Thirty years ago, a great war erupted between the many races on planet Asteria. A bloody battle on both sides that was dragged out for a few years before an almost immediate peace happened overnight. The cause was a massive blast of black magical energy from the north. A necromancer who refers to herself as Lady Vivian unleashed a primal and forbidden magic that ripped the magic from all beings over almost the entire continent to power a curse of monumental proportions. Those with low magical abilities would lose their magic completely and become cursed by the lingering magic, others would find the magic had very jarring side effects. To make things worse, the power was used to raise a massive army of undead, enough to threaten all of civilization with seemingly every intent to destroy it. From this day on, every body would raise as undead within 48 hours.

Thirty years later, the truce remains and a valiant effort of all races has pushed back the undead to a more manageable state, the heaviest undead activity now in the north. 2 Cities have fallen (North of course) and have been converted into massive undead fortresses. Most races now live together in guarded settlements in an uneasy peace.

---

Stronger races, such as dragons have been hit hard. Being heavily magical, their very form has been sapped, shrinking the largest of dragons down to the size of a horse and greatly weakening them. In order to survive now, they must depend on other races. The are however one of the few races left with any real magical abilities, however culture and once powerful forms never gave their race much experience in war tactics or working together against foes. Also, as a race, dragons have never really had the population to fight an army at their new size. However, they still retain their natural armor-like scales, natural fire breath (Very effective against undead I will add), and have a moderate amount of magical ability left.

Humans are in a rather interesting state. Being able to take a dragon in a one on one fight is quite nice, but they now have to live without magic. Fortunately, their large numbers, standing army, and tactical war knowledge have allowed them to keep their cities under control while many other races have been forced to become refugees in them. Humans are well know for being very adaptable and inventive, so of course without magic and all these races to pull knowledge from their whole civilization has been advancing quite quickly. Powerful new weaponry for combating undead has already been developed. With a magical races help these can also be enchanted. Experimental firearms that use black powder are also starting to make rare appearances on the field.

Since it's 30 years, there are still many war veterans that don't exactly get along with eachother, but there's also a generation from each race that has been born and raised in the mixed society.

Plot:
Characters will be a member of a magic research squad, a mix of races hired to assist in research for new methods of circumventing the curse’s anti-magic properties. Due to a couple unfortunate explosions all further tests are to be performed outside the protected walls of civilization. Both the circle of mages and the government are deeply interested though and of course have sent members of their circles.

PEACH
Please examine and critique honestly

Only way i could see tieflings retaining their fire abilities is if the source of their magic was the actual demon (who i would consider to have demigod status). The curse not only drains races of their abilities but also drains spells as their being cast. Effectively you have to put in 3-4 times the amount of magic for most spells.

Now if you're saying tiefling are working off borrowed magic from the demon, you could say the demon has more than enough power to spare, thus can easily spare enough magic to overload the 'simple' spells tieflings are using.

CS in progress.

Only way i could see tieflings retaining their fire abilities is if the source of their magic was the actual demon (who i would consider to have demigod status). The curse not only drains races of their abilities but also drains spells as their being cast. Effectively you have to put in 3-4 times the amount of magic for most spells.

Now if you're saying tiefling are working off borrowed magic from the demon, you could say the demon has more than enough power to spare, thus can easily spare enough magic to overload the 'simple' spells tieflings are using.

IF you are willing to that, then yes that is exactly the approach I was working with.

Bit of a concept for a faction:

Order of Katheris:

Most demons would probably make pacts for souls and such, keeping themselves away from this now cursed mortal plane, but a few demons would rather control their subjects directly. By binding themselves to the mortal plane, they can control the functions of those they make pacts with to an extent. Through this, the demon is susceptible to the curse, but is able to act on their own wim, while only partially relying on a puppet. The demon becomes bound as an artifact of some sort, and is kept on the person of the one who the pact was made with.

These demons brought their power together under the demon Katheris, who sent many into other factions to seize power, and to help destroy Vivian and take the world for Katheris. These possessed underlings of Katheris are not easily spotted, since they do easily blend in with others.

First off, I'm still new to role playing and this forum, so sorry for dumb questions :(

@Aurus, do you want us to put our characters in here for you to approve before putting under Characters?
If I'm playing a dragon, would I even have any equipment? Do dragons have opposable thumbs?
What physical/magical abilities would a dragon have, and what would I be allowed to do? Definitely won't make an OP character, but I would like to know what power range is possible.

Oh hi. I forgot about this. I'll see to generating an undead.

You may post characters directly into the characters section and update them with edits if necessary. Also I will take suggestions to renaming the other factions if you are better with coming up with faction names than me. xD

@knighthawk
Tieflings should be fine then. I'll treat their magic like clerics and paladins.

@VarionusNW
Faction is fine, will add it to faction list.

@Tricheus
Dragons are a little more susceptible to weaponry, but still have very durable scales (Armor won't really be necessary). The can still cast low-medium level spells naturally (round fireball level). Breath weaponry is weaker but still existent. No thumbs, but living around civilization for 30 years has given them access to customized equipment (Tail spikes, equipment pouches, even armor if they actually feel they need it). Size is around a pickup truck at maximum for older dragons, while youthful 'new generation' dragons would be around the size of a bear.

Very interested in joining this. I'll start thinking of a character.

Name: Anu'din

Race: Majin - A race of magical machines that have sentient thought and emotions.

Appearance: A cursory glance shows that Anu'din is a machine, though he bears a heavy resemblance to a well built human male. He is 7 feet tall, and brass mixed with an unknown alloy covers most of his body in the form of heavy armor plating. The few places where the armor doesn't cover to allow mobility, one can see servos, gears, pistons, and other minutiae powering Anu'din. The machinery underneath is a dark grey. His left arm has a condensed shield attached to it that can unlock and form into a shield that can cover half of Anu'din's body. His right arm is blocky, seeming to be able to transform. He carries a sword on his hip. His face is a golden brass replica of a man's face, though when he speaks the mouth does not move. His eyes glow, almost seeming to burn, a bright yellow. A few dents riddle his body, evidence of battles prior.

Equipment: A highly enhanced, extremely durable sword and shield - though with no innate abilities of their own, except for the shield to collapse for travel. Anu'din's right arm transforms into a high pressure cannon of sorts, that can transform scrap metal into either small bolts or, given time, molten metal. Wears gloves that glow a slight blue, that can mitigate most non-magical forms of attack.

Abilities (Physical / Magical):

No magical abilities to speak of. Can fire bolts of metal from his arm, or molten metal if given time. Very knowledgeable about sword fighting, fencing, brawling, and grappling his foes. If given the opportunity, Anu'din likes to wrest an enemy's mundane weapon out of their hands, his enchanted gloves protecting him from most of the harm of doing so. Can compress his machinery, shrinking in size to about five and a half feet. Loses a great deal of mobility in doing so, but becomes nearly impossible to move, knock over, or generally strike down. Very lithe for his size, and very, very durable.

Curse Effects: Majin are normally able to regenerate their bodies by consuming metal and resting. Following the curse, their innate magic has been taken, and they can no longer regenerate as they once did. Though extremely durable, and capable of functioning with minimal rest and metal, the Majin cannot live forever. One day, they will take too much damage in battle and simply fall apart.

Affiliation: The Arcane Eye. Anu'din wishes nothing more than for his race to survive, as rare as they are. He helps the Arcane Eye, serving as a guard, a high risk laborer, and mathematician/logician.

Personality: An amiable fellow, but not one to express much emotion or trivial thoughts. He often speaks his mind in a clear, concise manner, and rationality is simply a part of who he is. Loyal to those he follows, his allies, and the few he can call friend.

(Hopefully this is a good character? Sorry I changed my mind on the character I thought of. If anything needs to be changed or edited, feel free to say so.)

I'll accept both, but please post character sheets into the character section.

@xCRAZYxFACEx
Kind of a weird character for a fantasy setting, but since he's not really much more than a fancy metal golem it's fine.

IC shall be in 3-4 days probably. Stragglers should be able to slide in without much of a problem once started

Just posted a character. Please take a look and let me know if things need changing.

I'm currently working on my character. Almost done.

I think I might be getting more interested than I would prefer to be. Bah! Character is coming!

@xCRAZYxFACEx: I am making a human mage from the Arcane Eye who specialises in knowledge of constructs. Would you mind if our characters knew each other?

@Aurus
Completely missed the character section before, so I've posted the character sheet there now.

@Muttonhawk
Sure!

Posted my character.

All the characters look good so far.

Just a general reminder, belonging to a faction isn't necessary, not that I'll complain if everyone is from a faction, might cause some interesting drama.

Alright Aurus, how's this? If there's anything you want altered, let me know.

Name: Sebastian Mercusa, academic mage.

Race: Human

Appearance:



Equipment:
- An enchanted crossbow*
- A quiver of bolts
- A steel mace
- A dagger
- A backpack and a number of belt pouches full of research notes, fine mechanical tools, and a few camping tools

* Enchanted to disrupt energies sustaining undead creatures upon hitting them with bolts. Drops weak undead in one shot. Strong fresh corpses might take an extra one or two. Several to many are required to destroy anything more powerful. Risen dragons or equivalent enemies hit by Seb's bolts will only succeed in angering them.

Abilities (Physical / Magical):
- A decent shot with a crossbow.
- A deep understanding and control of magic, specialising in unlife and automatons of various forms.
- A mind for the mechanical.
- Rudimentary understanding of alchemy. He knows a few simple recipes.
- Stealthy, quick, and perceptive.

Curse Effects:
Before the curse, Sebastian's talent with magic made him a respected member of the academic community. He could cast a slew of simpler spells for convenience and self-defence, but his true power laid with giving life to constructs, some more ethical than others. Golems and homunculi made up most of his work, but he occasionally delved into reanimation of corpses.

When one night all of his creations collapsed onto the floor in pieces, one by one, he thought that his colleagues had found out about his secret experiments with necromancy and how the field overlapped with his own automatons. He came upon equal surprise, shock, and relief when he found out that it was the curse that was supressing his magic.

The curse has forced him to take up new, more physical skills in lieu of his previous talents.

Affiliation:
The Arcane Eye. Being one of the few minds with an understanding of magic, including necromancy, while still being young enough to fight has placed a responsibility on Sebastian's shoulders to find the source of this necromancer's curse and put an end to it. The Arcane Eye had decided to offer him a pardon for his necromantic experiments if he assisted them well enough.

In previous years, Seb had a collegiate relationship with the majin, Anu'din. With Anu'din's permission, Seb had studied the mechanical man's workings in research to better understand the nature of sentience in artificial beings as well as the complex magicks surrounding the majin themselves. By chance the task of dealing with the curse had been allocated to them both. Even if the curse prevents Anu'din from properly repairing himself, Seb is familiar enough with his body that small repairs may be made with the right equipment.

Personality:
Sebastian is keen-minded, thinks outside the box, is quick enough to duck for cover when needed, graceful as a cat, and probably one of the most knowledgeable sane mages in the arts of false life in its many forms. To experience all of these good points is to put up with him for long enough dealing with the following: Near constant out-loud-thinking when resolving a tricky problem; a certain sensitivity to physical touch, making him very easy to startle; complaints at the expense of even his closest companions; a stuttering lack of confidence when it comes to confronting people bigger than him; and not least, a lack of patience that very quickly results in hair-pulling hysterics on his part, much to the delight of those who would wish to annoy him. All around, if he wasn't so necessary or easily teased, he would probably be kicked out of any adventuring team for being unbearable to work with.

His anxieties come from a combination of having to do everything 'the hard way' now that his magic is gone, and finding himself wanting in resilience in the face of impending doom. He's brave enough to save the world, but that doesn't make him any less terrified about it. However, under it all he does appreciate all the help he gets and wouldn't leave his friends behind for his own skin.