Luchiaros

The Palven Empire, beset upon by war from all sides, and ravaged by a plague, has reached what some call the darkest point in it's history. Among the wars, and the plague, there are numerous uprisings within the ranks of nobility, congregations of rogue magi, necromancers, dragons, and now, demons. However, in this time of darkness, a small village remains untouched by any of these dangers, and from it rises a hero, one who may be able to save humanity, unite the races, and bring light in the world once more. But then he fell off a cliff and died.

Okay, so most of that wasn't true, like, there's no demons, or civil wars, but the Empire is in a stalemate with the Elves, and there is a plague throughout the lands, and of course there's the occasional dragon attacks on the outlying towns and villages, but aside from that, the Empire knows peace. As for the necromancers and congregations of rogue magi, magic isn't common enough for that. I mean, sure magic exists, but very few people outside of the church possess it, and those few unlucky bastards that do possess magic are locked up by the Emperor, who fears their power. Oh yeah, and all that about the hero from the small village, that was just bullshit.

Anyways, this is not my story, but one given to me by a man I was fortunate enough to meet, and with his permission, I will tell it to anyone willing to listen. It starts in the Imperial border-town of Abërwatch...

***

Gabriel Kriëg dismounted his horse and looked up at the town gate, he admired the craftsmanship that had gone into the building the walls and gates. A perfect example of Dwarven engineering and Human ingenuity combined. His attention returned to the gate as it swung, allowing what appeared to be the town priest and a company of guardsmen out. Gabriel could see the look of surprise on the priest's face as he approached, and he could only guess the guardsmen shared the look, but with their faces being hidden by their helms, he wasn't certain.

As he strode forward to meet them, he noticed the guards had their hands on their swords, something he decided to ask about later. Honestly, Gabriel wasn't surprised that his arrival was unexpected, with the recent rainstorms and rumors of bandits in this region. The chance of the messenger actually arriving and informing the local church that an Inquisitor would be dropping by wasn't all that high.

'Inquisitor, what a pleasant.. surprise. I was not informed that the Grand Cleric would be sending you our way, nor why he would be sending you.' The priest said as Gabriel kissed his ring.

'I understand your confusion, Father. Unfortunately it seems the messenger was delayed by some event unknown to us. But here I am, so I can explain everything.' Gabriel replied, 'My name is Gabriel Kriëg, Imperial Inquisition, Witch Hunting Division. I have been sent to Abërwatch on behalf of the Grand Cleric to investigate rumors of unsanctioned witchcraft and sorcery.'

The priest raised an eyebrow as Gabriel explained why he was in Abërwatch, 'I am Father Vögel, it is truly an honour to meet you, Inquisitor Gabriel. However I must admit, I have heard nothing about witchcraft or sorcery being practiced in Abërwatch.' he said, 'I still do not see why you are here. But if the Grand Cleric believes it is necessary, then who am I to argue with his judgment?'

Gabriel nodded in acknowledgment, 'Indeed, I have learned the hard way to never question the Grand Cleric. Though the fact that you have not heard these rumors is highly disturbing.' He said, 'I believe it would be best to continue this discussion elsewhere. For if the rumors are true, there's no telling who could be listening to us. Shall we?'

Vögel agreed with Gabriel and then motioned for him to follow as he turned to make his way back into the sanctuary of the town, stopping briefly to look at the clouds that were gathering overhead.

***

To all those planning on joining Magnificum Heroicus:

• It would be most appreciated if you could send me a character registration in a PT. I don't mind what form you use, and it's mostly just to give me an idea of what to expect from players.
  
• If you need any additional information, send me a PT or ask me on MSN, I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
  
• Also, please note:
  
• Text in yellow italics is the narrator speaking.
  
• Text in bold red is of special note.

Do you solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the information you shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I uh... Yes? I guess? I'm still not sure why I'm here.

Name, sex, birthdate, age, and place of birth, please.

Um, let's see... my name is Bethany Watson, and, um... with you? Oh wait, you meant my gender, in that case, female, and I was born on the 21st of September, 1958, in York, England. I think that's about right... Oh... and I'm twenty six.

What is your life story?

Well... uh... I was born in York, like I told you before, and my parents are Alexander, and... uh... Stephanie Watson. I have one sibling, and no other relatives, aside from my grandparents...

Um... Do I really need to be here? 'Cause I didn't do anything wrong...

Alright, fine, I'll continue. Anyways, I was homeschooled while my brother was sent off to boarding school, which annoyed me at first. But after hearing about boarding school from him over the summer, I decided I was lucky, since all the rules and such sounded like a living hell at the time.

Hey, could I get a glass of water? No? Didn't think so...

Well, let's see... I was sent to public school when I turned fourteen, because my mum didn't want to teach me anymore. So I ended up in highschool, which wasn't much fun at first, but you get used to it, I guess. Next thing I know, I'm on the cheerleader squad for our football team, I'm dating the team captain, and my grades are going down... And I have no idea why I'm telling all of this to you...

After highschool, I never saw the guy again, but doesn't matter, he was terrible off the pitch... Anyways, I ended up going to some small college, can't quite remember the name of it, where I actually cared about my school, but that doesn't mean there weren't guys... Or girls...

Let's see... After college, I got a job at Arrington Imports, and I've been working my way up the corporate ladder since then. I spend my evenings at the local club, down a couple drinks, maybe go home with someone, maybe not.

Does that cover everything?

What skills do you possess, excluding your powers?

I'm good with numbers, people, and getting my job done. I'm still confused as to why I'm here, or why you're asking me all these questions...

What powers do you possess?

So this is what it's all about, well alright then, here goes...

I first learned of it three months ago, me and this guy were... well... spending the night together, and partway through... I dunno, stuff happened so fast, I started feeling weird and shit, and then I blacked out for a few minutes, when I came back around, he was having hallucinations and stuff, and I couldn't make stop, 'cause every time I touched him, it just got worse.

Since then I've kept physical contact with others to a bare minimum, if at all, since it seems that my touch is what was causing those hallucinations.

What is your "superhero" identity?

I don't have one. I've given a man hallucinations, probably for life, and now I can't touch anyone without wearing gloves, I don't see anything ''super'' or ''heroic'' about that.

Do you solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the information you shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Yes yes, God save the Queen and all that, now can we continue? I have important things to deal with.

Name, sex, birthdate, age, and place of birth, please.

Doctor Bellamy Watson, male, 21st of September, 1958, York, England, does that cover it? Or do you want my life story as well?

What is your life story?

So you do want to hear my life story, very well, let us begin.

I was born and raised in York, with my twin sister, Bethany, who I am not on good terms with. My parents are Alexander and Stephanie Watson, both of British descent, and I have no cousins, aunts, uncles, or any siblings aside from Bethany. My grandparents from both sides of the family are still alive, though I no longer speak with them, and I have, in essence, cut all family ties.

My parents sent me to boarding school for boys at six, and I only returned home for the summers. I proved to be exceptionally intelligent, graduating at the top of my class every year, though I devoted more and more time to science as the years went by. After eight years there, I was sent to another boarding school, this one for young men, where I would spend the next four years of my life, I even began to spend my summers away from home.

It was in my last year at the boarding school that my ''power'' first emerged. It was Friday night, me and my mates had gone to one of the local nightclubs to party because some of us had gotten into Cambridge. We started drinking about eight or nine, and by the time ten o'clock had come around, we were pretty drunk, and we weren't the only ones in the bar. One of my mates started making trouble with some of the locals, and before any of us knew what was going on, there was a full blown brawl happening. I don't quite recall the details, but partway through the fight, something inside of me took over, and I transformed into some brutish creature, I was unable to control myself, but I could hear myself shouting as I destroyed the place.

To this day, I still can't remember everything that happened that night, but I do remember my parents greasing a lot of palms to keep people quiet, and my mates, or the ones that survived, wouldn't talk to me for months, and even then, all but one of them refused to speak of that night. My parents did a good job though, cause I still ended up going to Cambridge.

My time at Cambridge was quite boring, and I didn't experience any more events like that until after I had graduated. After Cambridge I began to work with my closest friend on experimenting with my most unusual case, and for the next three years we had no problems. But then one night, things started going wrong, we were experimenting with different chemicals, hoping to bring out the monster side of me, but so far nothing was working.

That night I had returned to our laboratory with a woman that I had been drinking with earlier, Andrew, my friend, was there working, and was quite annoyed that I had brought someone from the outside in. Long story short, we started yelling at each other, and our yelling soon turned in a fight with things being thrown, and punches being tossed. The last thing I remember was taking a punch to the gut, and then the same feeling from that Friday night seven years ago came over me, and I lost control.

I woke the next morning in the debris of what used to be our laboratory, after a few minutes of searching, I found Andrew's body underneath a beam from the ceiling, and the girl I found near what used to be the door, with her head split open. I could here the sirens in the distance and knew I didn't have much of a choice, so I ran, and I've been running ever since, doing my best to keep the beast controlled.

What skills do you possess, excluding your powers?

I'm a skilled chemist, I have some training in hand-to-hand combat, and I have a little knowledge of firearms.

What powers do you possess?

I don't have that much knowledge of my power, but I do know that extreme anger brings it out. I transform in a monster, taller then a man, and much stronger.

What is your "superhero" identity?

Superhero... What a strange term to use, though I don't believe it applies to me. I prefer to call it my alter-ego, which I have dubbed 'Mr. Holmes.'

Once Upon A Time is a story written by Luchiaros (myself), based loosely around characters from a few Grimms' Fairy tales. I plan on posting an update to the story every week, though sometimes I might post more then once a week. Feedback is welcome, in fact, I'd appreciate it.

Note: I apologize in advance for the terrible grammar, it's not one of my strong points, and this has so far all been written in my spare time, so I haven't taken the time to correct it. I would also like to inform you that there may be content not suitable for children, including, but not limited to, language, blood, and gore. Now, without further ado, I give you...

Once Upon A Time.

A young girl clad in a red cloak skipped down a path in the forest singing blissfully to herself, completely unaware of the creature that followed her in the woods. At last she arrived at a clearing in the woods, in the center of which was a small cottage. Skipping up to the door, the girl knocked twice before turning to skip about the clearing. An elderly lady opened the door and called to the girl, who skipped over to the woman and handed her the basket. As the two of them began to proceed inside, the creature that had followed the girl stepped into the clearing and growled loudly.

The girl turned to see what had made the sound, and shrieked at what she saw. The creature was like nothing she had seen before, but she recognized it as a werewolf, a monster she had heard about in stories. She tugged at the elderly woman's sleeve, which cause her to turn to see what was wrong, and as she turned, the werewolf let out a howl and charged. Shoving the little girl inside, the woman threw herself into the beast's path, hoping to save the child. The werewolf attacked the woman, swiping at her with it's forepaws, it then pushed her body to the side and began to advance on the girl.

Before it could enter the building, a crossbow bolt struck it in between the shoulder blades and a man shouted at it. The beast turned to face the newcomer, a man wielding an axe and a crossbow, it then growled at him and charged. As the werewolf charge him, the man raised his axe, but it was too late, the monster set upon him and begin to tear at him with it's cruel claws. After it decided the man was definitely dead, the werewolf returned to the cottage and began to search for the girl. It found her hiding under the bed, it reached under the bed and pulled her out, and then it raised it's paw to strike...

Name: Olivia O'Conner

Nickname(s): Vi

Sex: Female

Age: Nineteen

Appearance: Olivia is fair skinned, with long curly dark red hair that reaches her waist, and freckles, her face is round, with emerald green eyes, and light red lips. She is semi short, being only five feet, three inches tall, with a curvy body, featuring C-cup breasts and a firm rear. She wears a off-white shirt under a reinforced bodice made from black leather with a leaf pattern on it, tight black jeans, knee-high high-heeled black leather boots, and elbow length gloves. She also has a fur-lined overcoat for cold weather use (Think Russian coat), and a pink scarf.

Personality: Olivia is charming and enthusiastic, she likes being around others and enjoys having conversations with them, however she gets very distraught and angry when someone mentions parents. She is very kind towards others, aside from those people she has grudges against, but she will always put the safety of her sister above everything else.

Background: Olivia was the child of a renowned bounty hunter, Cionaodh O'Conner. Her parents left it to the other members of Cionaodh's crew, Nora, the mechanic, and Darell, the pilot, to raise the girl. The two taught Olivia everything they knew, and eventually she considered them her real parents. Her birth mother died in child birth with Olivia's sister, Mary, when she was thirteen, but Olivia took the death surprisingly well. The next day however, Cionaodh forced Olivia to take her mother's place as his companion for hunting bounties.

The next few years passed by with no other major changes, but on her sixteenth birthday, Olivia was given the best present she could have asked for, Nora and Darell were married. Life continued as normal for the motley crew for the next three years, but then everything changed. After a botched mission, Olivia and Cionaodh returned to the Gloriam to find Nora and Darell being held prisoner. A firefight ensued, which resulted in Olivia blacking out. When she awoke, everyone else was dead, she slowly found the strength to bury the bodies, then quickly searched for Mary. After she found her sister alive and unharmed in a smuggling compartment, she left the ship behind and made for the nearest city. There she found passage offworld.


Weapons and Armour: She has a single-action swing out cylinder eight-shot blaster revolver, a sixteen-bore break-action double-barreled blaster shotgun, and a knife for weaponry. Aside from her reinforced bodice, she has no armour.

Possessions: An old fashioned pocket watch with a picture of her family, a Mjolnir pendant, a diary, some pens, a few books, and a leather satchel.

Other: Her six year old sister, Mary O'Conner, travels with her.

Don't judge me...

EDIT: Changed her history.