~-~Windy City~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~Windy City~-~

~Post Directory~
~Welcome to Windy City~
~Rules~
~Word From the Author~
~Karma, Weapons, and Gear~
~The Cast~
~The City~
~Character Skeleton~
~The Good~
~The Less-Then-Good-But-Still-Not-That-Bad~
~The Bad~
~The Ugly~

~-~-~-~

~-~Windy City Character Roster~-~

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~"...Welcome to Windy City..."~-~

In most contemporary religious thought, there are only two places to go when you die. Assuming you were good in life as according to the laws of your god and religion, you would go to heaven for ever and ever and everything would always be great all of the time. Assuming you were 'bad', you would get your a** sentenced to hell for all eternity where you would be punished for your so-called sins. While many world religions share these similar thoughts, their combined beliefs weren’t all that far from the truth. However, your image of 'the pearly gates' might be a bit off…

Imagine, one day you wake about and go about your day as usual, nothing special happens. Get up, get dressed, go to work or school, then spend the rest of your time doing whatever needs to be done. But then suddenly, out of the blue, everything stops. The world bowls around you and you have no idea what is going on. Maybe you see a bright white light in the distance with a few familiar shapes silhouetted in the distance, or perhaps you see every moment of your life sped up into the blink of an eye. Either way, the next thing you know you feel weightlessness as the ground disappears from underneath your feet and nothing else but the total lack of all other feeling. All your senses go numb, and as you look down, you see a familiar face staring blankly up at the sky. Where you should see legs and feet, you see nothing but the ground slowly getting farther and farther away as you inexplicably float skyward.

After some thinking about it, you realize that you are either having a really vivid dream or that you are dead. Either way, you decide to try to go about it like it is the former. When you finally stop your tranquil sojourn up through the clouds, you arrive at a place you assume to be heaven. Best leave any atheist beliefs at the door and do your best to accept whatever deity awaits you. However, your hopes of seeing the big G-Man are quickly hindered as your 'feet' come back to the 'ground' only to find that you are at the a**-end of a very, very long line. A line filled with hundreds, if not thousands of people. It doesn’t take long for you to get immersed in the line as more freshly dead arrive behind you. At this point it is becoming more and more likely that your aren't going to wake up and find yourself in your warm, cozy bed. You stare at the people in line, all as confused and worried as you. They appear from all walks of life, a veritable quilt of ethnicities, cultures, languages, religions, social types, and more.

Walking along you can't help but think to yourself; "So this is what heaven is like?" As you spot all of the fluffy white clouds, vigilant angels, and the long, stony path underneath your feet. Finally, after what seems to be an eternity of waiting you arrive at a nexus of activity. You perk up on your toes, trying to see over the crowd for a big pair of golden gates, a flaming escalator into hell, or whatever you pictured the afterlife may look like. Finally managing to get yourself through the rank-and-file line to the moment of truth, you are disappointed to find you arrive at what reminds you of an over-glorified aircraft terminal, complete with metal detector. A snooty looking fellow with a pair of large, feathery, white wings and a small, glowing, golden circlet above his head wearing what appears to be a blue and white flight attendant's uniform sits straight-up behind the desk. He waves you into the large, hollow, golden rectangle standing in your path.

As you stand in the rectangle, you begin to feel a bit let down by this whole 'death' experience. None of the angels wore togas or harps or rode on clouds, the wait in the line was excruciatingly boring, and as you look ahead you see what appears to be even more lines. With a sigh you perk up as you hear your name called. You look back at the angel-looking fellow who then hits you with a barrage of questions as the inside of the rectangle begins to glow a bright color. You can't tell what, as it is far to bright to stare right it, but when you look out of the corner of your eye the colors continue to shift too fast for you to recognize. The questions seem to be spontaneous in nature, and instead of being directly addressed he speaks in a holier-then-thou kind of voice as he stares down at a golden computer monitor mounted on the golden desk which led to the golden rectangle you stand in now. As you absentmindedly answer the questions you can’t help but be the least bit satisfied that at least they were right about pretty much everything being made of gold. Despite the continued questions, you are still distracted by the machine's light and noises. You cringe as it begins to whine loudly and the light clouds your entire vision, then suddenly it is over and you smell a faint burning scent, like something has been singed or fried.

You hear the words, "Fifth door. Good luck, and have a nice eternity." The words are said in a particularly bored and uninterested voice, although were probably supposed to be said with enthusiasm. You look over your shoulder at the snooty angel behind the desk, who now seems more like a face in the crowd from months ago then someone you had just walked past, but before you get the chance to ask what’s up, you are shoved forward by the person behind you and a small, white ticket is ejected from the machine you now stand next to. Instinctively, you take it and look up. Over what has been separated into four separate lines of shifting recently expired people you see several large numbers, one through five. There is no line in front of the building labeled as number one, and instead there are a large number of angels hurrying about dressed in a similar manner to the one you had just passed by. Many carry stacks of paper or boxes and seem to enter and exit the building in constant streams. "Busy day." You think to yourself.

You look to the second, third, and fourth doors to find more lines, smaller then the one behind you, but still pretty big. Door number two seems pretty nice, with what appear to be those large, golden gates that you were thinking about back there. Door number three, on the other hand, doesn't seem quite so nice. At the far end of the line you see lots of stone and smoke and fire. The line is quite large, something you feel as though you should have expected. The third line is rather empty, and most of the people in the line seem particularly young. The third building looks very dull and gray. As you squint at the people in the third line, you notice that there are a lot of children and several angels carting small carriages of what appear to be very young children. Looking at the scenes before you, you are a bit depressed at what you see.

Looking down at your ticket, you see a jumble of symbols that you don't even remotely recognize. As you try to decipher it, the words of the angel pop into your head. "Fifth door. Good luck, and have a nice eternity." Looking up from your shuffling 'feet', you are mortified to find you have entered line three! In quite a hurry you shove your way out of the huge line and stumble across the floor past line four. A number of people cry out in surprise and annoyance as you buffet past them.

Eyes fixed on the buildings; you spot the building labeled 'five'. "That's hardly a building at all." You scoff quietly to yourself as you brusquely head down the line. You notice that your line if fairly empty, with only a few people far ahead of you. However, you are in no hurry, so you continue walking casually towards what looks more like a shack then a building. As you walk you tune in carefully to the loudspeakers posted about the area. It takes a little while for you to figure out what they are saying, but pretty soon you find yourself able to make out the words past the crackling and blaring of the low-quality speakers. Covering up the elevator music-esque tunes, you hear the voice of which you presume to be another one of those angels shouting orders to the 'courtyard personnel'.

As you walk down the path, you begin to try to remember what had happened up until this point in time. You remember the golden machine, the angel, and the painfully long line but you have trouble remembering everything else. You can recall faces and words and place, but nothing comes together. You try your hardest to piece together what happened to you, but everything is so vague and disassociated. You silently worry and panic to yourself as you begin to realize that you can barely even remember what that angel had called you. You stutter over letters and words as you try to piece together what sounds like your own name, but before you can get it all out you arrive at the door to building five. Stepping in through the unguarded door that seems to be there more for formality then actual use, you enter a narrow, wide, hallway line with doors opposite you.

As your eyes adjust to the dim lighting within the building you spot a figure that you hadn’t seen when you first leaned into the building. Barely illuminated by a dieing light, you approach the counter the figure stands behind. You can make out the similar wings and uniform of the angel you had met prior, although this one is clearly different. When there is no response from the figure, you cough lightly, trying to catch his attention without being to interrupting as to… whatever he is doing.

With your cough the figure appears to lift his head and stretch out a hand to you. As the hand crosses into the light, you are relieved to find that it appears just like any other and is not all gross and mottled or bearing sharp claws. "Ticket." You hear the words, muffled by the arm likely near its face. You quickly present the small stub of paper, glad that you hadn’t dropped it one the way there. He grips it loosely between his fingers and appears to stare blankly at the ticket for a few moments. "Alright, go ahead." The voice mumbles once more, burying its head in its arms. Relieved of the slight tension, you quickly snatch up the paper stub he dropped on his counter and you beat a hasty retreat into the hall, eager to let the angel back to his sleeping.

Eyes squinting in the low-light conditions, you pick out the doors lining the hall. For some reason, they remind you of bathroom stalls, but you don’t quite know why. You guess vaguely that it is the small colored dials near the door handle, some marked green while others are marked red. Tired of exploring into the depths of the hall, you turn to the nearest door marked with a green dial and turn the handle, swinging the door open into an even darker room. Some foreboding feeling surrounds you, but you press on. Surely whatever waits within the room couldn’t possibly weirder then how quickly you adjusted to death. "How did I die anyways?" You question vaguely, still unable to scrounge together any thought longer then perhaps thirty minutes ago.

As you close the door behind you, instinctively turning the lock, as the other inhabitants of the rooms appeared to have, you proceed a bit deeper into the room. You are vaguely reminded of large rooms filled with people and a big moving picture on one of the walls, but you can't quite remember which movies you saw on such a screen. Groping around in the dark, your fingers find what seems to be a seat, figuring that this is where you are intended to go, you allow yourself to settle into the chair. Despite your immediate thoughts, you find the chair to be quite comfy actually. Here you were thinking it was going to be a porta-potty stall or something similarly repulsive. As you find yourself settling into the chair, a bright white light quickly blinds you. Trying to shield your eyes from the light and get a look at what is going on, your peer through your fingers at the wall ahead of you to find a screen flickering to life, just like a movie theater.

Becoming adjusted to the sudden new level of light, you look around to see that yours is the only chair in the room. Satisfied that there aren't any psycho-killers waiting for you in the corners or some such thing, you turn to the screen, pacified by the moving images. You begin to sink lower as a voice cuts onto the speakers. You try to listen, but you find the tone of the speaker to be so boring you find yourself having trouble just staying awake. Your half-open eyes try to stay on the screen as you are shown pictures of long, rolling, green hills covered with grass and fields filled with large windmills, turning simultaneously in the breeze. Next they show you pictures of a strange city filled with people, the words 'Windy City' appearing on the screen and being uttered by a second voice on the speakers.

Despite how much you try to pay attention to what the speakers are saying, you are unable to. As the film comes to an end you find yourself confused and wondering. You wished you had paid attention, as what could be the significance of this. Rising from your seat to see if there is a way to replay it, a message quickly pops up on screen reading 'Please remain seated.' Reluctantly, you settle back into the seat, starting to feel a bit paranoid. A woman's voice channels into the speakers as you begin to hear her utter safety warnings. You begin to panic. What is going on? Then you hear the words again. "Good luck, and have a nice eternity." Your eyes open wide in confusion as everything around you seems to rumble to life, then the next thing you know you are rocketing towards the screen in the blink of an eye. All you can do is let out a brief shout of surprise as you hear the shattering of glass and once again feel everything disappear from underneath you and go black.

Some unknown amount of time later your eyes open to the sound of people chattering and running water. As feeling starts to come back into your body you sense a cool, wet, dampness about you. As everything comes into focus you find that your sight is filled with brick and water. You want to close your eyes and go to sleep again, horrified at the memories of what had just happened to you, but as you attempt to comfort yourself you realize something is wrong. Your memories are still absent. Eyes wide once more, you shoot straight up, looking about in shock. You feel something wet drizzling about your head, and as you look around you find yourself in what appears to be a small square in the middle of a town. Chairs and tables fill the area and people occupy many of them, bickering over too many things to hear. Blinking a few times in surprise, you remember the video from how long ago? The one with the city and the voice you couldn’t pay attention to and the windmills. A slight chuckle escapes your chest as you tilt your head back to feel the water rush over your face.

Eyes open, you find that you appear to have somehow ended up in a fountain in the middle of town. Despite your current predicament, you can’t help but feel fine. Sitting there like that for a while, you hear footsteps approach. As hard as you try to ignore them, they get louder until they stop near what seems to be right next to you. There is a short pause before the source of the footsteps chooses any words. "Welcome to Windy City." It says in an assuring voice. Peering down through the veil of water pouring onto your face to see the hand reaching out for you to grab, you can't help but laugh and feel a bit carefree.

Looking up at the buildings you can see, you spot all sorts of shapes and sizes. The buildings covered in windows, strange advertisements in many languages, and all sorts of logos. The sky is filled with hot air balloons and zeppelins and dirigibles. The people around you are all dressed in such strange manners that you can’t help but think of as 'spiffy'. Your eyes are wide now, not in shock, but in awe at this new world you find yourself in.

"Things are defiantly gonna' be… different."

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~Rules~-~

1. I Am Your God~
As far as you lot are concerned, I am the big light bulb in the sky with the deep voice and shafts of light. Meaning that I make the rules, I play daddy when you children get into petty conflicts, and I decide what kind of s**t goes down in sticky situations. As far as this rule goes, it also applies to The_Domo_Ninja. Oh, you can also have large holy wars over petty arguments in my name, but that’s optional and in the long run, is usually frowned upon by historians.
2. Be Literate~
I don’t ask that you put forth a novel with the Grammar Nazi Stamp of Approval on it every post, but please put in some effort to make your writing readable and clear. We’re not going to eject you out the airlock for some misspellings, but try to type your words correctly. If you can’t string together words and sentences like you should have been taught to in school, then you really don’t belong here. Come back when you can type like a civilized and intelligent person.
3. No Godmoding~
That’s supposedly the big G-Man’s field, not yours. Yes they may be in part of the afterlife, but that doesn’t make them a god themselves. Ergo, you can’t control another person’s character. This also means that you can’t auto-hit. If you launch some kind of Karma Nuke that decimates three city blocks, then let everyone else call their hits instead of you laughing your head off and then having your character to urinate and fornicate upon the ashes.
4. No Powerplaying~
Yes, they may also be super-powered immortal souls, but that doesn’t mean that they possess world-leveling powers that transcend the boundary between the afterlife and Earth. Try to limit your super, un-life, black death, destructo powers to fair levels that don’t force me to ‘redistribute your character’s essence into the afterlife.’ In case you didn’t get that, I was suggesting I’d have your character completely destroyed. This also covers the ‘consta-dodge’ argument, meaning that sooner or later you are going to take your hits and deal with it like you ought to. Along with this idea, your character despite being an inhuman soul, will still be fatigued, weakened, wounded, and drained because of appropriate causes. Meaning that you have to give into these weaknesses at some point, as you can’t just ignore these faults despite the increases endurance, strength, and stamina of the characters. Remember, I am giving you some leeway in terms of power, don’t make me regret it.
5. No Cybering~
I understand that human nature would likely dictate some form of romance or lust even far into the afterlife, but seriously, this site is rated like… PG-13 right? I tend to be lax on other things, but when you start getting naughty, then we’re going to have to ask that you do some time skipping or some such appropriate form of censoring. I can allow some lewd language and sexiness, but keep some control on it all right?
6. No Packratting~
I don’t care that your supernatural, that doesn’t mean you can carry every item you’ll ever need. I don’t care if your pockets are bottomless abysses. You wouldn’t be able to reach deep enough in them to get your things; they’d be floating around out of reach in the abyss. I don’t care if your backpack is a trans-spatial portal that leads to your armory, that doesn’t mean your armory isn’t going to run out. Despite what advantages ‘Bag of Holding’ type technology can bring you, that doesn’t mean you are never going to run out of what you need. You can’t carry everything, and especially not in infinite supply. The sooner you realize that, the sooner we can all get on with our lives and not have you take out nine jetpacks and eight-hundred yards of rope every time a group of people fall in a hole.
7. Be Imperfect~
I refuse to allow any Mary Sues in my roleplays. First off, as an alternate limbo, a perfect character just plain wouldn’t fit in. But in other terms, a character who is good at everything, can do anything, fits in anywhere, and who everyone loves leaves little challenge or fun in it for anyone else. What’s the point of fighting if you are going to lose? What is the point of having a relationship if they are everyone’ perfect match? What is the point of having obstacles if he or she can just magic them away with her anything powers? No Mary Sues and no Gary Stus. Period. Also, just so that I know you read these rules, title the private message that contains your profile ‘Daikon V!’. If you do not, then you will be refused outright. If you are unsure, there are tests on the Internet you can take for your characters to determine this. Although these tests aren’t always 0 accurate, they tend to be reliable.
8. Stick With the Lore~
No vampires. No werewolves. No harpies. No dragons. These things don’t exist. Sure there may be foes or characters that share any number of aspects with these creatures, but that doesn’t mean a character who can grow fur and fangs can be stabbed by a silver dagger and be instantly defeated. Similarly, don’t make s**t up that doesn’t exist. No, you can’t make up some sort of magical energy field that cancels out all Karma and you don’t have the magical wand that shaped the afterlife. I never said they existed, so they don’t. If I approve it, then it’ll fly. If you don’t like that, go make something original and don’t steal my work.
9. Be Original~
Okay, sure you may see a character that has some powers or weapons that you thought were pretty cool. This doesn’t give you fair game to just jack their powers, stick your label on them, and claim them as yours. Sure, there will be some similar or common items or abilities circulating in this roleplay, but that doesn’t give you the right to just nab up all the cool ones and make a super-character. Instead, go steal from someone else that you aren’t going to be actually roleplaying with. Like a video game designer or anime/manga artist. Hooray for copyright infringement!
10. Theme~
Relating to my previous rule, try to keep a theme with your character. It won’t make any sense if your character is just an amalgamation of cool s**t. For example; a flying surfboard, a laser katana, a jetpack, Mandalorian armor, and a robot that looks like a toaster that you name Skippy are all cool, but that do they have in common? Nothing, unless you seriously read way too deep into it. Now if your character has say… a flying surfboard, a harpoon gun, an armored wetsuit, and can summon some sort of shark monster, then that actually makes more sense. So long as you can connect things in a logical way, then you should be fine. Assuming said character was a surfer or a diver or something of that nature.
11. Reincarnation~
Yes, I know how attached some of us get to our characters. And yes, I also know how reluctant some of us are to have them die. However, I have put a solution to this. Reincarnation. After death, a character will be allowed to reincarnate and continue to be played in the roleplay. However, this is not instant. After a character is killed off, you must wait at least three days to resume playing your character. Afterwards, you’d better hope whoever killed you doesn’t hold a grudge. If your character has been killed off as a result of your fracturing of a rule, then your character will not be allowed to reincarnate. Instead they will be ‘dissolved’ and cease to exist. You’ve been warned.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~Word From the Author~-~

As the main creator of this world/universe/story/roleplay/whatever-you-may-choose-to-call-it, I would like to appreciate all those who come, see what they like, and take the chance to join. I know I took a gamble with something as weird as this, but you’ll never know how well something works until you try it, right? As usual with roleplays I lend a hand or more in designing, I tend to start with a character idea or a defining factor that shape the roleplay around it. In this case I took my inspiration heavily from such sources as Bleach, and more finitely so from sources such as CCC City, Furi Kuri, or Kingdom Hearts. While I may be accused as the propagator of a lame amalgamation of fandoms, I like to think that what I have created bears some resemblances to these, but is entirely its own creature. I like to think it shares the post-life aspect of Bleach with the wild and unpredictable nature of FLCL. I could care less if you call Windy City a rip-off of the Seireitei or CCC City or you call the Otherworldlies an imitation of the Heartless or the Hollows. If you think so, then frankly, you’re free to go whine about it to an audience that cares. I like to think that the characters that belong in this vision of a ‘part of heaven’ mirror some of us on the Internet or are perhaps influenced by our own person. People who weren’t actually afraid to show themselves and who they were. People whom everyone else thought of as weird or crazy because of what he or she wore or what he or she liked to do. If you want to make a character that is an idealized port of yourself, feel free to, but just… don’t… let me know about it.
-Zeke Ren

We here at Q Roleplaying Productions accept no responsibility for art claimed to be edited or stolen and hereby declare that all art used on this forum thread is not our property or creation unless otherwise stated. All characters are property of their respective creators and the roleplay itself is shared property of Domo and myself. You can try to accuse us of plagiarism or copyright infringement, but then you’d just make yourself look like a jackass in the process by harassing a couple of people who never actually did anything wrong. Anyone found stealing from anyone on this thread will be subject to the terrors of Man-Bat. By joining this roleplay, you agree to subject yourself to the rules imposed by the authors and this disclaimer.
-Zeke Ren
-The_Domo_Ninja

This roleplay was produced in conjunction with G.N.A.A.R.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~Karma, Weapons, and Gear~-~

~Karma~
Often thought of in modern days as a sort of measure of good and bad deeds that inherently leads to a balance of luck serves as the primary element of Windy City. Although typically thought of as only effecting the living and deciding one’s place in the cycle of reincarnation or ascendancy to nirvana, Karma has come to effect the entirety of this fifth ‘true afterlife’.

Based on the good and bad deeds committed by those in the living world, a certain amount of Karma is created. This Karma then resides in the area and becomes an ambient energy source. As residents of Windy City, these souls possess the ability to absorb ambient Karma and utilize it as an energy source. This ‘Karma’ comes in four forms. Good Karma and Bad Karma are the two basic types most thought of, but two more exist. Grey Karma serves as a non-polar Karma and, in comparison to the other Karmas, is un-absorbable. The fourth type of Karma is known as ‘Karma+’. It serves as a super-charged neutral Karma that, while incredibly powerful, is also exceedingly rare.

While absorbing Karma will have little ill effect on the user, the area that the Karma is absorbed from takes the brunt of the damage. When ambient Karmas are absorbed from an area in the world of the living, the area becomes dead and infertile. Plants whither and die, weaker life forms petrify and expire, and the very soil and air become stale and uninhabitable. After the Karma is absorbed, it must take time to replenish and heal the area. In Windy City however, there is an abundance of Karma. However, in order to get at the Kama buried deeper into the fabric of the plane, the Grey Karma forming the world bust be torn apart to get access to it. Through this, devastating rips and gaps in ‘existence’ are torn open, needing to be skillfully repaired with ambient Grey Karma. Because of these devastating effects, most ‘good’ members of Windy City carefully monitor how much Karma they intake from one area, and keep their eyes on less honorable members of their society. However, absorbing Karma isn’t entirely without strain on the user. Depending on the density of the polar Karmas, it is more difficult to absorb the Karma and less of it can actually be absorbed, thus limiting the amount of power a single individual can draw from the afterlife’s dense Karma.
With absorbed Karma, there are a multitude of things an individual can do. Good Karma is used for more positive tasks, such as creating a physical barrier to defend one’s self or mending wounds on a body. Bad Karma, on the other hand, does quite the opposite. Bad Karma is typically used to produce offensive attacks and can be formed in such complex ways to emulate traditional elements or in more basic ways such as a generic ball of dark energies. A person more aligned with the ‘good side’ will be able to better use Good Karma attacks, but will have more trouble creating the effects made from Bad Karma. The opposite is also true. Bad Karma users will be very good with offensive magic, but will have a harder time using Good Karma to mend wounds. People of a neutral alignment will have a relatively equal ability to use either, but will not be able to use them at such a proficiency of a seasoned Good or Bad Karma user.

Grey Karma makes up almost the entirety of the afterlife, serving as a sort of ectoplasm to construct everything from grass, and soil, and air to such things as buildings, appliances, and almost everything else really. While Grey Karma cannot be absorbed, it can be collected in its ambient form and reshaped into different forms. Substances can also be broken back down into Grey Karma and then reconstructed into other forms. As a result of Grey Karma’s use, it is nearly non-existent in the world of the living and is almost exclusively limited to Windy City. Karma+, on the other hand, it barely existent at all. It has never been discovered in an ambient form and is rarely documented at all. Most often, Karma+ manifests uniquely for each resident of Windy City. Some may collect it through a number of obscure manners, whilst others may generate it through a long and arduous process within themselves. In general, it takes much time and work to create enough Karma+ to use. When enough is actually collected, the only known use of the substance is a sort of power attack referred to by many Windy City inhabitants as an Overdrive or Limit Break, a reference to a popular series of video games, although other names have been used.

~Weapons~
Most of the inhabitants of Windy City possess some form of weapon or other to protect themselves from others or Otherworldlies. These weapons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they are rarely actual weapons. In fact, most are simple objects that have been used in an improper manner to create a dangerous weapon. The largest connection between a user and the weapon was their connection to the object in life. An example might be a farmer whom greatly enjoyed hoeing their field. In death, the farmer may have come to Windy City in possession of a hoe for use as a weapon. This is not necessarily always the case, however. Some may form weapons while present in Windy City based on their own personality, creating a sort of soul-bound weapon that manifests as an extension of the wielder’s own soul. In some cases, citizens of Windy City have been seen with multiple weapons, and in addition, many weapons present in Windy City are more then just a simple method of beating or slashing one’s foe, and may be able to transform into a far more powerful and dangerous form.

~Gear~
Much like the weapons of Windy City, many citizens are in possession of a small number of personal effects with purposes straying from or expanding upon the one’s they would posses in the world of a living. Typical examples include a ‘Trans-Karmic Communication Device’, which is issued to every citizen of Windy City and serves as a method of communicating to other members of the afterlife and is capable of communicating across the gap between the worlds of the living and the dead. It is essentially just a fancy undead cell phone that comes in all manner of colors and shapes. Another common item is some sort of bag such as a purse or a backpack that contains a trans-spatial or trans-dimensional portal. A pocket may lead to say… a cabinet in one’s home kitchen while another pocket may lead to a very small extra-dimensional pocket with more room then the backpack would let on, but not enough to be an endless abyss. There are all manner of gizmos and accessories with a variety of different purposes and forms, possessed by all manner of citizens.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The Cast~-~

Windy City is inhabited by a number of groups. Mainly, souls of the formerly living inhabit Windy City, but there are some more marginal groups living in the area. While the majority are ‘Full Spirits’, Windy City is also host to ‘Incomplete Spirits’, ‘Partial Spirits’, and ‘Dreams’.

Full Spirits are the resulting leftovers of a person dying. After being processed through the Department of Immortal Souls, all human souls have their memories erased, for the better part, leaving only disassociated fragments of their former lives that they are unable to piece together without much assistance from Heaven itself, a permission rarely ever granted and only during times of great importance, where the memories of an individual are pivotal. These spirits are then processed and released to a specific section of the afterlife. In the case of Windy City inhabitants, most find a rather disagreeable journey to their new resting place of eternity. These Full Spirits possess enough charisma and identity to reform into a complete being after they are reintegrated into the afterlife, thus appearing as a normal human might. Like most past-life creatures they are more-or-less invisible to the human eye, save those who possess the gift to see through the veil disguising the dead. Inhabitants of Windy City end up looking just as they did in life if they become Full Spirits. Full Spirits also happen to be the only spirit variants really capable of utilizing Karma to fuller extents, and are also tasked with the defense of Windy City. When a Full Spirit has been exhausted to the point of ‘re-death’, their spirit will partially devolve back into the Incomplete Spirit state for various lengths of time as the soul recovers from its tremendous damages. When the recovery is full, the Full Spirit reincarnates back into Windy City just as they were before their re-death, memories of their life their intact.

Incomplete Spirits are souls that somehow ended up in Windy City, but never manifested as a full spirit. They resemble small spheres of pale blue-green fire that float about aimlessly and show very little thought, seeming more like balloons with altitude control then the spirits of the dead. The most common reason an Incomplete Spirit didn’t fully form is that its personality hadn’t fully developed or it didn’t have a strong enough personality to make the transfer from death to the DIS. They are entirely harmless, but are often considered to be a danger by the Windy City’s unofficial ‘border guard’, who make a point of checking as many of these Incomplete Spirits as they can to see if they have been illegally migrated there. Many of these spirits are in danger from the Otherworldlies and more evil members of the society, both of whom may wish to take advantage of these defenseless souls for their own gain. It has yet to be fully explained, but it appears an Incomplete Spirit can generate into a Full Spirit over time, although the circumstances of how it happens are subject to question.

Perhaps a minority in Windy City, the Partial Spirits represent an intermediate phase between a Full Spirit and an Incomplete Spirit. They are one of the many great oddities of Windy City, but many are reluctant to submit themselves to research. A Partial Spirit appears as a typical waist-up apparition, below the waist appearing as a thin, undefined tail, much like the stereotypical portrayal of a ghost. Although they posses half of a body, they still lack full form, appearing more like caricaturized versions of their former selves then a Full Spirit. They tend to be fairly passive as far as their social alignment goes in Windy City, as they have little power. Alternatively, some have been seen as full body apparitions that sport the same caricaturized features as their less-developed brethren. These full-bodied Partial-Spirits have not been shown to develop into Full Spirits, but have become something else entirely.

The majority of Windy City’s population grouping consists of Dreams, which are creatures manifesting of damaged souls or other more mysterious phenomenon that roam Windy City. Many are a result of the DIS doing research into reincarnation, but there has been have been no official claims to bring this to light. They tend to be fairly docile creatures, and come in many different types from little floating clouds all the way to such outlandish things as robots. However, despite the variety in their appearances, they never take a full human form. They are considered mostly harmless and won’t attack unless highly provoked.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The City~-~

~Windy City~
The veritable 'star of the show', Windy City is a slowly expanding metropolis of strange. The skyline is accented with towering buildings in the deep city and consecutively smaller structures further towards the edges of the city. Many buildings stand out from one-another and are covered in all sorts of signs, billboards, advertisements, or even just strange statues. Most of the time there seems to be no real thought to the building's designs and many of them really seem as though someone was on a relatively mild LSD trip while designing them. Parts of the city have distinct feels to them. Deeper into the town parts feel similar to downtown Tokyo or New York, others may be reminiscent of a significantly more depressing ghetto or 'bad side of town'. Further out things go from 'strip mall' to 'main street'. Despite the city's size, there are surprisingly few roads, and even fewer cars going around. In contrast to this, the sky may be filled with hot-air balloons or zeppelins at times.

~The Outskirts~
Past the town is what seems to be a large grassy field expanding infinitely around the town with countless hills and rises, all coated in the same verdant green grass. For quite some distance this field is littered with what else? Windmills. Instead of powering the town with a natural energy source, these windmills serve as a warning system for the self-proclaimed 'border guard' of Windy City. When the wind stops blowing the windmills in a certain sector, it usually means that there are Otherworldlies trespassing into Windy City. Not many people hang out in the outskirts, although the city's guard frequently sends patrols out to make sure the wind turbines are all working and that no encroachments have been made.

~The Otherworld~
Also known as the 'Dark Region' or several other names, it is a theorized location on the other side of the rifts created by Otherworldlies that serves as their homeland. While no-one has actually seen this place first hand and there is little evidence to support its existence.

~The Department of Immortal Souls~
Often compared to the DMV of Earth, the DIS serves as a hub for all afterlife activities and business. The hardworking angels of the DIS manage all souls on the planet Earth and handle how they are sorted into their respective afterlives. Working directly under the G-Man, who has been rumored to have created the DIS himself as well as the DMV on Earth. He handles his business very effectively and runs heaven as a second job. It is often said that he is very much like a car salesman in demeanor.

~Hell~
The destination for all sinners in life, hell has been proven to actually not be all that bad. Run buy the ex-angel turned professional luchador known as 'El Diablo', he keeps a fairly tidy business. The only real punishment down in hell comes from the ticket prices to watch the wrestling matches in person. Hell really doesn't do all that much today although has become fairly crowded in recent times. Occasionally there is an exciting title match when some uppity demon tries for a shot at the title, but El Diablo has now trouble keeping them down with his divine elbow drop.

~The World of the Living~
Colloquially known as 'Earth' or any number of names, this is the world inhabited by the still living creatures. Filled with all sorts of boring people and beasts, it's all one can do to not cause a bit of mayhem. For the most part things stay pretty calm there, although occasionally there will be a small tussle at the hands of the Otherworldlies or a massive amount of lost spirits at the hands of some pointless genocide or another. For such events, the DIS may see it fit to dispatch a team of Windy City inhabitants to deal with whatever the problem is. Humans are strange beings, hence it was decided that souls shouldn't be reincarnated there.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~Character Skeleton~-~

[size=9][u]Username:[/u]
[u]Name:[/u]
[u]Age:[/u]
[u]Gender:[/u]
[u]Ethnicity:[/u]
[u]Height:[/u]
[u]Weight:[/u]
[u]Alignment:[/u]

[u]Appearance:[/u]

[u]Weapon(s):[/u]

[u]Gear:[/u]

[u]Karma:[/u]

[u]Style:[/u]

[u]Personality:[/u]

[u]Pre-Death:[/u]

[u]Death:[/u]

[u]Post-Death:[/u]

[u]Other:[/u][/size]

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The Good~-~

Working under the true authority of Heaven and the DIS, the ‘good guys’ work to protect Windy City. They fight to defend their home and neighbors against mischievous souls and the invading Otherworldlies. From most people’s point of view they are in fact, the ‘good guys’, but many believe otherwise. Aside from their duties of destroying the Otherworldlies, they also fight against the less reputable members of the town, trying to stop them from bringing more souls to Windy City and preserve the balance as mandated by Heaven. In this sense, they act as a border guard for Windy City, although the so-called militia of good guys seems to be becoming more-and-more of a full-blown organization by the day.

The ‘good guys’ are often called upon to deal with disputes within the city and managing the new souls in Windy City. They set up patrols through the city and run off of no hierarchy and instead choose to operate through cooperation with one-another.

They are most skilled with managing Good Karma.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The Less-Then-Good-But-Still-Not-That-Bad~-~

Many of the inhabitants of Windy City are far too concerned with their own lives to bother with choosing sides in the feud within the city. They are official citizens of Windy City as declared by Heaven, and as a result, can live without having to worry about being deported back to the DIS. Technically, it would be more appropriate to label them as ‘neutral’. They tend to stick with whomever they find themselves befriending and openly fight no one but the Otherworldlies, who threaten their way of life. They make their way in Windy City by various means, some operating businesses or providing services to others such as carpentry or education.

Most often Heaven only asks neutral members of Windy City to respond against Otherworldly attacks or fix the gaps in Windy City that are chewed through by the Otherworldlies. They are also the most common social group to be tasked for excursions down to the world of the living to fight Otherworldlies there.

They are most skilled in shaping Grey Karma.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The Bad~-~

Not exactly evil but the ‘bad guys’, as they are seen by most, are known to do a number of things that are typically frowned upon in the city. Anything from petty acts such as harassing others within Windy City to more major infractions such as assisting in the unlawful passage of souls from the world of the living to Windy City. Their goals are typically reflected by individual motives, and as a result the ‘bad guys’ rarely work together. As a result of their actions, they are often at odds with the so-called ‘good guys’. They are only the ‘bad guys’ by technicality. Some, considering that in general they try to bring more people to enjoy Windy City, can consider them revolutionaries or just people out to do the right thing. However, they are known to be rather reckless in absorbing Karma from their surroundings without hesitation, as a result, causing conflict with the ‘good guys’ and Heaven for their indiscriminate damages in both Windy City and the world of the living.

Because of their infamously unfavorable deeds, Heaven typically tasks these individuals with going to the world of the living to retrieve lingering ghosts or reap souls. Not all of these souls necessarily get sent to Windy City, although they often try to smuggle a number of them back into Windy City, forcing the ‘good guys’ to step in and deport souls.

They are most adept at utilizing Bad Karma.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

~-~The Ugly~-~

The real bad guys in all of this, most commonly known by the citizens of Windy City as ‘Otherworldlies’, they come through trans-dimensional rifts from an unknown place speculated to be their place of origin. The place has been called the ‘Dark Region’, the ‘Otherworld’, and a number of other names, however, all refer to the same unknown dimension. No one has claimed to have gone through a rift yet, and most are too afraid to try it.

The denizens of this place have been classified in three different levels. The weakest levels of these creatures are referred to as ‘Bad Dreams’. They are not true Otherworldlies, but they are Dreams that have been corrupted by Bad Karma and mutated into pseudo-Otherworldlies. They are twisted and corrupt versions of their former states, and have become equally evil in nature. They stop at nothing to attack and destroy what they see as prey, but do not consume like true Otherworldlies do to their prey and surroundings. Instead they can simply be seen as rabid Dreams that must be put down before they cause harm. Despite their varying numbers, they tend to be fairly weak and little worry if one keeps their wits about them.
The most common variety of Otherworldlies are classified by the DIS as ‘Nightmares’. They bear the true signs of an Otherworldly including an undefined body of mysterious blackness that radiates an evil, black, smoke-like substance, piercing yellow eyes, and large mouths lined with pointed and jagged teeth. As a speculative rule, it seems that more powerful Nightmares posses more and larger mouths, with more dangerous teeth. Nightmares come in a variety of shapes and sizes, not limited to their black appearance as many have been known to have other protrusions such as horns, spines, protruding bone plates, masks, wings, antennae, etc. A single citizen of Windy City is quite capable of taking on several Nightmares at once, however, they often attack in large groups and are quite voracious. They think little of anything but their two needs; kill and feed.

The third and most powerful type of Otherworldly has been classified as a ‘Night Terror’. They bear many of the same characteristics of Nightmares, but exhibit larger amounts of individuality then their lesser brethren. They do not follow the same rule as Nightmares, and have been reported to come in just as many sizes as other Otherworldlies, regardless of power. They exhibit far more intelligence then Nightmares and Bad Dreams, but their end goals always seem to be Karma and carnage. Not all that much is known about Night Terrors short of their power, however it has been noted that true Otherworldlies gain power through consuming Soul Negatives, Karma, and regular Souls, suggesting that a Nightmare can evolve into a Night Terror through consuming enough of these things. Thankfully, the more powerful Night Terrors keep their distance from both Earth and Windy City, further suggesting the existence of an Otherworld.

Despite the classification system put into place by The Department of Immortal souls, it seems to have little bearing on the Otherworldlies themselves, as there appears to be little to no chain of command or hierarchy amongst them. When there is a shortage of good quality food and prey, Otherworldlies will sometimes turn on one-another and attempt to kill their own for the Soul Negatives released by their own kind to further their own evolution. Behind their two main goals, it appears evolution is the main driving force for each Otherworldly. This suggests that if Otherworldlies has enough individuality to express a personality, they would be power-hungry and greedy to a fault, one of the clues dampening the likelihood of an Otherworld.

~-~-~-~

[Zeke Ren]

In the brightness of the noon's gentle sunlight the inhabitants of the relatively peaceful town of Windy City all went about their day without worry or fear of responsibility. In the light breeze passing through the town the mildly irritating heat of the sun was made unnoticeable. Amongst the cacophony of noises in town the light creaking of a small swing set rose above to the ears of the young man cradled in one of the relatively uncomfortable seats of the swing.

Long fingers wrapped loosely around the rough metal chain suspending the swing's seat. The whining of the swing came slowly as the was propelled high into the air one way, and then quickly swung back the other way. He leaned backwards, letting the breeze ruffle his messy hair. His eyes were closed to the sun and his long legs stuck out forward in front of him as he swung.

It had been a boring day for Friday so far. He had to report for patrols early that day, and as usual, nothing interesting happened while he was out. He was assigned to work with The Jamurai and Bushido Brown, but considering Friday was a skinny white boy and his company had been a pair of large, katana-wielding, black men who listened to hip-hop, he hadn't had much to say. Instead he spent most of his time out catching up on the sleep that had been robbed from him atop one of the windmills in the district. They were cool guys, sure, but far too serious. They both reminded him of that Afro Samurai show some people watched back in the World of the Living.

When he came home it was a bit too late for anything more then a nap so he had decided to put up with the day to come. After all, the town was full of excitement. Day in and day out there were things to do. Amongst them the swing appeared to be pretty high on his list. Despite the fairly uninteresting start to the day, Friday had high hopes for what was to come. He didn't know what might happen, but that was half the fun right?

Now, considering that a young man sitting in a swing might not be a particularly strange sight, one must also consider the circumstances of this world. A place of strange and exotic peoples from all walks of life who were lucky enough to end up in Windy City. This boy wasn't any ordinary person, but the soul of a dead human. And this city? The city was full of people like him. Like him, but each of them completely exceptional in their own way. So this wasn't just some guy on a swing. It was a dead guy on a swing on the roof of a warehouse in the afterlife. Not so normal-sounding now is it?

Some distance behind the swing set on the roof was a large tent covered in a Union Jack design which served as Friday's home. Outside of the tent on the roof several other facilities stood such as a small barbecue grill and an assortment of lawn chairs. It wasn't perfect... but it was his home. All of it stood on top of the large, brick-red warehouse building. Inside the warehouse sat large stacks of boxes and creates all containing a single brand of energy drink. All of that space, for energy drinks! Also housed inside the warehouse was manufacturing equipment, but Friday hadn't exactly figured out how any of that stuff actually worked. He wasn't the most technical guy around. Sure, he played a lot of video games and whatnot, but that didn't amount to s**t when it came to such machinery. Some day he could probably have it up and running and pumping out cans of soda, but he always thought of work as a major bore.

That's why instead of manufacture energy drinks and patrol the fields he chose to play video games, play sports, hang out with other people, or just screw around on a swing like he had been for some time now. He much preferred the feel of wind running through his hair and his shirt over sitting over a console checking mixing vats of soda. After all, he could probably last off of what was already in the warehouse for a few centuries.

As his blue-green eyes fluttered open he let his knees bend. With his sudden change in posture the swing began to slow down until he was slowly swaying back and forth in a seated position. With a light expression on his face he reached into his left pocket to fetch out his cell phone. He looked at the small green device with half-closed eyes before flipping it open with his thumb. Who was there to call?

[Cynical Girl]

whap...thump...thump
whap...thump...thump
whap...thump...thump

The fuzzy, green ball bounced round and round it's triangular path, circling between racket, wall, asphalt and back again. The young woman holding the racket had affected a lazy expression, as though she had done this thousands of times before, and knew that she'd continue to do it in the future. The motion had become robotic when suddenly it changed; her free hand shot out and grabbed the ball, then dropped it into a mesh bag tied to her belt. She walked over to a large, black bag and stowed the racket in it's pocket before shouldering the bag and walking out to the sidewalk, abandoning the wall and empty parking lot. Perched atop the bag was a biggish newt; it wore a similar expression to the woman's.
As she walked, the woman yawned, and her left hand found it's way into the pocket of her skinny jeans. It's brother grasped the single shoulder strap that ran from left shoulder to right hip and secured her racket bag. She was tired; a long trip down to Earth plus the return soon after gave the metaphysical equivalent of jet lag. She was on her way home because she knew she needed to sleep, but at the same time she just couldn't stand the idea of napping in the middle of a perfectly good day.
'Hmm... I'll go down to the pond for a bit... that'll be nice...'

Minutes later Stella had arrived at her destination. Her lizard friend had opted for the more amphibious form of a toad and was contently sitting in the mud on the shores of the pond in the heart of Windy City. Stella, meanwhile, had set down her bag and rolled up her pants to her knees. She deposited her boots and socks by the bag and waded a little ways into the pond, allowing a few inches of water to come up over her feet. She smiled a little as she felt miniscule feeder fish nibble at her toes, and pulled out a red and black device from her pocket.
'Hmm... lets play some Pong...'

[Zeke Ren]

After flipping through his contacts list in vain, Friday let out an exasperated groan into the air. In the moment of irritation he threw himself from the swing's seat and stumbled to a stop on the roof of the warehouse. His footsteps each produced a light clanging sound as they smacked against the dark red sheet metal rooftop of his home.

Phone still in hand Friday quickly paced over to the small fire-escape that allowed him access to the roof on which he lived. With close steps Friday hastily descended the stairs down the side of the building down to ground level. The fire escape made clanged loudy every time he took a step. Even though it looked pretty rickety, Friday has abused the structure much more thoroughly then he was now and was confidant that it would hold.

At the bottom platform Friday grabbed onto the metal ladder that was supposed to drop down to ground level and did a cool little thing he liked to do with it. Because the ladder was jammed and refused to descened he would hold onto the sides and slide down to the bottom of the ladder and jump off, which was what he did. Sure it was needlessly flashy, but that was kind of a point with Friday. One was originally to wear clothing for purposes of modesty, but Friday on the other hand was practically a walking fashion eye-sore. Not that anyone he would choose to hang out with would say that.

Why the boy was in such a hurry to get to ground level was beyond even him, but none the less he had descended quite quickly. He seemed to make his best attempt to storm out of the alleyway but a few steps away from the fire escape ladder and quickly lost all sense of why he was frustrated. Stopping to catch his breath for a bit, Friday smirked to himself and pocketed his phone. How foolish of him to be in such a hurry, that would be... uncool of him, as he would see it.

His main concern was to find something to do until later. He could play some ball, but he wasn't really in the mood for that at the moment. He had been up late the previous night straining himself on video games so he wanted some outside time. What he wanted to do was find something else to do. He had gone through his contacts only to realize that everyone on there that he felt like hanging out with was busy or he had some stupid reason to not call them up. Simply put, he had put himself in a veritable corner.