plot said It was Alasenna, the high priestess of Arceus, who committed the ultimate betrayal. The age of Zygarde was drawing to a close, and the age of Arcticuno was drawing near once again, marking the beginning of yet another thousand-year circle and the dawn of a new millennium. From the viking barbarians of Johtoheim to the ninjas of Sinnohbi, from the pointy-eared-hippies of Middle Hoenn to the regal politicians of the Kalossus Empire, people put down their blades and their magic staffs and even their personal agendas for a rare window of peace and tranquility. They were preparing for the biggest celebrations this side of a thousand years. But when the clock struck midnight and the new age finally begun, the wild pokemon suddenly lost their senses and every ounce of their compassion. They baptized the dawn of the millennium in bloodshed and death, mindlessly slaughtering not only their captured companions, but also humans, and with no apparent reason for doing so. They were cursed, lost to the world except but by complicated purification processes - but each time an age passed into the reign of a different legendary, they would all be cursed again and a new wave of chaos and darkness would roll across the lands. They became known as 'shadow pokemon', due to the dark aura that psychics and aura readers could see around them.
What Alasenna the priestess had done was to thrust a blade, cursed by powerful magic, into the very hearthstone of the spear pillar, where Arceus resided. Thus, His bond to the mortal, physical world shattered like the glass it was made of, and He was bereft of much of His power and almost even bereft of His life. He escaped this realm in order to preserve his last bit of strength, doing the only thing he could do to stop Alasenna from reaching absolute power - because, if she did, she would essentially become His successor, able to re-shape the world itself according to her whims. But even so, Alasenna was immensely powerful, and immortal and un-aging. It's been nearly one hundred and fifty years since the disappearance of Arceus, and she now await the end of this new millennium where she can finally kill her former God and absorb the last bits of his might.
The age of Moltress is approaching its end and the age of Mew will begin in seven months from now. An ancient prophecy claim that saviors would have ended Alasennas reign before that date came around, but with the deadline rolling in close, no one dares to believe in legends and silly hopes that may never be realized. Instead, the regions prepare for another full-out war, readying their armies, their pokéball smiths and their purifiers, all while all the zombies, blood and death is starting to feel wearily normal. But after several lifetimes worth of strife with a foe that does not seem to be defeatable, skeptics fear this might be the last time humanity ever see a new age roll in...
Oh, but you? You know better... at least now you do. The saviors are real, and this you know because you are one of them. One night, as you slept, Arceus himself came to you in a dream and whisked you away to share with you one of his memories... a memory that you had forgotten about, long before you were even born... You are the spiritual carrier of one of the 17 elemental plates, and now, you must fight for your destiny!
Hello everyone, and welcome to Pokemon EPIC version! Pokemon EPIC will take us on a journey cheesy beyond belief, where the 17 chosen people of Arceus' elemental plates will be burdened with the fate of the world. In order to save the lands and all the good that resides in them from the curse of the High Priestess, our characters must vanquish a great evil and discover the corniness of their storyline uh I mean the great power that sleeps within them! But will it be enough to defeat Alasenna? Only time shall give an answer to that.
Basically it will be a parody of everything in High Fantasy that have been overdone a hundred times over. Just watch Rolan the Barbarian and apply the logic, and you'll be pretty close. More people have clothes here, sure, and there will be a lot less sexual innuendo, but otherwise. *shrug*
Now, just because this is a parody doesn't mean you will get away with creating characters with 'funny' where all the 'interesting' should be. You will be given a lot of freedom with character creation, including shaping local towns and cities to your liking unless they have already been mentioned and entered in the canon, so there really is no reason to create half-assed characters.
I realize there is a LOT of stuff to read here and you may feel more than free to just skim over the boring bits and pick out the parts that seem interesting, as long as you're up to date about the race you're going to play as and the region you come from. Be wary of creating over-powered characters, too - in this universe, most people are over-powered, so you're not going to sweep the floor no matter how big a sword you're rolling with.
Rules and character sheet are at the bottom of this mastodon of a intro post. I'd make it easier to navigate if I could, but I cannot get spoilers to work, so this will have to do for the time being.
Claimed plates:
Draco plate - dragon-type: ---
Dread plate - dark type: ---
Earth plate - ground type: ---
Fist plate - fighting type: Claimed by Wulfenheart
Flame plate - fire type: Claimed by Wulfenheart
Icicle plate - Ice type: ---
Insect plate - bug type: ---
Iron plate - steel type: ---
Meadow plate - grass type:
Mind plate - psychic type: ---
Pixie plate - fairy type ---
Sky plate - flying type: ---
Splash plate - water type: ---
Spooky plate - ghost type: ---
Stone plate - rock type: ---
Toxic plate - poison type: ---
Zap plate - electric type: ---
Now... Pokemon EPIC! takes place in a world based on the Pokéarth, but the different regions are based on old cultures. You may feel free to come up with a character from any region you wish and stuff in a culture not listed below if you so desire. We've got vikings, ninja-samurais and elf pirates, among others, to start off with, but if you'd rather play a character based on the Ancient Atlantis city in the sea ruins of Unova, you may feel more than free to do so. Just give me a ping with your idea first and I will look it over to make sure it fits into the map.
GEOGRAPHY
Pokemon EPIC! takes place in a world that is geographically very similar to the Pokéarth you know from the games. The different regions, cities and routes remain, but with a slight twist. You see, every region is based on a high fantasy stereotype - Kanto for example is known as Kantonia, and is filled with culture and architecture that brings the mind back to medieval Europe. Johtoheim is, you guessed it, the home of vikings and a bunch of barbarians, and you will be hard pressed to not find a street where burly dudes with loincloths and spiked arm bracers walk by. As with everything in this RP, I'll give you a lot of freedom with coming up your characters origins. The wackier, the better. Give it a read, however, because certain races are easier to find in certain regions than in others:
Kantonia
Kanto is based on medieval Europe, or perhaps better stated, based on the cheesy fantasy videogames that are based on medieval Europe but that hold true to no historical fact what so ever. Its capital, Saffron City, is still doing very well despite the zombie apocalypse and is flourishing under the arcane barriers put up by the High Magic University. Their students have traveled everywhere, contributing to the defense of cities in every region. It is in part due to the flush of people coming and going, and in part due to the fact that they are neighbors with Johtoheim, that have shaped Kantonia into a traders nation with cargo ships reaching every corner of the world.
All sorts of races are found in Kantonia.
JOHTOHEIM
The warrior/trader seafarers that live along the shores of Johto are as famous and legendary as the ruthless barbarian berserkers who make their home in Silver Mountain. Johtoheim is full of vikings, barbarians, and amazonian tribes in seemingly utterly dysfunctional chainmail bikinis. If you see a burly dude on your travels with two giant war axes and a loincloth, screaming out his battlecries at the world, there's at least an 95% chance he came from Johto. Though most of its inhabitants are completely illiterate, a surprising amount of them are great at math.
High Magic have little wiggle room here, and most of the magicians from Johtoheim practice the lower forms of magic or travel to Kantonia in order to learn what cannot be learned in their own region. The vast majority of its people are adept at handicrafts, and almost everyone, from the grandmas to the little girls, are trained in some sort of close combat. The people of Johto are a VERY hardy bunch, and it is still fairly commonplace to find little farms that have survived over a hundred years of zombie defending.
The most common races in Johtoheim are humans, morphs, and dwarves. Elves often make their way to their shores for trading and are a common sight as well, but few of them actually live there.
MIDDLE HOENN
Middle Hoenn is a blatant rip-off of the Tolkien universe. You'll find hobbits in Litteroot, elves in Fortree and dwarves in the shadows of Lavaridge, and humans and morphs somehow nestling their way in there where ever they can. It's a somewhat chaotic region, but hey, if it works...
Being home to so many races, it is also home to a large number of cultures, and Middle Hoenn is a pot of many mixed flavors.
SINNOHBI
Sinnoh/bi is home to the masters of the night! Tribes of samurai, ninjas, and samurai-ninjas have carved their legacy into history for many, many years here. They are known for their skills in stealth, agility and for their strong sense of discipline, honing many warriors that venture far away to make a name for themselves as mercenaries and shadow hunters (the most notably of whom is totally Batman).
[quote]UNOVA (which sounds fantasy-enough for all purposes I rather think.)
Unova have a strong hunter/gatherer culture, normally populated by nomadic tribes of radically different cultures, races and origins, but with the approach of the age of Mew and yet another wave of shadow pokemon most people have withdrawn back to the cities where a large amount of cultural diversity may be found as a result. As a nation, they do not specialize in anything, and though humans and pokemorphs are the most commonly found races available it is possible to find folks of all origins and walks of life here. A good part of Unova are made up of fairly tree-hugging people, so the expanding of cities have resulted in a lot of inside strife during the past hundred years, as a small number of people profit from what was once other peoples homeland. Most agree that that the only way of surviving the incoming shadow onslaught as a society, however, is to hide behind the city walls and the magical barriers put into place - even if it means that old family ties are broken and that the borders between tribes are slowly being erased with a loss of culture as a direct result. [quote]
KALOSSUS
The ancient Kalossus Empire, based on the ancient greek and roman, is yet another hotpot of cultural activity. Lumiose City, located in the center of the region, is home to a blooming culture and grand architecture with white marble statues doting almost every corner of the central. Artists, poets and actors have made this city their central point, but the freedom they have enjoyed in the past is slowly coming to a close as high-ranking politicians are deciding to focus more and more resources on the military due to the coming of the new Age and the wave of shadow pokemon it will bring with it. The peaceful people of Lumiose are replacing their white togas with brass helmets, shields and spears, as much of the population is being forcefully enrolled in the army.
Outside of Lumiose, many villages and small towns still exist, being made of wild and capable warriors able to go on par with even those from Johto. They have become scarce however, as their unwillingness to band together have taken out its toll on them over the past few waves of shadow mons. Pokemorphs are over-represented here.
RACE
EPIC! is inhabited only by humans and pokemon - but humans come in many different forms and shapes. Some have been influenced by magics that changed their appearances and abilities, and some were just inbred to a magnificent degree resulting in whatever shit you want, really. If you wish to make up your own race, you may do so - as long as you do not make it an excuse to create an overpowered character.
Here is a list of the most common races of the world:
HUMANS
Though all the races of the world are technically of human species, the 'human' human is the standard vanilla flavor we all know and love. Probably the most versatile of all the races of the world, humans do not specialize in any specific area but can master most of the obstacles they set out to conquer given enough persistence. They are the most common race in the world, and appear in large numbers on every continent.
POKÉMORPHS
Pokémorphs are people born with magical potential, that takes shape in the form of certain pokemon traits. Tails and pokemon ears are the most common, and nearly every morph out there are more human than pokemon in appearance, but they still vary greatly in appearance. Although it lies in their potential to develop their gifts, they are not born with any unusual abilities; even people with Growlithe ears must study the flow of magic in their own bodies in order to utilize the good hearing of a Growlithe, and flying will not come naturally to someone with Pidgey wings. But with study, that potential can be unlocked. Morphs who succeed in bringing out their innate abilities can be capable of superhuman feats, based on the stats of the pokemon they are merged with. Those who study enough will even be able to achieve evolution, and they are often looked upon with great respect from their unevolved comrades because of these feats. All morphs are born as the basic or baby stages of their evolutionary line.
Pokemorphs who study High Magic often specialize in special attacks rather than physical feats. They have an affinity for the arcane and can throw fireballs and stuff like that around, but are often really frail as a result of focusing only on the arcane aspect of their bodies. Morphs who study the lower levels of magic, the form commonly practiced by the people, often focus more on physical aspects of their abilities. An Arcanine morph who choose the path of High Magic could become adept at throwing fireballs around, while one focusing on low magic could develop their superhuman speed. There are middle roads, but both may not be mastered without an extreme amount of dedication and/or talent. Truly skilled practitioners are even able to change form, capable of wearing fully human and fully pokemon appearances instead of a mix of both. They are typically magicians, whether by the higher or the lower form.
All Pokémorphs can trace their origin back to Kantonia, and the students of the University of High Magic. The University itself claim that the morphs emerged from a grand experiment on the limits of the human body, but everybody else, including most morphs, say that someone back-in-them-days spiced the drinks at a student party with something REAL special. Today, morphs are a common sight all over the world and in every culture.
ELVES
Elves appear in a few different appearances, depending on their home clans and genetics. All of them are beautiful in appearance, with delicate features and ears of varying degrees of pointyness. There are no historical records of their origin, but they were the first race to utilize written languages and their empire can be recorded back for thousands of years. They are good at archery and stealth and many specialize in high magic, but are generally too frail to be any good at close combat. Elves are most common in Middle Hoenn, having their strongholds in Fortree City, Mossdeep, Lilycove, and Stoopolis. They are a people of art and music, but are equally deadly in the arts of snuffing people and are great pokemon trainers due to their inborn link with nature.
They come in many different flavors, from the snooty and arrogant high castes to the hippies who seriously over-use the word 'dude'. Elves appear in most regions, but are most common in forested areas.
[b/]DWARVES[/b]
Dwarves are a hardy bunch native to Middle Hoenn, but who are also a common sight in Johtoheim where they are highly appreciated for their blacksmithing skills. Dwarves are incredibly adept at metal crafts and very stingy with sharing their secrets of their trade to outsiders. They have profited greatly from mining over the years, but lately they have been divided into two castes where the lower cast toll away in the mines and the higher cast reaping the benefits of the trade. Theya re great at hand to hand combat, but clumsy in ranged combat and have almost no magical abilities.
THE DROW
The drow are not actually a race, but people from all walks of life who seem to have been affected with the Shadow Curse somehow. The curse do not manifest in the same way as they do in pokemon, as drows are not mindless beasts; rather, they are a cunning bunch, greatly skilled in dark magic. They come in all shades of serious-to-jolly but display less than stellar morals. Drows will go to great lengths to keep their words, and are heavily tormented by their own consciences over their own broken oaths (and that's pretty much the only thing their consciences are there for, mind you). Therefore, getting them to swear an oath in the first place is tricky business and you better have a lawyer around for it just to be on the safe side, because they tend to trick people with word plays if given the chance.
On the whole, they are rather elusive, at least when they're not causing trouble somewhere. There are a few groups who get along really well with the rowdier folks up in Johtoheim, and they are on neutral ground with the dwarves and tend to leave them alone, but mostly they're just a major menace where ever they appear. Thankfully for everybody else, they are few and far in between, which have just supported the myth that they are the lackeys of Alasenna. While they did appear a hundred and fifty years ago, an unexpected side-effect of the curse, most of them could not care less about what that priestess is even up to. Some of them run her errands, undoubtedly, and the careful drow will not send shadow pokemon into a rage just by existing, either. But on a whole, it is a myth blown out of proportion. Drow communities are usually nomadic and have spread all over the world, preferring caves and nighttime over the daylight.
MAGIC
Magic deserves a mention. What's a high fantasy universe without one, eh? Now, magic in this world is essentially life force, and whatever gives pokemon powers, and as such most of the magical abilities people can take on are based on or similar to attacks, abilities and types with exception of some of the more powerful spells out there. High magic is essentially 'special' moves such as flamethrower, or stat boosting moves such as barrier. Folk magic, also known as low magic, is based on physical moves and abilities. If your morph character is born with wings, they better study this, and study of it will allow morphs to use their innate physical abilities and take on the traits of their pokemon counterpart.
It is not free of risk, however, as magic is different from mere PP. A mage use their own life force to power their moves - harmless if it is done sensibly, but potentially very dangerous if overused or if a mistake is made while using powerful magic. Both high magic and folk magic is used for purifying shadow pokemon, a ritual that requires the shadow to be captured by a pokeball before it can be carried out.
There are two forms of magic.
HIGH MAGIC - Think Gandalf. Many practitioners wear long robes and funny pointed hats, and walking staffs are commonplace as a tool for channeling magic. Simple spells like creating light or healing a small wound need no chanting, but more powerful ones that can cause real damage do. A skilled mage will always be able to use Ember without saying a word, but need to shout out Flamethrower. The attacks of a mage is always weaker than the attacks of a pokemon, but that only applies to moves that a pokemon can use - spells that weave together many different chants can become incredibly powerful, but also carry great risk to the user should failure be the outcome. It is very rare for mages to reach that level, however, and it is simply not practical in battle to carry out chants that are almost half-an-hour long and that might kill you if you mis-pronounce some weird latin word.
FOLK MAGIC - Also known as 'low magic', folk magic is easier to learn but is less powerful. It is still immensely useful, however, if used correctly. Pokémorphs are the ones who have the most advantage of studying folk magic, as they can master the abilities of the pokemon they are fused with this way, including flight to name one example. But other races can benefit from this too, either by drawing upon the power of a pokemon or by using their imagination a bit. Studying involves a lot of meditation to identify the flows of magic throughout the body, and strengthening that flow through focus. Hence the flow of magic does not actually leave the body like it does when a High magician use an elemental attack - rather it stays in the body, or in weapons and objects the user touches, and allows the user to accomplish superhuman feats of strength, speed, and healing. It is also used in many religions, as blessings of the departed or welcoming of newborns. Many forms of Shamanic magic exist within this bracket.
Any questions? Ask them! Now, before we get down our elbows in the dirt and begin the character creation, you have to read the rules. Yes, I know this post is very mess and yes, I am aware it would be a lot easier to navigate if I could just get spoiler boxes to work, but since I can't, we're just gonna have to live with it. There's a password in there somewhere, so don't skip this part!
RULES
1. Swear to help make this the biggest fucking parody since Monthy Python first trolled the world.
2. Be polite to one another. Your characters can have as much feuding as you want, but you're all in here to have fun and I will not tolerate anyone ruining that for anybody else simply due to inside drama.
3. The password is 'Skitty on Waillord'
4. Please use decent grammar and do not post one-liners. This RP is aimed at casual/high casual.
5. I lied. The actual password is 'Wailord used Body slam'. Put it somewhere in your application.
7. Standard RP rules apply; do not godmod, kill other player characters, or act out of line.
8. You may have up to two characters, not counting pokemon.
Character form:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Plate-type:
Appearance:
Bio: [Blurb of personality and backstory.]
Weapons/magic: [Bear in mind that while pokémorphs usually are the most powerful mages in a party, they are not as diverse as human or elf mages, because morphs tend to specialize on their specific type. In a fight between characters with fighting skills, it is creativity and writing that decides the outcome, not whether they went with fireballs or with the katana.]
Pokemon party: [You may have up to three pokemon for now, and only one that is fully evolved(not counting pokemon who does not evolve, such as Zangoose or Seviper. Jynx and her likes, who gained a prevo in a later game, also does not count as fully evolved and you may have those in your party without restrictions).]
Nickname: [If any.]
Species:
Attacks: [Hell yeah, four attack clause applies! Feel free to use egg and TM moves.]
Bio: [Anything you wish to add about the pokemons personality and backstory.]
My own character sheet will come soonish.
