Application for Princess of Neptune, Silver Moon RPG

Part I: General Information

Name: I am Reihelen.

Email Address: rehrick@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Part II: Character Information

Character Name: Galatea Niamh Abrigel. According to Behind the Name, Niamh was the daughter of the sea god in Irish legend. Galatea was a sea nymph in Greek myth who turned the blood of her murdered love into a river, the name of the fourth moon of Neptune, AND the name of the statue that Pygmaleon created and fell in love with.

Character Position: Sailor Senshi and Princess of Neptune, Central branch of the Trident System, winner of several awards for singing and violin.

Birthdate and Age: March 10; 17 years old

Zodiac: Sun: Pisces; Moon: Gemini; Rising: Libra

Description:

• Galatea: The Princess of Neptune stands at 5'5", neither spectacularly short nor tall. Her aqua-colored hair falls in soft waves to the middle of her back, and she usually leaves it loose, sometimes pulling it away from her face with barettes. Her body is slender, without much in the way of muscle--physical battle is not her department. Her face is lovely, though she's not drop-dead beautiful; she possesses a quiet beauty that lingers at the back of your memory. Her eyes are a gentle blue, and she has beautiful hands with long fingers that are calloused at the tips from playing the violin.
• Formal: Galatea usually wears a different dress for each of her performances, so it's hard to pin her down to one formal outfit. When she's doing official Princess stuff she wears a long, gray-green dress, the left side of which overlaps the right. The dress is sleeveless, but she wears a pair of drooping sleeves that are a lighter green at top, fading into a darker green below. Over her dress she wears a purple vest/corset sort of thing, and she usually has some sort of crazy barrette in her hair. Have a look.
• Casual: When she doesn't need to dress up, Galatea will usually wear a shorter version of her underdress over a pair of matching slacks. If it's cold, she'll wear a black long-sleeved shirt underneath the dress.

Personality Traits:

• Neptunian Idol: Galatea is probably better known as a singer and violinist on her home planet than she is as a senshi. Or, rather, the combination of her musical abilities and status as Sailor Neptune have put her in the limelight of Neptune's society, and she accepts the attention gracefully. On the screen, Galatea seems like the nice kind of girl everyone would like to be friends with, and would be friends with everyone. She is always polite and modest, while at the same time very kind, with a deep, contemplative side. She is what Neptunian girls want to be like when they grow up.
• I won't let you down: Galatea could give up the whole singing/stardom gig, but she'd be letting so many people down. First and foremost, there's her grandmother, but Galatea knows that a lot of people really enjoy hearing her sing, and that gives her the strength to go on. It makes her feel like she's doing something right. She does not want to let people down. It's not that she's afraid people won't like her, but if she falls short of what's expected of her, that's going to hurt other people, and she can't let that happen. It also reflects badly on her.
• I can make you smile: Life on Neptune is often dull and arduous. The average Neptunian's life consists of periods of hard work, interspersed with periods where there is little or nothing to do. A broadcast from a star like Galatea can really improve people's morale, and she knows it, and does her best to help people in this capacity. Saying and doing what makes people happy is a skill she's cultivated all her life.
• But who am I really?: Deep down, Galatea is afraid that everything is an act, and at the center of herself...well, she doesn't know what's there. Maybe nothing. Maybe something horrible. She handles herself very well at formal occassions, but when she's expected to let her hair down and be herself, Galatea doesn't know how to handle it. It is both saddenning and a relief that she hasn't had much opportunity to "just be herself" with friends.
• Still not good enough: She sometimes is afraid that people like her because she's the Princess, not because she actually has any talent, so she's constantly striving to be better at what she does, to merit the fame and adoration she receives. She's always practicing, spending several hours every day playing the violin and singing in an empty room. Her determination to do well has made her competitive--she wants to win because she deserves it, not because she was born to power, but she still wants to win.
• A winner isn't me?!: Galatea does not like to lose, or to be out-done. This is perhaps the only occasion where she loses control of her temper; she won't quite throw a tantrum, but she does tend to get snappy and very jealous. When she was younger, she would make a scene, but now she just broils under her hair and takes out her frustration on inanimate objects. Then she practices twice as hard, because if she's not the best, it means she's not trying hard enough. She doesn't take kindly to insults, either.
• The Weight of the World: is on her shoulders. While Galatea doesn't have the destructive power of Padmavati, her planet is a superweapon-defense system, and as Senshi and the central branch of the TRIDENT system, the choice of whether or not to use it will fall on her. Galatea feels this, and she's scared. As if she didn't have enough things to worry about. She knows, if it comes to it, she is going to have to fight, and she doesn't like the idea. However, she is Sailor Neptune, so she must be able to handle whatever comes.
• All Together Now: Galatea is talented, intelligent, and organized, and it shows. She's reliable and graceful--in other words, she seems to have it all together. Her natural grace and talent will probably earn her the envy of some, the respect of others--probably a little of both. Definitely an overachiever, but she does it with grace and charm that make it look effortless.

Background: At the prime of her career, Meris Thalassina Abrigel was both beautiful and talented. She was a sensational singer and dancer, perhaps the greatest star Neptune had ever known. What not even Meris herself knew, however, was that she had the starseed of a Sailor Senshi. Some years earlier, the queen of Neptune had died without leaving an heir, causing some amount of disorder on the planet. A search was made for the successor to the planet's power, and finally that power was found in Meris, the most beloved celebrity of that time.

Meris accepted the power and responsibility with grace and skill, and her natural leadership ability quelled the fears of those who thought she would not be able to rule. Some time later she married a nobleman and gave birth to a daughter--Niamh Meris Abrigel, who would later become the mother of Galatea Niamh Abrigel.

Niamh was a sweet, kind child, and though she spent a good deal of time in the public eye at the side of her mother, she didn't have her mother's style or charm. Meris continued performing, but became more and more protective of her daughter, shielding her from getting too close to anyone. Meris's performances became less and less frequent, and soon she seemed to have room for only two things in her life--her daughter, and the affairs of the planet. Her once-pleasant marriage became a battleground, and while Niamh felt stifled, she didn't have the strength of character to stand up to her mother. Everything was provided for her, but little princess Niamh was Not Happy. She knew her mama loved her, but mama didn't seem to want her to have a personality, or be anything but her little doll to dress up and show around.

The one time Niamh did finally act against her mother's wishes was when she eloped with her tutor, Arion. He was ten years older than she was and, to tell the truth, not all that good looking, but he was smart and nice and most importantly, he gave her room to breathe. Meris was furious, but she hid it behind sweet smiles. She wrote to her daughter that she would gladly welcome her and her husband into the family if they'd just come home. Alienated from her husband and daughter, Queen Meris was beginning to taste loneliness.

Niamh and Arion did finally return--but not for several years. When they came back, they had a four-year-daughter in tow, Galatea. The queen decided that her granddaughter deserved the sort of fame she had once possessed, and set Galatea up with lessons in the violin. Galatea was talented; she gave her first public recital when she was seven, and by the age of twelve could stand her own among musicians twice her age. At about this point, her grandmother began training her voice, and at fourteen she made her singing debut, broadcast worldwide.

As a violinist, princess, and senshi, she'd already been well-known, but it was as a singer that Galatea attained super-stardom. She had talent, she had looks, she had style, but she also had her grandmother's management, and that made all the difference. Meris was able to relive her glory days through Galatea, and has been a force pushing her granddaughter into the spotlight.

When she wasn't on stage or practicing, Galatea found that she liked painting, which was also a hobby of her father's. It was something fun she did in her free time, and she didn't really take it seriously until she mentioned it in an interview...and the next thing she knew, everyone wanted to see her paintings, they're all looking forward to her next exhibition-broadcast, and people are actually going out of their way to acquire her work.

NPCs:

• Meris Thalassina Abrigel: The Queen of Neptune, and perhaps the greatest star that the planet has ever known. Now she's become something of a stage(grand)mother to Galatea. She has a reputation as something of a diva, but she has been a good, faitful ruler to Neptune. She dresses and speaks a lot like an over-the-top movie star of the 1940s.
• Niamh Meris Abrigel: Galatea's mother, who is sweet and kind and rather bland. She doesn't have much of a backbone, and unfortunately Galatea has inherited her tendency to just do whatever other people want her to.
• Arion Proteus: Galatea's father, who, once upon a time, eloped with his then-student Niahm. Despite the slight squickiness of marrying one's student, Arion is actually a really good husband and dad. He's the one who makes sure that Galatea gets some time to herself, to rest and breathe.

Part III: Soldier Information

Special Skills:

• Singing: Galatea is softspoken, even shy, most of the time, but the girl can sing. She has an incredible singing voice, the result of both natural talent and years of training. Some superstars might have looks but no talent, but Galatea isn't one of them, and her stardom is well-deserved.
• l33t violin action: As if her singing wasn't enough, Galatea has been playing the violin for as long as she can remember. She would rather play the violin than sing, but that doesn't give her celebrity status, so she hasn't done many concerts on the violin lately.
• Artiste: Galatea's a total overachiever. Painting is something she started more recently, and it's actually a lot more enjoyable for her than singing or playing the violin, because there isn't so much pressure on her to do it.
• Perfect image: Galatea projects herself as the model young lady. She is mature, kind, and talented, and she knows how to present herself well.

Powers:

• Deep Submerge: Sailor Neptune raises her hands to summon a blue ball of water, shaped like the planet Neptune, with rings. She hurls the ball at her enemy, and it is followed by a tidal wave that overcomes the foe.
• Submarine Reflection: Sailor Neptune holds out her mirror, reflective side outwards. The mirror glows and emits a beam of blue light.

Items:

• Deep Aqua Mirror: One of the three talismans, her mirror will reveal the true form of anything hidden and transformed. She can use it to see an opponent's weakness as well.

Part IV: Kingdom Information

History: The first explorers who came to Neptune were looking to create a new line of defense for the solar system. Pluto, though it stood at the perimeter of the Solar System, was too small to carry out their plan, and its orbit too erratic. Neptune, however, with its size, orbit, and supply of methane, was perfect.

It took nearly 165 years for the first phase of the TRIDENT system to be implemented--the time it takes for Neptune to make a complete revolution around the sun. When they had finished, they had effectively built an alarm system for the Silver Millenium; a ring of magical surveillance that would alert the Neptunians to any intrusion. They called it TRIDENT because it was conceived as a three-pronged system; the ring/shield itself, the infrastructure on the planet Neptune, and Sailor Neptune herself.

The "infrastructure on the planet" being a giant freakin' superweapon That's right, what better way to defend the solar system than with a giant magical planet-ray? The actual specs of the weapon are top secret, and it is still under construction, though finally nearing completion. Even the workers don't know the extent of what this will be able to do. The development has been carried out in close cooperation with the army of Uranus, but the lower you are on the hierarchical rungs, the less you know about it.

Uranus has the standing army, but Neptune is the hidden trump card. If Uranus is the French, Neptune is the Maginot line, permanently pointed outward into the unknown.

Cities Ships and Docks: There are no real stationary cities on Neptune. The vast majority of the population live on ships that are constantly moving through Neptune's gasses, and there are a few "docks" where these ships can come together to trade with each other or with other planets. The docks range in size from being able to accomodate hundreds to thousands of ships of varying sizes, and though it is necessary for some people to live and work at the docks, catering to the ships and interplanetary commerce, they are a minority compared to the ship dwellers.

Depending on the size and nature of the ship, it could be the home of 20 to 2000 people. Each ship is, for the most part, self-sufficient; they run on methane fuel, grow their own food to supplement frozen and dried supplies, and are encased in a bubble of breatheable air through the power of magic and technology. The ships can be ornate, depending on the prosperity of the inhabitants. One thing that every ship will be equipped with, though, is a television screen. (I could make up a fancy name for it, but goshdarnit, that's what it is.)

Society: The drifting ship-life of Neptunians means that they spend a lot of time in relative isolation--from family and friends, the rest of the world, and the rest of the kingdoms. A lot of time is spent traveling between docks and working-nodes, and little work can be done in that time. Hence, boredom and loneliness are the plague of the Neptunians.

The solution to both problems has come in the form of a television screen. All ships are connected to a planet-wide broadcast network, and there are private channels for personal communication. On the networks, the news is broadcast, but the most popular broadcasts are best compared to variety shows. The entertainment business thrives on Neptune, and almost everyone has a favorite singer, dancer, or musician whose career they follow.