Info:

This story takes place in the year 2052, 20 years after the fall of humanity to Them, an undead scourge that took the world by storm. Every government and military force was crippled within a month and for a while, humans were on the brink of extinction. The last humans were saved when a counter force that was effective against the undead, built by the remnants of the Vatican Church were able to take back numerous cities around the globe and establish a foothold and sanctuary for humanity, renamed as Citadels. This force is known as the Crusaders, named after the religious conquerors of medieval times and they use special weapons known as Spirit Arms, that could permanently kill Them. Despite this new advantage, the damage had already been done and with humanity numbering at merely half a million in total remaining, and only a fraction of that number capable of wielding the special weapons, they could not afford any large scale offensives, and thus, they hide within their new walls, rebuilding, and only every once in a while do they organise large scale, coordinated crusades to take back meager amounts of territory.

Important Stuff:

Key Terms:

The Scourge: Yeah, you know where I got the name from. The Scourge is the term used to refer to Them which are basically zombies but they are nigh supernatural as they cannot be killed via conventional weaponry. Destroy the brain? Yeah, that only works in fiction. Them are practically unkillable by anything that is not a Spirit Arm. The only way to kind of kill them otherwise would be to completely destroy their body, and by that I mean the equivalent of reducing them completely to ash. Humans would slow them down in the past by dismembering them but each body part is capable of functioning on its own, your only hope was to remove all its limbs to slow it down enough that you could run away comfortably enough. Usually it would be better to avoid Them completely as they do move quite slowly normally. The Scourge is not limited to humans however, as it comprises of the undead of other species like animals as well, as well as frankenstein mutations that could be anything, for example a patchwork combination of a shark and a lion. Rumor has it that despite the mindlessness of its members, that The Scourge has a hive mind controlled by someone or something.

The Church: The main governing body of most of remaining humanity around the world and the governing body of the Citadels. This faction was formed by the remnants of the Vatican Church after it was overwhelmed and they fled to all corners of the world. They set up secret research bases all over to try and find a way to combat The Scourge, which I suppose does make sense as even the least religious people could describe the state of the world as unholy. They are the ones who managed to combine science and the occult to not only develop walls that could hold The Scourge back but also defenses and weapons that could actually harm them and destroy them. However it did come too late as they were only able to halt humanity's extinction and if humanity were to retake the world, it would likely be an effort that spanned centuries. The Church's rule is a bizarre merge between modern society and that of the middle ages. It is rather oppressive and martial law is almost always in effect. It is not as bad as say Hitler's regime as citizens are still afforded their freedom for the most part but propaganda is in full effect and education is largely dictated to cater to the needs of each Citadel and children have their careers decided for them via assessments in school. Anyone found with an aptitude for using Spirit Arms are automatically conscripted to be a Crusader. The new society is also rather regressive and conservative due to the Church's policies, being quite unkind to minorities, not so much to do with race, and more so to the LBGTQ community due to the Church heavily encouraging procreativity to increase the population despite the population to area ratio becoming exceedingly dense, especially in the slums.

Templars: Effectively the military police that polices the Citadels. They are similar to the SS under Hitler, and while they are technically supposed to keep the peace, their unspoken true function is to eliminate political enemies of the Church. They are called Whitecloaks by the people due to their white uniforms and are generally viewed as terror figures by most citizens, although the upper class citizens might view them in a different light. Despite having a mostly religious government, corruption and bureaucracy is quite rampant and as such, Whitecloaks are generally much kinder to those who can afford to pay them off. They use mostly anti-human weapons and are the closest thing to a conventional modern military force or police force, with equipment like tactical vests, firearms or armored vehicles.

Crusaders: These are effectively the main military force of the Church and humanity. Each Crusader is a special human with an aptitude and compatibility for using the special weapons known as Spirit Arms. Crusaders are all conscripts and as such, their attitudes can range from reluctant but acceptant, completely unwilling and would jump at any opportunity to get out or completely willing or honored to fight for humanity. Crusaders are further genetically enhanced upon conscription to make their physical abilities superhuman to allow them to better cope with using Spirit Arms. They are the vanguard of humanity and are solely responsible for any matters relating to the Scourge. While they ultimately answer to the Church, they are largely autonomous and generally exist in a sphere separate from the rest of the Citadel and as such, the Templars almost never interfere with a Crusader, unless specifically directed by the Church. They are the only ones able to effectively combat Them and because of that, they enjoy a level of prestige but they are forbidden from interfering with internal affairs. Currently, there are barely a thousand Crusaders across the globe, and the Tokyo Citadel, where the main body of the story takes place, only has about 43 full fledged Crusaders with a few new trainees. A Crusader's overall power is dependant on how well they synchronize with their Spirit. For example, if the interest of the Crusader conflicts with that of the Spirit or they do not understand each other well or the spirit refuses to provide much of its power, the Crusader will overall be less effective. However, the more in tune they are, meaning they start feeling the same things, have the same goals, basically what you would call being unison with one another, they would be extremely strong regardless on the quality of the Spirit. However, the more a Crusader syncs with the Spirit, the easier it will be for them to possess the Crusader completely of they so wished.

Spirit Arms: Spirit Arms are special weapons that can take on any form, from swords to axes, to bows or even guns. They are weapons inhibited by the soul of someone who existed in history who enchants the weapons with their astral energy which is what allows them to actually harm Them. It's quite similar to the Owari no Seraph system, and it's basically a form of possession. Once a Crusader has bonded with a Spirit Arm, the weapon and spirit becomes a part of them, and can be dematerialized and materialized at will. The spirits that inhabit the weapons and the Crusader can communicate telepathically with their host or rather, they are already inside them. Using a Spirit Arms burns through a Crusader's stamina in exchange for its destructive power and even with the enhancements, extended use will completely wear the Crusader out and if they push too much, may lead to permanent damage or even the spirit taking full control of the body. Spirit Arms also have an ultimate of sorts, called a Sacred Art. It's basically the full power of the Spirit Arm being unleashed in a burst and can be either a sustained form or a burst attack. A sustained form would be for example completely buffing the user's parameters by a lot for a short duration or enveloping the weapon in like fire or something. A burst attack would just be a big, explosive attack. Sacred Arts burn through energy like no tomorrow and are generally used as finishers and they cannot be used in quick succession. The exact limit per day can be increased the stronger one gets but the highest limit in existence in thrice a day. Final note, the core of the weapon before a spirit has been summoned into it and it bonds with a Crusader is called a Frame. A Frame takes on a weaponized form after a Spirit has been summoned into it and asserts their properties onto it.

I'm accepting OCs in 3 different categories and also a key thing to note is that some OCs might get more screen time and focus than others because I just can't do ensemble casts. So honestly speaking, if you write a character specifically designed to be a side character and fills that role well, they might actually get better arcs than a poorly designed main cast intended character. I will try my best to give every character an arc of their own, but I can only do that if I have something interesting to work with.

The three categories are the following:

Disciples: Disciples are Crusader Trainees and are all conscripted at around the age of 14/15. I'm looking at anywhere between that age and about 18 which is the average age of graduation, though the graduation to procedure to full fledged Crusader is not actually determined by year. Also, Disciple intake comes in batches of Spirit Arm production, so recruits are conscripted when there are enough weapons to arm a batch. More on that during the story. I'm accepting a maximum of 5 of these and just to clarify, being a disciple does not mean they are a main character. They can come from any background but please keep it realistic, I'm trying to avoid "Chosen One" shenanigans.

Supporting: These characters are essentially anyone not a Disciple or a Crusader. They could be literally anyone, from an idealistic and naive rookie Templar who joined genuinely thinking they'd be helping people or even a waitress at a restaurant that Crusaders frequent. As long as there's enough pretext for them to be interacting with the main characters. Think of them as along the lines of the confidants in the Persona games.

Spirits: I'm only accepting 4 of these, and these are special characters. You can use historical figures or pseudo-legendary figures like Joan of Arc, Nikola Tesla or even Cu Chulainn as templates for your character. These are basically people who existed in our history whose souls have been summoned into weapons to become Spirit Arms. Each of these spirits have their own goals for agreeing to the summons, and each have their own motivations. Some may be purely virtuous and simply wish to aid in humanity's time of need or others might wish to completely take over their host to get a new chance at life. These spirits are just as much characters as anyone else. The weapons that they possess will take on their properties, for example their shape or colour might change to the spirit's own aesthetic.

Form:

Stage I – Basics

Full Name:

Nicknames/Aliases:

Age:

Occupation

Religion:

Nationality:

Sexuality:

Stage II - Appearance (For Spirits, this is their Spirit form, like how they would appear to their hosts)

Height:

Weight:

Ethnicity:

Skin color:

Eyes (Shape and Colour):

Hair (Style and Colour):

Body type:

Seiyuu and Speech Patterns: (Give me a seiyuu that you would like to voice your OC, please keep it to Japanese seiyuus to keep it consistent. Also describe your OC's speech patterns and how they speak.)

Clothes (Daily Outfit: You can include an outfit for each season if you wish, I'm only mandating a winter outfit):

Clothes (Work Outfit):

Crusader Outfit (If a Crusader):

Sleepwear:

Winter clothing:

Special (Accessories etc):

Stage III - Background

History: (100 Words)

Close Relationships: (Include any significant relationships that your OC has, be it family or special friends)

Stage IV - Personal information

Personality: (100 words minimum)

Any unusual/bad habits?:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Theme song: (Optional)

Quotes: (Give me a feel for how your OC talks)

Fears:

Secrets:

Stage V - Combat

Preferred Weapon Type (Shields are included for tanking purposes btw):

Fighting style (For Spirits, explain how their weapon form works):

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Stage VII - Only for Spirits

Weapon Form (Design):

Reason for agreeing to be summoned:

Ranged/Melee/Support/Tank:

Skills/Functions: (Any special attributes or attacks they have that sets them apart from other weapons?)

Sacred Art Type: (There's sustained, burst or hybrid. Sustained and Burst were explained in the info, hybrid is a mix of both, for example a sword wrapped in flame that can shoot fire bolts. This is just the general principle. Also, hybrids have more versatility but are less specialized and less effective at performing the roles of either sustained or burst The example I gave was just a basic principle, and Sacred Arts are generally far more potent.)

Sacred Art: (Now properly explain the details of what your OC's Sacred Art is and does)

Stage VII - Views on external factors

Reaction to death?:

Reaction to The Scourge?:

Behavior with peers:

Any special requirements?:

Behavior with love interests?:

Any romantic preferences?:

Prologue:

The air reeked of cigar smoke as Shinku struggled to keep himself from wrinkling his nose or coughing. Any show of weakness would instantly be pounced on when he was surrounded by snakes.

Because spending resources to produce tobacco when people are starving is the essence of good governance.

He spaced out, preferring to stare out of the tinted glass windows that covered half the room, admiring the view of the rebuilt Tokyo and even the view extending past the great hundred meter walls. They had been lucky that despite the damage, most of Tokyo's infrastructure had remained intact and rebuilding went far smoother than other Citadels that had been utterly demolished prior. He mostly ignored the other department chiefs run through their own debriefings for the month, all the while inflating their reports so as to win favor from the Archbishop of the Tokyo Citadel.

The man, Idra Latrova, had been handpicked by the Pope himself and from the bored look on his face, seemed just as interested in the number of "Heretics" the Templars had imprisoned. The Grand Inquisitor, head of the Templars and a gruff man almost twice Shinku's age who seemed to have seen years of combat, did not seem to notice and prattled on with his obsession with statistics. Shinku knew for a fact that despite his appearance and his efforts to make others believe he had formerly been apart of the old world military, the man has used to be no more than a salaryman who was a military otaku. He had probably never seen real combat within the walls of the Citadel, let alone against Them. Shinku idly twirled his pen in his fingers letting it draw lines over the file on the day's updates that had been prepared for him. Finally, the Archbishop had enough and raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

"That's nice, Fredrico, but how about you stop wasting our time and tell us about the status of the insurrection?"

The Grand Inquisitor, Fredrico, stared blankly at the man who had questioned him and fumbled for his words, noticeably starting to sweat.

"I was about to get to that, your holiness, but I thought it prudent to be thorough with our statistics and to properly brief on how my man have been-"

"Fredrico, you have a son don't you?"

"Errr…. Yes, your holiness. Vincent. He turns 8 this year."

"How lovely. Now tell me, does Vincent give you a 10 page report on every bug that he squashes in your yard?"

Fredrico turned pale as a sheet and his enthusiasm died completely.

"Ou- Our task force is currently working on some leads, and we will have updates soon…."

Idra's face was expressionless but he seemed unsurprised.

"In other words, no progress then. Like every debrief in the past 3 months. Perhaps the funding would be better spent elsewhere, or perhaps your organization needs a shuffle in leadership."

Fredrico retracted into a shell as the words made their meaning obvious, earning smirks and sneers from the other Citadel development heads. Shinku himself simply wanted this charade to be over.

20 years into the end of the world with monsters at our doors and of course bureaucracy survives tall and strong.

Idra turned his gaze to Shinku who returned it cooly, the only person in the room who had the guts to regard the man who was essentially the governor of the city as an equal. And for good reason, anyone else might have been stripped of their post for insubordination or even worse, executed, but Idra's respect for the Crusader's Tokyo Commander showed.

"Commander Hakuryuu, the floor is yours."

"Yes Archbishop. Just received word from the Osaka Garrison. Squad 0 were successful in exterminating the Hive and Alpha in the city. Zero casualties."

Idra gave an impressed look, and he was definitely not an easy man to impress.

"I expected as much but with no casualties? That's the Ace herself for you. Please inform me when she returns. I wish to congratulate her myself."

"I'll make sure she gets the memo."

Internally, Shinku had a mini heart attack as he pictured his strongest Crusader, Lucy, being even in the same building as the Archbishop. The girl was probably the best fighter humanity had but she was also a very straightforward person and absolutely hated the bureaucracy and governance of the Citadels. Hence why she was almost always outside the walls on some mission or another. He had to find something big to bribe her with to make sure she behaved herself when she met Idra. Even the respect he commanded would not be able to protect them completely if she suddenly decided to give him a good one to the face.

Idra turned to look at the development heads and addressed them.

"You heard the man. Get your people out there and begin work on the new sector immediately. I want infrastructure up asap."

"Yes your holiness."

Idra returned his gaze to Shinku.

"We'll need an escort for the convoy."

"Squad 4 is in town, I'll link them up."

"Good, good. If I had 10 of you, Shinku, we'd have all of Japan by now. What's the status on the new batch?"

"Manufacturing just sent us next gen Frames two days ago. Recruitment office is currently informing and gathering the conscripts."

"Excellent. Alright everyone, that's it for this month. Let's hope some of you have something to show me the next time, for your sakes."

Shinku left his seat and was first to leave because he had no materials to gather, while the others moved to tidy up the clutter of mugs and stationary on the long meeting table. It also meant he was the first into the elevator and he managed to set off before any of the annoying politicians could join him. Despite the Crusaders being an entity separate from internal affairs, there never seemed to be a shortage of worms trying to sleaze their way into the Commander's good books. He sighed as he left the building, staring up into the clear azure sky from the streets of Roppongi, the definition of false advertising that the world was still beautiful. An illusion that was broken the moment your eyes left the walls. 20 years ago, the street would have been filled with vehicles and pedestrians. Now, the only life in sight in this part of town were the few Templar guards for the Parliment Building, and the armored vehicles and escorts for the officials waiting for the Citadel's leadership. He had chosen to turn down the offer of a personal vehicle as it was a waste of fuel better used for Crusades.

"One day this will all end."

The words echoed in his head as he walked down the street. The same words he had repeated to himself every day for 20 years.