizard. Gay, and he has and endgame romance already, but why shouldn’t he date someone else during his mercenary days, if things play out that way?

Maybe Ghisa and his crew could get caught up with Braig somehow?

Grarhi Ovaig- No nonsense orc warrior lady. Might have laughed once, like eight years ago. (het/het. Super shocked at all these het characters I have, wth) Gets paid to go to dangerous places and get things for people, mostly. Rides a warg.

Could potentially be hired by a mysterious third party to go after something Tsillu is studying or has claimed for himself?

Noalan Taul- Weird conglomeration of several races I invented, but mostly looks like a lanky elf with fuzzy ears. Bard with a silver tongue and a knack for persuasion. Often seen bothering Grarhi. (Demi/demi)
Reth Taul- (So many Tauls! Yeah, they’re related. I’ve put a lot. A LOT… of work into this family) Same weird conglomeration of made up races, but looks a short chubby elf with fuzzy ears. Sailor, cartographer, navigator. Super sweet until she’s feisty. What is her orientation?? We just don’t know!

Might be good with Tatahl, as she takes her work very seriously and would be 1000% done with any on-ship shenanigans he caused in .4 seconds flat. Possibly could run around with Kynis? Alternatively, could put her in a science fantasy AU with Khadri. What better way to find new worlds to map than with a fugitive mage!? (And maybe Glib joins them along the way!)

Oleander- Fuzzy blue pony-sized dragon who would really, REALLY just like to sit at home and eat oatcakes. Unfortunately, he is in possession of a big heart, and will without fail will get dragged into other people’s disasters because he can’t say no to helping. (Other dragons, I guess?)

Possibly could get up to shenanigans and adventures with Thanryx, because dragon.

Trickster- Trickster god of a desert empire, and unlike most of the other gods in the pantheon, he LOVES getting involved with mortals. Equal parts interested in helping, jacking things up, and seduction. His worldly escapades often coincide with when the Goddess of War is fed up enough to want to put him out of commission for a few millennia. (Pan/pan)
Eglantine- Shapeshifter of many thousands of years. Formerly a courtesan, now owns a bunch of brothels and holds great power in less than savory circles.

Might work well with Laz, since I doubt she’d be all too pleased about some rogue coming around to mess up the underground status quo that she’s worked so hard to become the top of.

Marius- Excitable human sorcerer who likes to combine technology with magic. His attempts tend to backfire spectacularly, and other sorcerers have to come clean up after him. Bi/bi, but he’s married and monogamous.
Kendelroth- Human necromancer who rides around on skeletal long horn bison. Has a preteen daughter who he spends a lot of time training in the art of necromancy, and a wife, but they have an open relationship. Kind of a necessity, given that she’s a ghost these days. (Bi/bi)

And of course Glib. U kno Glib. Weird aroace mermaid that doesn’t understand personal space and wants to be friends with EVERYONE EVER

Ooooooooh you know I 100% latched on to Laz and Eglantine because women competing for rule of the underworld sounds A+ quality even though Laz has no real interest in ruling. More just... improving it for the little guys. Laz never forgot her roots and how she fought her way up.

Same with Grarhi with Tsillu and Reth with Khadri and gosh... any of those pairs you matched up sound great to me aaaaa choice is hard. But those are the ones that specifically jumped out at me. Maybe not Laz and Eglantine just yet. Straight up conflict might not be best to start out with, but Grarhi and Tsillu or Reth and Khadri sound like the best to me. How about you? Who would you like to play?

Well, if you want to use Eglantine and Laz, but want to avoid straight 100% conflict between them, we can work that out! Eglantine definitely uses her position to make sure brothels are safe spaces for the workers, and she comes down hard on anyone who tries to bend her rules, and Laz sounds lIke the type of person who could respect that. But also... she doesn't give a flip about most anyone else in the underworld, and I can def see Laz NOT liking that. Eglantine doesn't necessarily care to rule the rest of the underworld, just the sex work side, and then using that position to maintain some influence in other areas. They could maybe work out a deal of some kind so it wouldn't be SUPER CONFLICT ALL THE TIME, like maybe Eglantine is willing to help Laz if Laz is willing to help her bring some establishments that don't already belong to her into her fold? A third party trying to view for total control could also push them to an alliance instead of being at one another's throats. I mean, Eglantine would still be none too happy of a newcomer shaking things up when she was a part of the established hierarchy, but she could roll with it. (While complaining. A lot.)

But if that's not flying with you, I'm tempted to lean a little more towards Grarhi and Tsillu. Mostly because I've never written sci-fi, or even science fantasy and so I'd be a bit intimidated! But on the other hand, that makes Reth and Khadri a good choice, since it would push me out of my comfort zone.

I guess my order of prefrence is like, 1) Eglantine and Laz, 2) Tsillu and Grarhi, 3) Reth and Khadri, but it's such a miniscule degree of prefrence because they all sound fun!

(Excuse any disastrous typos, I'm on my phone right now and Mene isn't too phone friendly, plus autocorrect. )

Mmmm, the more that I think about it, yeah, I can see Eglantine and Laz working something out. Going in expecting conflict but hoping for assistance. Or, like Laz goes in undercover, looking for sex work to make sure nothing is actually corrupt and no one's saying anything because, well, corruption... Or get Eglantine to join up with her so she would have less work to herself. Laz would only threaten an leader's position if they were abusing their powers. A partnership would let Laz keep tabs on the sex work sectors and not have to have a direct hand in it. Of course, that means pulling all unaligned and unaffiliated brothels into the fold to streamline the process. If Eglantine proves to be trustworthy and is willing to take on that responsibility, then Laz would be more than willing to see what she could do. In return, Eglantine would have to bring all of the lower-class houses up to her standards. I can see that working out as Laz looks into the rest of the criminal workings. Laz isn't looking to shut anything down. Only make it less corrupt.

Raie might not work well with Laz because I forgot to tell you but she is an assassin shhhh that's a secret tho. Her last line of action is to assassinate trouble targets, but that's only if every other route has failed and she needs to pull strings in other ways. She is a denizen of the criminal underbelly, no matter what her intentions are.

Comrades who are also a little bit at odds! Yay! Want to start something with them, then? Or I'm still open to Grarhi and Tsillu or Reth and Khadri, since those might be more light-hearted.

Laz you SCAMP (Yeaaah that might not fly with Raie. And by might I mean definitely. Dude's got friends in low places but he definitely draws lines.)

Once again, it comes down to the "I dunno, what do you wanna do?" debacle. I mean, I'm good with any and can work with the three you've picked out (Tsillu's probably the most rusty since he's the only one I'm not currently playing in WoW/a Pathfinder game, but he could do with stretching his vestigial [and magical] wings)

We're the dang vultures from The Jungle Book is what we are

Mmm, well how's about we go with Grarhi and Tsillu, then? I haven't used her in a while, either and have been meaning to get back to her. Besides, the more i think about it, as much as I love the story building around Laz and Eglantine, idk that I'm ~emotionally prepared~ to write something that's gonna take that level of careful thought and consideration right now? Bc the last thing I'd want to do is accidentally make light of sex workers and issues they face, ya feel me? Like it's def a plot I'd return to! Just when I'm in a better headspace.
And if we are like, "actually Grarhi and Tsillu was a bad idea, we'll have backup plans.

Yeah yeah I feel that. I also feel like I've got a deep enough understanding of how archaeology actually works (almost done with Associates of Anthropology) to have a best-guess as to how it would function in a fantasy setting. So yeah, sounds like a plan! Do you wanna start or wait until I get a moment (Lath and I are still running mid-level dungeons for WoW characters of mine, so it might be about half an hour or so)

Yesss, real world knowledge applied to fantasy worlds makes for the best stories.

I'm just about to head to bed (I need to enforce better sleep habits with myself) so if you want to write an opening when you get a moment, cool beans, if not, I will write one tomorrow morning/early afternoon. I'm looking forward to this!

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE STILL CHECKING THIS THREAD OR ARE SUBSCRIBED TO IT OR ANYTHING but I am posting here before shooting you a message anyway!

I was wondering, do you wanna have some say in this artifact why it's so important and all that jazz? I'm more than happy to come up with stuff if you want, and I've got some vague ideas floating around (mostly that cater to my favorite 'magical items' tropes, because I'm a walking cliche machine), but I don't have anything solid. And more importantly, I don't want to end up with something that's incongruous to the place and culture you've created here! Especially since Tsillu is so invested in the historical and cultural significance of such items. So if you've got some ideas and want to fire 'em off, go for it, or I can shoot some ideas and you can see how you feel? (Or we can just keep winging it if you'd prefer!)

Also, I just wanted to put something about the artifact in my post so you didn't feel like I was trying to make you think of everything, but please let me know if it doesn't jive with your vision of The Expanse and its history and I can fix it.