Monster-Blood Story Book

This is a story book idea based off of D.M. Cornish's Monster-Blood Tattoo series, I bought the book in America while it was still called MBT, you may also know it as The Foundling's Tale, or just Foundling. It's a trilogy of books set in a place called the Half-Continent.

If you haven't read the book, you can still join. I strongly suggest the series, because it is mind-blowingly epic. The book is full of made up words for different things, so here is a dictionary of sorts:

http://www.monsterbloodtattoo.com/explicarium.html

And here is the wiki:

http://monsterblood.wikia.com/wiki/Mons ... attoo_Wiki

This is the official website: http://www.monsterbloodtattoo.com/

The Half-Continent is plagued by monsters, called "Bogles". Society views the monsters as a plague, even the ones that aren't so nasty, and just want to be left alone. Teratologists (men and women who are hired to destroy monsters) are idolized for their work.

On the other hand, there are sedorners, men and women who don't hate the monsters. The best sedorners just want to live in peace, the worst worship the monsters and try to raise them from the depths to hurt non-sedorners. Sedorners are hated by most, so if you are one, keep it a secret, your life depends on it.

You are a citizen of the small establishment called Burkshire. This place doesn't appear in the books, because I just made it up. Burkshire is mostly wine country, but there are also thick plots of threwdish swamp land. Teratologists find work easily in Burkshire, because of the density of monster population surrounding the place.

Monsters have been showing up in Burkshire in even greater numbers than usual. You are a citizen of Burkshire, whether a Teratologist, Postman, Lamplighter, or some other occupation. You are stopping by the Knaving Office (place where teratologists find work.) when you are recruited for a massive theroscade, or monster hunt.

Farmers have been plagued for too long, and now they are desperate to cut down the monster population. You have been asked to join the group, whether as a teratologist, doctor, or just to prove you aren't a sedorner.

Character Sheet

Spoiler

CodeSelect all

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Occupation: If Teratologist, specify.[/b]
[b]History:[/b] (At least one paragraph please.)
[b]Personality and Such:[/b] (Not too important, but put a bit at least please.)


Okay! If you have any questions, just ask below. If you need to know anything about terminology, feel free to ask as well. Please only join if you plan on staying aboard, or if you want to drop out, say so in your last post. Thanks! Have fun!

Name: Ambrose Brackenfeld

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Appearance: Ambrose has short cut brown hair. He wears a thick jacket as proofing, and is often seen with plenty of pistols on his person. He is a pistoleer after all. He has the tell-tale brown "whites" of the eye, and yellow iris. This is because he is a leer. He is 5'7" tall, with a wiry frame.

Occupation: Ambrose is a pistoleer teratologist.

History: Ambrose was adopted by two wealthy teratologists. His mother was a wit, and his father was a sabrine-adept. His father pushed for him to learn swordsmanship, but Ambrose wasn't into it. Instead, he learned to use pistols. He carries at least seven on his person at any given time.

When he was only thirteen, Ambrose went on his first theroscade as his fathers' factotum. He didn't do well, the monster they were hunting hid in thick brambles. His father couldn't get in close enough to use his spathidril, (special monster hunting sword, usually laced with poison.) so he relied on Ambrose's skills with a pistol. (Two, rather. One in each hand.) Ambrose barely survived, because he had trouble seeing in the thickets.

Once he returned, he became a leer. A leer is someone who modifies there senses, usually the eyes. Ambrose became a laggard, a type of leer who specializes in seeing far off, in the dark, and even through things. This was only a matter of time, since he was a pistoleer. The first theroscade also spurred him on.

Ambrose got his first monster-blood tattoo (or cruorpunxis) on this hunt. It was a small spiral pattern on his wrist. Ambrose was proud of himself, but seeing the monster die made him a little sad. He pushed these feelings away, because he didn't want to be a sedorner.

Getting a cruorpunxis is a major accomplishment in the Half-Continent. Among every day folks, having one will make you a hero in their eyes. You get one by either killing a monster, or at least aiding in the hunt.

Personality and Such: Ambrose is calm, and nonchalant. He doesn't let much bother him, but when something does, he'll try to leave off on his own to think. He loves practicing with his pistols, but hunting makes him nervous. He has good judgement and makes quick decisions, this stems from his pistol practice. He had to be able to take out multiple targets at the same time, very quickly. He is still a kid though, so sometimes his actions are rushed, and lead to bad consequences.

Could I possibly make a character who is a rossamunderling, but knows it?

Sure! That would be awesome!

It's been ages since I read founling, so I'm bound to get things badly wrong. Just correct me!

Name: Grace Hawker

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Appearance: Grace is of average height, around 5'8'', with a slender yet strong build. She has blue eyes and copper-streaked blonde hair which is of shoulder length. As armament, Grace carries a single pistol and a light sword for close-quarters combat. She also possesses a rifle for tackling bigger boggles.

Occupation: A teratologist trying to make a name for herself independantly.

History: Grace was formerly a member of a specialist group of teratologists, who worked in a mercenary capacity, hired by towns with a particularly virulent monster problem. However, she was thrown out of the group for sparing a bogle after it was maimed in a trap laid by one of the townsfolk she was employed by. Grace now works alone, trying to make a name for herself, but in truth, she wants to prove to herself that she isn't a sedonist.

Personality: Grace is often distant and hard to reach, reluctant to communicate with others without due cause. She always seems to need to clean her weapons or prepare traps or poisons, which stops her from engaging in conversation. In truth, Grace is desperate to escape from what she feels she has become, and find an outlet for her sensetive soul. If she could, Grace would give up teretology altogether and become an artist.

Name: Eli Tallow

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Appearance: Eli has long red hair that he keeps tied back in a pony tail. He has blue eyes and lots of freckles. He is slim and strong (much stronger that you can imagine) and about 5'7". He has lamplighter proofing, as that is his profession, and carries two pistols, a short blade, and a rapier.

Occupation: If Teratologist, specify. Eli is a lamplighter, but he is also not a human. He is a rossamunderling, a bogle in human form. He has made it his life goal to protect humanity from the more vicious bogles, and to preserve the benevolent bogles from the more vicious teratologists. So far, he has managed to get by without being called a sedorner.

History: Eli lived the first seven years of his life in the wilderness, learning bogle ways. He learned tales of another rossamunderling, Rossamund, who had lived years before him. More and more often, he began to see creatures like himself, pale-skinned and clothed. One day, when he was wandering a road at dawn, a patrol of lamplighters picked found him and forced him into service. After seeing what man and monster have done to each other, Eli decided to put a stop to the fighting any way he could.

Personality and Such: Eli is a very likeable person. He tries to be kind to everyone, and always protects his friends. He can be sarcastic at times, and can have a rather biting wit. He also suffers from the human pangs of adolescence, but he tries to ignore this, for the most part.

Okay! We'll start tonight, so that anyone else who wants to join has one more day. I'll go ahead and open a discussion thread so we can form a bit of a plot to go by.

viewtopic.php?f=200&t=93249

Ambrose entered the knaving office to look for employment. He had heard that Burkshire had plenty of contracts, so he decided to plan a thersocade. His factotum, Philius Tallow, stood at his side. The office was full of oddballs, some marked with spores, some carrying heavy fire arms. He hadn't expected so many people.

He headed for the front desk, Phillius in tow. "It shouldn't be too hard to find work here, huh Phillius?" Ambrose asked his older friend. Phillius's answered came through muffled by the noisy crowd and the sthenicon he wore on his face.

"Maybe not, though I told you not to worry about that beast on the road. If you had've let him live, it would have been another contract on the market." Phillius said. Ambrose nudged him with his elbow, such talk was sedonistic.

"Be careful talking like that. I know you're just greedy, but some people will take it the wrong way. Now let's get a contract before evening comes, that way we can look for tracks and lay a trap or two." Ambrose whispered. He waited in line behind a somewhat stinky wit. His bald head was covered in nasty sweat.

Finally, after waiting for a good while, he moved forward with tired legs. "I'd like a contract, please." He said. The woman shuffled through some of them, but she didn't look as though she thought any of them were suitable.

"Is this for you, or your friend?" She asked.

"Me and him, he's my factotum." Her eyebrows rose, and then furrowed. She seemed to find the concept hard to grasp. Finally, shaking her head, she found a contract she thought was suitable.

"We pay you once you bring back the cruor," she said, "no compensations will be covered in the event of you and your friends death. I suggest you get some help with that contract. If you'd like, I can post a bulletin at the front of the knaving office."

"Hah! You're kidding, right? I won't need any help." Ambrose took a look at the contract with Phillius looking over his shoulder. A sketch of a creature was just above a description. The monster had large fangs that protruded from its lips. It's ears were perked up, as though it were listening for prey. His long arms slid against tall grass, and burly legs plodded over a human corpse. A scale was given off to the side, it read, '1"=3"'. It also said that it was last sighted in a thick swamp to the south of a rather threwdish swamp.

"You know what, put up a bulletin." Phillius said. Ambrose glared at him, but didn't object. He turned and pushed through the crowd and left the office. "Maybe we should put one up in the taverns too," Phillius said.

"You're an embarrassment. Don't you think we can do this on our own? We've been hunting for two years now. I've killed fifteen species of boggle."

Eli Tallow,

I was leaning against the wall of the building opposite of the knaving office. The line of teratologists, pistoleers, leers, factotums, etc had been moving slowly for the past two hours, and more kept on showing up. I shook my head. Bogle activity had been really high lately, which was worrying a lot of folk, because it was very close to harvest season. I'd been doing what I could to direct some of the more benevolent bogles away, but there wasn't anything I could really do about the necrophagi and the other malevolent species. They wouldn't listen to me any more than the Emperor himself would. I sighed. Of course, most bogles wouldn't listen to me, being a rossamunderling. They see me as not quite bogle and not quite human, an oddball out cast.
I was technically on leave from my posting as a lamplighter nearby, but what that really meant was that I had to apply for a bogle-hunting job at the knaving office. I'd been putting it off all day, but I figured I'd have to go in sooner or later, or else all the jobs would be gone. Just as I was steeling myself to enter the fray, I noticed a teratologist and his factotum, a leer, leaving the office. The teratologist was young, maybe 14 or 15, so not much younger than me. Interesting. I'd never met a monster-hunter that young, so I surreptitiously fell into step behind them. Not surprisingly, the leer caught wind of this development quite quickly and whispered something to his master. They both whirled around and confronted me with narrowed eyes and hands placed warningly on weapons. I put up my hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Whoa there, you two. I mean you no harm. It's just, I couldn't help but notice that you just left the knaving office, no doubt with a monster to hunt. Am I right?" I said congenially.

The teratologist nodded curtly, eyeing me warily, "That's right."

I grinned, "Great, would you mind if I were to join you in dealing with this troublesome beastie?"

"I should think not," the teratologist snapped, "We don't even know your name, and we work alone. You'll get no easy money off of us."

"Oh, the name's Eli, Eli Tallow," I said, taking the hat from my head and bowing low, "At your service. And money is of no import. I simply wish to join in the hunt, if you get my meaning."

"I'm not sure that I do...Eli," the teratologist said, frowning.

*moved from Archives due to activity*

Okay good. It might not kick off soon, but it will eventually, I promise.

Should we get a DT up for this?

Perhaps that might be a good idea...

Of course it is, I came up with it.