Background: You, the role player, are a subject of Umbri, recruited to contribute in the campaign against Dumnonia. You may be whatever you want, so long as you are human, and more specifically Umbrian. You may possess magic, be royalty, a slave, or most anything else, but you will be known as a friend against Dumnonia.
There will be no map, and preferably as little visual representation as possible. This role play will focus on character and story development, as well as reiterations of social and philosophical issues that come up along the way. I'd rather have no technicalities get in the way of the flexibility and openness of the text.
I, as GM and King of Umbri, will be the guide on this journey into the unknown. I will introduce the setting when we move, and the situation we happen to be in. Players are free to make their own observations, but interactions are primarily environmentally-driven.
Please keep the character sheet brief, yet informative. Our characters do not have to be held back by their character sheets, and should develop more through the story.
If you choose to join late, it will be allowed, as there will be continual reinforcements from the homeland as the role play pushes forward.
History: Umbri lies on the coasts of two lands, and the archipelago scattered in between them. On these lands, tens of states, and hundreds of tribes, have coexisted and codeveloped over the course of thousands of years. They have been separated not only by geography, but also by cultural barriers, ideological conflicts, religious cults, and competitions of pride.
Around them, many other nations have developed. Some Umbrian states have managed to make interaction, but the pride and will of the Umbrian people have kept these growing powers at bay. They have been able to focus on their internal struggles and conflicts with minimal external influences.
However, the Empire of Dumnonia, led by King Piran, approaches from the East. Encroaching upon neighboring territories, Piran threatens the enclosed world the Umbrians have built upon for centuries. Already, the Empire of Dumnonia has consumed hundreds of nations, amassing a military force greater than any other this world has seen. They have conquered and enslaved creatures from the depths of nature, summoned entities unreachable by our world, and developed a culture ranging from completely depraved to righteously moral.
In the midst of this turmoil, King Tyros of the Eastern Islands of Umbri has completed a military campaign through all of Umbri. Those who did not agree to a coorperative front against Dumnonia had the greater military force thrown upon them. Nonetheless, all of Umbri has been united under King Tyros, and he has formulated a major campaign to conquer all of Dumnonia, and put out the threat Piran and his predecessors has built up for centuries.
Culture: The Umbrian people's culture is diverse as one moves throughout the region. Tribes and states have developed in a variety of ways, but they all still maintain some elements they feel are integral to their own survival.
Military Tradition: Constant conflict between Umbrian states have forced each to develop and hone their military tactics. Each and every state keeps a disciplined military force in the event of inevitable conflict with its fellow Umbri. Both land and sea forces have developed in diverse and effective manners. [/*]
Philosophy: The spatial and geographic division have contributed towards the diverse culture of Umbrian states. This has led to various schools of thought being promoted in different states. Although some are more accepting of certain ideals than others, various social, civil, political, and economic beliefs manage to co-exist throughout the region. [/*]
Children of Honor: The Umbrian people believe they are historically descended from the Herald of Honor, servant to the Universe. Through this, they maintain a sense of pride, whether it be for their family name or personal reputation. They feel they must constantly compete to prove themselves, and keep ambition close as a driving force towards their own perfection. They refuse to back down, especially during battle, and refuse to cede anything in their way of life. [/*]
Religion: The Umbrians are a polytheistic society, worshipping hundreds of gods representing most any natural occurrence or social phenomenon. They go to the point of either relating foreign gods to their own, or concluding that their god may be added to their own pantheon. They do not think that the gods can predetermine fate or even obtain complete control of it, only contribute towards the direction the universe's path goes.
Tractus, God of Gods: Umbrians believe Tractus to be the supernatural force bringing all else into existence. They believe Tractus fathered all other gods, who in turn created the world as we know it. Tractus has taken a step back and allowed his children to do as they will in our world. [/*]
Fons, God of Water: Fons is believed to govern the sea, from thunderstorms to the waves which rock it. He may change the waters to play with the fate of any naval battle, or torment a wandering mariner [/*]
Pugna, God of War: Pugna is thought to place influence during battle. With his grace, Pugna will strengthen the will and power of a force and twist the odds for opposing forces. [/*]
Letum, God of Death: Letum supposedly collects the soul of those assigned to be deceased. The point of an individual's death only comes when Letum collects the soul from the body, allowing it to become completely unfunctional. [/*]
Standard Issue: All Umbrian weaponry and armor is custom manufactured out of iron, with slight design variants and enhancements on a state-to-state basis. Officers typically have a golden tint, while soldiers have a fogged silver color. Much of it is extremely heavy, and require the typical Umbrian physique and training to wield properly. Any wooden and threaded components is only made from the strongest strains.
Umbrian Helmet: covers most of the face, with an opening across the eyes going down to the chin, while still covering the cheeks. [/*]
Umbrian Commander's Helmet: same as the traditional soldier's helmet, except with a colored mane. [/*]
Umbrian Chest Plate: two pieces with the front and back tied across the obliques by leather straps. [/*]
Umbrian Forearm Guards: wraps around the entirety of the forearm, from elbow to wrist, tied with leather straps. [/*]
Umbrian Armored Boots: covers from the bottom of the foot to the base of the knee, tied with leather straps. [/*]
Umbrian Longsword: about 4.5 feet long, sharpened on both sides; the entirety of the blade is of the same width and goes to a point nearing the tip. [/*]
Umbrian Shortsword: about 2 feet long, sharpened on both sides; near the head is slightly wider than the base. [/*]
Umbrian Spear: about 6 feet long, with a slightly larger than traditional head; no guard past the blade to allow a "going through" in passing an object. [/*]
Umbrian Bow and Arrows: simple reflex bow about 3.5 feet long, with arrows about 2 feet long.[/*]
Setting: The roleplay will take place in the Iron Age in a fictional world. Technology and weaponry is limited, but magic and wondrous creatures are as much a part of nature as trees and animals.
Umbrian Commander's Helmet, with a black mane [/*]
Umbrian Chest Plate [/*]
Umbrian Forearm Guards [/*]
Umbrian Armored Boots [/*]
Umbrian Shield [/*]
Umbrian Shortsword [/*]
Umbrian Spear [/*]
Known Biography + Reputation: After the death of his father, Tyros took the throne of his city-state of Scythia, located on the eastern portion of the Umbrian Archipelago, at the age of 19. Seeing the growing influence of Dumnonia in the region, Tyros took it upon himself to unite the region. Many agree with his method of doing so, calling it diplomatic. Others decided it was forceful, tyrannical, and most of all absurd how a boy-king could accomplish so much.
Nonetheless, Tyros managed to feat in only 5 years. Now that he had all of Umbri behind him, he decided to go forth with his invasion of Dumnonia.
Tyros is known as a strict governor, and even stricter Commander. He is disciplined in both physical and combative perfection, and holds the same to all his subjects. He is also suspected to be the Son of Tractus himself, which has slowly gone to his head during his reign, especially with his military and diplomatic successes. He is a risk-taker, and has often been called delusional by his critics. He has been accused of being irrational in his diplomacy technique, and pompous in his decision-making processes.
Appearance: 6'0. Consistently shaved head and facial hair. Green eyes.
Position: (General, Captain, Lieutenant, Soldier) (Advisor, Philosopher, Historian, Geographer, Engineer, Priest, Doctor, Magician) (Other positions available upon request)
Gender + Age:
Skills: Personality-wise, physical, powers, etc.
Inventory: Keep it light. You're traveling a long way. Include a mount, if you have one.
Known Biography + Reputation: How you are currently publicly viewed. You may disclose personality traits if you wish, but this should preferably be just all common knowledge.
Skills: Second Wind (His speech can help soldiers forget their fatigue briefly) Inspiring (Soldiers under his control fight breaking their limits) Excels in both ranged and melee combat. Strikes fear into hearts of his enemies and hope to his allies.
Inventory: Umbrian Chest Plate, reforged to cut weight by 1/3rd. Umbrian Forearm Guards, reforged to cut weight by 1/3rd. Umbrian Armored Boots, reforged to cut weight by 1/3rd. Hunter family Shortsword, the tip has been blunted while the sides have been sharpened extra sharp, the blade is heavier than in standart swords to help the wielder to cut straight through light and medium armors. Hunter family Greatbow and Arrows, The 6 foot Bow made out of oak and iron straps, it takes a real effort to fire it. It's arrows are heavy, weighing about 4 pounds each. Hunter family Warhorn, it plays loud and clear sound that echoes into long distances.
Known Biography + Reputation: Kaylen Hunter has been serving in the military as long as younger soldiers can remember, he has been offered promotion multiple times, yet each time he has refused it gently. He's know being strict and harsh towards his soldiers, thus creating brave, loyal and steadfast men to reinforce fresher units. His reputation goes far into both lines, and when his unit arrives to the field it's know from relentless rain of arrows at first and loud blow from his warhorn, after that as he leads his troops unto the fray with him at the very front. He has a wife that serves as a nurse behind the lines, and his two sons, 10 and 14 years old are both at the care of his brother and father, training so they will be able to join into the military as soon as they turn 16.
Appearance: Just like all the males in Hunter bloodline, Kayle is tall and strong man, he stands 6'6 feet tall and atleast half of that in width, his body is trained into muscular and agile build from the birth. From his many conflicts he is covered in scars, and his left eye is missing, he has not covered it up, leaving his only blue eye lonely and his face gruesome. His thick brown hair has been dreadlocked to keep it out of the way in combat, and he always keeps stubble beard on his face. His armor holds his family crest, a torn off and bleeding bear head on it's chest.
Name: Lady Ramia of the Noble House of Kastagir, the Cunning Wolf of Kastagir
Position: Tactician, strategic advisor
Gender + Age: female, 32
Skills:
- Exquisitely skilled strategist and tactician
- Exceptional resistance to stress
- Extremely cunning
- Better than average eyesight
- Skilled horseperson
Inventory:
A falcata sword with a slightly curving guard and a wolf's head pommel Maps Quills & ink Few bags of small wooden blocks Foldable field chair Simple gray traveling clothes Brownish gray, slightly tattered cape with the leaping wolf emblem of the Noble House of Kastagir emblazoned to it
Mount - a rather nasty tempered, but quick stallion called Faran Known Biography + Reputation:
Ramia is hailed as one of the best - if not even the very best of tacticians in all of Umbri and even outside the kingdom's borders. She is viewed as a rather impolite person by many, but such personal quirks are nearly always shoved aside when seeing the Cunning Wolf's tactics and strategies in action.
Ramia is the heir of the Noble House of Kastagir, a noble house that has served the kingdom in many ways over the years. Most in military duty, some with the church. Ramia had always been interested in warfare - not in fighting, but more in the bigger things like how to lead an army, how to arm and train a force of people and make them a proper army, how to handle an army's supplies. With the quite hefty monetary capabilities of the Kastagir family Ramia was given the chance to learn just that. She formally joined the army at the age of 16 and has gained quite a reputation as a tactician over the years.
Appearance: Ramia stands just under 6 feet. Her hair is on the darker side of brown and extends just beyond her shoulders. Ramia's shoulders are quite broad in comparison to the rest of her body. Her face is quite pretty - though most people would call her handsome rather than beautiful. Her slender body and lack of instantly obvious female attributes causes people to occasinally miss guess her gender.
Halvtand said
I'm currently deciding if I'll play a mage or some form of warrior. I have a pretty good idea for both, I'm just not sure which would be the most fun.
A mage would have non-conventional interaction with the men, but then again a warrior could have a more direct influence on them. I guess it'd be more on your RP style.
FinDragon said
Name: Kaylen Hunter
Approved.
Marcus XVI said
Name: Lady Ramia of the Noble House of Kastagir, the Cunning Wolf of Kastagir
Approved.
Feel free to make any adjustments to your characters, as you see fit.
Skills: Extremely skilled in the arts of magic and sorcery. Deep understanding of the balancing of power. Trained to see things that are really there. Philosophical and political training. Gourmand, taster and knower of the fine things in life..
Inventory: The clothes on his body. His staff. An enchanted, walking chest that contains most of his possessions. His familiarus, or pet…
Even in a world as strange and magic as Umbri a Leyling is a strange sight indeed. It is a small… Animal, about as large as a fist. It is covered in bright blue fur, about an inch long. It has no visible arms, legs, ears or tails. but there are eyes, surprisingly big for such a small creature, and a mouth that has two perfect rows of herbivore teeth (strangely enough) and a smooth tongue. The presence of teeth is a strange one indeed because the Leylings doesn’t seem to eat anything. Later research has determined that the little blue dust bunnies live off of residual magical energy, which would explain why most of them are attracted to mages and their study halls. They are extremely rare, and even a well-educated man such as Cornelius thought they were only myth until he actually met one. There is a collection of stories going around the desert about a man who was hungry enough to try and eat 12 Leylings on different days… Let’s just say you shouldn’t. Cornelius only calls his little friend “Leyling” and the blue menace spends most of its time hidden away within his clothes or (if it feels safe) on his shoulder. During his travels Cornelius fancies himself to have met men and women of every variant of magical ability, but Leyling has never left his side.
Known Biography + Reputation: Very little is known about Cornelius’s life before he was accepted to study magic at the university of Taruuma, but as he was only five years old at the time, it is understandable. He was a bright lad and a good student. He quickly learned both how to wield the magical powers, but also how and why he (or anyone else) was able to do so. Twenty years later he had finished his studies and was immediately hired by the (now late) count Mertillius the wise, as teacher for his children. Cornelius spent five years in the count’s service and left on good terms.
Cornelius went to the capital of Umbri and, long story short, happened to stumble upon a rather nasty attempted assassination on the current king (Tyros’s father) while he studied the stars from the palace garden. Even though Cornelius himself did surprisingly little in the actual apprehension the king’s gratitude knew no bounds. He received a promise of never ending hospitality. He was granted both a room and a workplace in the palace. As time passed Cornelius and the king became close friends and the mage became a common sight by the king’s side. As the crown passed to the next generation, so did Cornelius’s service.
Cornelius is an old man, but his body is still strong and his head clear. Sometimes he likes to pretend he’s senile, stupid or deaf just to see how people would treat him then. He’s gotten quite good at it.
Appearance: Cornelius is an old man with more silvery grey hair growing out of his face than on his head. His thick beard reaches halfway down his chest. His skin is wrinkled with age, but tanned as he likes to spend his days outside in the warm sun. A couple of alert green eyes peer out from under a pair of bushy eyebrows. All of his clothes are colored black and purple, and most people are surprised to see him, a mage, walking around in normal clothes. He doesn’t do robes like so many of his colleagues.
“Robes are for old people and idiots that’ll shit themselves if they can’t get their pants off fast enough.”
Name: Thallus Galdorian Position: Apothecarian and Historian Gender + Age: Male, 63
Skills: -Herbalism & Remedies (Has an extensive knowledge of plant life and what mixes together to create the best healing/supporting properties) -Alchemy (Minor knowledge of alchemical components to magically enhance brews) -Story Teller (Knows many stories/legends to entertain troops and boost morale) -Iron liver (Has gained such a high tolerance of alcohol that he rarely ever gets drunk, even on the hard stuff)
Inventory: - Quills, ink and parchment for historical documentation - Bottles and vials both filled and empty - Jars filled with dried herbs - Apothecary/Alchemy Set (for creating potions and brews) - Old Warhammer (an iron rod sticks through a stone block with iron bands surounding the block itself, it looks worn and chipped, like it hasn't been touched in ages) - Old Ox (Benjy) and Cart (carries all of the listed supplies, including a few small kegs of Thaldorian Ale saved for special occassions)
Known Biography + Reputation: Thallus was born to a Thaldorian warband, a group of fierce warriors and berserkers, and wise healers and sages. At a young age his father wanted him to become a warrior, but Thallus had other interests in mind. Despite being given the training, he never truly devoted himself to the warrior lifestyle, instead learning the herbs the healers possessed and the potions the sages brewed. For this he was shunned by his father, but reamined in the warband anyway, living among the healers and sages.
The only thing that interested Thallus more than potions and herbalism, were the stories the village elders would tell. Myths and legends of great heroes battling fierce monsters, how a man had the strength of a hundred men and took down an army of a million. Thallus hoped that one day he too would be able to write such stories, and that day came when Tyros united all of Umbri. Thallus left the warband with the elder's permission to seek an audience with King Tyros and asked to allowed to document the history of the imperial invasion. Thallus was given this chance.
Thallus is known to be boisterous, loud and vulgar in all the right ways. A man who's harsh, yet wise words, can kick anyone's ass into shape, whether you're a soldier, a noble or king of all of Umbri. He's also known to drink just about anyone under the table.
Appearance: Thallus stands above average at a startingly tall 6'10" with the weight and muscle of a small cattle. His hair is completely white, going down the length of his back, with his beard braided at half the distance and lined with grey-white streaks. He wears a simple brown tunic with a leather belt adorning his ale filled gut and a leather band wrapped around his head.
My plan was to make the adventure aspect of this partially collaborative. Are any of you interested in writing this piece of history after my next post? It'll pretty much be dealing with describing a city's culture, government, or whatever your character deems relevant to the situation.
This will potentially be a recurring thing, so I'm just curious as to who would like to partake is setting the scene for some of these.
