Dying Lands OOC

[Invisible Man]

STILL OPEN!

This land is dying. The forces of man are spread thin; few human settlements remain. The Grand Beasts, guardians of nature and keepers of order, are beginning to die. The gods slumber; or perhaps they are dead. More and more have left the relative safety of towns and villages to places that are supposedly filled with untold riches. Few have returned, and those that have go mad. In the wake of the Grand Beasts' weakening, other less benevolent creatures have begun to show themselves. They plunder human dwellings, laying waste to any civilization that they see. There are only seven settlements to speak of left:

1. Hertula, the largest settlement in the land, protected by large walls and a force of guardsmen. It is home to the "king" of men, though in reality his influence only bears weight inside of his city.
2. Wurthal, a small village hidden in the basin of a mountain, where only those who know where it is may find it.
3. Jocarqe, a rather large town situated on the top of a mountain. It houses one of the last Grand Beasts, and may be the safest settlement in the land.
4. Liern, once a military fortress, but has become a small settlement with a large, well-trained army to protect it.
5. Borthu, once a trade hub, but has decayed greatly after an attack by a group of Foul Ones.
6. Terrileg, a city hidden in a vast forest, home to thieves, bandits, mercenaries, and other undesireables of society; however, it is now well-defended due to the occupations of its inhabitants.
7. Koccitun, a large town home to foul heretics and other evil-doers.
It rests on the edge of the Forbidden Land.

On Magic

Magic is rare; very few humans can practice it, and those that can only use basic tribal or ritualistic magic, carried down from years long since past. Some heretics are able to practice heretical magic, though these cases are few and far between.

Tribal Magic is very primitive, and it is the more common form of magic. It usually involves the use of staffs and sceptres, though those well-versed in the art can usually produce spells without such an item. It is generally used for healing, drawing the lifeforce from something around the caster (usually a sacrificial animal or a heretic). Such magic can be practiced on-the-spot, with little preparation. The most talented Shamans (as those who practice tribal magic are called) can also redirect the lifeforce of his enemies, sometimes forcing the life of one man into another, causing he who had his life stolen to wither and die and the one who was given the life to produce blood to quickly and drown in it.

Ritualistic magic is more advanced, but as a result, fewer can practice it. It usually involves long ceremonies, taking at least three hours and up to a week for the most advanced spells. To cast spells, Mages draw from between one and three of the five elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Life, and Death. The element from which they draw power dictates the spell's effects. For example, if a Mage drew the element of Fire to enchant a weapon, he would need a flame. The size and power of the flame would dictate the potency of the enchantment. To cast using the element of Water, the Mage would want a large amount of the purest water he could find. To cast using the element of Earth, the Mage would want fertile soil. To cast using the element of Life, the Mage would want something healthy to draw from. The element of Death is still very mysterious, and those who attempt to use it often cause their own death rather than using the death of another.

Heretical magic is similar to Tribal Magic, only a heretic is able to draw upon powers unknown, giving him more flexibility to cast. However, he is not able to store as much power and his spells lose potency.

Greater Beings, such as Grand Beasts and gods, are able to practice magic in mysterious and frightening ways that are totally unknown to mankind.

On Beasts, both Foul and Fair

In ages past, the thirteen Grand Beasts roamed the land, protecting nature, keeping balance, holding chaos at bay. Only four remain now: Light, Verdant, Balance, and Flight.

Light, Verdant, and Balance are three of the most important Grand Beasts, for they keep the forces of evil from ruling the land. However, Order was one of the greatest pushers against evil, and since her death, chaos has taken a foothold. However, it has not enveloped the land yet, as Light and Balance push against chaos and Verdant gives life to the land. Flight resides in Jocarqe, and is the lord of the birds.

Unfortunately, not all Beasts work to preserve order. Some are evil beings bent on bringing chaos to the land; some are simply aggressively animalistic and attack humans because of their natural insticts. The most dangerous beasts are the Foul Ones and the Hungry. The Foul Ones resemble huge boars, twice the size of a man, covered in horns. They stand on their hind legs and appear to be working towards something, probably the destruction of mankind. The Hungry are animals, acting upon the purest of instinct. They resemble huge insects, most the size of a dog but the largest the size of a house. Their true strength lies in their numbers, as they are actually very weak creatures. However, they build huge colonies and swarm in huge numbers.

On Heretics
A heretic is anybody who worships the god Dormin, bringer of destruction, death, and above all, chaos. Those who have worshipped him long enough begin to grow horns; their skin turns grey and gradually to the pitches of black; their backs hunch; and their minds begin to decay until they are mad.

On Gods
Gods are not all-powerful dieties but are, instead, very powerful beings that can be killed... with some difficulty. The major gods are Titus, Namira, Croteral, and Dormin.

Titus is the second-most powerful god; he lorded over Namira and Croteral. He has gone into a deep slumber of his own accord.

The goddess Namira is the weakest, and is the bringer of nature and life to mankind; she is the most important god in the pantheon, and she is also the only god that is not dead or sleeping.

Croteral was the god of magic. He was killed by Dormin during the Imprisonment.

Dormin is the most powerful god, whose realm is of evil and chaos. He delights in bringing misery upon mankind and despises the Grand Beasts. He was imprisoned by Order, Croteral, and Lord Emon and his army, forcing him into slumber. He now sleeps in a vast temple, erected by Lord Emon for the sole purpose of containing him. A dozen mages travel there each day to reinforce the seal of Life placed upon it, ensuring that Dormin does not emerge from his prison.

------------

This RP will be focused on a dark world dominated by famine, plague, and wilderness. Nobody can be trusted, and law has slipped into almost nonexistence, other than in the remaining cities.

The plot will begin as follows: You (the RPers) will meet in-game (through circumstances of your choosing), discover something (to be revealed IC), and try to solve the problem by accomplishing a variety of tasks that I set for you. I will not RP a character but I will control all NPC's, unless you request special control of a certain NPC.

Rules:
1. General rules; no god-modding, no metagaming, etc.
2. Max of 3 characters per person; this may be reduced to one eventually.
3. Please feel free to ask me any questions about this world. I've been looking to develop a world as detailed as this for a while now.
4. Mages are very rare. Keep this in mind while creating your CS.
5. Make sure your CS matches the tone and style of the RP; we don't want a happy princess running around dispensing gumdrops to the fairies of Nimadora.
6. Have fun!

CS Skeleton: Delete anything in (parentheses)
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance: (pic or description, anime discouraged but acceptable)
Personality: (should be a decent amount of writing in here, whatever you can think of)
History: (should be pretty detailed, include current situation as well)
Equipment: (unless your history matches you won't be donning steel armor and running around with a masterwork sword)
Starting Location: (either one of the seven settlements or the wilderness)
Misc.: (anything I forgot)

[Huscarl]

Hello. I'm interested in joining this game but before I begin posting my character I have a few questions:

First of all, what historical era should I relate to when creating my character? Are we talking Viking age, Medieval or perhaps Victorian?

Secondly, are there any other humanoid races besides humans? And as a follow-up question, can you play a half-breed?

Lastly, I was thinking of playing a witch kind of character and wanted to ask you a bit about magic. My character will probably be using shamanistic magic but I was wondering if I could exchange the normal powers of such a magician with an artifact. I have in mind this little glass orb which works as a scrying glass but makes you addicted to it.

Sorry if this is a bit too much customizing from my part...

/Huscarl

[Invisible Man]

Not at all! Good to see interest. This will be a medieval European-age RP. Think around 900AD. Of course, culture is rather different, but the technology is pretty much identical. Humans are the only playable race, sorry. The scrying-glass idea is good, because it could have pretty easily been enchanted using a cross between Water and Life magic from a Mage (ritualist). So if you want, your witch can have both. Of course, it would make more sense for your witch (if she was "bad") to be a heretic, but if you simply mean a female shaman than yes.

Hope I answered your questions!

[Musique]

What's the age limit?

[Invisible Man]

There is none, but the life expectancy is 60 years. For somebody to be 70 is very rare indeed without the use of magic.

[Musique]

Name: Flora

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Appearance: (minus ears since you said only humans...)

Personality: Flora is a kind-hearted person who is very shy around strangers. Her bubbly side only appears if she likes you. Since she was taken away from her family at a young age, she has learned to trust no one and to keep to herself. Very confident and unique, she is polite and respectable to others unless they don't deserve it.

History: Being born in Wurthal, no one from other towns would have ever heard of her or her family. Growing up she was taught by the town's shaman (her mother) how to use the basic healing powers she was born with, as well as a form of meditation where she would gather up the water in the air and make a small puddle in her hand. One day, the girl was to be taken to the river to practice more with her water magic, another ability she was born with. The town was hidden in the base of a mountain, but was unfortunately found by scavengers. They raided the village and kidnapped Flora, bringing her and the findings back to Terrileg. She was sold to a man and his wife, where she was treated like a slave, being beaten for no wrongdoing. At the age of fifteen, she ran away from the man and his wife, sleeping in dark alleys and stealing food when no one was looking. One day she was caught stealing a loaf of bread, the punishment leaving a long cut from her hand all the way up to her elbow, left by a sharp knife. Running away to her dark alley, she began to heal her arm, but stopped when she heard someone coming. She didn't want anyone to know of her special power. A boy appeared. He had seen what had happened to her and bandaged her wounds, telling her he was a thief as well. Flora was taught his street life for a whole year, now being able to steal without getting caught. She never healed her wound for fear of getting caught, so now there is a long scar.

Equipment: A knife she eventually stole from the man who had cut her and a wooden bow she made herself, as well as a quiver and some arrows.

Starting Location: Terrileg

Misc.: I might edit up some of this later. Anything I need to change?

[Karloz]

Aw, man. I had my Orc character sheet ready and everything! But only human characters are allowed....
Can I make it so my character came from an Orcish tribe??

[Invisible Man]

...no, but you can make him huge, stupid, and brutish. I thought it was rather clear that there were no other races, since I never referenced any and there was no "race" field in the CS.

Musique, that looks good, but perhaps you could add something about her innate magical ability? Magic is honed, not taught. Nevertheless, accepted.

[TheWickerman101]

May I join?

[Invisible Man]

Of course!