Story:

(this part is not necessary to read)

There are many myths surrounding the creation of this world. Nobody knows for sure what happened many millennia ago. But as the last survivor of a race who can live forever and as the very first animal with intelligence that came to this world, I can tell you what happened.

A series of worldwide changes have occurred millions of years ago, which have wildly altered the ecosystem. Species across the planet struggled to survive. They soon realized that the obstacles of life could only be overcome with bigger brains, and so civilizations began. They began by creating basic tools. Later, on the course of millions of years, these basic tools began to get more and more complex. It is hard to say when their intelligence boom began, but it was caused after they finished their biggest test yet, the era of the glaciers. Some began their intelligence by discovering that throwing seeds to the ground and taking care of said seeds would bring them food without needing to hunt, others by banding together after a cataclysm. And there are so many other ways that these people developed themselves.

After this, the history didn’t develop in an equal pace or on an equal way. At the same time civilizations were rising and falling in certain areas, in lands far away people were still wandering like their animal ancestors.

Nobody knows what will happen in the future. Nobody knows what new mighty empires will develop. Nobody knows what revolutionary advancements will be made. Nobody knows what the final fate will be. All we can hope is that, if there are gods out there controlling our fate, destiny leads us to a prosperous future. This is the World of the Races.

Introduction:

Welcome to the World of Races. The unofficial third installment of the Races: Evolution (I) (II) series that spawned on the Minecraft Forums. Let's see if we can get some actually intresting stuff here!

The concept of this roleplay is simple. You control the political entities of one race and lead its development across the ages.

Rules:

1) No godmodding (example of godmodding: If you are losing a war, to win it you reveal that you actually had a gigantic army waiting until the opportune moment to strike)
2) No metagaming (knowing what someone else is doing unless you have spies)
3) No insta-ing
4) No powergaming (taking control of another nation)
5) Posts must be at minimum 6 sentences of history. No posts made just for developing technologies are allowed.
6) No silly races
7) Keep this realistic. No magic or other fantasy elements allowed. If this RP gets far enough we will eventually have sci-fi stuff though.
8) Do not use your nations to greatly benefit one nation. And unless you really have to, you may not put your race/s into a huge alliance.
9) You may have up to two races.
10) OOC commentary in IC must go between double parenthesis
11) Since this is a race RP, you are free to make changes to your development so long as your race is good at it and so long as it’s nothing absurd. (see the strengths section in the app) (An example of this would be that, if your race are very skilled builders, you may develop renaissance architecture in the early medieval era. However, keep the FTL spaceships out of the Napoleonic Era).
12) All diplomatic contacts (be meetings, battles, etc.) should be resolved via PMs to avoid clogging the thread with diplomatic-only posts (unless you are announcing the opening of said interaction). Wars are an exception to this rule (save for the battle parts).
13) If you want to retire for whatever reason, or if you are having trouble with the internet and it will be hard for you to post/may stop working at any moment, please let me know. But be prepared for a reminder if you are going AWOL (that is, randomly disappearing from the RP) after a week. If you ignore this reminder for another week your nation will be NPCed and it will suffer very hard for some time or until you return.
I know this sounded aggressive, but it’s seriously a big problem in RPs.
14) No IRL religions.
15) The stats should go in hiders.
16) My word, although important, is not uncritizable. Feel free to criticize anything I do at any time.
17) This isn’t as ruleish as most of the other rules here, but it’s still something to pay attention to. Depending on how big you are for the time period (as well as other factors), you might start suffering from effects of instability. These will rage from minor incursions and corrupt bureaucracy, to new religions popping up and major plagues. You are especially prone to these if you start out with an unified race.

On the pace of this RP: It mostly depends on what the players are doing and what is happening. If there are few players around and nothing interesting is going around, feel free to leap through season by season. However, if there are many players and a lot of stuff is going on, the speed will slow down. I want to keep timeskips as a last resort option though, and they will only be done with the approval of the majority of the active players.

If you are doing a story arc which requires you to go in a slow speed in comparison to the other players, tell me and we will try to reach an arrangement.

Map:

Credit goes to Dinh AaronMk.

Applications:

Race application:

I strongly recommend removing the parts in parenthesis since they are just mere explainers.

Name: (self-explaining)
Description: (one paragraph should be for physical description with 6 sentences minimum unless you use an image, and another paragraph for it's behavior and other non-physical stuff (I know this sounded lame, I couldn't word it another way) with 5 sentences minimum)
Evolution: (optional. However, this part will allow you to shorten the description part)
Strengths: (this should be what your race is good at and the aspects it's more advanced)
Weaknesses: (what your race is not good at and the aspects it's more retrograde)
Location: (here goes the location of the race in the map).

Nation app:
You don’t really have to do the nation app if it’s under your race. And even if you do, it can be a name and the amount of population or gigantic with several paragraphs for each and one of the minor details. If you are playing as a nation from someone else’s race, this app will be necessary (and in addition you will need permission from the owner of the race), so if you are doing that, here is the app.

Name:
Religion:
History: (2 paragraphs minimum with 5 sentences each)
Government: (2 sentences minimum)
Description: (describe the society here. 7 sentences minimum)
Population: (whether you want it census-shaped or a simple number put it here. Military must not exceed 10% unless you're a nomadical tribe or something)

Again, if this nation is from one of your races, you do not need this app.

This is absolutely not obligatory to read. It is just here for helping and other non-important stuff.

Races list:

This is the list of races currently around.






History:

Every 10 IC pages, I’m going to update this section. This section is meant to include all the important things that happened over the course of the years as well as interesting stories, wars, etc. And serves to help new players or just if this RP lasts so long, you feel like having a nostalgia ride.



Fantasy Names Generator

I don’t blame you if you don’t want to throw spend a lot of time thinking about nation names. That’s why; therefore, you may use this useful tool. It has generators for about every story-telling element you may need.

A few additional things:

About khanates a la Mongol Empire: If the players that are possibily affected approve of this, or if said players are AWOL, yes, you may create a khanate a la Genghis Khan. These khanates will only affect those players which approve of these decisions though and in addition, due to their rapid expansion and other factors, these khanates will be very unstable and collapse very fast. Much like the IRL mongol khanates.

Name: Pegasid

Description: The pegasid are a derivative of land-based equines with an adaptation for flight, such that is had taken them from the ancestral steppe ecosystems and into more distant and diverse ranges, particularly focused in the mountains where they've resided behind cloud curtains. The trials and tribulations of landing however have not done well on normal hooves which rapidly favored a divergence towards heavy-hoofed and sturdy legs to prevent them from breaking from too hard a landing, and mountain ranging as in many favored a flexibility in the hoof like a goat, if to even the point of handling objects in them.


Evolution: Commentators of a more modern mindset might observe a likely biological link between the Girfahl and the Pegasus that lead to the genetic mutation that ultimately favored flight, and through a process of elimination and adaptation the hybrid species managed to take wing as a functioning, breeding population that quickly diverged from their terrestrially based counterparts. The ability of flight served to only extend their range beyond the cold steppe wilderness they once called home and successive generations later wound up across a large number of different habitats, often ranging alongside others.

The core of structure of their society arose with the adaptation of agricultural practices by other species, likely taken in raid – although the details are well lost – against another. The general concept of sedimentary farming and cultivating native resources marked a transition some ten thousand years ago from a still migratory life-style that had evolved to simple raid to sedimentary practice centered on the farming of grass and grain crops. Simple milling processes allowed for the refining of the end product to part the nutrient rich elements from the waste product, which further caused a shift in the energies from survival to the focuses of civilization.

Over the next several thousand years a cultural evolution would evolve through the Pegasi numbers marking a preference in life-style or ranging territories. In the spans of their original homeland would rise the Manegri civilization which clung to the old ideas of migration and living off the land. In the mountains arose the Buraq civilization who had found fertility at the cloud lines to carve and construct terraces in the rocky loams to construct a civilization in the cliffs and the valleys of green mountains. And along the shores arose the Pysidea civilization which had achieved a sort of cosmopolitan style of living in a symbiotic relationship with others.

Definition within the civilizations would gradual further define and break down the cultural ties into more specific cultural units or political units as the roll of city-states arose and eventually wide-spread governance in feudal politics or tribal relationships. The Three Tongues came to be, and the Three Faiths.

Behavior between the civilizations varies based on what's culturally accepted, though unifying praise for "deeds of awesome" ranges unanimously between the Pegasi. But cultural specifics reign through out, and even the more localized cultures have adapted significantly different mannerisms of their own. Some large differences in behavior between the larger civilization brackets:

The Manegria keep to the nomadic life-style their ancestors have for eons. They hold the idea of family above all others and will fight and die among themselves for family honor or right. Clans are built on the tightly interwoven inter-familial relationships through marriages between them and many nets can be considerably large. When not seeking greener pastures they may partake in regular raids against each other or on the outside to bring in wealth and resources otherwise unavailable to them.

The kingdoms of the Baruq nations hold to a high rung the art of being a warrior and poetry. Following the ideology of Soarastrianism, their creed is "Do awesome, think awesome, speak awesome". To outsiders this has often made the Baruqid kingdoms narcissistic at best. Though traditions of hard hunts against dangerous prey has forged a strong lineage of adept and physically tested warriors. And like the Pysidean they had grounded themselves with agriculture and have built from it a homeland and civilization carved from the high rock of their mountain abodes.

The Pysidean are terrestrially based and in partnership with one or more different races are a part of a Pegasid-oriented civilization. The fruits of their labors born in the vineyards and raised in aristocratic estates. The Baruqid often accuse the Pysidean of abandoning the skies for living on the ground. And the Manegrian tribes likewise gentrify them for not partaking in great flights.

Strengths: The root instincts of long-distance as found in the normal horse are still entwined in many which has lead to a consciousness for the distant. Like vultures, they can make long travel with little effort on their part, and are decent endurance fliers; as well physically durable.

Weaknesses: A lack of formal fingers and thumbs hasn't done well. Though most tasks can be done simply with the mouth or trained balance, the lack of hands has made actual Pegasi craftsmen ship relatively poor. Often times crafts come big and broad with simplified details given a lack of motor dexterity. Awkwardness also restrains their finesse in fighting, and using hooves to strike down an opponent is very popular; otherwise what might be swept to the side with their legs or strapped to their side for a charge is their means to an end on the field.

Location:

*Does not dictate the breakdown of kingdoms within.

I'm sorry Dinh, but the description is too short. It needs to have a paragraph with the physical description with 6 sentences (although an image allows you to skip this part) and another paragraph more related to their behaviour and other stuff with 5 sentences minimum.

Hmm.

I'm thinking somewhere far away from the giant flying things.

The western continent around the lake perhaps.

Lemme drop in the wip;

Name: The Dubeeki/Zubeeki [alt name using in some major languages]

Description: The Dubeeki are 9-12 feet tall bipedal creatures that have a head, but lack any neck instead having their vaguely shaped head fused into the shoulders. They are a mountain folk that have spread around much of the north western mountain frosts, and are highly resistant to the cold due to their pale, blurb proud hides and internal warmth. They have two tiny, circular eyes and a very heavy, lumbering build. However, the Dubeeki have a high requirement of food. They have a long, think lipless mouth normally obscured by fleshy folds beyond a horizontal slit across the lower part of the head. When they talk, they speak in set of muffled noises and hums, and only open their mouths when they eat.

The nose of the Dubeeki consists of two large curved nostrils.

Their legs can be described as trunk-like, but they aren't as stuff as they may seam. Their feet are surprisingly well suited for rugged terrain.

Their arms are bulky, with large hands that could crush a skull that have four digits.

Their genders are not that morphologically different, with the males being potentially bigger than the males and the females having slightly thinner legs.

They reproduce like mammals do, giving live birth after a long 25 month gestation period. And the kid can take decades before being being fully grown. But the Dubeeki can live a hundred years naturally- it's just that their constant infighting outside of places like Novgrad keeps populations low due to the higher amount of time it takes to replace. The strict monogamy practiced by the Dubeeki also arguably contributes to their stable population counts as they have a psychology that demands strict mateship bonds, of which can cause serious trauma if a mate if lost, and it can be decades before they try to seek a new mate if the balance demands it. Though those without mates dying tend to be less traumatic.

Trying to draw a decent pic of them. May take a bit to get a good design out.

Evolution: Evolutionarily as a species they come from the humanoid clade, but due to isolation in the micro habitats have independently developed blubber for a humanoid designs and grew to a thicker build as a result of storing so much fat. In time this fat also translated to strength and a yeti-like feorocity as multiple tribes of their species clashed for dominance of the mountains, some of which even migrating to other parts of the world [where there was mountains and coldness, or forests and coldness, places too warm will cause them to dehydrate fast and burn out from all the heat, some even suffer shock from the lack of cold due to the insulation the cold provides.].

They seem descended from races that historically migrated from the south and very likely have some relation to other humanoids in the area, although the distinct appearance of the Dubeeki makes this possibility unthinkable for anyone on the planet.

In times before the rise of the Ice Kingdoms, much of the mythology of the Zubeeki has the reoccurring theme of increased stability as each age came by, with the final age believed to be the age where the world will freeze once again, and order to the cosmos will be restored as will the balance of the sexes. In the early ages, intertribal warfare was endemic, and the balance was near impossible to maintain, causing mass despair. While the myths like to imagine there being once a age where the Zubeeki lived in absolute harmony- these are often seen as optimistic myths.

There is a obsession in Dubeeki culture with keeping gender ratios as equal as possible in order to assure everyone has a mate, with some tribes even going to the extremes of killing a baby born of a gender that disrupts the balance- although normally the key solution is the typical marrying off the excess of which respective sex there is too many of with another tribe that has too many of the other gender when this is possible. Often a tribe's inequality is caused by death in hunting accidents or disease, and whenever this happens after mourning the dead the first thing a tribe will often do is try to absolve their gender balance before the imbalance gets far too out of hand. These traditions still can be seen in the Kingdom of Novgrad, which has a whole institution devoted towards keeping the balance and in the taiga city-states where killing disruptive spawn is institutionalized through the mate guard.

There is known to be coastal cultures that have no regard for the balance, and live in a very fluid, but violence prone system of clans that follow family lines that make use of shields and hatchets and live off fish they fish on large rafts out in the arctic seas. Their societies are naturally, far more chaotic than the balanced societies because when one does not have a mate, they get violent. And once a mate is found, they do not part. If their mate dies, they do not look for a new one lest they break the balance for others.

Dubeeki society is not that hierarchal, with the distribution of wealth even in the long lasting, cyclic and centralized kingdom of Novgrad being simply that the lord gets to retain twice the material items like ivory tusks or massive bones from the hunt that are etched in runes for good blessings and killing the hateful thoughts that plague much of Dubeeki consciousness where they do not belong.

Despite the outward stability, Dubeeki internally are violent still, as their long history of inter-tribal warfare has shown. They are great at maintaining internal stability, but are very xenophobic except when it comes to issues that transcend mortal worries such as maintaining the balance. In spite of their maintenance of the balance and distribution of resources, from time to time there is epic explosions of war that can last decades usually caused by conflicts over the leader's choices being deemed counter to the interests of the whole by the families within a society- or at least that's the case in the forest city-states and the kingdom of Novgrad.

The Dubeeki generally aren't agricultural beyond herding animals into pits in the taiga cultures. They store food using the ice, and use fire solely to defrost the food seeing no other application of it currently. After all, they can etch runes in a stone with a sharper rock.

In terms of cultural philosophy, they believe that ice is the greatest material to ever exist. For them it's multi-functional, for it can stab beasts, make fortresses and houses, make statues and sculptures and as well preserve their past through runes in tombs of ice blocks stored within the caves where the temperature never will melt them. A well, making snow people is a common practice of adult and juvenile Zubeeki alike, with large armies of snow men silently guarding the palaces in Novgrad, armed with ice spears atop a stone fortress that is frozen over in you guessed it, ice.

While they lack metallurgy, they make up for it by using ivory tools taken from the walruses that beach up on the frozen shores- of which is made regular use by the coastal and mountain cultures. This has resulted in the most advanced societies being concentrated in the far western mountains, with the nomadic primitives distributed throughout the vast peaks beyond. Novgrad is most notable in its tradition of hunting Walruses and mammoths, a tradition that had made Novgrad a natural enemy of the coastal clans, the Novgrad having to often engage in disputes with some clan. Such disputes have become ritualistic, and anticipated by both sides.

The culture of Novgrad Dubeeki is very based in the concept of balance and cohesion, and the maintenance of both in order to keep the violent spew from breaking out. There is many long-winded fables that give antecedents on these concepts.

Whereas the coastal clans believe the internal violence must be expressed, and that the violence and war is the truly natural state of life. In doing so they developed a culture of ritual warfare and ongoing mate-based conflict. The coastal clans are notable for their use of wood technologies, and even inventing copper tools which had given them a edge in fighting the other cultures. But due to the constant infighting never has the clans ever united against Novgrad or go on a conquering spree- meanwhile the council of chiefs in Novgrad is slowly taking interest in these strange tools the coastal cultures use.

Clothing wise they don't wear much, as they don't have any concerns about temperature and clothing just makes them warmer. Clothing is usually ceremonial in nature.

Despite the lack of metallurgy, the cunning of the Zubeeki is not to be trifled with- they managed to make a civilization out of nothing but ice and stone, without agriculture, and barely with any fire. To assume the Dubeeki brutes is to throw one's self off the cliff.

Strengths: Very strong and resistant to the cold, they can take a serious beating before being cut down and are for all it is worth, surprisingly high endurance for their bulky build being capable keeping up with those running away from them- making them very dangerous to quadrupeds of which are known to tire easy. They have big hands great for gripping and pounding as well, even if they're not that precise.

Weaknesses: They don't make much use of fire, don't reproduce much and have serious pent up anger issues despite the outward purity that is typically kept by needing to make sure the gender ratio does not break 50/50 as much as possible. Oh, and they really despise temperature conditions that they see as too warm, preferring their snowy lands and peaks over the alien forests south any day.

Location:



Hope it isn't too much territory- my guys like migrating a lot and will go anywhere there's snow and mountains they can reach. So I figured after long enough they'd have a large spread, though much less intra-species cultural contact than aaron's persians do. They also aren't that densely populated to begin with outside of places like the Great Ice Kingdom of Novgrad and lesser Ice Kingdoms dotted around the western mountains who are known to have contact with the coastal clans. Most of the region I outlined consists mostly of nomadic packs of Dubeeki who have yet to master the power of ice in ways that the Ice Kingdoms have.

Kinkaz said
I'm sorry Dinh, but the description is too short. It needs to have a paragraph with the physical description with 6 sentences (although an image allows you to skip this part) and another paragraph more related to their behaviour and other stuff with 5 sentences minimum.

Done.

There's not many races so far.

This makes it hard for me to gauge the impact of other races in the area and worries me that someone will put a society that kicks the shit out of mine right by me. I mean, I guess my guys can just hide in their snow fortresses and fling ice bricks at intruders with incredible kinetic force but you never know if they'll abuse the shit out of fire arrows.

At least I can take comfort in knowing that gryphons and pegasi stay the hell away from my location lest they wanna freeze to death in the northern drafts. Just as long as no other snow races come along!

[Yes I know I put myself in close proximity to the gryphons, but they keep to themselves unlike their damn persian-like cousins in the east.]

Alien: You're accepted

Dinh: Your description is still a little bit too short (to be excact, 3 sentences short). I gotta admit, that picture is badass though.

-

About my app: I'm going to make them more carnivorous. They may eat vegetables, but not eating meat will cause them health problems.

Its probably be awhile before I get a sheet up, im still fresh out of ideas at the moment.

Kinkaz said
Dinh: Your description is still a little bit too short (to be excact, 3 sentences short). I gotta admit, that picture is badass though.

I bumped it up by at least four new paragraphs because they wouldn't be that topically related otherwise. You're gonna be that much of a stickler?

Dinh AaronMk said
I bumped it up by at least four new paragraphs because they wouldn't be that topically related otherwise. You're gonna be that much of a stickler?

You're right. I'm going to change that rule now, so accepted.

Bit of a work in progress when it comes to evolution, but everything else is pretty much done.
Name:
Globnobs

Description:
Globs are cube-like balls of a liquid generally green, red, or yellow substance, but colors can range from orange, blue, and in extremely rare circumstance clear. These cube like creatures have no mouths, hands, or legs to speak of, and can only move objects through short telepathic wave lengths that are limited purely on size (meaning the bigger they are the heavier the object they can lift). Globnobs looks will generally distort as they age making them less cube like compared to their offspring, but it allows them to better move through thin surfaces more easily (depending on their size). These creatures when full grown are on average the size of a small car, but have been known to become twice that size in extremely rare circumstances, and when they are first born they are about the size of a rabit. Though they are extremely small, and maneuverable when born globnobs will still have what is called a crasftnier, which is a small circular like object hidden within their body in order for them to be effectively maintain their shape for the first two years of infancy, so that they have plenty of time to learn how to maintain their shape without its help, but if it is destroyed or damaged the baby will at best be deformed, and at worst die.

Globs are often very cowardly, and quiet even when they are hunting their prey. When interacting with any foreign creature they don't know of they shall hide in dark corner, and wait until they are deemed dangerous. Globnobs are often reluctant to diplomacy, and are almost impossibly to communicate with due to the fact that they can not speak, but shape there physical bodies in certain ways in order to communicate, such as a globnob forming a triangle means help me, and a circle means go away. Though they may seem simple to the average sentient being, they actually have a very deep, and complex understanding of how things work, as any other species, but lack more effective ways to express it making them more isolated. Though they are often cowardly, and isolated if they are found in groups they become very dangerous, and are willing to size opportune moments for food, whether they be sentient, or animal.

Evolution: W.I.P.

Strengths:
-Able to move through small cracks, and corners
-Move objects telepathically (with range, and weight limitations depending on size)
-Reproduce Asexually
-Can't be damaged, or killed by swords, or guns
-Very quiet
-Depending on their color, and size can be very hard to see or notice

Weaknesses:
-Unable to live in the cold (will die instantly if frozen, or temperatures are, or are below 0 degrees Celsius
-Extremely vulnerable to fire
-Can't effectively communicate with other intelligent species
-Unable to use weapons such as swords, and guns
-In dry weather they are extremely slow, and sometimes can't even move

Location:

I don't think overlapping territories are that big a issue since those "territories" really just show the spread of that species.

Or at least that's how I interpreted it.

AlienBastard said
I don't think overlapping territories are that big a issue since those "territories" really just show the spread of that species.Or at least that's how I interpreted it.

I figured it was the territories that they had dominant control over rather than spread, but in that case it wouldn't be as much of a big deal

Toaw said
I figured it was the territories that they had dominant control over rather than spread, but in that case it wouldn't be as much of a big deal

This.

About the app: I know the evolution part is on the works, but I think the part they can't be harmed and moving stuff with the mind makes them too OP. I understand if they are resistant to swords and stuff, but being inmune to any damage effectively makes them too powerful in battle.

Even so, I imagine a race of what's effectively a cut of jello probably isn't something that could do anything but exist.



They probably wouldn't have a central nervous system and an unprotected brain would leave them extremely vulnerable to a lot of things actually. Though I can see some things like swords being stuck before they reach wherever.

Yeah, I agree. Although a race which is pretty much a slime would be cool, they need to have some sort of solid shape.

What of the membrane? That technically is the "solid shape", it's just very flexible like a mollusk's form is. And it's known that octopi can seep through thing cracks, which makes holding them in captivity a pain for researchers.

Though will agree that telekinesis doesn't fit in, and would open the door to all sorts of unpleasantness.

Aww I was hoping the limitations I made to telekinesis was good enough, simply because my race has no other real way to build things. It had limitations depending on the size, and they could only move things that were directly in front of them, but I understand if it doesn't fit well with you. As for battle I figured torches, and explosive substances could be the best weapon against them, but I can change that too if you wish.

I don't mind your guys being resistant to swords, just make them able to distort them (I suppose that's a way to harm them in some sort of way). In addition, I think that your guys could be able to form some sort of thing to help them build stuff (like a weak hand for instance).