the road from envy to hate is a short one. The road backfrom hate is an impossibly short one

Theycall it a curse; one that snatches the young by black mark at birth or trauma. Their demon blood is quickly purged whensymptoms show, symptoms unmistakable. Areyou going to stop this, or are you one of them?

Anirch, the people of the mark share acommonality of the wild. They arepatrons of the beast they emblazon; every Anirch is granted their animalsstrength and specialties.

There is little known about thiscondition of the Anirch; only that the black mark can be anywhere and takes a varietyof shapes. Almost all look completelyhuman except for their mark, which they hide, but the rare one will havepermanent oddities, such as wings, tail or eyes of their creature. All Anirch can shift their form to take onpart of their patron animal. A fishAnirch likely develops fins and gills while a bird might sprout wings fromtheir back or a cat might develop claws and tail.

(Disclaimer. Concept inspired by +Anima,idea is recycled from dead forum, expect aspects of moral analysis andphilosophy)

–Rules–
The usual, no godmoding, stay incharacter, ect
Respect the GM (Game Master, akaMe) one or two characters per person.
Try to keep the pace, only twoposts per person between mine.
PQ to apply, send questions andyour character sheet.

–Character sheet–
Name:(first and last, or you willneed an explanation for the one name here too)
Race:(human or Anirch. No anthros)
Age: (over 13)
Gender: (yah, you know what thisis)
Mark, and where it is: (only forArirch, and please be descriptive. See mine as an example)
Anirch form: (also only for Anirch,If youre a bird, you probably sprout wing from you back that resemble yourspecies, for a fish, you probably get a tail and gills.)
Personality: (a lot here or alittle, help us to know you)
Appearance: (again, be descriptive)
Weapons/tools: (keep the amountwithin reason, you arent carrying an arsenal)
Background?: (optional here, but I want toknow)

–Example character sheet (also akey NPC)–
Name: Stride of Nyx (he left hisbirth name behind years ago with his home)
Race: Anirch
Age: 19
Gender: male
Mark, and where it is: two sets oftwisting lines that resemble hackles. Both sets lie on the back of his neck,closer to his shoulders. Both his hairand coat cover his marks at all times
Anirch form: ears become those ofan oversized wolf nearly six inches in length. His hands and feet become for wolf-like with fur, thick pads and clawsbut maintain factors such as finger length, dexterity and thumbs. This form grants greater senses (especiallyscent and sound) and endurance.
Personality: confidant but wary ofpeople; he tends to keep to smaller towns and villages. When on the road or elsewhere away from eyes,hell relax into his Anirch form which he far prefers to his normal due to theextra senses. His natural wanderlust keepshim moving which is good for his survival.
Appearance: his face is rough andlean with a sharp jaw-line. Hisshoulder-length hair and goatee are both the color of sun-stained slate. He wears a black button-down shirt, greystraight-cut pants and a long, brown coat; all of which have numerous pocketsand straps. His hat is a wide-brim ofthe same leather as his coat. His eyesare fierce silver.
Weapons/tools: staff, knife, matches,and strong twine
Background: an Anirch from birth, his parents did the unthinkable and raised himwith love rather than killing him like most would. They concealed his cursed nature from therest of the village for as long as they could but when he first shifted hisform at age seven he was seen, captured and reported to the inquisition. Before trial and execution could be carriedout, he was rescued by a long-time friend of the family and sent off with awoodsman by name of Graves. From there,he learned much of trapping, forestry and survival. He was recently captured by the inquisitionwhile trading furs and has since been locked in the cathedral of Tarice.

–Setting/Start–
A number of the mark-born freaks andsympathizers have been found and will be examined by the high inquisitor beforeexecution. The unlucky scum are lockedtogether in a room on the second floor of the cathedral in castle townTarice. The priests there are dividedbetween pity toward their prisoners, fear of Anich on the whole, and loathingof the inquisition. You start in thatcathedral, weapon and tools taken when you got there.

name:Brenton Miller
race:human
age:19
gender:male
personality:his cool calm collected with a strong heart and has trust issues
appearence:Brenton Millerhas cacasein skin black hair and brown eyes his skinny
weapons/tools: weapon:a swordyour average weapon he came across during a war
tools:poison darts and smoke bombs why? cause he dosnt really trust any1
background:Brenton had always had a normal life until weird creatures killed his family so he vowed for revenge

Name: Ssayna
Race: Anirch
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Mark: A rectangular frame about two times as long as wide and with crooked sides, the lines barely a finger's width at the widest point, enclosing a wide cat's eye and touching it at the top and bottom sides; both frame and mark emit symmetric waves that fade with progressing length; the eye shows 4 waves centering around the middle, the frame shows eight, one on each corner and two each per short side; the mark is positioned on her left side, about a hand's width away from the navel and reaches from the edge of her hips to the lower side of the rib cage
Appearance: Five feet six tall; her face is lean and slender with sharp contours that however don't look like it on first glance, her harried, muddy yellow eyes semi concealed by strands of often greasy, almost waist length black hair; her body seems frail and thinner than natural or healthy, but does carry some wild strength some might call authoritative; to call her overall appearance beautiful is point of view, even if she's washed, rouged and clothed regally
Weapons: All small kinds of weapons if necessary; preferably a rope

Thats great Pico, Im impressed :). Acouple of aspects need ironing out; Ive sent it to you via PQ so that thefine-tuning isnt so public. You can edityour post if you want to make changes


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Candle light filters patchily through the floorboards of thechapels improvised cell from the rooms below. Dust dances demurely through the beams of light as the occupants sit invarious forms of dejection, denial, and dismay. Presenty the sound of sandled feet can be heard coming up the stonestairs and into the hallway outside the cell.
Priest: I neverwould have thought our cathedral would come to this; a place of light and faithbecome a prison. *he Sigh in his airyvoice and unlocks the small flap at the bottom of the thick wooden door. Momentarily a wooden tray slips throughbefore the flap is hastily closed and locked again. The tray holds 3 loaves of brown bread, around of sharp cheese, and a large clay pitcher of water.*
Stride: *stands fromhis position in the corner by the door, a sardonic smile on his face and hisform blasphemously animalistic.* ah,food for the hounds. Thank you jailerfor this bountiful meal. *he bows sarcastically.
Priest: its better farethan the inquisition will give you. *hesays, stiffly.* they are arrivingtonight, any minute now. I dont like itany better than you.

Ssayna: *the moment the tray slides through the flap, she stands up from the corner of the cell that's the farthest away from the door; hastily and with hunted look, she rushes over to the tray and snatches one of the loaves, rips a piece of cheese out and paces back into her corner, not caring that half of her piece of cheese crumbled and fell back on the tray; crouched down in the corner, she begins to devour the food noisily and voraciously*

*suddenly a yong man that looks 19 gets dragged to the cafedral makeing him sit next to Ssayna*

This isnt really a prison but rather a cathedral. The cell is an upstairs room that has beenmade into a cell recently. No cafeterianor real guards.
It measures 10x15 feet with stone walls and woodenfloor. There are several wooden benchesnailed to the floor and a chamberpot in one of the back corners. The door is thick oak with a flap at thebottom and a small section of bars near the top.

——————————————————————————

Stride: ah, anewcomer. Be you man or beast in thislions den? *he chuckles to himself* it doesnt matter, theyll burn youwith the rest of us.

Brenton:go burn in hell! stride:oh a spirited one*laughs*

Ssayna: *as Brenton is pushed on the floor next to her, she grabs the rest of her food that's left, a bite of cheese still in her mouth, and paces into the opposite corner until she notices she is directly approaching Stride; like a deer in the headlights, she stops and looks around the cell, panicking, until she crouches down near the chamberpot, seemingly unaffected by the unpleasant smell*

Brenton:let me out!*punches and kicks bars*

Pico, Brenton is locked in the same cell as the others. There is only one cell. You control Brenton and only Brenton; notguards and not anyone else.
———————————————————————

Stride: “do you really think that will work? face the facts; you are damned like the rest of us.” *picks up loaf of bread and takes a bite.* “it's hardly worth wasting your energy now when you can do nothing.”

-Outside- rain pours from the dark sky in sheets as black carriagedriven by four horses pulls up to the cathedral. As a young boy goes to take the reins fromthe driver, six men dressed in long black cloaks make their way up the stepsand into the cathedral. After knocking,the priests reluctantly let the Inquisitions in.
Andrew, High Inquisitioner:Im in no mood to tarry tonight, but I like the weather even less. Have food made up for us, the horses groomedand the prisoners cage readied. *He speaksclear and brusquely with the expectation that his orders be followed.* whereare you keeping the cursed; are they secure?
Eric, Priest: theyare locked in a room upstairs; quite secure. Do you wish to see them now?
Andrew: No, they canwait till after weve eaten.

Brenton:no i dont believe that *punches bars* let me out now!!!

Ssayna: *mumbles to herself* Silence him, someone silence him already! *she winces and turns around to Brenton, still crouching on the floor* WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?! *hate burns in her eyes as she stares at Brenton, then, surprised and scared by her own outburst, she winces again, fear puts the fire out and she retreats even further into the corner, making herself as small of a target as possible while retaining an option for quick escape*

Brenton:*looks at ssayna* you all can sit here and mope all you want i will find a way out of here even if it kills me

Stride: thats hardlyan ultimatum when they already plan on killing you. *he mutters half to himself and half toBrenten.* still, I like the sound of theword escape. Anybody have any ideas? *he looks to the others intently.* anything that doesnt kill us, that is.

Brenton:*angrily mumbles to himself* (hmm what would make a good idea)…who owns this place? maybe i can swipe the key if his close enough

Stride: thecathedral belongs to the twelve divine; gods of creation. Their will represented on earth would be SerineFarseer, high-priestess and empress. Still,she rules the land and lives in the Holy city of Amoranth; nearly fifty leaguesfrom here. I seriously doubt she wouldcome to see us when she can damn us quite well from her palace. *snorts half in distain before giving theidea more thought.* Swiping the key isa good idea though, but the bars are only at the top of the door; youd neverget the chance. Maybe if they weredistracted and the door was open?“ *looks directly at Brenton* ”Are you a practiced theif?

Brenton:yeah i stole to survive(ever since that day..)

Ssayna: *staring at the ceiling unmoved by her inmates' plan forging, she starts mumbling to herself fast and muffled as if reciting lyrics or a text; her voice is hoarse, husky and rasping from long disuse* Lay fire, start a rebellion, ambush the priest, rip the benches off and break the door open, scream and cry until they enter to be assaulted, squeeze through the bars, anger them until they kill me, smash their heads in and eat them, smash my head in on the wall, smash my head in on the pot, smash my head in on the benches, smash my head in on them, eat myself, famish- *she halts with open mouth; her gaze turns towards the door in a hasty, jerky move and up to the bars* … Famish and squeeze through the bars… *she stands up as if in trance, suddenly quiet and calm as if she forgot her whole surroundings, standing right in front of the door, she assesses the distance between the bars and compares the measure to her own, slim body* … Famish and squeeze through the bars… But how much time…? *her nervosity returns and sweat pearls form on her face* How much…? *she crouches down and remains immobile, except for the shiver that holds firm control over her body, then, without the slightest warning, she jumps up and against the door, grabbing hold of the bars, but she is already too weak from hunger and dread to pull herself up and loses grasp; she falls hard, although her toe tips dangled barely one foot above the floor*

Stride: *tactfullytakes a few steps away from the door and Ssayna.* okayIm the sane one today. Gods forgive that I get locked up withnevermind. *he cuts himself off knowing the thoughtuseless.* okay, Plan. Plan, plan, plan. *he rubs his temples, careful of his claws. He speaks softly with his eyes closed* I can hear inquisitioners downstairs and breaking down the door would take too long so it isnt going to work. We could fight when they come to get us but theyll be expectingthat. we could *looks at the food flap on the door and then atSsayna measuringly.* Brenton, help meget a bench. I think we could snap thelock on the flap in one or two strikes if we use a bench as a battering ram. It will be loud, and the gap is likely toosmall for us but Ssayna would fit. Once onthe other side, she could find the key.

Brenton:im on it*does exactly as instructed*..and done

Stride: *helps Brentonflip the heavy bench over and move it into position mearly a few inches abovethe ground. Like a pendulum they swingthe bench back before letting it crash into the flap. The door rattles, the oakof the flap cracks and a the crash of the bench seems to echo off the stonewalls. Twice more the bench connectsbefore the hasp on the flap jingles away and the flap flies opensviolently. Stride can hear the inquisitionrousing and heading for the stairs through his animalistic ears.* Go! *Heshouts to Ssayna under his breath.* getout there and find the key! If you cansneak it to us and spring us loose, than by the gods do so! You! *he turns to Brenton wildly.* get the chamberpot and stand close to thewall by the door. Its clay, so you may only get one swing butuse it when the inquisitioners get here. *stride than proceeds to gouge his forehead with a claw and sprawl inthe middle of the cell as though hed been struck in the head. By now, the inquisitioners can be heardrunning heavily up the stairs.*

Ssayna: *without hesitation, she squeezes through the gap violently, accidentally ripping the side of her linnen vest open; rushed panting, she looks around the nave to see dancing torchlight shining down from the stairway; a quick look back to the cell she was imprisoned in just a second ago, and immediately she runs off for the main door, only to find it locked* … Darn it! Darn it, darn it, darn it, darn it- *the sound of the alarmed inquisitioners cuts her off; her heart pumping with agony, she hides in the shadows and observes the inquisitioners and the priest approaching; the rope around the waist of the priest's robe catches her eye* The keys! *frightened by how loud her voice was, she silences herself again and hides deeper within the shadows; as she is convinced the jailers didn't hear her, she gazes across the nave again, trying to come up with some sort of plan; without success*

Brenton:*a inquistoner enters but Brenton grabs the clay pot and smashes it on a inquisatoners head makeing him knocked out but a few more saw this and surrounds him* shit!*gets into a crappy fighting pose* bring it on!

The lead inquisitioner collapse to the floor, but theremaining five surround Brenton with drawn long swords. At this range it is apparent that they weararmor under their clothes but not on their heads.

Andrew, High Inquisitioner:we are tasked to bring you to Amoranth; alive was not specified. *He says simply, the threat and distain clearin his voice.* Get down on your kneesand surrender and you get to make the journey alive. *he gestures to two of his companions andthey proceed to put manacles on the seemingly unconscious Stride and haul theirfallen companion to his feet.* I wastold that there were three ingrates for me to collect; wheres your friend?

In the hall, the cathedrals priest from earlier (Eric)stands anxiously, glancing about. After atime, something seems to catch his eye in the shadows; he stares out of thecorners of his eyes into Ssaynas hiding place for a long moment before lookingpurposefully away. Absently, he tugs atkeys by his waist and frees them from the rope. As one of the Inquisitioners hauls the limp form of stride from the cell,he drops the keys and takes a step back to conceal them with his habit.

Eric, Priest: theprisoners cage is ready for you; its just outside in the stables. He looks at Ssaynas hiding place and speakswhile the inquisitioners back is turned.* Go down the main stairs, through the door on the left, down stairsagain into undercroft and across to the grooms tunnel. At the end you will find a ladder into thestables; a longer path but it will keep you dry.

Inquisitioner: Nevermind that tripe; Im already wet and theres no way Im dragging this demon upa ladder in the dark. Thanks for theadvice, father *he sneers over hisshoulder.*

Eric, Priest: shouldI fetch the prisoners personal items from the undercroft for you?

Inquisitioner: nopoint. *he says as he descends thestairs.* they wont need them wherethey are going.

Brenton:you think you can intimmadate me? iwont tell you scumbags shit!*Brenton did small jump kick atAndrews face knocking him to the ground* *looks over at Stride* leave him alone!*charges at them and punches their faces then head towards Stride* hold still*Brenton fiddled with his sleeve until a needle came out then in a second unlocks the shackles* *slaps stride in the face* come on old man wake up! you can nap when we leave.

When Brenton leapt forward with the kick the three otherinquisitioners surrounding him lunged forward with their long swords. one blade goes astray as Brenton parries withhis fore-arm but the other two strike home; one deeply piercing his chest onthe right side while the other one cuts viciously into his left calf. As gravity takes its course Brenton findsthat his left leg wont hold his weight and breathing has become painful due tothe chest wound. Both wounds bleedheavily.

Andrew, High inquisitioner: right, lets make this easier for you. *he says getting to his feet and rubbing at where he was kicked* Kneel and submit now or die in thismiserable cell. *his eyes have a deadlyglint in them as he speaks and he raises his sword with experienced hands*

Brenton:i..i will never surrender TO MONSTERS LIKE YOU you…cage people that are diffrent people that are sick but the fact is you are the monsters not them!*coughs a bit of blood out*

Andrew, High inquisitioner: Im the monster?! Im not theone who willingly associates with Anirch or steals from honest folk. *kicks Brenton in the injured leg with asteel-capped boot, knocking the thief to the ground.* they are marked in black, beings of decadence;Ive never met a single one without sins. If I need to become a monster to keep the people of this empire safe,then so be it. *kicks Brenton again;this time in the temple knocking him out.* Mulroy, Harker, lock him up and put him in the cart with the wolf. As soon as you are done begin searching forthat other one; the building is locked so she must still be here. *the inquisitioners leave with both captivesand lock them both in the iron cage on wheels located in the stables.*

Although the crowd has long left, Ssayna waits patiently and without a move and barely breathing, not leaving the unattended keys on the floor out of sight for a moment's worth. The wait gives her a lot of time for weighing her options.

Ssayna: I have heard of an inquisition to hunt down Anirch. However, the throne seems to be systematically purging all Anirch off the land's surface now… Apparently, my life is at stake, whether I fight or run. *curses escape her lips silently* Why? Why did all this have to happen to me?! *frightened of how loud her whispered words echo back from the nave, she retreats further into the darkness; after she hasn't heard anything else than her own breath for ten minutes, she sneaks out of the pillar's shadow she hid in; inwardly she scolds herself because her fearful whimper earlier allowed the priest to locate her, aware that it actually left her better off than going completely unnoticed* It could have cost my life… There's no use, I can't hope to survive all on my own any longer.

She fights down the anger about her helplessness to have a decision in the situation, comes to a conclusion and snatches the keys.

Ssayna: … The men's property is in the undercroft, they said. *she sighs and listens if the two inquisitioners who were left at the cathedral to search for her are nearby, then sneaks down the staircase inaudible like a cat, and starts the search; it is short, for the first room she unlocks already exposes the objective* A larder seems an odd place to store a sword.

She listens in again for anyone who might be approaching, however the only noise she hears is silence. Ssayna proceeds to open the lashing of a robust linen bag filled with corn and empties it on the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible. Wrapping sword and a nearby staff that also seems out of place in two more empty crop bags and stuffing them in the first bag, she lets her gaze wander across the larder and locates and takes a knife next to the spot the staff was. The knife then serves as tool and the lashes of the other two bags as straps; quick and with skilled movements, she builds a backpack with the straps crossing her chest. Grabbing for a rope curled up in the corner, she packs the knife to the other weapons pommel first, ties the bag up, slips it on and leaves the food chamber. Quick and quiet and avoiding an inquisitioner scouring the lengthy undercroft, she follows the groom's tunnel, climbs up the ladder and unlocks the trap door to the stable; the other inquisitioners and their prisoners have long left, however the footsteps of men, horses and the distinctive furrows of wheels of two carriages in the muddy ground are evident and impossible for her to miss. Her moon lit silhouette blurs, two straight, pale shining horns raise from her head, more than two feet long, a bottle brush tail grows, her forearms cover in black and white fur. Lastly, her hands turn to hooves, and her legs turn to the hind legs of an oryx fully; Ssayna falls down on all fours, to gallop off and pick up on her new goal's track.