The Shining Star

[Hydra of Ages]

[i]"Ages ago, or so the stories tell, the power of Alchemy ruled over the world of Weyard..."[/i]


[spoiler= The History of Alchemy]
Weyward, the flat world, is governed by the elements.

The elements are wild, chaotic and unrestrained; to survive, humans needed to impose order. They needed to take control, to take power of their surroundings- and their answer to that was to take the Chaos into themselves, to impose order through their own minds, with discipline and self-control. Those who became attuned to the unpredictable power of the world became known as Adepts; frightening beings who could pull the raw strength of nature, and shape it into a usable weapon.

An Adept was a thing of Order. The forces of chaos could not stand against a greater will and, slowly but surely, the land was tamed. Humanity rose and conquered the land and sea, and Adepts spread like a plague across the land. They drew the raw chaos from the world, and using the light of the celestial stars, they separated them; they broke apart the solidarity of the world, and made it their own. Each branch of the elements was keyed to a star; a guide whose' light divided them.

by heavenly Venus, they drew power into the stone, into the dirt and into the living things that grew from the dirt; it separated the element of Earth.
By immortal Mars, they brought the power into the wild flame, the heat that came from the sun and rose from their bodies; it seperated the element of Fire.
By divine Mercury, they bonded the power into the roaring ocean, into the waves and the blood in their veins; it separated the element of Water.
And by resplendent Jupiter, they shaped the power into the violent winds, into the crashing storms and the breath of their lungs; they seperated the element of wind.

For a while, this was fine. But time wore on, and men as they were, sought for greater power. An Adept of great cunning heard of the old stories, and the impossible strength the world held when the elements were one; to greater empower himself, he sought to return the elements to their original state.

And he achieved it.

Alchemy- the transitive property of Chaos. Adepts had long been condition to suppress chaos and the uncontrollable, to make it weaker, more manageable. Psyenergy, the force of the mind, could separate the elements, but given instructions, it could merge them as well. Two or more sources of elemental energy could be combined, lowering the barriers in the distinction between them both, and through that they could release a force of energy greater than them both by far.

That force is Alchemy. It was the discovery that rocked the human nations- and brought war to the world.

Humans before, had banded in the face of Chaos. But now, faced with the ability to harness chaos for themselves, they turned on eachother, looking for power. An arms race began; Alchemy could be easily packaged, easily automated. It was controllable, shapeable, formable- a power more substantial than that of any individual Adept.

It was a force greater than any of them could imagine- and for many, greater than they could handle.
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[spoiler= the World of Weyward]
Weyward is a flat world. Once a primal upheaval of lands moving as they will, explosions of natural force and constantly shifting seas, it evened out as Adepts came into power. The world still retains the echoes of chaos, however, and even with the best applications of Alchemy it's difficult for them to prevent very rapid continental drift- maps are frequently outdated as soon as they are drawn, and dividers between kingdoms are always hotly debated.

There are four distinct parts of Weyward that mark the boundaries of most bunches of kingdoms and civilizations.

The North area is the land of the Mercury clan, and is characterized by its large, but unstable, sheaves of land. Largest of the four areas, it is mainly empty, only sparsely populated by wandering populations that move from one newly-found river to the next. The Kingdom of Lemuria controls almost all of Mercury's land, and is accountable for the majority of Mercury Adepts in Weyward. While Lemuria has impressive reserves of Alchemy, little of it is put towards war- Lemurians prefer to capitalize off of war, rather than take part in itself.

The chain of perpetually unstable islands is known as the Nissin Line, and is considered the land of the Venus clan, home of Earth Adepts. Nissin constantly changes, reforms, reshapes, and as such has a constantly shifting population with an innumerable amount of rulers, kings and governments that can switch at the drop of a hat. Violent and ambitious, the various kingdoms of Earth Adepts have some of the most powerful Alchemedical weaponry and the largest supplies of warriors. The eastern side of the great continent to the west is traditionally also claimed by the Venus clan, though that is populated with the far more pacifistic empires who trade with the other clans- particularly the Mars clan.

The fertile eastern lands are the most stable in Weyward, and are home to the Jupiter clans. Architects and nomads, Jupiter territories are filled with ancient lineages and the longest-known kingdoms in the land. Making their homes in the valleys between mountain territories, they have a reputation for being oddly connected to tradition and resistant to any form of change. Because the land is locked, people often remark the Eastern Lands are so inundated with chaos that it appears in other -stranger- ways, such as raising the dead, giving sapience to animal-kind and giving rise to monsters of abnormal strength.

The southern wastes belong to the Mars Clan, who have the smallest territory of any of the clans. Nearly as violent as the Venus clans and as tied to tradition as the Jupiter Clans, the Mars Clan have always vied for the superiority in Alchemy. The Mars Clans are not united under a single emperor or king; each village, or city, is its own separate unit that works to its own ends, warring with eachother as much as they war with others. The Mars clans trade almost exclusively with the landlocked Venus clans.

Keep in mind that borders are always tenuous at best, and subject to change. Few stays stagnant for long in a land birthed from madness.
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[spoiler= Adepts and Psyenergy]
Adepts are people who are able to compress elemental energy into themselves. They can express this energy with their mind, in a form known as Psyenergy.

All Adepts are tied to one of the four stars- Venus, Mercury, Mars or Jupiter- and can only control psyenergy of their corresponding element without the aid of Alchemy. Psyenergy expresses itself in a number of ways, some not obviously evident. While elemental power can be loosed in its barest form, Psyenergy also unlocks the latent powers in the world around people- things come alive when Adepts come near.

The most obvious extension of this this subtle power is in weaponry. An Adept who wields a weapon may find that he is capable of things others aren't with the same blade- by being wielding it for a long period of time, and through deep training, an Adept absorbs the essence of that weapon, making him faster, deadlier and stronger with whatever it is he fights with. A 'release', a spontaneous explosion of energy, is also common in weapons created through Alchemedical process, which can utterly devastate an unprepared opponent.

The final important part of being an Adept is the acquisition of Dijnni. Dijinni are small creatures, barely a foot in height, created from the recoiling chaos of Weyward after having order imposed on it; spirits of the elements themselves, they are beings made essentially from Psyenergy, tied to one of the four Stars. While commonly docile, many have noted that Dijinni are dangerous foes- but the greatest allies an Adept can have.

When a Dijinni is befriended by an Adept, that Dijinni will commonly merge with that Adept, adding their substantial power to that Adept. An Adept with multiple Dijinni absorbed into them is far, far stronger than one without- and has powers over their element that others can only jealously admire.
For more direct purposes, a Dijinni can also separate from their master to preform the Psyenergy Technique they personify. This powerful explosion of enemy can often be devastating, but it also causes the Dijinni to become a separate being from the Adept, cancelling any benefit they gained from fusion. Recombining can take several minutes, and become a hassle in the midst of battle.
However, an unfused Djinn is still a useful ally. Multiple Djinn have the ability to merge their powers together and form gates to other elemental realms, summoning forth a being far stronger than the Adept to lend its aid for a short period of time. These gates are both rare and dangerous- to open a gate, a Djnn must first have received permission from that elemental being, typically through a complex process unknown to mortals. A human himself can make the appeal for aid by finding a Summon Tablet- a conduit to that separate realm of elements. All too often, Adepts have been killed from making a careless mistake during summoning.
After forming a gate, a Djinn will disperse into elemental motes, reforming minutes later inside the body of their master and granting their fusion bonus again.

In simpler terms, here is a descriptions of the process:

Djinn fuse with Adept, increasing that Adept's power ----> Djinn utilizes its specialty technique, separating from the Adept ----> Free Djinni form a gate with their power, then dissolve into motes ----> Motes fuse again with Adept after a while, increasing that Adept's power.
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[spoiler= Notes for Golden Sun Veterans]
This RP takes place far before all canonical events. Even the map is not particularly similar to any given game; the continental drift has been significant in warping all known landmarks. In particular, there are none of the same cities you may remember, as they have yet to be founded. The seed kingdoms may exist, (such as the Lemuria Kingdom, which will eventually become the Lemuria seen in the Lost Age), but they little resemble their more modern equivalents.
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[spoiler= Plot]
War is easy. Alchemy is not.

Chaos is being introduce to the land, little by little, as small kingdoms tear eachother apart using the basic powers of the world, ripping the strings of order that had been created for years. There's never been an age kinder -or crueller- to Adepts, warriors who can control the elements.

Whomever you are, you're an Adept. You have an opportunity to change the world, like all of the rest- but how will that happen? Alchemy is unpredictable- there's no way to tell exactly what will happen...

[i](The plot will be more self-evident as the Roleplay begins.)[/i]
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[Spoiler= Rules]
1: All usual Roleplay rules. I'm certain you know of them.
2: I reserve the right to not accept your character for any reason- no matter how petty. You're allowed to apply up to three times; I may give a special allowance after that, but I equally may not.
3: I want decent RPers. I may kick you if your spelling is atrocious enough, or you're just unpleasant to play with. Fair warning.
4: I encourage originality, so put some thought into your applications. I'm willing to overlook a lot if your character intrigues me.
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[spoiler= Application]
Name: [i][First and last][/i]
Age: [i][at least 16; younger than that, and Adepts don't have enough of their power to be proper Adepts.][/i]
Class: [i][Make one up. This will be the nametag for their default set of abilities. Classes change depending on equipped Djinn- you may add what the names of the 'upgraded' class are.][/i]
Clan: [i][Which type of Adept; Venus for Earth, Mars for Fire, Mercury for Water and Jupiter for Wind][/i]
Physical Description: [i][What they look like. Do not include clothing. Two paragraph minimum.][/i]
Clothing/Armor: [i][Their usual wear, in casual and combat settings.][/i]
Weapon Proficiencies: [i][Which types of weapon they specialize in. Max three; those who specialize in less weapons have stronger nonphysical Psyenergy.][/i]
Carried Weapon: [i][Which weapon they start off holding.][/i]
Initial Releases: [i][Up to three Releases they have formed with their current weapon. At least two of these will carry over to any new weapons of the same type.][/i]
Utility Psyenergy: [i][Psyenergy useful in noncombat situations. All Venus Adepts start with Move, all Mars with Fireball, all Mercury with Douse and all Jupiter with Gust. You may have 1 additional Utility Psyenergy of your own making (that's still of your same element)][/i]
Combat Psyenergy: [i][Psyenergy useful in combat situations. Most Utility Psyenergy can double as Combat Psyenergy. You can have up to 3 Combat Psyenergy of your own choosing/making.][/i]
Biography: [i][Three paragraph minimum][/i]
Personality: [i][Single full paragraph minimum][/i]
Djinn: [i][You may start with three initial Djinn. For every Djnn, you must detail its name, basic appearance, personality, elemental affiliation and what its Specialty Psyenergy is. All your starting Djnn must be of the same element as you.][/i]


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