The Scrolls of Aerusya {OOC}

[MacabreFox]

This is the OOC for The Scrolls of Aerusya. Derp. Because it's in the OOC section.

Things that go here:
Discussion
Questions
Random chit-chat
Ideas

Things that do not belong here:
Character Sheets
Bullies
IC Posts




Things are tragically falling apart in Angard, an empirical province in the north western region of Aerusya. King Farynrr, beloved by all amongst the Angardians for his fair and kindred heart towards the people has fallen ill in very mysterious circumstances. His Chancellor, Nehmor is calling for a group of heroes to venture forth into the Dark Forest of Aerusya to a forgotten temple. The purpose? To sacrifice the virgin princess Satienne to appease the Angaron Gods. By doing so, the illness would be eradicated from their beloved King.

Meanwhile, longtime foes of Angard, the Cherods have continually harassed the Angards. Trade has halted with the south eastern province between the two. Their unbalanced peace treaty is crumbling with societal angst as a water shortage wreaks havoc in Cherod. Along the Blue Borderlands, the only barrier separating Angard from Cherod, has reported in the past months of seeing Cherod troops forming a massive group at the base of the majestic blue mountains. With the fear of invasion, and dwindling supplies, and a precious life hanging in the balance, the Angards are on edge.

Angard is a rocky, mountainous region. The capital city, Kvechuk is situated near the Western Sea. Kvechuk sits within the cul-de-sac bay area, promptly named Kvechuk Bay. Here a large naval base sits out on the Kvechuk Peninsula. The buildings would look most like Eastern Europe (Romania, Czech Republic etc). Angard has very cold winters seeing a how it is the most northern province in all of Aerusya. The people of lower class ranks are very hardy, and friendly, though surprisingly superstious. Angard has a strong military presence, with not only an effective naval base, but a well trained army. They specialize in long bows, which are a prominent force in Angard. In Kvechuk, archers line the castle battlements, as well as watch towers that dot the coast and are spread throughout the countryside.

Angards counterparts, the Cherods, are situated diagonally on Aerusya from their enemies. The capital city of Cherod is Maril, an immense city that looks much like Greece. Maril is situated by the Three Fang River, that empties out into the South Eastern Sea of Cherod. Here the people are scrupulous and crude. They are suspicious of any newcomers. The Kings that rules them is King Oedithil. He can be compared to King Louis the 16th, aka "Sun King" in France during the French Revolution. Any week, you can expect to find a festival being held in his honour. Cherod has three major cities, Almeria, located near the Blue Borderlands in the Ragnook bay, here Cherod has a strong naval base. Almeria can be compared to Constninople. The other city is Biminy, it is situated in the center of Cherod and acts as the trading center for the land. Biminy hosts a large lake, Lake Biminy.

Blue Borderland Mountain Range
The majestic mountain range bisects the Aerusyan continent, stretching from east to west. This mountain range is practically impenetrable, save for two passes. The mountains act as a barrier betwixt Northern Cherod from Southern Angard. The Ilselana Gorge was the first pass used to travel between the two provinces. The pass is considered "obsolete" and is never traveled. The other is Grovett Pass, which is aptly named after the merchant who established the pass, Rognor Grovett. It is the only way merchants and commonfolk travel. The pass is relatively easy, wide enough to have a small outpost, inn, and stable built. Here Angardian warriors and Cherod soldiers protect the pass. The mountains get its name from the purpose it serves as a border, and blue for the peaks appear to be.

River of Ilselana
The river starts in the Elven lands and feeds the Kvechuk river and Three-Fang River, the heart of all rivers if you will. This rivers trespasses through the infamous Iselana Gorge to form tlhe Three-Fang River. For the most part, the River of Ilselana is broad and gentle flowing.

Three-Fang River
Branching off from the River of Ilselana forms the treacherous Three-Fang River. The river branches off into three parts. The river is deep, full of sharp black rocks, and fast flowing. No one dares to navigate this river for fear of drowning.

Kvechuk River
The rivers winds through the Dark Forest and enters Angard as gentle as a swimming duck. At points, the river is very broad, over 2 miles wide. Other areas, it is dangerously fast moving and narrow.

Dark Forest
The Dark Forest encompasses the entire civilization of the elves. The forest is full of mist, ghost-like apparitions, and bars sunlight from penetrating. There are occasional "faerie circles", large circular clearings in the forest thatt are located randomly throughout the 125+ mile thick forest. It is located in the North Eastern side of Aerusya. It is the only barrier that the elves have from Angard and Cherod.

The Black Swamp
The Black Swamp is located within the Dark Forest. Here the S'lthran race inhabits the area. The swamp water is a putrid black colour, and is painfully humid. Large insects, such as beetles, arachnids, centipedes, milipedes exist here at gargantuan proportions. The trees here are pitch black and nothing seems to dry.

Darath Desert
The Darath Desert swallows up the Southwestern Region of Cherod, and stretches all the way to lower Southern parts of Angard. The desert stops 45miles outside of Biminy. The Rakashas inhabit the Darath Desert, primarily in the center of it, away from Cherod's crazed monarch.

Angardians
Tall nord like humans, resistance to cold weather (does not apply to magically cold items), keen sense of direction, and holds basic knowledge of tracking animals. They make superb warriors, healers and archers. Range in height of 5'6-6'4. They are kind, hardy people with a strong sense of what is morally right, and polytheistic.

Cherods
Slender/lean humans that live comfortably in unbearably hot weather, and are rightfully heat resistant, (does not apply to magically hot iems). They are shorter than their counterparts. Range in height of 5'0-5'6. They can find water easily, and are very good at merchandizing. They make good warriors, clerics and rogues. They are unsociable, superstious, and monotheistic.

Fauns
Fauns live in the Blue Borderlands, they are the shortest race in Aerusya. They are nimble, surefooted and very talkative (due to harsh conditions in the mountain, they have increased endurance.) Fauns are shorter than Cherods, ranging in height of 3'9-4'8. Their fur ranges widely in colour from snowy white, charcoal black to ruddy red. They are natural thieves, rogues, and healers. The horns of a faun vary in length and size. Mountain goats, particularly the rams, are mounts for the Fauns. They use the females for milk and butter, but do not eat any of them for food. Often times lambs and young fauns are raised together as playmates. A faun will bond with a mountain goat in childhood, and they will become lifelong friends. It is not uncommon for the wife of a faun to share the bed with her husband's goat.

Rakashas
A unique people to Aerusya, a cat breed. They are exceptionally agile, and use their claws and fangs to defend themselves (due to their animalistic side, the Rakashas have the ability to communicate with all animals that aren't magical called Beast Tongue). Their fur ranges from stripes, to spotted and vary selctively in colour from pale yellow, golden to burnt umber. One will never find spots and stripes upon a Rakashas at the same time. Rakashas are a very close knit species seeing as how they are constantly tormented by the Cherods. They are very nomadic, and peaceful. They range in height of 5'5-6'7 and make excellent warriors, shamans, rangers, and sorcerors.

Elves
Majestic, powerful magic wielding beings that reside in a protected area of the Dark Forest. Agile, quiet, though open minded and highly patient. They get along well with the Rakashas, S'ilthras and Fauns and prefer their company over the humans. Elves are thin, and have a strange aura about them, some say that it is due solely to their strong connection with magic. Ranging in height from 5'7-6'5, they make very good rangers, druids, battlemages and sorcerors. Many choose the magical warpath than the physical, but it does happen. Their hair colours range in shades of snowy white, silver, charcoal, gold, fire red, and starlight blue. Their eyes are either rich and vibrant like emerald green, sapphire blue, golden yellow, hazel, or jet black. Pale eye colours are more common though, such as lavender, rose pink, sea green, sky blue, or silver. Due to the longevity of the Elves, some living beyond 700 years, they know and speak all tongues of Aerusya, which gives them a silver tongue.

S'ilthras
The S'ilthra species are legendary amongst the other races of Aerusya. Some legends portray them as horrid reptile like beings that feast upon raw flesh, like that of humans. Other legends portray as mystic beings that re powerful in Dark Magic. What the S'ilthra race is, is uncertain. What is certain is that they reside within the Dark Forest in the Black Swamps. They are tall reptilian like humanoids that range in height from 6'0-7'4. They are a long lived race that wield the ability to use magic just like their neighbors the elves. The S'ilthras are a very strong minded race and will tolerate rude and unsavvy behaviour. The S'ilthras make excellent swimmers, and have the ability to breathe underwater for an extended amount of time. They are also immune to poison, and have extremely thick scales, that only their own scales, or the horn of a unicorn or the claws of a dragon could tear through. It is believed that the S'ilthra grow horns and wings with age. It is unclear if they follow any religion.

Angardian Religion
The Angardian people are polytheistic. Their religion could be coined as paganism. They have strong ties to the land and animals. They have ritual animal sacrifices on each solstice/equinox and will sacrifice animals, mainly lambs, foals, or calves for wedding ceremonies, or as a way to rid pestilence. The Angardians worship four deities:

1. Sarmon - Main God. Gives strength and courage to men and warriors. He is the bringer of death and disease. Responsible for autumn.

2. Anora - Main Goddess. Consort to Sarmon, she blesses men and women alike with fertility. Aids in healing, and breathes life into the land. Responsible for summer.

3. Lyrem - Secondary Goddess. Anora's first and only daughter. Protector of animals and traveler's. She brings women's menustral cycles, and phases of the moon. Physical representation is the unicorn. Responsible for spring.

4. Eradon - Secondary God. Sarmon's first and only son. He is the bringer of peace and responsible for winter.

Cherod Religion
The Cherod people believe that their monarch is chosen by divine right. Therefore, they worship King Oedithil like a God. They do not question him, they kneel before him (quite literally too) build idols and statue of him. There are even temples built for him where they worship him. They even sacrifice humans to appease him.

Faunian Religion
Although it is uncertain if Fauns actually have a religion, it is clear that they pay tribute to past leaders. They believe in the balance of nature, which can bring harmony to all. If the balance is upset, people will war, animals fall lame or become sickly, and plants will refuse to grow. They hold festivals at each solistice to aid in a smooth change of season.

Rakashan Religion
There are two Godesses that dominate the Desert folk.
1. Bi'aba - The Fire Goddess that brings the "fire" to the land, that gives them warmth to their fire, strength to their heart and provides them with pride. Bi'aba also determines their fate.

2. Ka'shia - The Water Goddess is opposite of Bi'aba. She provides oasis', shows them peace, and blesses them with shade of the tall trees. She brings the night sky to them, and designed the Darath. Ka'shia also paints their elaborate coats in the womb of their mothers.

Elven Religion
The Elves have no deities. Instead, they have sacred sanctuaries spread throughout their land, deigned for their scholars, elderly and philosophers. They are very protective of their land and build their cities mirroring nature. The Elves do believe in spirits that reside within every person and thing.

The S'ilthran Religion
There is no official religion recorded for the elusive S'ilthran people. However it is believed that they worship dragons.

Unicorn
This mythical horse used to roam Aerusya before civilization took hold. It is believed that all are extinct. Their horns were magical and could cure diseases, purify water, and remove evil.

Dragons
At one point, Dragons were wise and benevolent creatures that lived all throughout Aerusya. That is until Farynrr the Pure (the ailing King of Angard is named after this dragon), a peaceful dragon was slain by humans. They can communicate through thought, and wield magic, although it is far from tameable. Dragons, few in populace and very rare to see, are believed to inhabit three places: The Darath Desert, The Blue Borderlands in unihabitable areas, and in the Dark Forest out of sight where they hoard gold, jewels, magical armour and weapons.

Chimaera
Unlike the Unicorn, the Chimaera is a wild beast. It is a horrid beast that is believed to dwell within mountain caves. The Chimaera is composed of more than one animal, and can have up to 10 heads. The Fauns and Elves believe the Chimaera's are an essence of magic, after creation, were combined to make the feared being. Chimaera's are believed to guard entrances to the Spirit World, hoards of gold, and large amounts of untapped magical energy flows.

Tree Ents and Faeries
One does not see a tree ent without faeries, and the same goes for the other. The Faeries protect the tree ents and the ents give the faeries a home. One cannot tell what trees are ents and what trees are trees. They are neutral beings, the faeries, while their hosts, the ents, are genuinely benevolent, unless they hold a grudge against you..

The magic in Aerusya is quite simple. Those who can wield magic (not all are born with this ability) can only cast spells within their strength/energy range. Meaning if you are a frail and sickly person, you couldn't cast a spell to cause an earthquake. If you tried, you would die because the magic of the spell feeds off your available strength/energy. And since you don't possess the amount of strength/energy needed to perform that spell it would simply kill you.

When it is discovered that a person can wield magic, they are provided with the guidance of a mentor. The mentor will teach the mentee the most basic spells. Levitate items, change appearance of items, simple healing spells, how to light a fire and so forth. After the mentee has sucessfully learned the "Basics" he may advance to learn other spells taught by mages.

In order to use Magic, one can simply "will" it into power. However, they cannot "will" something into power without knowing the spell. If you don't know it, you can't make it. When the user wants to will something, they must concentrate on what they want with an image of the outcome. If concentration is broken, the magic could slip loose and affect something else. For exmple: If you wanted to light your campfire, and you lost concentration because you saw a deer, something other than your firewood could catch fire, or the wood would smoke as a failed attempt to ignite.

But they could also read from spell tomes. However, if one chose to read from a tome, one would need to enunciate every word properly. The magic user can also store magic into amulets to help amplify spells. The stored magic does not drain the magic user's strength/energy. Some magic users have wands to help channel their magic. Some don't.

The spoken magic language is similiar to Latin.

Shorter version:
1. Can't cast a strong spell if you're weak; if you do you could die.
2. In order to cast any spell, you must know the Word for it.
3. If you don't focus when casting, the spell will fizzle out.
4. If reading from a scroll or tome, enunciation is importan, if you misspeak a word, the spell can fail or kill you.
5. You can use magic mentally, if you have the Word centered in your mind, and picture the outcome.
6. You can store magic into amulets and use them at later dates when your feeling weak.

Tu comprendes?

[Capn Neckbeard]

I be lookin' forward t'this. Any chance I could play an undesireable Cherod pirate lookin' fer a piece of booty, err, stake of claim on the king's reward? Obviously he has no love for the king, he's just looking t'get paid.

[MacabreFox]

The King's reward? Care to elaborate? I wouldn't mind a pirate, but it depends on whose side he is on.

[Capn Neckbeard]

Well I imagine the king has posted a mighty fine reward for an undoubtedly dangerous task. An' the pirate be a pirate; he has no side but his own, but he be willin' t'help the group out t'get paid.

[GrievousKhan]

Thief turned mercenary?

I'll probably fall back on my most loved of weapon's.

So probably a steppe nomad.

[Capn Neckbeard]

Guess the interest on this died. Count me out.

[MacabreFox]

Such a pity too seeing as how I put forth an effort to get the backstory together. :/

[GrievousKhan]

A damn shame indeed.

You might get allot more interest in causal however.

[MacabreFox]

Perhaps I will. But I've had my issues with Casual before...I suppose I'll move this there.