[center][b]The Tides of Arcanum[/b]
[i][Magic Sucks, First Edition][/i]

[i]At first, Life was simple.
Humans went about their humble lives,
possessing not a care in the world besides survival.

For, in those days, there was no tyranny.
Things were truly tranquil. Motionless. Stagnant.

And then, came the Happening.
The Spark of Magic was born into the world.
At first, the people rejoiced at their new strength.

But, over time, this power bent their minds.

Morals were lost. 
Humanity was thrown away for the pursuit of power.
New Beings, born from the primordial sea of Magic, used their power for horrible deeds.
And then, all things were not.
Life as it was before had ended completely.

Such is the end result of all Magic.

...[/i][/center] [hr]
How much time has passed since this occurred? Nobody quite knows, all that remains of these ancient tales are small, almost impossible to decipher texts. All that is known is a single, concrete fact.

[i]"Where there is Magic, none shall remain in the end."[/i]

It is the ultimate, apocalyptic force, driving whoever seeks it into destroying themselves.
And yet, life remains. Why is this so? It is theorized that, sometime in the last few centuries, some sort of countermeasure was devised. A technique for preventing the growth of magic, for sealing it away for none to use.

Since then, there have been no more tales woven of Magic, and all traces of this terrible force have all but disappeared from the world. However, whatever the solution was that was woven by your ancestors, it was not permanent. Magic will, eventually, be born back into this world. Theorists have called this inevitability the [i]"Second Happening"[/i], and its arrival is said to have been foreshadowed for many, many years before now.

While some, particularly the grand populace, remain oblivious, Kings and Scholars alike panic at what they believe will be coming before the end of their lifetimes. So, they have begun researching and planning in secret, preparing countermeasures for the coming cataclysm.

The apocalypse is nigh. In some, secluded villages, far from civilization, stories told to children, yelled aloud at inns and written painstakingly into diaries are beginning to become... queer. Mentions of fairies. Accounts of elves, spotted in the forests. The sound of great, powerful wings in the distance. Mysterious footprints.

All of these stories point to one, horrible fact.

Magic is coming. [hr]With the above shamelessly taken from the Interest Check, I'd like to welcome our lovely readers to the wonderful little production that I've been calling "Magic Sucks". For those of you just tuning in, and who would like a little recap of what's going on, here's the gist. 

Magic sucks. Stop it.

Over time, and as the players begin to unravel the secrets of this world I've made for you, I will likely begin to reveal more information about the world's true nature. It might be tough. You might miss things. Hell, you might even die. But, that's all a part of the larger, over-arching philosophy from which this roleplay was original formed. 

[i]"Your actions will have consequences."[/i]

And, with all of that out of the way, I'd like to humbly present to you the information you need to get started. Loyal followers since the Interest check might want to touch up on the information below, and if they don't want to do that, at least glance over the information I've taken the liberty of adding. It'll help.

[i]Good luck~![/i]

[b]1[/b]. [i]"Where am I?"[/i] [hider=World Info]Welcome to the great human Kingdom, [b]Mortis[/b], also called the [b]Star of the West[/b] or the [b]Kingdom of Gold[/b]. It is the oldest Kingdom in the land, and scholars have estimated that it may have even been around during the Age of Magic, pointing towards the land's various ancient ruins and massive, unnatural scars as evidence. 

Indeed, the terrain in Mortis is among the strangest of the Nine Kingdoms, with massive, perilous [b]Ravines[/b] that almost seem to tear the mountains themselves asunder. These great chasms are thought to be the source of Mortis's extraordinary wealth, as huge masses of precious metals were revealed through scaling the great ravine walls. Hence why it is sometimes called, the "Kingdom of Gold".

Despite its wealth, and the great territory it holds, Mortis is strangely not the greatest in terms of trading influence. Its Royal Family is known for hording great amounts of wealth, under the guise of "Saving it for times of need". [b]The Gold of Mortis[/b] is a common subject of legend, and some outlying scholars even claim that something similar may have been mentioned in the ancient texts.

The more rural areas of Mortis are often headed by old, well-established noble families, with each town usually being named after something relating to that family. Closer to the capital, larger cities may possess several noble families existing at the same time. In places such as this, a Mayor is elected in order to represent the people and make political decisions.

[b]The Capital[/b] itself is a great, bustling city, containing the Royal Palace and a great number of fantastic architectural creations, which one could only believe if they saw it for themselves. They stand, larger than life, as testaments to the unbounded wealth of the Kingdom.

The [b]College of Arcanatras[/b], also sometimes just called "[b]The College[/b]", is a great university located a few miles from the Capital of Mortis. It is known as being a great center of knowledge, and is revered throughout the world. It's a very influential organization, and its agenda has frequently been scrutinized by the Kingdom's agents.

The [b]Church of Red[/b] is the key religion in Mortis, and much of the population follows its teachings, even if they do not honour its god. Its main Cathedral is not located in the Capital, and instead sits in a surprisingly small city off near the coast, called [b]Maidenfall[/b]. It isn't uncommon for religious folk to go on pilgrimage here.

Despite its popularity, little is known about the Church of Red's secretive inner workings. Their God is illusive, and not particularly well known to those outside of its dogma. All that is known, to those who seek but do not commit, is that it is closely associated with the colour [b]Red[/b].

About the other [b]Nine Kingdoms[/b], well, they are the Nine human kingdoms of the world, spanning the entirety of the known world. Out of these, three are located on the same continent as Mortis, called the [b]Sleeping Isles[/b], or the Continent of [b]Somnus[/b]. The neighbouring Kingdoms are Mirithvale and Ashfall, which possess forest and volcanic geographies respectively. 

[b]Mirithvale[/b], while populous, is quite poor, and is a great cultural center in this part of the world. Its focus on fulfilling the people's wishes has left the Royal Family in quite good standing with its people, but as a result, they have little influence on the other countries. Their military is said to be the weakest on Somnus.

[b]Ashfall[/b], to the southeast, is commonly spoken of a derisive manner by the denizens of Mortis, described as being "Barbaric" and "Uncultured". They are, however, some of the greatest warriors in the land, and their people are commonly hailed as being very effective mercenaries. Known for their grey hued skin.

As a whole, out of the three on Somnus, Mortis is undoubtedly the most powerful of the nations, and holds a great deal of influence in this sector of the world. While it cares little for extensive trade, it is in good relations with one foreign nation, a land across the [b]Golden Sea[/b], called "[b]Barron[/b]". But of course, their customs and nature are quite unknown to the denizens of Mortis, as their kind are rarely seen in these parts.[/hider][b]2[/b]. [i]"Who am I?"[/i] [hider=Character Info]For your characters, you will have been contacted by a mysterious individual, or given a mysterious notice and a bag of silvers, hired by that person to go resolve a problem in a rural village in your home Kingdom of Mortis. 

You probably have a particular skillset, something that might catch the notice of somebody looking for those who are not widely known, but capable enough for the job. You might be a soldier, a doctor from some rural town, a studious scholar from the College, a charismatic village figure with people skills. All sorts will be found and brought together, all under mysterious purposes, and to solve a mysterious problem.

I will not accept foreign characters, by the way. I have my reasons for this. 

By the way, any knowledge of Magic needs to be included in the skills section. Magic hasn't been around since ancient days, so what knowledge you have would be tales from recent years now that magic has begun to reappear. Don't expect to have a lot of this, only an occult specialist would know half of what there is to know, and even that is but a measly hundredth of what one could know. 

Magic is kind of a lost art, bro.

[b]CHARACTER SHEET[/b]
-Image here-
Name: (What are you called? There should be something here. If I don't like a name, I will ask you to change it.)
Title(s): (Leave blank if no official titles are possessed.)
Gender: (Male, Female, Apache Helicopter, .ect)
Age: (Must be above 15. No upper age limit, but try to be realistic, we're not immortal.)
[hider=Personal Information]Descriptive Appearance: (Optional. If you have no image, I expect this to be filled out in a far more detailed manner than others.)
Personality: (You can be brief, but try to be inclusive. Tell us how your character will react to given situations, and include any trauma or flaws your character may have developed over time. Not optional, but can be as long or short
Basic Bio: (A more brief version of History, giving the relevant points and generally presented in a more TL;DR manner.

History: (Optional. A full-length biography, probably stretching over several paragraphs in length. Only do this if you feel you really need to, as it does waste a lot of GM time if it doesn't really contain anything important.)[/hider]Skills: (Try to be all-inclusive. Can your character read, write, fight with a sword, live off the land, build a house, and what? You can even include useless things, if you want.)
Equipment: (What do you have? Include EVERYTHING. If it's not in your bio, you don't have it.)

You'll notice I didn't include any formatting beyond the hider [i](which you can move or adjust, or even remove, as you please)[/i]. Well, I expect you to at least make your sheet readable, but feel free to not go overboard with the formatting. Feel free to go overboard, too, if you want. I like nice things.[/hider][b]3[/b]. [i]"Whose pants are these?"[/i] [hider=OOC Info]Wow, that ended up being a little larger than I expected! If you have any more questions for me, please ask me [i](privately or publicly)[/i], and I'll be happy to explain to or go over things with you.

Here are some important things you'll probably need to know. You might call them, "Rules".

[b]1[/b]. [b]I will not accept utterly unrealistic characters.[/b] If you want to make a teenage sword expert who can easily best a grown man with a blade, despite only being a farmer's child, this will not happen the way you expect. There is a certain logic to my world that has to be obeyed, and while this logic can be flexible from time to time, this does not mean it can be broken nonchalantly.
[b]2[/b]. Despite this, [b]Do not think that you have to make only gritty, professional characters.[/b] You can be silly, or useless, or even have your character be a parody of some popular fantasy character trope. This does not mean you can contradict the above rule, but please don't try to be too serious about things.
[b]3[/b]. [b]No...[/b] Foreigners, Magic-users, Religious or Political leaders, non-Humans, or Real-Life Characters.
[b]4[/b]. [b]Yes...[/b] Nobles, Alchemists, Scholars, Soldiers, Agents, Priests, Farmers, pretty much anything else.
[b]5[/b]. Is this enough rules? Oh, and [b]fun is mandatory[/b]. There shall be no butt-waggling or dingy-shoving in this thread. If I think you're being a jerk, I might be tempted to punt you into the nether realm, just to see what happens.
[b]6[/b]. [b]No Lewd Allowed[/b].[/hider][b]4[/b]. [i]"What is a post, even?"[/i] [hider=IC Information]Wow Tatsua, you might ask. This sure does look like a neato roleplay, and now that I've made a character and read the rules, what should I do now?

Well, good question my imaginary friend~! So, to start things off, I'll give you a little pointer:

[i]POST.[/i][/hider]

More to be added over time. All characters that I have temporarily accepted up until this point are now fully accepted, and may be moved to the appropriate tab. Characters who have not been accepted may not do so, and instead should re-post themselves in the OOC for me to give a detailed review. 

Just to note, I will be more harsh now that the RP has begun, so if you do not reach my required level of standards, you may be cruelly and heartlessly rejected.