Darkened Horizons: A Potterverse Roleplay (OOC)

On the dusk of Christmas eve, a lone vehicle was seen silhouetting the horizon of the Delawarean shore. It was a black 1929 Ford Coupe, and in it was Leslie Woodhart; a bumbling, relatively obese gentleman in his early seventies, whom was also the senior member from New York of the Magical Senate. He was alone, traveling back from Capital to his home city for the festive holidays. Little did he know that he would not make it back from this journey...

Introduction

Set in the United States (more specifically in the Northeast) in the winter of 2009, the roleplay is set in J.K. Rowling's Universe of Harry Potter. Despite it's derivatives however, this is not a school roleplay and writers would be playing as adults and not teenagers. Likewise, canon characters from the series will not be used and writers will create their own characters. The storyline begins with a murder of Leslie Woodhart, a senior member of the Magical Senate and would leave writers to continue the storyline from there. Whether or not this would turn into a CSI with Wizards or some larger conspiracy is up to the writers.

Due to it's endless possibilities, writers are allowed and encouraged to create their own places, potions, items, creatures, spells, characters, etc. on top of those already in the potterverse to further enhance the experience. There are 2 lists below that would include a few default settings and would be expanded upon with input.

Locations and Communities

West Corniby Street: Located in New York City, it is similar to Diagon Alley in the UK. It is the largest commercial center in the States with an assortment of shops, restaurants and inns. It's architecture is similar to New York City during the glided age, Beaux-Arts classicism designs, brick/stone walls with iron/steel frames.

Wizarding Institutions

The Magical Senate: The Magical Senate is the sole legislative body of the Federal Wizardry Government. It is comprised of 100 members, 2 from each State (a senior and a junior). Like their muggle counterparts, Senators must be at least 30 years old and serve 6 year terms. Although the Deputy Secretary of Magic is technically the President of the Senate, it is usually presided by a President Pro Tempore (often the most Senior member).

The Secret Service: Like their muggle counterparts, the magical branch of the United State Secret Service was formed to protect the Secretary of Magic, the President, the President Pro Tempore of the Magical Senate and other high profile political figures that require such protection. They are regarded as one of the most highly skilled wizards in America, comparable to the Aurors in Britain.

Federal Wizard Marshals: Equivalent to the Hit Wizards in Britain, Wizard Marshals are well trained Federal agents assigned to arrest or kill highly dangerous criminals. Assignments are usually given out by the Secretary of Magic or upon request by local law enforcement. Wizard Marshals are highly skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. They are well known for their attire (usually dressed in fedora hats and knee length trench coats) and their badge.

Federal Magic Crime Investigation Bureau: Somewhat like the wizardry counterpart to the FBI, the Federal Magic Crime Investigation Bureau, commonly known as MCB (Magical Crimes Bureau). It's agents are highly skilled in forensics and divination. Most agents are also usually well trained in defensive charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts since they may operate independently from the Marshals. They are usually deployed to investigate crime scenes and predict the killer's next move.

Local Law Enforcement: Local law enforcement varies from state to state. Such enforcement agencies include the New York Magical Police Department and the New York Night Picket. Due to their blue uniforms, many of such enforcement officers are commonly referred to as "blue coats" in the north, likewise they are commonly referred to as "gray coats" in the south due to the usage of gray uniforms over there.

Rules

1. No godmodding.
2. Avoid destroying the plot. (Like finding out the killer a few sentences later)
3. Keep OOC comments in the OOC thread.
4. No one liners please. Keep such conversations to IMs or PMs and post them collectively in a single post.
5. Take the initiative and expand the plot if it gets bogged down.
6. Swearing and romance is allowed, although be sure that it should never be the focal points of this roleplay.
7. Feel free to ask questions.
8. Stay active. Post at least once a week and if you go AWOL, leave a notification.

Character Sheet

You are free to create your character as you wish. Please avoid mary sues and too high ranking figures (as they would be left out of the story). Also, do not create your character as the killer. An ideal role would of course be a law enforcement officer or agent, although free lance operators and investigators or even ordinary civilians may be another possibility. You are allowed (in fact encouraged) to create more than one character. Please PM me your completed character sheets to me before posting them here on the thread.

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Occupation:
Appearance: [with a realistic picture if possible]
Education: At least 5 subjects (maximum 8) for A.W.D. (American Wizardry Diploma) with scores (A to F) and a College Degree if any. List of Subjects
Personality:
Biography:

You may include other important information (wands, animagus form, broomstick, etc.)

I hope more people join this - it could get really interesting! :D

Anyway, here are my characters;

Name:
Johan C. Walter

Age:
30

Gender:
Male

Occupation:
Consulting criminal / vigilante.

Appearance:

Link

Education:
Unknown

Personality:
Kind and gentle. Walter is quite fond of people, and is content with both listening and doing the talking. Despite his speciality, he is more than happy to respect people's privacy, and wouldn't read anyone's mind unless he found it necessary, for whatever reason. He's quite fond of pastries, especially cupcakes. When it comes down to business, though, Walter has a side of him that is slightly more cruel than one would initially think.. Luckily, few people has seen this side in a very long time.

Biography:
He likes to keep most of his past hidden. He says it's mostly to prevent his poor mother from living in too much shame of what he inevitably became after many years of unhealthy obsession and wrong thinking. Walter admits to have been sent to a psychologist at several different occasions, though he claims that it was simple impossible for a muggle to understand the true meaning behind, "I may have peeked inside a mind that I had better left alone."

He came to America from Europe, his accent German, not too many years ago. Most likely, this was an attempt to escape the German authorities. Though, being a man of slightly fragile state of mind, Walter was unable to keep out of trouble for long. He fled and hid among the wizard community, and soon found that this was a place he actually could handle. After meeting up with Richard Baril, he was given a compromise. Walter was allowed to use his powers and stay his natural self. But, continuing his criminal career was not an option, and as a result he has become somewhat of an assistant, or a vigilante, often popping by to help Richard on the more difficult or interesting cases.

Other:
As hinted, Walter is neither a muggle, nor is he a wizard. Though his original race aren't that powerful, they still prefer to keep themselves mostly hidden. The minds of humans are something they make a point out of avoiding - especially considering the things that muggle and wizard minds are capable of. Despite this, he mostly dresses as a wizard, and walks happily among them. Seeing as most of them are trained in occlumency, he isn't constantly bothered by everyone's thoughts.

Name:
Richard Baril

Age:
32

Gender:
Male

Occupation:
Agent of the MCB.

Appearance:

Link

Education:

A - Defence against dark arts
A - Charms
B - Transfiguration
C - Potions
B - Muggle studies
A - Apparition

Personality:
Richard is a man of temper, but he would never excess violence upon innocents. In fact, most of his grumpiness is taken out through snarky comments and a lot more snapping than is strictly necessary. He prefers to get to the point as fast as possible, not wasting his time with small talk. Though an intelligent man, he doesn't always seem to get that not everyone perceives the world as he does, leaving him impatient with those who are a bit slower to follow. He's not too keen on spending time with people in general - why he hangs around Walter is a mystery.

Biography:
Richard had a fairly normal upbringing for a wizard in America. Though in his younger years he was always a bit of a troublemaker, that was mostly because of his insistence on beating up every bully he could lay his hands on - even if they were much stronger than himself. Luckily for him, he was persuaded to let go of this regrettable overconfidence. This never stopped him from having faith in the matters of law and justice. Becoming a lawyer was out of the question, and so he decided to make a career within crime investigation. Thanks to a keen eye for details he has been rather successful, though his reluctance to get along with other people has kept him from reaching too high in the system. As he's never considered himself to be a leader-type of guy anyway, Richard has come to the conclusion that this is a rather good deal, and is more than happy to remain in this state.

Other:
The pet ferret is named Augustus, and is just as temperamental as his master. It doesn't get along well with Walter, despite whatever opinion Richard seems to have about him.

Name: Gareth "Gary" Laurie Pennington
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Occupation: Director of the New York Magical Police Department, Investigative Division
Wand: 9'1/5, Rosewood, Centaur tail hair core

Appearance: Standing at 6'3", Gary stands slightly taller than your average wizard. He has blue eyes and bleach white hair, although his lack of the latter has him usually putting a cap over his head. He is of a relatively slander figure, and he walks with a slight limp, due to an injury he sustained in the field of duty. He occasionally suffers from mild tremors due to side effects from his medication.

Education:

A.W.D.
Defense Against the Dark Arts - A
Charms - A
Apparition - A
History of Magic - A
Potions - B
Transfiguration - B

College
Brookings Institute of Magic - Charms

Personality: Despite his apparent physical fatigue and frail looks, Gary is a rather bubbly man to be with and he is relatively easygoing. Jovial in nature, he can usually be caught humming random tunes when he is alone in his office, or when he is bored. When he was younger, he had swift reaction times although his age and injury have diminished that quality. Despite coming from a Pure Blooded family, Gary despises elitism and denounces pure blood supremacists as aristocrats.

Biography: The father of Keely Pennington, Gary had worked as a Federal Wizard Marshal during the Civil Rights era period, a point of time when political assassinations were rampant, and extreme wings of the Conservative Wizarding Movement attacked muggle communities and pro-reform groups, often with Dark Arts. His involvement in the capture of Edwin Blackgnash, a leading figure of the Death Eaters during that time earned him a promotion as a Deputy Director of Operations in the Northeast for the Marshal Service. His involvement also made him infamous among the Dark Wizard community. A failed assassination attempt had his left leg shattered by an Iroquoian curse and due to his disability, he retired from active duty.

In his post-retirement years, he worked as a political activist, often advocating for progressive agendas including providing legal asylum to vampires (which was achieved in the 1980s) and also greater rights to House Elves. Usually, he could be found lobbying Senators pushing for such agendas to be passed. It was during this time he met and became good friends with Russel Warden, someone who would later become the Wizard-Governor of New York.

In the early 2000s, he returned to enforcement practice much to the request of Warden, although this time he would be in the Investigative Division, a much less intense area of work.

---

Name: Keeleigh "Keely" Pennington
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Occupation: Federal Wizard Marshal
Wand: 10 1/4th inches, Springy Cedar, Hippogriff Feather core
Familiar: A Snowy Owl named Aderyn
Animagus: White Terrier (Registered)

Appearance: Keely is of roughly 5'8" in height and just over 125 lbs in weight, making her rather slim in appearance. She has a pale complexion, reminiscence of her lack of outdoors. Her eyes are brown and large, and brown locks that go slightly below her shoulder.

Education:

A.W.D.
Defense Against the Dark Arts - A
Charms - A
Care of Magical Creatures - A
Study of Ancient Runes - A
Transfiguration - A
Potions - A
Muggle Studies - A
Herbology - B

College
Brookings Institute of Magic - Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures

Personality: Keely is a soft spoken, unassuming and gentle individual; attributes that usually do not relate to Wizard Marshals. Rather reserved, she can be rather quiet and shy when you first meet her, although she can get comfortable once you're acquainted to her. Highly intelligent, she scored remarkably well for her AWDs and double majored in college. Like her father, she is strongly against discrimination and elitism although she usually tries to stay away from politics. She loves animals and has registered her animagi at the Department of Magical Affairs.

Biography: Born as a half blood to parents Gareth and Anita, Keely started off her career after graduating cum laude from her father's alma matter at the Brookings Institute of Magic at Washington D.C. She later worked at the Office of Animals and Magical Creatures, at the Bureau of Registry, keeping records of familiars and pets of wizards. She later transferred to the Recovery of Lost Creatures Division where she stayed on for about two years. Due to a shortage of manpower, the Department offered her to transfer over to the Federal Wizard Marshal Service, citing her academic achievements and morphing abilities.

Reluctantly, she accepted the offer and underwent training for 6 months.

Well the IC thread is up. Basically for now, we'll be doing a rather short intro of our characters until everyone is settled in. I started off with one of my characters making on a mission to arrest an individual, I've opened my post to anyone joining into the fray although I would suggest not having an entire battalion transcending on my location.

darkened-horizons-potterverse-roleplay-t53821.html

Name: Zebediah Rawle
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Occupation: Detective Of the New York Magical Police Department
Appearance:
http://www.babylon5.ru/img/un64_markus.jpg
Education: A.W.D.
Defence Against the Dark Arts [B]
Charms [B]
Transfiguration [C]
Potions [D]
Herbology [C]
History of Magic [C]

Personality: A dreamer that still keeps a close eye on this world. He sometimes seems to be distracted, but is usually aware of his surroundings anyway.
Biography:
Born and raised in NY, he knows the streets and layout of the place. After a rather normal and boring childhood (normal for wizards that is) he went to school. He never bothered with college, rather he joined the Police Department and became an officer.

He never had a large family, and except his to younger siblings, he is now all thats left. His parents died years ago, and his siblings is out and about, experiencing the world. He is usually accompanied by his house elf, and would have it no other way. He might be aware of the extensive knowledge the elf displays, but usually just takes it for granted that the short guy knows what he is talking about.



Name: Aily
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Occupation: Servant of Zebediah Rawle
Appearance: Short & skinny with a slightly rounder face than your average House elf.

Education: No official education.

Personality: The best way to describe him would be either an optimistic pessimist, or a pessimistic optimist. Either way, he is realistic, and looks at life as something sad that should be enjoyed. This sometimes confuses him.

Biography: Aily is an elf, he has spent most of his life serving the Rawle family. But in that time, he has learned a great deal.

While he might not be what people call smart, he has read nearly all the books in his masters bookshelf. He might not understand it all,(or indeed, half of it) but he knows how to use what he knows. He has also managed to learn about magical items, and can analyse them to a small degree. It is quite possible that he has greater knowledge than his master, but he has long since learned that people does not listen to him.

He usually rattles off about things anyway, and people either ignore him, or think he is parroting his master. He does not mind though, as it puts his master in a good light.

Name: Bastiaan Walker
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Occupation: Federal Wizard Marshal
Appearance:

Education: A.W.D.

Defense Against the Dark Arts - A
Charms - A
History of Magic - B
Astronomy - A
Potions - B
Herbology - C
Apparition - A

College
Brookings Institute of Magic - Defense Against the Dark Arts

Personality: A stern, disciplined man, Bastiaan believes in upholding the security of the wizarding world and doing so by any means necessary. Sometimes seen as cold and calculating he shows a somewhat lighter side of himself to partners and people of whom he respects. Bastiaan has extensive knowledge on various spells and charms and has no qualms with using them to incapacitate, interrogate or kill people who would seek to destroy the world in which he has sworn to protect.

Biography: Completing his wizarding schooling at Durmstrang, Bastiaan made his way back to America, his birthplace. Not long after being accepted into the Wizarding Law Enforcement he secured a job as a Federal Wizard Marshal based solely on his skills in spell casting and charm weaving. Ever since he's been doing whatever possible to keep the wizarding world safe.

Just a heads up, I might not be able to post till Thursday. Basically having eleventh hour revision for my exams.

Is this RP still open?

Yes it is.

If the RP is still open, I'd like to submit my character

Name: Franklin (Frank) Archer
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Occupation: Federal wizard marshal
Wand: 10 1/2 inches- dragon heartstring
Appearance: Six foot even with a lean, muscular build and somewhat pale skin, marred in several places by scars gained in combat. Frank also has dark red hair, cut short enough to make it hard to grab, and has dark blue eyes that seem to look through people, rather than at them. Only wears a suit when he must, prefers to be plain-clothed.
Education:
1. Defence against the dark arts A
2. Transfiguration A+ (also has an animagus form, being a large wolf)
3. Charms B+
4. Apparition B
5. Potions B-
6. History of magic C+
7. Ancient runes B-
College- Brookings Institute: Transfiguration/ Conjuring

Personality: While an excellent agent in the field due to his experience having been one in his youth, Frank has little love for the straight laced, stuck up nature that he encounters all too often in his line of work. One of the things that causes the most problems in his job, is that unlike other marshal's, frank make's use of his ability to actively use dark arts as the situation call's for-usually with the express permission of a superior-or if a co-worker is in danger.
Brave, loyal, cunning...and a touch insane are his trademarks. The only thing Frank is genuinely afraid of, is heights-
including brooms.

Biography: Frank's school years were spent in durmstang, his fathers almamatter , where he got along alright with his house-mates ...mostly due to his being alone the majority of the time, having little love for their stuck up attitude towards "The American". However, his talents soon earned him a grudging respect, and was treated politely, if not as a friend afterward. He eventually graduated near the top of his class, and moved back to america where he found that the family fortune had been squandered-along with most of his future. However, frank was nothing if not resourcefull, and soon became an enforcer for the local wizarding mob. This ended several years latter when he turned on his former employers, and soon set out to catch what he once was. The marshal's service was, admittedly, nervous about hiring such a man, but under the pressure of both veritaserum & legilimency, he proved he would be both loyal-and apparently more than competent at his job.