TRP is a post-Great War RWBY AU RP set in Mistral City and Haven Academy with no canons, no rank claims, no maidens, and no god interference. We offer a progression system and site-wide events that change the setting based on player actions.
In the year 2012, a mysterious illness began to sweep the globe. Its spread was instantaneous. Within a matter of days, victims all around the world began to show the symptoms: high fever, delirium, and sporadic comas. However, the illness was too rare to be considered an epidemic. Fewer than one in a million people were affected, spread thinly across the Earth.
Only the largest cities saw more than a dozen people affected. With so few cases and no clear pathogen, the illness would have been unremarkable if not for a few unique properties. First, the subjects were all young, either teenage or at most a couple of years older. Second, over half the subjects died of sudden neurological failure that didn't seem to be attributable to the illness's other symptoms.
Finally, all of the survivors, within days or weeks of recovering, suddenly began to display immense supernatural powers. These powers were of such incredible scope, and displayed such flagrant disregard for the laws of physics, that they could only be called magic. Society has remained largely ignorant of these rare manifestations, preferring to rationalize away the more blatant displays as hoaxes and accidents. Magic-users have begun to discover each other and form their own underground society, however, and they refer to each other as "mages."
Since 2012, the mage-creating illness has continued to strike at random, even affecting people isolated from the rest of society. The rate has decreased somewhat over the years, but a new mage is still created every few days. Furthermore, mages have investigated into the past and discovered that a few rare people began displaying magic powers even before 2012. Some of these "archmages" are incredibly powerful, having had many years to explore and hone their abilities.
In 2017, a mage used his power to open a portal to a parallel universe. This universe bore an extremely close resemblence to the historical world of 1447. However, just as in the modern day, this renaissance universe had experienced the widespread emergence of magic five years earlier (in 1442). The rise of mages had already begun to cause the timeline to diverge from the one that those in the modern day would find familiar.
After using his portals to connect the two universes, the mage connected them both to a third universe. This one resembled the far, far future, after the heat death of the universe. Through the use of magic powers, an academy was constructed there to act as a gathering place and neutral ground for mages from other universes.
The Academy is open to all mages who wish to use it, whether as a part-time student or as a full-time resident. Given the young age of most mages, it's designed to serve some educational functions. A mage's powers are innate and unique, so mages can't really teach each other how to use magic, but there are some mundane lessons that mages find especially important. Classes on how to get by in other universes are in high demand, as are lessons on self-defense. The Academy also functions as a research institution, searching for the basis of how magic powers work and why they recently became so much more common.
This research seems to be the true motivation behind the Academy's founding. Students are encouraged to go out into other universes and try to change the world. They are especially encouraged to fight with other students and pit their powers against each other. Magic is so overwhelmingly powerful that mundane people are no obstacle. It is only in contests against other mages that one's powers are pushed to their limit.
The one who opened the Academy's portals, an enigmatic mage known only as the Headmaster, is rarely seen. He spends most of his time hopping from universe to universe, perhaps seeking other universes with humans and magic. His ultimate plans are unknown, but whispered rumors suggest that he built the Academy in order to gather support against an unimaginably powerful threat lurking somewhere among the infinite universes...
The following are the rules of the Academy as presented to the students. Since the Academy's staff are powerful mages in their own right, these rules are quite important even for students capable of defying all mundane authority. However, the staff intentionally fosters an attitude of "it's only breaking the rules if you're dumb enough to get caught." Even then, the staff are likely to turn a blind eye to any rule-breaking that results in a good combat training opportunity.
The regular text next to each number is the rule itself. The italic text below describes how the rule is commonly interpreted and how seriously it's enforced.
1. Killing other students is prohibited.
The fact that this rule even needs to be stated provides a taste of what Academy life is like. However, the staff does take this rule seriously. The prevalence of students with healing powers means that grievous injuries can be easily treated, but a student who consistently fights to kill will be dealt with by very strict measures up to and including brainwashing.
2. Do not prevent other students from utilizing the Academy's facilities.
The different sections of the Academy seem to be under the effect of a space-warping magic that makes it so that powers with huge areas of effect don't actually spill over into other wings. A careless student can still easily damage facilities or disrupt classes in progress, though. The punishment for breaking this rule is that the students and staff whose activities were disrupted are fully justified in retaliating in kind.
3. Do not enter the Academy's restricted areas.
No complete map of the Academy exists, and the restricted sections seem to extend forever. Supply rooms contain artifacts created by item-focused mages along with what seem to be pieces of technology from more advanced universes. Some of these items are dangerous on their own, but the real threat is the risk of being caught and ambushed by the staff.
4. Non-mages should be removed from the Academy grounds whenever found.
The Academy is not overly concerned about being discovered by mundane people, since the stronger powers are more than capable of singlehandedly taking on an entire civilization. However, the Academy's stated purpose is to serve mages. Any pets, friends, and magic-created constructs are fair game to be attacked at any time.
5. Students must abide by the Academy's curfew.
Or, more precisely, they must either remain in the dormitories or go home to their own universe from 10:00pm to 6:00am. This rule fosters an atmosphere of paranoia that leads to students attacking first and asking questions later whenever they encounter each other after dark, which serves nicely to train students' sneaking and ambushing skills.
6. Respect faculty at all times.
This is a catchall rule that serves to allow the Academy staff to do as they please. It's common for any perceived disrespect to result in impromptu combat training against the staff member in question. That said, staff members aren't necessarily any stronger than their students, so abusing this rule can easily backfire.
7. If the Academy calls for aid, then all students must respond immediately, even if it would require breaking the other rules.
The final rule is one that hasn't ever been invoked in the Academy's history. Even the majority of the staff don't seem to know what it's for. Considering the immense power mages possess, it's hard to imagine anything that could truly threaten such a large community of them. It remains to be seen just what this rule entails.
This thread is used to keep track of any significant differences between each universe and the equivalent period in our history. If your character's backstory includes something minor turning out differently than it did in our universe, then that difference will be listed here so that other players can know not to contradict your backstory. Major differences caused by incursions are also tracked here, so that new players and players who don't read every incursion can know what's happening elsewhere on the site. Finally, when creating a new universe, you can specify any type of divergence you want, no matter how large it is.
The Information Age: 2018 CE
The scientific community has proven that magic exists, but this information is kept suppressed so as to avoid panicking the public. Mage activity has generally resulted in society being a bit less orderly and harmonious, and efforts to conceal magic from the public are slipping.
The Early Renaissance: 1448 CE
Some small cities have been taken over by mages - most of these mages are not affiliated with or aware of the Academy. The rise of genuine magic has caused superstition and fear of the unknown to skyrocket, prompting social developments resembling the Spanish Inquisition to kick off a couple of decades early.