There totally isn't a dig at Laguna somewhere in this post...

[jamilton]

(That feeling when you know you won't really have time to write up an app until near when your reserve expires orz)

Hello, my name is Subby and I was looking through some RPs to play in, this one really intrigued me! So allow me to potentially give you a smooth talker ... with a good chunk of his body replaced by metal and crystal tech.

His name is Jack Hamilton, a lone gunman that enemies will curse him as "The Man With The Machine Gun ... Arm" (thankfully it's retractile) and to others, as his wishful thinking, the charmer of ladies. We'll see where that goes; he tends to have a poor track record with all but the kind of girls he doesn't want to be associated with...whatever that entails.

I'm coming into this with barely a handle on the backstory of the Imperial Saga, and while I enjoyed reading every bit of it, I know it'll be a bit much for me to retool the entire setting of Ar Tonelico in a matter of mere days in order for it to mesh 100% with Dagaria, so I might be handwaving or improvising on a lot of details as I go along until I have time to sit down and draw something up.

So, given that, I'm open to suggestions on where the guy can go to contribute to the plot progression we have going here! I'm going to be flexible on this (he tends to come and go as he pleases anyway), but if Jack were to be an active part of a Kingdom or Faction I believe his best role would be suited to Intelligence Operative. I can just wing out however he happens to eventually join the ranks of wherever he ends up in or we can plot together on it.

I wouldn't rely on him too much though: Jack has his own agendas, mainly searching for someone...and finding his place again in the world that caused him to lose his past. He's entirely for acting and adventuring on his own, regardless of if he ends up serving anywhere, but he certainly wouldn't mind making use of his perks and position in order to further himself either. Still, if he believes in a cause he'll certainly support it, so gaining his empathy goes a long way, even if he's picky about that.

Besides, who wouldn't want to have a weapon like this as an asset?

(Mileage may greatly vary due to lack of Harmonics.)

Comments

[revanisms]

Revan always has his eyes open for people with talents and is very good at putting people in situations where they can use those talents to their greatest. On top of that, Revan likes to know as much as possible about anyone and anything so Jack would definitely be someone he'd hire/work with.

[jamilton]

Jack might find the Luna's Call or even your own service a temporary station at some point, but I believe he may mistrust you just enough to take those so-called "wrong actions" Revan takes for the greater good as hypocrisy, due to his own misgivings. If nothing else, interactions could be fairly interesting even if they don't find each other in the same ranks or even on the same side.

Although, if it's a matter of monetary necessity and he isn't all the more aware or doesn't think anything wrong could come of it...freelancing doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[revanisms]

Haha, Revan is currently hanging out on the side of "must defeat the evils of the world" though that may or may not change, depending on how well it gets taken care of. Needless to say, if that does change, he won't be working for Luna's Call anymore.

But yeah, there will always be a spot open over here.

[genuine_human]

I think Harmonics can exist in this world as another form of magic in the world, actually. It might be a form of magic that utilizes the voice to cast spells. Which.. I think that's what Harmonics is since my knowledge of Ar Tonelico is pretty limited. At the very least, though, Harmonics and Reyvateils can exist in the world. The matter of Sol Ciel, though, is something I'll talk with the other mods about, but hell, the Imperial City is a place held up by a crystallized formation of a giant hand. I think we can accommodate.

That aside, I think Jack would probably find the most use in a kingdom like... Britain, the Nameless States, or Sawa. The man isn't quite a villain, of course, so he'd be better off working in places like those. I mean, I don't think he'll be all that great with serving a country that's all that, well... war-mongering. His arm IS pretty cool, though, I will give you that.

Stop me if I talk too much.

[jamilton]

Harmonics is a little different from the Song Magic easily identifiable among Reyvateils, and difficult to pinpoint in a tangible form. To avoid spoilers, it was a technique introduced to the residents of the tower by those that lived higher up in elevation to enable effective and continuously exponential power in teamwork between Reyvateils and those fighting with them against threats.

Since Lyner, the main character of Ar Tonelico 1, was never removed from the storyline as a playable character, I can't gauge how effective it is for someone like him to augment Harmonics compared to others not so versed, but it did have a more-than considerable effect on the Revyateils he did travel with. Though, if Tenba's (an organization presented in an immoral light for a good chunk of the game) any indication, such knowledge was at least common knowledge by that point if not well-practiced.

I'm sure though that Reyvateils can exist here, even if we'd have to work it around them being crystal-tech humanoids or half-breeds. And yeah, I'm trying to figure out if it'd be better to break Sol Ciel (and possibly the tower) across provinces, settling pieces into relevant provinces, or if it'd be better for it to be secluded somewhere else entirely. Dagaria is just one continent of the world, after all. The "Sea of Death" concept is a problem, at least...

As for your suggestions, they all look great actually. The Nameless States' neutrality sounds pretty helpful, and it looks like they're in dire need of members. Britain would be amusing to interact with within or without for certain reasons (though if Seibaa's reading, Jack can seem a lot like rat-ponytail!Lancer to you). Sawa sounds great if just for the humor factor (having a bunch of underage girls being his only positive CR with women would be ironic, if not hilarious), though more seriously the foundation of anti-militarism would be a calm alternative to what he's dealt with before.

I'll mull the ideas over in my head while I continue looking at the application page. In the meantime, would anyone from the three kingdoms mentioned or even other kingdoms/factions like to talk me into it further?

Re: Stop me if I talk too much.

[genuine_human]

Fortunately enough, Dagaria is going to expand by the time we get to the second arc. We're going to move across the New World soon eastward across the map, so I think having Sol Ciel across provinces would work well enough. And as for Harmonics, it seems like I missed a fair amount in my playthrough. Or well, it has been a while. True, while skills and talents would always vary, I don't think it ought to be much of a concern that people won't know much about Harmonics here. It may be just as common since we definitely may as well have a Tenba-like organization here as well. Either way, may be a problem that we don't have a Lyner (just yet), huh?

[jamilton]

Harmonics is really just one of those little things that the game and relevant material don't expand on much (like a lot of other things...). They talk about it briefly at one point and then just never again since it's the fundamental battle concept used to deal high damage with the Reyvateils and you're meant to roll with it. It's pretty moot anyway since Lyner and any Reyvateils aren't here at the moment, yeah.

Hmm..maybe I should hold off until the map expansion before thinking too much on the AU background for Jack, then?

[unequivalent]

(Yeah I had that feeling with writing my app to get here. asdkha;)

Hi newest person! I'm Socks. I don't know if I can offer too many clever plot-related things at the moment. I just really wanted to say that the Laguna reference means you get +2 cool points.

[jamilton]

I try, as well as I can. =o=b