Draco Malfoy
-REaction
Animorphs: The Parallel
My name’s Andrew Kennedy, and up until now, I believed that life outside Earth was impossible. It was just like how I used to believe to Santa Claus, really. When did I stop believing in Santa Claus, you ask? If you were to ask me when I stopped believing that the old man wearing the red costume was Santa, then I can confidently say: I have never believed in Santa, ever.
I knew that the Santa who appeared at my preschool Christmas party was a fraud, and now that I think about it, every one of my classmates shared the same look of disbelief watching our teacher pretend to be Santa. I mean, an overweight man working only on Christmas Eve? Most houses don’t even have chimneys anyway. So it’s safe to say that I was never one of those kids who stubbornly believed in the existence of a tubby man decked in red whose sole purpose of existence was to deliver presents to the “good”.
Wait, now you’re saying “get to the point” and “what does Santa have to do with life outside Earth”? Well, although many people would disagree, it’s safe to say that most people believe “aliens”, if they even exist, look like something from a cheap 50s horror film. Either that or cute lil’ E.T. But would you believe me if I tell you that life outside Earth actually does exist, and the first alien I ever met was something of a blue, mouth-less, four-eyed centaur with a scythe-like tail?
Crazy, right? I’m afraid that I’m telling the truth though. Hate to break it to you but aliens do exist and those blue centaurs are real – they’re called Andalites. Andalites, according to Elfangor (he’s the first alien I ever met) are all over the galaxy. They already built starships that can travel faster than the speed of light, they already have access to Zero-Space (an entirely blank, void, white space where real-space limitations on faster-than-light travel do not exist), and have built half the normal Sci-Fi crap you’d find in Star Trek or Ender’s Game like laser shooters.
But the true pinnacle of Andalite technology is the Escafil device. It’s a blue cube that bestows the ability to morph to anyone who touches it. That seemingly normal cube gives the ability to “acquire” a copy of DNA patterns from any animal or human that physical contact is made with, allowing the user to transform into that animal through morphing.
The number of D.N.A. a user could acquire and carry was limitless. Also, because DNA is isolated and encapsulated coding for the genetic make up of a specific living form, it is unaffected by any injury. Hence, any injury sustained while either in morph or in natural form will be instantly cured by morphing to another form. The DNA of the animal whose form sustained the injury is, of course, unaffected, effectively replenishing that form. For example, if injured while in morph, one can demorph and be healthy, and remorph back to the animal form without any injury; likewise you can acquire the DNA of an injured animal and turn into a healthy animal.
Of course, they are some limitations to even the morphing technology. For example, there is a 2-hour time-limit for staying in morphed form, and if a person stays morphed longer than that, they are forever trapped in that form. The Andalite term for one trapped in morph is nothlit. The Escafil device can only be used once by each being. Once a being becomes a nothlit, they cannot regain the ability to morph. Also, it is impossible to integrate clothing in morphing and all clothing except very small amounts of skintight clothing such as leotards or similarly tight items are ripped away and/or left behind during the morphing.
When an animal is ‘acquired’ so the morpher can use its DNA, it becomes docile, similar to being tranquilized. This effect lasts for mere seconds after the acquiring is completed, so for it to be advantageous, it would have to be used quite carefully. Rarely, the acquiring process has no effect whatsoever, and the animal is not affected. This is very uncommon, however, and not usually an issue. More than one person can acquire an animal at the same time. There is no known limit as to how many morphs one can possess, though one would assume by means of its storage that the number would be quite high. The DNA is stored inside the body within a small, molecular sphere, supercooled to subzero temperatures, lying dormant until called upon for a morph. Therefore, the body would be capable of holding much more than would ever be conceivably necessary to a morpher. As a final note, a particularly useful aspect of morphing is the Frolis Maneuver, in which one combines the DNA of several samples from the same species, to create a new being for a morph. This could be used, for example, to avoid having an exact duplicate of a human when in morph, should one be morphing a human.
To begin the process of morphing, one with the morphing abilities must meditatively visualize an animal whose DNA they have previously acquired. Morphing is a visually disturbing but ultimately painless process that takes about two minutes to complete, but can be sped up through practice and experience. It also produces fatigue in the morpher, but this, too, can be lessened with practice. The process of morphing is very erratic; there is no definitive order of transformation, meaning any part of the body could be the first to transform and any combination of the remaining body parts could follow. Only certain beings are blessed with the innate ability to control the process. Such a being is known in an estreen.
After morphing, the being is able to communicate in thought-speak. He or she still has their own mind, but also has the animal’s instincts. When morphing to animals with particularly strong instincts, one may struggle to reassert their consciousness. Examples of animals with particularly strong instincts include honeybees and their hive-like tendencies, bulls and their aggressive herd mentality, and Taxxons and their unrestrained hunger. More intelligent and/or docile animals such as chimpanzees and orang-utans have little to no raw instinct to overcome.
Because most animal brains are not powerful enough to accommodate human thought, the morpher’s “consciousness” along with their body mass is pushed into Zero-space (the nothingness where “excess” material is stored, and where raw matter is made and found for morphs bigger than the morph in size) but retains a mental link with their new body.
For example, if you morph a honeybee, it wouldn’t be like there is a personality and consciousness of a bee trying to wrestle control away from you. You would be the only “mind” and consciousness in that bee body. But the instincts that are built into the bee brain such as the need to “return to the hive or find one” and the need to busily collect honey and do nothing else will plague you for the first moments in that morph, but with practice, willpower, and expertise, you can easily overcome these instincts and assert your absolute control.
A lot of information to process in one minute, right? You think I’m crazy, don’t you? But see, I’m not. All that stuff about Andalites and morphing: it’s all true. But “why mention morphing”, you ask? Surely the Andalites are no threat to our planet! Well, the Andalites have no intention to invade and enslave us, thankfully. But, see, there are other alien lifeforms outside our blue planet. And those guys aren’t as “understanding”. They’re called Yeerks.
A Yeerk resembles a small, grey-green slug about six inches long. Yeerks in their natural state have decent senses of smell and touch, but they are blind until they enter a host, as they do not have eyes. They possess palps, which are antennae-like protrusions, as well as osmosis nodes, or small organs that process nutrients in the Yeerks’ native pools. Yeerks, like many species of slug and worm, have no circulatory system. They are sapient and mentally like humans, and can communicate in their natural state using a language of ultrasonic squeaks. They can use sonar to get a basic picture of the surroundings.
But still, you claim that they are no danger to us. After all, they’re just slugs! Wrong again. See, Yeerks are no ordinary slugs: they are parasites. They are parasites that take over the body of another being by way of infestation through the ear canal.
The process of infestation by a Yeerk is not totally painless, but it does not hurt as much as it seems like it should: a numbing chemical is secreted to anesthetize and dilate the ear canal itself so that the slug-like Yeerk will not cause any physical harm to the host. It is able to manipulate and puncture a variety of alien ear canal structures including bone and membrane to reach the brain, although Elfangor, the Andalite I mentioned earlier, didn’t give me the details.
After the process of infestation, the Yeerk flattens itself into hammered-out gum and sinks into all of the cracks and crevices of the brain. From there, all control is submitted involuntarily to the Yeerk. The host may fight to regain control but he will very rarely win. No secrets, no privacy. The host has no control over itself anymore. The Yeerk can even play memories of its former host. Although control can be returned to the host by the Yeerk this does not occur often as most Yeerks prefer their parasitic relationship to a symbiotic one.
The Yeerk parasites cannot stay within their host for more than 3 Earth days. After this period of time, they need to bathe in a Yeerk pool and absorb Kandrona rays, the rays of the Yeerk home sun. Without these rays, a Yeerk eventually starves. However, there is a way for Yeerks to survive without Kandrona rays: to eat other Yeerks. But doesn’t usually happen, as far as I know.
But this is the first part about the Yeerks. See, once infested, a Yeerk controls all aspect of his/her host and the host’s brain. They control them utterly, and due to their all-access, can successfully masquerade as the host without anyone noticing anything different. Yeerks are able to pass so flawlessly as their host, now called a Controller, that nobody else suspects that there is, in fact, a secret invasion of their planet. Another result of this is that hosts and Yeerks can sense each others’ thoughts and feelings, usually to an extent that it is a mental connection.
I don’t know what happened to the Yeerks. Once upon time, they had a near symbiotic relationship with the Gedds (one-legged monkeys from their home planet) and they led a reasonably peaceful existence. But many centuries after, Yeerks have evolved into a ruthless militaristic society that invade and infest many planets and sapient species.
So far, Yeerks have enslaved about 18 different kinds of alien species, completely or partially, including Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, Gedds, Nahara, Leerans, Sstram, Mak, and Garatrons. Although they never managed to enslave the Andalites, they even managed to take over War Prince Alloran turning him into Visser Three. And now, they have started their invasion of the humans.
Yep, us. Our planet is under a silent invasion by a bunch of brain-controlling, parasitic, alien slugs, and no one even knows that this invasion is well under-way.
Yeerks specialise in silent invasions. They have similar methods to modern day Scientology – they try to silently assimilate in the mainstream conscious, and slowly infest all sapient creatures on the planet until enough are under control to launch an all out war against the planet, and win. Now, these slugs are on our planet. And you can’t tell who’s a Controller, who’s not.
We’re under attack, and no one knows it’s happening.
The Yeerks have set-up many front organisations that they’ve used to lure in humans and infest them but their most prominent one has to be the Sharing, a seemingly-harmless and friendly non-government charity-organisation which distinctly resembled Girls scouts. Many ordinary people were gravitated to the Sharing due to this reason, and now, 1 in 5 people on Earth are a Yeerk host, and no one was even aware an invasion was well under way.
Yeerks reproduce through fusion. Three parent Yeerks merge into a single organism, which then breaks apart into hundreds of separate grubs, destroying the parents in the process. Yeerks do not have different genders; presumably any three random Yeerks can reproduce. Nevertheless the Yeerks are usually gender pronouns (he/she) based on their host's gender or the Yeerk’s masculine/feminine personality.
Also, Yeerk’s based their hierarchy and society on human ones of the past. They fashioned theirs to be militaristic. Yeerk birth names end in numbers, which designate which number grub they are (i.e. Fidriss 342 is the three hundred forty second grub to emerge from the Fidriss tri-parent). In the case of twins, both are given the same number, which ends in a double number---for example, Visser Five is “Kadroen 725 primary," and his brother is “Kadroen 725 secondary.” The primary twin is considered to be superior to the other.
In the Yeerk military each of them is ranked one after the other, and is referred to by title and number. This is their official title, and by most Yeerks will be addressed as thus. The lowest rank, civilans who aren’t important, apparently does not earn the person an official title. For example, Fidriss 342’s official title and what most people call him is Fidriss 194 as he is better at his job than a Yeerk with the rank Fidriss 163 or Kadroen 229. No tri-parent family is above a rank than another so Fidriss 52 is revered and respected as much as Temran 52.
The next rank up is “Sub-Visser”, which is equivalent to a lieutenant or some such officer rank. There are 53 Sub-Vissers and the lower your number is the better. (i.e. Sub-Visser 62 is a higher rank than Sub-Visser 94). For example, Sub-Visser 49’s “name” is still Temran 149, while Sub-Visser 49 is his rank.
After being promoted above Sub-Visser level, Yeerks may become one of 47 Vissers, which are equivalent to generals. Vissers were of the numbers from 1 to 47 and Sub-Vissers from 48 to 100. Once again, Visser One is the highest rank, higher than Visser 47, the lowest of the Vissers. Visser 47 is a higher rank than Sub-Visser 48, the highest ranked of the Sub-Vissers, who in turn is higher ranked than Sub-Visser 100, the lowest ranked of the Sub-Vissers.
The head of the Yeerks is the Council of Thirteen, containing thirteen members, the leader of which is the enigmatic Yeerk Chancellor. The Council of Thirteen leaves the military duties to the Vissers, and Vissers One to Ten must report to the Council at a summit once every month, at a different location everytime. The Council of Thirteen is elusive and no one truly knows where they are.
The type of host a Yeerk gets depends on his/her rank. The higher up you are the better type of host you get. Gedds and Taxxons (crazy cannibal insectile aliens) are on the bottom of the flank, and adult humans and Andalites are on the top.
Apart from the Yeerks’ Kandrona weakness though, Yeerks had no weakness that us humans could exploit to resist their slimy invasion. Hell, no body even knows we’re under invasion. The Andalites were trying hard, I guess, to defeat the Yeerks, but they had their own problems. We couldn’t rely on the blue centaurs to save us from brain-infesting slugs. We had to fight back on our own.
This is where Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul comes back into the picture. He was a gallant Andalite War Prince (a general by our standards) and was trying to save Earth. But remember how I mentioned the Yeerks have had manged to infest one (and only one) Andalite named Alloran? Well, Visser Three, his Yeerk, was the reason to Elfangor’s demise. In a space battle between Elfangor and Visser Three, Elfangor’s fighter ship is damaged and it crash-lands onto Earth, greatly injuring Elfangor.
Elfangor, knowing that it only a matter of time before the invasion was complete, gives five
He crash-landed in an abandoned construction site in my home city and in front of him were six 13 to 14 year olds, three boys and three girls, standing in front of him. The me and my five friends were walking through the construction site as a short-cut on their way home from school when we discovered a dying Elfangor. That event changed my life forever. He told us about the Yeerks, the invasion, and Visser Three, and knowing that it only a matter of time before the invasion was complete, gave the six of us the power to morph using the Escafil device.
Now, as the six Animorphs, as we name ourselves, we try out different morphs, and learn more and more about the Yeerks, and how we may be able to defeat them. My friends and I are Earth’s only resistance. Only we can stop them. We can’t rely on the Andalites, we have to fight for ourselves.
As Earth’s last resistance, we the Animorphs now must face the mighty Yeerk Empire, and try to save ourselves, our families, and our planet before it’s too late… This is the story of the Animorphs, and it began in a construction site…
You will play one of the six Animorphs. Whether you are a girl, boy, gungho for the guerrilla warfare, a pacifist, or whatever your wind blows is up to you. This RPG is VERY open-ended and there is no “pre-destined” ending. This is a pretty freeform story as long as you stay within the following guidelines and bear in mind that what ever you do with your character, this is a war, however silent it may be, and all issues pertaining to warfare such as “impersonal” and “necessary” killings, collateral damage, and sacrifices for the greater good apply. Also remember your character is only 13-14! Kids of that age have their own problems to deal with, even without a war against parasitic alien slugs to deal with! The objective of the game is to have your character survive this war against the Yeerks until at least one side wins. Whatever you do with your character in terms of whether you want to fight or not is up to you. But remember, only the six of you have the ability to fight these Yeerks, only you know about them, and therefore some sort of responsibility comes with it.
The RPG starts when the six characters are walking through the construction site together to get home quicker and they meet a dying Elfangor. Each of the six MUST have some sort of relationship (whether it’s family, friend, neighbour, crush, “frenemy”, rival, ex-boyfriend, that’s up to you. Just keep in mind to keep the various characters in-character!) with at least one other APPROVED Animorph so it provides a reason why they are walking through the construction site together.
Also, we need one “Jake” character (unofficial leader of the Animorphs) and one “Cassie” character (the moral compass who has a barn). Since I’m taking the “Jake” character, we need at least one of the three girls to be like Cassie in that she has a barn and she has strong morals. The other four characters can be anything you guys want as long as they’re 100% human through and through.
This RPG is set in the same time period and same city the books and set in. Some of the same canon characters (such as the Ellimist, the Chee, Tobias, Ax, Visser Three and Melissa Chapman) do exist in this world and WILL appear in the RPG. Just thing this RPG as a parallel world to the world in the books except Jake, Cassie, Rachel and Marco didn’t choose to go into the construction site so instead, six other kids in their grade did it instead.
You can do lists of current available morphs and such in the Café thread which I’ll make later.
And that’s how it all begins. This RPG, like I said, is ultra freeform so be free to do whatever you want as long as it’s within guidelines.
Here are some things that you will have to know though.
Yeerk Technology:
+ Dracon beams - handheld or cannon weapons that emit a painful red beam of energy. Powered by energy cells, Dracon beams have ten settings, the most powerful of which can punch a hole straight through ten feet of solid titanium. They are modified from Andalite shredders by combining them with Onganchic particle technology to make it more painful.
+ Yeerk hand-held computers - small green squares with a holographic, translucent screen.
+ Hunter-killer robots - medium-sized spheres with a single lens that senses movement as a threat and fires a killing Dracon beam at the target.
+ Killing Cylinder - An assassination device concealed within a small metal cylinder; when pressed to the back of a host's neck, it kills both Yeerk and host instantly.
+ Genetic scanner - small hand-held device that scans the target for genetic makeup. It does not harm the target. It was probably modified from Andalite technology.
+ Zero-space engines - allow a ship to jump from real space to zero-space, taking advantage of the curvature of space to travel great distances much more quickly. It was blatantly stolen from Andalites.
+ Anti-morphing ray - a machine that forces a creature to revert its DNA pattern from a morph to that of its natural cells. Only a prototype was constructed; however, while it might have worked, the Animorphs tricked Visser Three into thinking it didn't, and subsequently the project was abandoned, its creators put to death.
+ Yeerk torture device - one of presumably many, it consists of three buttons that focus on a box where the target lies. The Yeerks rely on their knowledge of all things neural to force the target to feel extreme pain, extreme happiness, or both at the same time.
+ Bug fighters - basic maximum-of-three-person fighters that resemble a black, oval-shaped beetle or other insect, with two eye-like windows and two serrated spears jutting out from its front end (the Dracon cannon). The interior is large enough for three crew members of various species to walk around in, with a weapons station and navigational controls (the latter often handled by a Taxxon). It is modified from Andalite tail-fighters, and inspired by the Hork-Bajir homeworld, where the Bug fighters were first built.
+ Blade Ships - resemble a black medieval battle-axe, with two broad axe-like wings and a long "handle" with a diamond-shaped bridge on the end. It is typically assigned to Vissers.
+ Pool Ships - huge, round, bloated, black ships with three spider-like legs (engines) and a series of thick tentacles hanging from the bottom (sensors and weapons); also known as Motherships.
+ Cruiser-class ships - shaped like a V or a boomerang. These ships fly with the two pronged ends forward, which hold Dracon cannon.
+ Truck Ships - shaped almost like large black metal manta rays. They are used to syphon large quantities of water or other supplies. These were stolen from Andalites.
And a list of sentient alien species (minus the Chee who aren’t “biological” in that sense) that will DEFINITELY appear in the RPG in one form or another:
Andalite: Blue-furred, four-eyed, mouthless centaur-like aliens. They have scythe-like tails and are one of the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy. They are a proud but noble species and Elfangor said an Andalite fleet is coming to help Earth. They have a policy called Seerow’s Kindness meaning they cannot give technology to sapient species that have not developed them yet.
Arn: Avian creatures that created the Hork-Bajir. They were wiped out by the Yeerk after they sabotaged the Yeerks’ attempts to infest them by biologically making all the Arn “un-infestable”.
Chee: The Chee are dog-like androids that have artificial intelligence, created by the Pemalites to reflect their image (and also so the Pemalittes could have a playmate) The Chee are completely incapable of violence or assisting with any activity that would lead to someone’s harm, even in their own self-defense. Due to having been designed for operation on a planet with higher gravity than Earth, the Chee possesses immense strength, speed and durability, capable of withstanding low-energy Dracon beam attacks and operating in the deep ocean. After the destruction of the Pemalites at the hands of the Howlers, the Chee escaped to Earth, and has lived there for thousands of years, using incredibly advanced holographic technology to pass as human. They have extremely long life spans, and are capable of living for millennia. The Chee’s advanced programming enable them to have an online information network more complex and advanced than the Internet, which they call the “Chee-net”, only accessible to the Chee. The Chee cannot be infested by Yeerks as they do not have brain cells.
Gedd: 3-foot tall yellow-eyed monkeys from the Yeerk home world that evolved at the same speed of the Yeerks. The Gedds evolved with one leg significantly shorter than the other, restricting them to an inefficient limp. Compared to humans, they are slow, weak, and nearly blind, but they are capable of accepting a Yeerk, they are numerous enough to be infested (relatively) easily, and offer a young Yeerk the magic of vision. Gedds are considered one of the worst type of hosts available (despite some Yeerk factions believing Gedds and Yeerks are meant for each other) and are only given to civilian-ranked Yeerks in the Yeerk Empire.
Hork-Bajir: The Hork-Bajir are usually about seven feet tall. They are a dark shade of green and have three-toed theropod feet. Their necks are long and they have a mouth that resembles a falcon’s beak with teeth. Their legs are long and their knees bend backwards. They have blades at the wrist, arm, knees, and forehead; plus spikes on the tail. Their horn-like blades vary by gender, males having three and females having two. The Hork-Bajir were taken over completely and utterly by the parasitic Yeerks. Despite their fearsome looks, they are peaceful herbivores that utilize their blades to harvest tree bark. Different blades have specific jobs for cutting bark. Elbow blades for a straight cut, wrist blades for taking strips of bark off, and knee blades for cutting bark close to the ground.
Unlike the traditional idea of aliens, they are not super-advanced; in fact, the average Hork-Bajir intelligence is said to around the level of a four-year-old human, except for Hork-Bajir Seers, though they are still considered sentient. Hork-Bajir Seers are rare, and possess advance intellect that is unlike their species. They usually function as leaders. The Hork Bajir, due to their endurance and their physicality, are considered a better host than the Gedds to the Yeerks, and are given to higher ranking personnel. Many members of the Council of Thirteen, due to tradition, have a Hork-Bajir host.
Howler: Howlers possess cracked black skin that resembles hardened lava; beneath the black, in the cracks and creases of the flesh, are bright, red lines. Humanoid in appearance, their bodies are split in two at the waist, and the two halves tethered together by elastic skin; this bearing allows them to turn their upper body all the way around and keep themselves in the fight permanently, even when thrown away. They have large, expressionless, robin’s-egg-blue eyes that have the ability to make out major organs within their prey. Being the tools of Crayak, this race’s sole purpose is to travel through the universe and destroy peaceful civilizations. Not much is known about them except they kill and kill sentient beings, and were directly responsible for the extinction of the Pemalites.
Iskoort: The Iskoort are made up of two parts - an “Isk” and a “Yoort”. The Isk (slightly shorter than a human, with a roughly triangular head) is the main physical body, and the Yoort is a slug which must leave the Isk every three days to soak up Kandrona rays. Yoort are similar to the Yeerks but are considered an evolution from the parasitic Yeerks. The difference between the Yeerk and the Yoort is that the Yeerk are parasitic, whereas the Yoort and the Isk are mutualistic - one cannot live without the other. The Yoort were originally parasitic, but felt limited by their choices, so they created the Isk to be their host bodies. The Yoort also altered their own bodies so that they could not survive without the Isk. The Iskoort are capitalistic and starkly different to the militaristic Yeerk in that way.
Kelbrid: The bird-like Kelbrid are aggressive yet trustworthy enemies of the Andalites. Their powerful empire borders Andalite space, but neither side is allowed to interact with the territory of the other. Not much is known currently about the Kelbrid except they are on par with the Andalites in terms of technology and space travel. Contrary to popular thought, they are neither allied nor hostile towards the Yeerks. Yeerks are not allowed in Kelbrid space, and distrustful towards the Crayak and Ellimist.
Leeran: The Leerans are a yellow amphibian species with tentacles for arms that resembles a manta ray or frog. They live in the vast oceans on their homeworld, Leera, which has only one small continent of land (originally, Leerans needed to go on land to mate, but technology now makes that unnecessary). Leerans have advanced psychic powers, which makes them very desirable Yeerk hosts. However, their telepathy also makes it impossible for the Yeerks to invade secretly and silently as they have done on Earth.
Pemalite: In appearance, the utterly pacifist Pemalites resemble dogs, though they walk on their hind legs. The Pemalites were originally created by the Ellimist, along with many other species, as his way of spreading life and counteracting the destruction caused by Crayak. The Pemalites were the Ellimist’s most fruitful creations, doing more good than even he was able to do, and seem to have followed his philosophy of kindness better than any other. The Pemalites were destroyed several thousand years earlier. The race was targeted for extermination by the Howlers, almost surely because their master, Crayak, opposed their service to his enemy the Ellimist. Having no weapons, the species was almost completely wiped out. The Pemalites who survived the initial attacks abandoned their planet and, along with the Chee, their creations, went to Earth. However, the Howlers had unleashed a genetic virus along with their attacks, and as a result the few remaining members of the species began to die, and reached Earth barely clinging to life. The Chee managed to save their essence, however, and transferred this into wolves, resulting in the creation of the domesticated dog. Pemalites were renown as being one of the best technologically advanced species in the history of the universe - a single Pemalite crystal, used to program their computers, would be capable of taking control of every computer on Earth.
Skrit Na: The Skrit Na are race that are no moral scruples. They scavenge for profit and also capture specimens from the many planets they visit and either perform strange medical procedures on them or put them in a zoo on their homeworld. They have a life cycle similar to caterpillars and butterflies: they start as Skrit, which are similar to giant insects. The Skrits seem to be relativately unintelligent, and are used to perform simple tasks on the ships. After some time they weave a cocoon. A Na emerges about a year later, which looks like the famous “Grey” aliens reported by alien abductees. Due to their strange life cycle, Skrit Na are considered poor hosts for the Yeerks, so the race was never conquered. Rather, the Yeerks seem to have developed a kind of trading partnership with the Skrit Na, not caring much that the Skrit Na usually steal or abduct their loot.
Taxxon: The Taxxons resemble giant, 10-foot long centipedes, with the forward one-third portion of their body held erect. They move on many rows of needle-like legs and the legs give way to claws not unlike that of a lobster. Taxxons have an insatiable hunger for flesh: when they sense blood, their urge to eat is so strong not even their Yeerk can stop them. They eat anything dead, nearly dead, or for that matter anything that won't kill them while they're eating it. Taxxons are highly cannibalistic, and will quickly turn on each other at the first sign of weakness. When the Yeerk Empire first discovered the Taxxon homeworld, they decided, rather than conquering the planet, to make the Taxxons a simple deal: in exchange for the Taxxons agreeing to become Controllers, the Taxxons would get an endless supply of new, exotic meats. Nearly all the Taxxons readily agreed. Taxxons are not regarded as very good hosts; their extreme hunger makes them nearly uncontrollable, even to the Yeerk inside their head.
Taxxons are soft skinned and aren't very capable in close-quarters combat, since even the smallest injury results in the Taxxon being set upon by fellow Taxxon-Controllers. They are, however, good at flying ships, apparently possessing fast reflexes. They also have a keen sense of smell, have been used as trackers by the Yeerks, and are very fast and agile underwater.
Yeerk: Yeerks are parasitic aliens which resemble earth slugs. They are capable of hijacking minds of sentient creatures, and masquerading as them flawlessly. The Yeerk Empire is ruthless, and have enslaved many species such as the Hork-Bajir, and are currently trying to do the same to Earth. There is a Yeerk Peace Movement consisting of a number of Yeerks that believe involuntary infestation is wrong, and are willing to rebel against the Empire. The Yeerk Empire’s greatest front organisation on Earth is the Sharing.
And finally, you should know that the Ellimist is an almost omnipotent, god-like being. By standard values, the Ellimist is a force of good and his foe, the also almost omnipotent Crayak is a force of evil. They played a chess-like game throughout the universe, with Crayak trying to destroy worlds and the Ellimist trying to save them. When the Ellimist appears to the Animorphs, he tends to take the form of an elderly male humanoid with glowing blue skin, similar to the typical wizard or wiseman archetype; in this form he can communicate normally. The Crayak takes the form of a giant, ominous red eye.
Alos, the Drode is an alien creature, described as being similar to a very dark purple dinosaur with wrinkled, pruny skin, and an oddly humanoid face. Little is known of him, but he serves Crayak, the evil being, and seems, like Crayak, to have certain supernatural powers---presumably lesser than his master, and probably given to him as a gift for service.
The Ellimist, the Drode, and the Crayak WILL be appearing a lot in this RPG (although only later). More information on all three such as their origins, due to plot purposes, will be revealed later in the RPG.
Also, I’d prefer it if in the RPG, you use first-person P.O.V., just like the books. But if you have any problem with this, just holler, and I’ll see what I can do.
The reason why I’m only allowing 13-14 year olds is so it’s similar to the books in terms of the ages. The reason why to this has to do with the Ellimist, the Crayak, the fact that this is a parallel universe to the one in the Animorphs books, and with the plot of this RPG. I’ll reveal that reason when you meet the Ellimist.
Now, the sign-up form.
Name: (First name and Family Name. Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
Gender: (Male or Female. Three boys and three girls are up for grabs)
Age: (13-14)
Description: (Don’t describe their exact clothing. Just the style they tend to wear plus anything they wear ALL THE TIME. Come on, guys, these are real people. They DO change clothes time to time. XP. Five-six lines minimum)
Personality: (How they act towards other people and themselves. I’d like about five lines minimum please.)
History: (The standard stuff. This part really depends on which character you chose. When you describe your character’s relationship (the compulsory one) with another APPROVED Animorph, keep everything in-character, clean, and simple, okay?)
Other: (Anything else?)
And yes, all six Animorphs are attending Sunnydale Middle School, which is the school the Animorphs went to the book (the name of the Middle School/High School was not mentioned in the books so I gave it a name. XP) The city the books in set in is somewhere west near the coast and is implied to be San Francisco, so that’s where in RPG is set. In this parallel world, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel and Tobias either not do exist, are living in a different town, or attending Sunnydale but you don’t know them. So don’t make your character know them in anyway – in fact, don’t mention them EVER in your Sign-Up and during the RPG until they actually appear. And I guarantee at least two out of five human Animorphs WILL appear in this RPG.
Yes, this is the world of Animorphs as portrayed in the series. There will be recurring characters and/or canon ones. Most of them will be for plot purposes, so watch out.
Basic rules:
1) No God-Modding or 'invincible' players.
2) I have the right to expel or refuse anyone who does not meet my standards.
3) You have a right to know why I am expelling/refusing you.
4) I expect you to at least skim each person’s post so you know what is happening. There is nothing more annoying than when someone defeats a certain Controller in their post, and the next person posts saying that their character is fighting the certain Controller. -_-;; So READ!
5) If you are going to swear excessively, post a warning at the top of your post please. I don’t mind swearing if it is appropriate for that situation, but no needless swearing please.
6) No extreme romance, i.e. No sex scenes. I don’t expect any, as obviously it will be kind of hard to find love in these hard times any way but if you are thinking of developing a relationship between two characters, kissing is the maximum you can do.
7) No bunnying, i.e. controlling another RPGer’s character. You can only control another person’s character with their expressed permission VIA PM.
8) Try to post at least once every two days. I don't want this to die as soon as it starts.
9) If your Sign-Up doesn’t meet my standards, I will refuse it. You may edit appropriately and resubmit it but beware, every time I refuse it, you will lose one chance. Each person has three chances. If you lose all your chances, tough luck, you can’t join the RPG.
10) Just to make sure you read the rules, you must type “The Resistance Commences” at the beginning of your Sign-Up.
11) HAVE FUN!
The rules could be edited later.
I am cracking down on grammar, length and depth in this RPG. I will not, I repeat, not accept anyone who I feel cannot uphold to my grammar and RPG’ing standards.
Be warned: when the RPG starts, I will not hesitate to expel any members of the Team who don’t post long replies. No five line additions to the RPG, that’s not a post. Plus, I expect some level of maturity in your posts, and a basic usage of proper, and possibly advanced, English.
Everyone needs to provide a RPG Sample whether they are Signing-Up or making a Reservation. The Sample as to be of the character they're using in this RPG acquiring their first EVER morph. I'm making you do this to make sure you're good enough for this RPG.
Reservations for this RPG will last for 4 days past the date they are given, unless I am PM-ed about special cases, which I am willing to grant. I will only take in six people. One character each; no LSUs. I might allow secondary characters after a point. Might. I do expect high quality - if I am concerned about your ability I will ask for a sample RP.
Let the signups begin.
I’m signing-up as Boy One, as use my character as a reference/starting point in terms of the “compulsory” relationship with at least one approved character, and use my character as a guideline to what I expect in sign-ups. We do need one of the three girls to be a “Cassie” like character, a girl with strong moral values and a barn.
So anyone signing-up as Girl One will have to have moral values and a barn. A relationship that is similar to Jake and Cassie’s in the book series is not necessary between Girl One and the “Jake” Boy One character but encouraged.
Characters:
Girl One:
Girl Two:
Girl Three:
Boy One: Andrew Kennedy (Draco Malfoy) - TAKEN
Boy Two: Calvin Derwent (AmazingChi) - TAKEN
Boy Three:
This rpg will begin after this weekend.
My Sign-Up:
Name: Andrew Kennedy
Gender: Male
Age: 14
Description: Andrew is not your average adolescent, in more ways than one. His height, for one, is average for a fourteen year old and his weight is also average for his age. He has charcoal black hair that stops just below the top of his ears and is straight and silky looking. His eyes are a light hazy colour--the colour is not definite but it sometimes appears to be a hazy blue. He has pale skin that looks soft and supple.
He has lithe limbs and he is very flexible and agile for his age. People say he is rather handsome, in a boyishly cute way, but Andrew doesn’t pay much attention to what he looks like and how others perceive his appearance. He has a slender and swimmer’s build. He wears a middle sleeved dark orange-coloured T-shirt with a zigzagged cobalt stripe in the middle and over it. Over this, he dons a standard sleeveless khaki “army-style” vest. He also wears pair of dark baggy cargo pants. On top of that, he sports white tennis shoes with grey stitching and black laces. There is also a blue tennis wrist band on his right wrist.
Personality: After losing Carol, Jacob Kennedy, Andrew’s father, left Andrew with his sister, Maylene, when he was a toddler so he could focus on the Yeerk front organisation, the Visser Corporation’s “Project Instrumental Cellular Regeneration”, a project heralded to be the key to resurrection. This abandonment has caused Andrew to have little to no self-esteem and to become very reclusive and avoidant of difficult or painful situations, using escape as a shield. Andrew is often seen listening to his i-Pod with headphones, blocking out the world. He is introverted and eschews human contact so that he cannot hurt others, or in turn be hurt by them. He also is shy, thoughtful, and afraid of physical contact, especially from the women around him.
On the one hand, as an Animorph, Andrew is very reluctant to go to war, to cause deaths, and to enter battle or to actively do things; on the other hand, he is given strength by the fact his father is part of a Yeerk-infested Corporation and probably a Controller, and this motivates Andrew to free Jacob from the Yeerks, and possibly gain reconciliation. Andrew himself is unclear why he fights as a Animorph, but eventually he realizes he does it for the approval of others. Andrew says the reason why he fights is because everyone tells him to.
Because only he can do it. Because it has to be done to save humanity. Sure, those are selfless and lofty sentiments, and he claims those reasons to be genuine. But that’s incorrect to say the least - Andrew wants his father to approve of him. To say he was a good boy. It’s rather selfish of him, really, but very human.
Andrew may be seen as suffering from generalized social phobia and developing avoidant personality disorder – he afraid of being judged by others and of potentially being embarrassed or humiliated by his own actions. He is also unable to properly express his feelings. Andrew, for most part, just comes off to other people as being shy, introverted and friendly.
For the most part, Andrew is friendly but also meek and submissive. His lack of “back-bone” as he calls it isn’t self-loathing – Andrew doesn’t hate himself. He’s just very self-doubting and reclusive. Andrew is thoughtful and insightful, being a rather smart and bright person, but his total lack of self-esteem and introverted behaviour counterbalance this good trait.
The strangest thing about Andrew is that although he hates his father for abandoning him yet yearns for his acceptance, and although Andrew tends to shy away from conflict in general, he can find courage when he needs to. Andrew believes in “immediate necessity”, meaning that when he believes something must be done and it is utterly unavoidable, he will do it, and will do it fearlessly. Due to Andrew placing himself lower than most other people, he is also caring towards other’s plights and will put someone else’s life above his own.
But against all odds, Andrew is the staunchest advocate of collateral damage and impersonal murder for the greater good – he believes that it is unavoidable that some must die in a war and it is better for one person to die and one hundred people’s lives are saved. He is practical and analytical when required, but generally comes off as meek, friendly but introvertedly reclusive. If he is certain his way is the only way to do it, he won’t back down.
Due to these facts, Andrew was made unofficial leader of the Animorphs and hosts the votes when the group has to decide on what to do. He personally tries to be unbiased and neutral but his avoidant, self-doubting side often gets to him.
History: Andrew Kennedy was born in San Francisco to a young loving couple. Carol Kennedy, one of three daughters, was an esteemed genealogist, and one of Helix Inc’s leading scientists. Her husband and Andrew’s father, Jacob Kennedy, was her college sweetheart and also a leading genealogist, specialising in the research of D.N.A. Carol and Jacob were working on a special Helix project about Genetic fusion and how two sample genetic codes could be deconstructed and reconfigured into a fusion, and all was well. Until Andrew was four, his life was generally pleasant and normal by society’s standards.
Then Carol was involved in a violent coup which was caused by the Yeerks. Andrew didn’t know that at the time, and the reason to why the Yeerks did this is currently unknown and top secret. This coup led in the destruction of Helix Inc’s Genetic fusion research. The coup led to the death of many Helix scientists, and some even went missing, presumably kidnapped and made into Controllers to be used on Yeerk Blade Ships. Carol was one of the dead, and her death changed Jacob completely and utterly.
After losing Carol, Jacob Kennedy grew obsessed with bringing her back to life and became cold, distant and callous towards Andrew as a consequence. Then Jacob was invited to join Visser Corporation’s “Project Instrumental Cellular Regeneration”, a project heralded to be the key to resurrection. The Visser Corporation was another Yeerk front organisation. Jacob left promptly for Atlanta City, where the Corporation headquarters were, and callously abandoned Andrew, leaving him in the care of his older sister, Maylene Kennedy.
Due to this abandonment, Andrew gains self-doubt and self-esteem issues that still continue into the present day. Maylene helped alleviate some of the outside features of these issues by trying to be a more maternal figure to him.
At Sunnydale Middle School, Andrew met a boy around his age and in his classes, and they became fast friends. Then one day, they were on a bus from school to their home when Andrew notes that getting off early and taking a short-cut through an abandoned construction site would save them a lot of time. So Andrew, his friend, and four others get off and enter the construction site, only to meet a dying Elfangor and to receive his imparting gift…
Other: When he morphs, his morphing clothing is a pair of bike shorts and a tight tee-shirt.
I'll do a list of alien home worlds we'll be travelling to in the Cafe thread because honestly, we won't be travelling outside Earth until we meet the Ellimist, which wouldn't be for some time.
SHOOT AHEAD!
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