Elinor. Fair and beautiful she lies upon the banks of mighty Elebrant. Kingdom of legend. Kingdom of despair.

It is the Fourth Age and all things that have put forth life are now in peril. A Wizard-King rules in the cold North, and his heart is blacker than the night. Themunil, he was called of old, and men praised his justice and fairness. Stern and proud he sat on the Throne of Clouds, ruling over men and beasts. Upon his fair head sat the Elder Diadem and he held the White Scepter of Elinor in his unwavering hand.

Nearly a century ago, a darkness rose in the smoking mountains of Durbatur, near the roof of the world in the very far north. In the beginning, rumours spoke of a nameless menace turning snow into ash. Then, they had a name for it. Tamas, they called it - the Black Wind. It was a formless, brainless evil - seeping out from the very cracks of Creation. Mindless, it moved across the land, scorching air and earth alike, devouring life and turning everything into putrid ash and darkness as it spread.

Mighty Themunil rode out to meet the foe, and was met by misshapen creatures twisted by the mindlessness of Tamas. They were men, but twisted and turned beyond recognition into bestial fighters as mindless as the power that birthed them. The men called them Grulms and slayed them by the thousands. In the end, Themunil rode into the very Pit of Darkness with his seven faithful guards to face the faceless. The power of darkness fought with the might of light. For 18 days the duel raged while his seven guards formed a circle around him. At the end of it, Themunil seemed to have sealed the rent and denied the Dark Power entry into the world of men.

But so spent was he and his brethren that they lay there in the darkness, untouched by time or thought. Outside, the people grieved for their heroic king, sang his praise and returned to their homes. Themunil, to them, had passed on to legend. But within, the King and his men were trapped in an eternal slumber - the final counterstroke of the Darkness.

Now, long after memory has faded into myth, the king awakens. There in that boundless void, when all light left him, he had strayed too far and touched the very thing he had fought. At that moment, the mindless power had flowed into him, replacing the pulse of life with the beat of darkness. The mindless darkness now had a mind and a form. A terrible mind and a powerful form.

Now he reemerges as Gengorid - the King of the Night. Fair Elinor - that mighty kingdom which he once ruled and which forgot him - lies in his path and in his mind. For the world to kneel under his feet in eternal night, Elinor must fall and never rise again.

But hidden deep in the scroll room of the Hall of the Sun is a promise of hope. A few lines of prophecy speak of a hope in the coming darkness. But can these simple words point the path to victory against the coming darkness? Who shall stand against the march of the Wizard-King and his Dreadlords? Who shall lead the people from the eternal night into a new dawn?





The Ancients believed that our entire continent was raised from the ocean by the Divine Mother in her deep sleep. The cultists of later times thought that we were inhabiting a giant turtle swimming in a great ocean. These days, people don't really worry about our origins. In fact, people don't much care for knowledge these days.

To put down the entire history of these lands will require a nimbler mind than mine. But sadly, unlike the men of old, I am not of strong will or mental acumen. And I am all you have to tell the tale.

Let me, therefore, begin my story from a familiar place - the Yung Riban. It is a phrase from the Old Tongue that men speak not in these dark days, and it means the Age of Rebirth. Or, the Period of Awakening depending on your translator. We count our years from this seminal period in our history. We are in 1233 YR - 1233 years after the awakening. Or so it goes.

The Awakening was a period of great upheaval in the Sinjarin Empire - that mighty behemoth that ruled all the lands with an iron fist for hundreds of years. The Sinjars were descendants of a fairer and taller race of men, and they ruled over the lesser men of the plains using an ancient magic that they called the Somar. They treasured the knowledge that gave them a mighty advantage and an equally mighty sense of entitlement. While there may have been truly god-like kings in the distant past, by the time of the Awakening they were a proud and haughty race, isolated, inbred and indulgent. While their race died out with their refusal to marry outside their clan, their knowledge slowly seeped out of their grasp and reached others. The men of the plains would not allow their oppression to continue.

For ten years the Empire remained in a state of upheaval, with bloody civil wars and peasant revolts bringing the might of the Sinjars crumbling down. As they disintegrated, other kingdoms arose. The magic of the Sinjars was little understood and quickly suppressed lest a similar history befall the peoples. The ones who practiced those arcane arts were cast down from society, held down as symbols of sinister oppression and grim reminders of a bloody past. Somarin they were no more. Narbin, they were called. Honourless.



Today, three kingdoms stand now where the Empire once stood. Elinor, Carmalan and Chiron. Of these, Elinor is by far the most powerful and rich. Its lands are watered by the plentiful Elebrant, or the White River as it is called in the Common Tongue these days. The tall peaks of Palantir break the harsh cold winds blowing in from the frigid plains of the north, making for very comfortable climes.

While the Sinjars were hated in their time and cast down as oppressors, it is an irony of fate that monarchs gain legitimacy by claiming Sinjar blood in their veins. But nowhere is this claim truer than in Elinor. The royal line of Elinor was founded by El'al'Bargond I who some people claim was born of an illegal union between a Sinjar noble and a peasant. But no proof is necessary when one looks upon the fair visages of the kings and queens of Elinor.

Of their greatest king Themunil, enough has already been said. Not many today realize that the darkness waiting to pounce on them is actually their old king come back. When Themunil was left for dead in the Pit of Darkness, the line of Bargond ended. And with that ended the remnant of Sinjar blood on the royal throne.

Currently, Elinor is ruled by Queen Teluvil. Due to the untimely death of her father, she became the youngest monarch in Elinoran history at the age of 21. While she has had to make many compromises to consolidate her shaky rule, she is now considered by many as a strong-willed queen who has come into her own.

The Elinorans are fair-skinned, with a heavy build and light-colored hair with usually grey eyes. Their capital city is the beautiful Anora, straddling the Elebrant. By and large, Elinorans are simple farmers, shepherds and blacksmiths and are not given to much philosophizing, unlike their eastern neighbours.



Carmalan is an older kingdom and was one of the first to emerge from the chaos of the rebirth. For much of its history, Carmalan has been plagued by one revolt after another but somehow it seems to survive.

The ruling class of Carmalan is quite reminiscent of the Sinjars in their indulgence and in their beliefs. The Carmalanese nobles are known for their extravagant attires and ridiculously shaped beards.

Carmalan grows the most grain in the world, but frequent rebellions and droughts have made it impossible to maintain a steady trade, thus robbing them of their much needed gold.



Chiron is a union of three kingdoms that existed in the dry Pameer region of the west. Owing to strong familial ties among the ruling dynasties and cultural similarities among the peoples, the Union was achieved without bloodshed.

The Chironi lands are hard and rugged and dotted with hills. Much of the economy depends on the iron and silver mines in the north and Chironi steel is known across the world as the best steel.

The Chironi are the only people who have dealings with Dunmen of the south. Regular sea trade is carried out between the two peninsulas.



Though not officially part of the Sinjarin Empire, the Dunmen of old paid tribute to the Emperor and recognized his overlordship in return for autonomy. When the Empire fell, the Dunmen immediately invaded the borders and extended their borders before proclaiming independence.

50 years ago, with the death of King Akir, the Dunland kingdom was split into two and ruled by his two sons, Nakur and Semma. These two are the Dundar and the Dunras, separated by the Pirash Strait. While intended to work like two arms of the same body, frequent frictions erupt between the two kingdoms.

The Dunmen are bronze-skinned and dark-haired and are known throughout the lands as fierce warriors. The grasslands in northern Dundar are prime breeding grounds of the best horses and these are Dundar’s chief export. Dun horses are valued for their speed and their beauty while Chironi horses are known for their sturdiness.



The word ‘somar’ can be loosely translated to ‘sweet word’ or ‘divine speech’. The Sinjars of old used it in an abstract sense to define the First Cause – the seed of life.

A Somarin is one who is able to hear this sweet word and use it to make new words. The phrases he evokes are called som, or spells. Each spell performs a specific task, such as producing a spout of fire or binding someone with invisible cords of air. By and large, the soms manipulated the four elements. But some harder soms affect a person’s mind as well.

During the time of the Sinjars, the Somarin were revered and held in close counsel by the lords. Their sense of racial purity did not extend to the Somarin who were always considered outside society.

When the Empire fell, the Somarin found themselves branded as accomplices. Many Somarin circles were disbanded and they either went into hiding or rejoined the new nobles under different guises. After the Great Narbin Hunt of 985, the surviving Somarin were forced to bind all soms to a vow. The vow was to never hurt a living thing. Since that time, antagonism towards the Somarin has greatly reduced. The queen of Elinor now has a Somarin advisor openly in her council, and this has caused no small amount of fear and anger among her neighbours.



In the mountain-citadel of Dorun in the kingdom of Elinor sits the Hall of the Sun – a splendid monument to the sun built by the Sinjars thousands of years ago. Deep within this hall lies the scroll room which is only ever opened when the ruler comes visiting.

This scroll room houses the most remarkable text written by men – the Sol Oklanis, known in the Common Tongue as the Prophecies of the Sun. This is a collection of things that will come to be or that have come to pass, written years before they were realized. The authorship and the validity of this text is ever under doubt and many learned scholars have poured over it in secret, trying to understand it.

In light of recent events, one set of verses come readily to mind:

Here comes the night with an open mouth;
Here come the riders charging from the south;
Here lies the passage of corpses;
Here come the thundering horses.
The dead sword will awaken; the fell bow will sing;
The third morning will darken; the blood bells will ring.
Seven for seven; Light for Dark;
The drums are rolling. Stand and hark!

While translations have varied, the interpretations have not. All scholars agree that these verses speak of an impending doom from the north. The memory of the Black Wind is still strong in the minds of men, and they realize that the eternal night will rise in the north.

There is no consensus on the meaning of individual lines. The reference to the number seven is clear, however. Seven is the number of dreadlords under the command of the Lord of the Night. Thus the phrase ‘Seven for seven’ is seen as a battle of seven against seven. But who these ‘good’ seven are, no one can tell.



The RP begins in the capital of Elinor – Anora. It is a beautiful city of endless towers and canals arching over the Elebrant. The city was built during the the times of the Sinjars when men accomplished great things.

No matter who you choose to play, the character must be in Anora at the beginning of the RP. Thus, your character history must lead up to the day the RP starts.

Character Sheet format
Name
Age
Gender
Physical Description (No pictures)
Personal history
Character traits (preferably as single-word adjectives such as ill-tempered, chivalrous etc.)
Skills
Note: If you wish to be a Somarin, please indicate that in the last line of your CS along with the level you want to start at. (1 – Beginner, 10 – God-like)

Please post your CS in the OOC section here. If and when approved, you can repost it in the Characters section.

@MacabreFox Wonderful character. I wanted to use the first few CS as evil stomping grounds, but I could find no faults with yours. You understood the culture very well (a little too well) and I like your naming conventions though I would like to see less RL and more fantasy to go with the theme. Be that as it may, Zahira is accepted. Feel free to add to the culture of the Dun. If you are feeling inspired enough to write about the culture or cuisine of Dun, the dressing styles, the history et al, I will only be too happy to add it to the main section.

Welcome!

@Incanus Hooray! And thank you, well I did read all of what you wrote. I think I definitely can write in some culture history to go with it, there is a lot that I didn't add in to Zahira's journey, but I see potential there to add in some things she experienced on her journey, such as maybe an encounter with a Somarin. If I write anything further on the Dun, I'll pm it to you (:

@MacabreFox Great! Very soon a call will go out in Anora - to all able-bodied men. 'Men', because, like most medieval societies, the Elinorans are patriarchal and don't like to have women fighting. It will be interesting to see how ambitious and adventure-seeking Zahira will react to that.

@Incanus Very strongly, without a doubt haha! It'll be an interesting post when the time comes.

Very interested, is there any particular names for the west area of Elinor, like minor towns or cities etc. I ask because I was going to make my character from the west (near the coastline) so I could include what I had already worked out in the character sheet. Also, are all the people in the world human?

From the map, its empty, so I would presume so you could. Unless Incanus has some use for that land. And it would also seem that humans are the main race too. I don't see any mention of elves.

Nope just humans from the text above.

@fantasyfan28 The area to the west of Elinor... Let me see. It is said that those are part of the realm of Elinor, but it has been generations since the villages there have seen a tax collector or a messenger from the Queen. They are completely autonomous and self-sufficient to a degree. The land is largely hilly, with green pastures and cool summers. The sea freezes over during the winter months near the north, and seafaring has never been Elinor's tradition. As @MacabreFox rightly guessed it, I don't have specific plans for that region as of now. You are free to create a village (might I suggest something built along the lines of the English countryside?), and maybe even a town (though I wouldn't recommend it now). I would imagine the dominant profession would be sheep rearing. Or perhaps a wheat-based economy? Considering the topography, I would suggest the former. Waiting to see what you make of this world.

Fantastic. I will have to rethink my character slightly but overall it should be easily done. Being from a village in England myself I will use what I know. (Most people will know eachother by sight etc etc). Would it be alright if I had a former Knight of the Kingdom/Queendom of Elinor retire to the (as yet unamed) village and he would be the mayor (of sorts), it would be his son who would be the character I played as but just wanted to know how much I was allowed before I posted it all and then had to make a lot of changes.

I wasnt planning on going over the top but having a militia unit in the village would be how my character would be trained in the ways I was working out.

CHARACTER:
Name: Walter
Age: Late 30's
Gender: Male
Physical Description (No pictures): Quite muscular, but short. His hair is starting to thin and his beard is flecked with grey. He lost several fingers on his left hand in a war.
Personal history: Originally a soldier to earn some coin, he left the army when his brother died. He went back to his home country of Chiron to become a blacksmith. He has two sisters who live in Elinor, and he quite often sends letters to them and his nephews.
Character traits (preferably as single-word adjectives such as ill-tempered, chivalrous etc.): Rough, proud (to the point of arrogance), with an idea of justice.
Skills:
Smithing
Archery (minor)
Sword and Shield
Maul
Heavy Armour

(I made these up, didn't see a skill reference)

Is this good? Should it be longer? I'm honestly not quite sure, this is my first advanced (and in fact any) RP here!

For advanced, I would reccomend at least 5-10 paragraphs in your CS.

..SNIP..
Is this good? Should it be longer? I'm honestly not quite sure, this is my first advanced (and in fact any) RP here!

@RPforthatPR Generally, in the advanced section, we look for more depth of character. We need to know what kind of a person Walter is. He has lived for more than 30 years, was a soldier-of-fortune and traveled wide. Surely such a person will have a tale to tell! How was he as a soldier? Did he like money more than he liked loyalty? What about his brother? How did he die? Why did that make him take such an early retirement? How is he making ends meet now that he is not fighting for money anymore?

Basically, I want to know what kind of a person he is, by reading his history. Not just the single-word adjectives like short-tempered. They are merely guides and pointers for later skimming. If you looked at @MacabreFox's CS, you will see that Zahira (the character) is a headstrong woman with an aggressive streak and who has an independent bent of mind. I can, for instance, predict how Zahira will react in a particular situation. And when I notice discrepancies, I can immediately, as GM, warn the respective player that they are not sticking to character.

So take your time. There doesn't seem to be any hurry from anyone else in getting this going. Flesh out your character. Find out what Walter likes and dislikes; what he fears the most etc. Nobody's perfect, so even your characters should not be. Show me some shades of grey and you won't regret it. Above all, give more life to Walter.

And while we're on the subject, try not to make your character's names obviously RL. Some naming conventions:

Elinor - English-sounding names, but use your imagination to give them a twist. Martin can become Matin. Peter can become Paitar. You get the idea.

Carmalan - Similar to Elinoran but their names are softer on the tongue.

Chiron - Very hispanic/mediterranean in its flavor. Try stuff that sounds like Pedro, Felunti etc

The Dun - As is now evident, the Dun have arabic flavor in their names, with a lot of Zs and Hs. A twist on any islamic name will work. But, as I said, try to get that twist in and keep it fantasy.

Fair enough, I'll write a bit more. Mostly on the other roleplays I've been on on other forums, even the advanced ones (was playing on a forum with authors, so pretty bloody advanced) mostly had small CS's. I'll try writing all I can! I understand how it will help others write, it actually makes much more sense.

Name: Crale Serventus
Age: 24
Gender: Male

Physical description: Crale stands at 6 feet in height, he is of medium build with well defined muscles due to his lifetime of training and performing many labours for the other villagers. He inherited his rugged looks from his father and also has the man's strong jawline and dark hair. A neatly trimmed goatee and mustache adorn his face and his hair is almost always unkempt or windswept. Crale's eyes are a deep green, his mother's eyes. He is considered quite handsome by most of the maidens in his village although none of them would ever dream of approaching him. A small crescent shaped scar mars his lower lip, the result of not reacting fast enough to a sword thrust.

Personal history: Living in the village of Andor, a small but vibrant place laying along the western edge of Elinor, where his father is the Mayor. Crale grew up amongst simple folk, fishermen, herdsmen, tanners and farmers. He was however, a man of noble birth, Gregor Serventus, Crale's father, was a former Knight of the crown, he had retired to Andor after a hunting accident had left him blind in one eye and needing the use of a cane to walk with. Crale had a very intense upbringing, he was educated by both his mother and father in history, learning to read and write, which quite a number of villagers did not know how to do. He was instructed in herbology by his mother's handmaiden. Gregor not only oversaw his only son's education but also saw too it that the boy was trained in the arts of weaponry and horseplay. Crale was a natural, almost any weapon he picked up he was a natural with, he favoured the sword and shield, the armaments of the old Knights. His horse riding was by no means superb, but he made do.
The only downside to Crale's childhood was the fact that he was almost always alone, his father was very strict and somewhat of an elitist. He believed that Crale should not mingle with the "commoners", something that Crale hated, it was one of the only things they could never agree on. Crale would often help fishermen, farmers and the tanners with their everyday labours, something else that did not sit right with Gregor.
He would often go on hunting trips with some of the more adventurous youths, he even came up with the idea of a militia of sorts so that the villagers had some protection from roving animals or the occasional bandit. His father seemed to be happy with this as he was once again called into action to oversee the training. All in all it was an almost ideallic life, until his father began to hear rumours from the north.

Character traits: Charming, easy-going, honorable, loyal but inexperienced in real combat. Some would say that he is Naive because of his youth and somewhat sheltered life.

Skills:

Highly trained in the use of his longsword and shield, wielding both from an early age.
Competent archer and hand to hand combatant.
Decent fisherman.
Has limited training in field medicine (can apply basic ministrations such as bandaging wounds)
Trained in herbal lore by his mother's handmaiden, is able to identify which herbs are safe to use as poultices or salves to coat wounds.

I have not written down what languages Crale can speak other than his native tongue because I was unsure if there was actually any difference in languages to begin with. I can easily take it out if that is the case and add something else instead.

@fantasyfan28 Your CS is nearly there, but I have a few observations.

1. You never said which realm Andor belongs to. Going by the names and the general feel, I am going to assume Elinor. Do mention it somewhere in your post.

2. You mentioned easy-going as a character trait. But I don't see how someone overzealous and stubborn can be easy-going. Add to that being honorable and you will have a person who cannot stand his morals/judgement/methods being questioned. You might want to reconsider that.

3. When you say 'not completely trained in herblore', what do you mean? What are his limits? Can you give some instances, such as "He can find herbs to put a salve on minor wounds but cannot handle anything more than a nick" etc?

4. With regards to languages, my fault I haven't mentioned it in the main OOC post. I should say that the fair-skinned northerners (the Elinorans, the Carmalans and the Chironi) speak the same language, though the Chironi have dialect/accent differences. The Dunmen speak a different language, but the northern language (called the Common Tongue) is known by almost everyone. So, my point is, language is not going to be a barrier in this world and thus not an exceptional skill. If you guys feel otherwise, I am willing to reconsider of course!

Edited my post. Hopefully I have addressed the issues you mentioned. I have also changed the languages to herbology because of your explanation regarding the languages of the world.

Are applications still open? Because if so, I'd like to try my hand. Do feel free to be as brutal as you want while looking over my character sheet - I have a soft spot in my heart for constructive criticism.

@fantasyfan28 Excellent! You are accepted! Please copy the CS over to the Characters section. A word of caution: do take care of your punctuation and formatting.

@clericbeast I thought people like you were mythical! :) Of course applications are open. We have barely started. I haven't put down my own CS yet. Currently we have only two accepted characters. Considering my own writing style and the other RPers here, I would say we are in for a long haul. So no pressure to hurry up with your post or anything. Take your time, write up a storm, and brace for the feedback.

@Incanus

Considering I'd deem my grasp on the various areas' cultures shaky at best (through no fault of yours, mind you; I've been sick for the past day or two), wuld it be all right if I made a "mutt" sort of character who doesn't care for things like backgrounds?