Star Ocean 2 IRC RPG :: Premise of the Story

How is this thing gonna work, anyway? O_o

The Story's Premise

This is but a part of the story concept the Star Ocean RPG will be based on. Not everything you may be wondering about is told here, but it should be enough to make a new character for the beginning of the story. ^_^

All will be revealed in time . . .

The World of Expel . . .

In a distant solar system, near a region that was once detected as housing a massive high-energy body that mysteriously disappeared, the beautiful green world of Expel drifts serenely through the vastness of space. It's inhabitants are somewhat sheltered from the important interplanetary events that took place there, and in most cases even the existence of other planets with intelligent life itself.

As Expel drifted towards Energy Nede, the Expellians saw a great object coming towards their world. Shortly afterward, they experienced a great crimson-pink flash, and suddenly the object in the sky disappeared without a trace. At the time, a handful of people knew what had really happened -- through actual experience, no less -- but as it turned out, the truth of the matter would be left a mystery for years to come. In the meantime, the residents of Expel were left to their own devices to speculate what had happened.

Six years have passed since those nebulous events, and the world of Expel has gone through a lot of changes; most of them for the better. For instance, Celine Jules, of Mars Village in the kingdom of Cross, teamed up with Rena Lanford of Arlia Village to create new types of crests which could allow Heraldic healing magic to be cast. Still, the crests can only be used by a rare few who seem to have a special talent for its use. A person who can use this new magic is looked upon as a rare and mysteriously wonderful find. It's been a huge breakthrough for the Expellians... despite its initial rarity, for the first time in Expel's history healing magic is possible!

The Elurians, too, have begun to rebuild. The Sorcery Globe's power over the local creatures died out soon after the dark figures ruling over it left the continent of El. Now, the barren Eluria Tower rises above the surrounding foliage as a harsh reminder to the Elurians that they mustn't fight among themselves when there are greater dangers to face. With this reminder, the Elurians have founded a new city and increased their cooperation with the other kingdoms in order to reclaim the continent.

However, Expel's problems aren't simply going to go away.

...The Ten Wise Men may be gone, but the frighteningly large tower they left in their wake still stands there; whether it will cause further trouble no one knows. As you'll recall, shortly after the Sorcery Globe landed, strange stones were found scattered across the three continents; some large and powerful enough to even distort the minds of intelligent life. In some remote areas, strange behavior has been seen that is reminiscent of those disruptions, even though not all of it is violent.

Last but not by far the least complicating, there are the matters of the Earth Federation. Claude's father, Captain Ronixis, purposely made his report on Expel brief and vague at Claude's request, in an effort to protect his friends on the unmolested and green planet of Expel. The computer's records turned out to be cryptic and intangible anyway, especially due to the time warp the ship was thrust through, so the events that occured on Nede and Expel were not difficult to keep more or less a secret. However, there were more than a few people on board the Calnus, and a few isolated rumors are managing to spark the curiousity, and maybe even ambition, of a few individual explorers....

Currently on Expel, Lacour is once again holding its traditional annual Tournament of Arms. Travellers have come from far and wide compete, and some have even come thus far to watch. However, this time the tournament itself is going to be interrupted before it has hardly begun. A strange is briefly seen being emitted in the direction of the Hoffman Ruins, bright enough to be seen from Lacour... Who at the tournament will be willing to investigate the cause?

Matters aren't quite as simple as Claude and Rena had hoped since Expel was saved from destruction. In fact, more questions have arisen in the past six years than Expel ever had before the Nedian Conflict. Was it perhaps no accident that Expel was used as a key factor for both sides of the war between Energy Nede and the Ten Wise Men? Soon, very soon, someone is going to set out to discover why.

This Star Ocean story will be all about origins. Expel may be a relatively small world, but it is also a very unique one, of much more importance than merely the leading characters from it whom you've already met. New races will be introduced, the history of old civilizations explored, and new civilizations discovered. The races of Expel will encounter unexpected details about their pasts, and in the process even characters from other worlds will find out more about themselves.

As you may have noticed, I'm hesitant to reveal too many details about the direction(s) the plot may take, since at the beginning of the story your characters won't have the faintest clue either, and the surprise itself is at least half the fun! ^_^ Hopefully this quick glimpse will give a rough idea of the story elements the game will start off with, and from there everything will be taken to new levels.

There are a few general things I'm looking for in the way of character and race types which will allow them to fill certain spots later in the game. So, if your character works perfectly for something, I may ask you to wait a little while before making an entrance. I also need one more villian somewhere in the mix, and don't be fooled into thinking I'm expecting a "Ten Wise Guys" archetype. ^_~

Lastly, I'd like to address the PSX game's 80+ endings. o_o If you've played through a good number of them, you'll know that most of them deal with the characters relationships with eachother. A few of the outcomes are pretty much a necessity (to be fair, how could we ever say that Claude and Rena didn't pair up?), and some of them open up new story possibilities (you'll notice I used one with Rena and Celine making new Heraldic Crests ^_^ ), but most of the others are a moot point until/unless said characters make an appearance. Anyway, I'm going to leave parts of this open to suggestions since they affect character submissions the most. And in my book, it's perfectly alright to make up endings that didn't really "happen" in Star Ocean 2. ;D When new important facts are set in stone, I'll list them in a seperate "backstory" section.

So, in the end, don't just submit a character you think I'm mostly likely to pick for a certain purpose - choose the idea you'd like to play out the most, and go for broke! Have fun, and submit your character with a light mind and heart, and a sense of humor. :)