I'm waiting in my cold cell, when the bell begins to chime.
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn't have much time.
Because at five o'clock they take me to the gallows pole.
The sands of time for me are running low...
Steven Rairke was once a man of the law. He fought for what he believed in, went to church every sunday, had never broken a law in his entire life. When people saw him walk by, they nodded their heads and whispered to one another, no one could ever come up with a single bad thing to say about the man. For 7 years, he has been their protector, their defense against the harsh reality of the world which they share with him. For seven years there hasn't been so much as a robbery in the town of Acacia. For seven years, his secret has been hidden under a cruel facade that keeps that which is in his soul under wraps. For seven years, he has been a free man.
Seven never was his lucky number. For they have come for him, come for him from every walk of life, social class, and for every reason imaginable. Its not every day that one man's head can net you a cool half million dollars. Especially considering that its 1877. That's the price on his head, displayed prominantly in every post office in the country, from the courthouses of Birmingham to the old Spanish Missions of San Jose; from the everglades to the cool waters of the Great Lakes. It seems that the only place that Steven Rairke isn't known is Acacia. But that's all about to change. The Gallows are not so forgiving to those who escape their braided hemp grasp.
----
By now you're probably wondering to yourself just what in the hell Steven Rairke did to have a price on his head that big in the late 19th Century. Well, I'm not about to tell you. Rest Assured that is the best kept secret in the entire country as of that time. Admitting the truth of what he did, the very knowledge of his crime itself is an issue of National Security. The rumors are many, but only God, The President, and Steven Rairke know the truth. Well, I guess I do too, but I'm not exactly there, now am I?
This Rp takes place in the American West, only its not exactly the American West we all know and love from the John Wayne movies, its a little different. Technology, fashion, transportation, and architecture are all exactly as one might expect in the old west, complete with cowboy hats, six shooters, and swinging door saloons. The difference instead lies in the people themselves. Humanity is far different from the forms it takes here in our world. Why and how the change occurred is a mystery, all that people really know is that it had something to do with an artifact uncovered in an Aztec ruin by an American scientist in 1839. Since the date of that discovery, men and women started to exhibit amazing abilities. No longer could people be judged by the way they looked, spoke, or acted. You never did know what kind of person you were looking at when you stared down the street.
The players in this RP will be coming to Acacia in search of the Half Million Dollar Man, Steven Rairke. You don't know why he is worth that much, or what the crime was that he committed to be sentenced to death.
Therein lies the fun. Several foreign powers have become very interested in the man. Now that the people of North America have begun to exhibit strange, new abilities, all of them are seeking a way to gain an advantage over the new Super Power. The United States has no Political Allies at this point in time, though everyone wants to be their ally, thus any spies would be denied if discovered and would have to hide their affiliation. Of course, that is generally the idea behind spies, now isnt' it?
Now then, on to the fun part: The abilities.
There are five different kinds of people in the world:
Base: These are the unchanged, those who did not experience any new gifts after 1839 (you didn't have to be born then to eperience them, some who were Base then gave birth to children who were not, though any who are not base have to have been born in North America) are known as the base. Almost all international agents would fit into this category, though a few may have been born on the North American Continent, and thus not be this. The base are just like you and me.
Psi: The Psi are quite how you would imagine them, they can read thoughts, communicate telepathically, and do slight feets of a telekinetic nature. No stopping bullets or flying here, more subtle things, flipping a switch, bringing a light object to your hand from a table. The more powerful your telekinetic abilities, the weaker your telepathy and mind reading are. The strongest telekinetics can grab a gun from an enemy's hand, but very few have that level of skill.
Animus: The Animi (plural of Animus) are those people who can channel energy. They are called this because it is believed that the energy they seem to create is a physical manifestation of their souls. Thus many people believe that the Animi have made deals with the devil. Animi are the rarest of the five types, and are generally considered the most powerful. On average, they can generate a large burst of energy (if concentrated, into a basketball sized blast) once every two hours (a maximum of ten times a day if used in quick succesion, though they will not be able to use their abilities the next day if it is used more than three times in a row without the proper cumulative wait time ((6 hours for three times)). Abuse of the power (using it 11 or more times) can very well be fatal, adding fuel to the soul energy theory).
Pyro: The Pyros are those who can control fire in all of its forms, Able to make it bend and dance to their will or grow beyond its natural bounds. Of course, they can not create fire, thus the fire goes out when it runs out of fuel. If they make the fire too big for its means, the fuel will burn out very quickly indeed. The biggest weakness of a Pyro is that they tend to control fire in their sleep as well, some times causing a candle flame left on to leap out to them and kill themselves accidentally. Pyros are very careful about that sort of thing (if they know what they are), their lives depends on it.
Healers: This one is pretty self explanatory. Healers are capable of mending torn flesh and dispatching diseases. Of course, like all the others, their abilities are limited, they are only able to bring about the healing energy 8 times a day without sapping their own strength, though each time is only enough to close a medium cut. Thus healing a bullet wound to any vital area (excluding killer blows to the heart or head) will most likely take all of their powers for the day.
I'll post my character later tonight or tomorrow. All chars should follow the following format:
Name
Gender
Age
Description
Brief History
Type of Character
Once the characters are up, I'll start the rp.
~Thanks