| The World:
Zodiac~Book~12 takes place on earth - or at least something very similar to Earth. The sort of scientific experiments that the scientists did on the Philosophers might be more advanced than our current capacity, I wouldn't know. There is also a deep-seeded and powerful spirit in the earth that has decided to fight for its servival in the form of allowing four Elemental Seeds to be grow to slim down the human population by a large margin and thereby return the world to nature's cyclic balance. In contrast there is an equally strong celestial force that has endowed some youth of the rising generation to fight for the survival of the human race, and moreover its current society.
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The Story:
The story for the most part follows the members of the Zodiac children, the twelve chosen to fight for the survival of mankind. They each have limited magics - called Orbs - and a marking of their sign on their body that glows when they exert themselves, though it seems only other Zodiac children can see these abilities. As they find each other, through the strange workings of destiny, we begin to discover the Philosophers - our antagonists. Unlike some stories where the villains spring up out of the ground at exactly the appropriate power level for our heroes to handle, the 8 Philosophers have been there all along, sometimes visible int he background as they have worked towards their goal. As their leader, Samhain would say,
"Only in a crisi do mankind pull together. But when the crisis is averted they grow lazy once more, complacent, cowardly, unwilling to stand up for what they believe in for fear of being ridiculed or ostracised. The time for the loafer to drag down the competant is over. The world cannot sustain this way of living where some few grow greedy and rich at the expense and suffering of the less fortunate. It should be survival of the smartests, the most hard working, the most steadfast. I will give you a world in which you will give your all, or die undeserving to see its glories."
The Zodiac children, on the other hand, rather like their lives the way they are, and do not want to see world wide chaos ensue. They have hope that humanity can come together, that it can find some balance,t hat it can right its wrongs and become better if only given time.
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Arius Amonte
Sign: Aries
Element: Flame
Orb: Red; speed
Weapon: Ares Spear
Mecha: Rapid Fire
The best of their fighters, Arius has a troubled past and a difficult life. Only once Arcann delivered him from the nightmare he lived in for so long does Ari really begin to shine. He proves that he is courageous, determined, brilliant, capable and independant. He isn't the official leader, but he is the one always striving forward, pushing the others to keep on fighting despite all the horrors in store.
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Arcann Majors
Sign: Leo
Element: Light
Orb: Gold; healing, Scarlet;
Weapon: Lion Shield
Mecha: Solar Arrow
Our hero, the pampered pretty little rich boy and his perfect life. He's beautiful, popular, intelligent, wealthy, kind and compassionate. But Arcann lived in a fairy tale life that soon is shattered when he meets Arius. He is forced to deal with ugliness he never knew existed in the world, and how to step in to the fray to fight for all he knows and loves.
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Tiburon Hammond
Sign: Sagittarius
Element: Heat
Orb: Purple;
Weapon: Jupiter Bow
Mecha: Thunder Line
Tiburon comes from an upper-middle-class family, but it was a position hard worked for and well-deserved. Tiburon constantly pushes himself to do better, and to be the best. He's got a nasty competative streak, but he's devout, with high morals, an almost prudish good-boy mind set and a fastidious care for details and precision.
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| Sivee Parks
Sign: Virgo
Element: Plant
Orb: Navy;
Weapon: Demetre Staff
Mecha: Hidden Beast; co-pilots with Yuca, she controls the left side of the machine.
The youngest of the 12 by far, Sivee is a Mensa genius. Born to completely average parents, all of her siblings have become exceptional in some way. Sivee is logical, analytical, calculating and doesn't have a very good sense of humour. Having always far exceeded her peer group she's always had trouble making friends and doesn't really know how to relate to other people. In Yuca she met her match, and the two have a steadfast and intimate relationship.
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Cassava Baker
Sign: Capricorn
Element: Poison
Orb: Green; poison gas
Weapon: Chronos Clock
Mecha: Tower Bird
Cassava's a total tomboy, and generally doesn't like people thinking of her as female. Cassava is also the least phased by the harsh changes they have to make, the war itself or relationships in general. Although her first few meetings with Ari got off to a rocky start, they are the best of friends by the end of things. She is punctual, practical and goal-oriented, easily moving past the little things to achieve what really matters.
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Masala Finnery
Sign: Taurus
Element: Beasts
Orb: Pink; Blue;
Weapon: Venus Whip
Mecha: Acid Kiss; co-pilots with Taro, she controls the movements.
The glamourous cousin to Jyaae, and Vitara's girlfriend. Masala is rather material, a lover of fine food, fine art and fine clothes. As the daughter to a successful lawyer, she's always had everything her little heart desires, and so can be a spoiled, selfish brat. She is a genuine friend, despite being very concerned with appearances, and is a stubborn defender of their honour. She took Yuca under her wing and is very protective of those she decides to set her eye on.
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Vitara Garland
Sign: Aquarius
Element: Lightning
Orb: Blue;
Weapon: Lightning Sword
Mecha: Silent Blade
Vitara, or V as many call him, is the track star for the neighbouring public school and as such was always Arcann's friendly rival in the track meets. Vitara is the loud-mouthed, prank-playing, drug-peddling bartender. He's a charming and incredibly charismatic guy, and does precisely what he wants despite what society or good taste might say. The only time he curbs his behavious is in the presence of his high-maintenance girlfriend, Masala. He's best friends with Taro, and holds down an absurd number of part-time jobs.
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Taro Rae
Sign: Libra
Element: Wind
Orb: Rose; Light Blue;
Weapon: Tornado Sceptre
Mecha: Acid Kiss; co-pilots with Masala, he controls the weapons systems.
Arcann's good friend and constant middleman for his relationships with the other members f the 12. Taro is an artist, and always has a watchful eye open. He sympathizes and agrees with the Philosophers perhaps the most, and yet he fights hard against them. He is best friends with Jyaae and holds an unrequitted love for Arius.
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"Yuca Cygnus" or Cygnus II Project
Sign: Gemini
Element: Stars
Orb: White;
Weapon: Castor and Pollux Sling and Stone
Mecha: Hidden Beast; co-pilots with Sivee, he controls the right side of the machine.
Yuca, or Cygnus II Project, was an androgynous android built some 7 years after the original Philosopher's Project was disbanded by the very same scientists. Yuca was created to be human-enough to blend into human society to learn about emotions, but untainted by them himself so that he could make an objective report. No one thought he would be capable of learning to feel them himself.
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| "Morda" Mordraea Gonzales
Sign: Scorpio
Element: Rain
Orb: Garnet;
Weapon: Hades Scythe
Mecha: Bleak Shadow
Where Tierzah is shy and timid, Morda is in-your-face and tough. She's a hard-core man-hater, and has the smouldering looks of a model. She's had plenty of opportunity to beat the snot out of guys who didn't take the hint to back off. Morda's a chronic chain-smoker and uses her native Spanish to pretend she doesn't speak English when people try to tell her to do things. She's a tad self-destructive, always looking for a fight, and fearless in the face of danger.
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Tierzah Juergens-Schwartz
Sign: Cancer
Element: Moon
Orb: Pearl;
Weapon: Lunar Armour
Mecha: Celestial Rose
Tierzah is a little on the chubby side, and has rather low self-esteem because of it. She is still sweet and pretty, with a generous heart and a caring nature. She loves to bake, and to be the crying shoulder for her friends. She gets easily flustered and is shy, introverted and soft-spoken. She is easily the gentlest of the 12.
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Jyaae Finnery
Sign: Pisces
Element: Water
Orb: Turquoise;
Weapon: Neptune Trident
Mecha: Mirror Fish
The nerdier cousin of Masala, Jyaae is cute, clumsy, friendly and bubbly in nature. She's lovely, even though she doesn't do anything to dress herself up. Intuitive and empathetic, her easy-going and helpful nature easily allows her to become friends with anyone she tries to. She has a deep, unrequitted love for Taro, but has put her friendship with him first. She can be a little flakey and inconsistent, but her heart is always in the right place.
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The Philosophers:
The Philosopher's Project was created by a group of Scientists attempting to unlock the secret of what exactly makes Humans different from other animals. Their initial theory was that there was something different in the way our brains processed information. So they began an experiment where they took eight infants and began doing experiments in their brain, enabling each of the children to access more of a certain portion of their brain than normally possible. The results were a series of what would be termed ESP abilities. However, the repercussions of what these children were becoming capable of caused ethical questions, and the project was shut down. The eight children, then only seven or eights years old, were adopted by normal families and expected to live out normal lives.
Years later, in their adulthood, the ringleader of the group made contact with them again with a proposition: to fix the human race. Now they are working together to try to create a better world by destroying all those who do not 'fit' into their model of a perfect society.
Samhain Veil ~ The Telepath ~ The enigmatic leader of the group, he was adopted by tabacco tycoon Eric Veil, and the man left the entire empire to his 16 year old son when he committed suicide. Samhain doubled the stock value of the company's shares in little more than a year and raised sales by 30% in his first year alone. Having completely thwarted the board of trustees who wanted to take the presidency away from him, Samhain now lives a wealthy existence, and funds his project for humanity's destruction on the side.
Mabon Strega ~ DNA Manipulation ~ Mabon was granted an amazing gift through the tampering of the Scientists. He could consciously change DNA structure. Meaning he could cure cancer and repair disease. Unfortunately Mabon naturally possessed a sadistic streak a mile wide and he instead delighted at seeing how many things he could tamper with before the body falls apart. He's Samhain's right hand man, personal bodyguard, and paid thug.
Lugnassah Lammas ~ Gravity Manipulation ~ Lugnassah's a big, burly, strong, and surprisingly gentle man. Lugnassah enjoys the finer things in life - opera, chess, gourmet cooking - and has remained single simply for the fact that his size intimidates most females that he's attracted to. Lugnassah is able to take on gravity to lift obscene amounts of weight, walk up walls and split the earth. He mostly tries to stay out of Samhain's plottings, but loves his little brother too mcuh to leave beltane in the lurch.
Beltane Roodmas ~ The Shapeshifter ~ The naturally pretty little beltane has an itneresting ability to manipulate his shape. He has to maintain the same mass, but he can compensate to small degrees by eating a lot and burning the undigested food as extra mass. With this ability, Samhain gets Beltane to do all sorts of work for him, getting in places he normally couldn't reach, and abducting people by sneeking beltane in behind enemy lines. The spineless half-brother to Lugnassah is hopelessly in lvoe with Samhain, but relies on Imbolc and Lugnassah for emotional and moral support.
Imbolc Cross ~ The Prophet ~ Imbolc has premonitions, usually when she's not expecting them. But these incredibly accurate insights have allowed Samhain to get as far as he has. She's a nice person, on the whole though, and once she makes friends with some of the 12 makes a ponit of warning them too.
Yule Night ~ The Impassive ~ Yule has complete control over the functions that are involuntary for normal humans - breathing, heart rate, sensitivity to heat and cold, and also can see spirits and ghosts. Yule has no love for humans, and find their dead counterparts par more interesting. She's helping Samhain if only to have more of her own to commune with and less noisey flesh-bearers walking the streets.
Ostara Eiler ~ Emotional Manipulation ~ Ostara has a freakish control over hormone production, merely through the touch of her skin on yours. She can make you feel anything she wants to. That isn't to say you'd believe it, but you'd be feeling all the effects of passion, hatred, fear, stress or any other hormone induced or exacerbated emotion. On the same token, she can stop you feeling something you're already in the throes of too, like Arius' love for Arcann, for instance. She's a cold-hearted Bitch.
Litha Alban ~ Seed Gardener ~ Litha is sweet and airy, seemingly good in a plot of darkness. Litha doesn't care one whit about humanity or civilization. She loves plants, and always had an affinity for them. If it weren't for her unique abilities growing the Elemental Seeds would have been quite impossible. She's just so happy to see these unique creatures grow that she doesn't care what sort of destruction the wreck.
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