Hidden 9 yrs ago 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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Children of Aton

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“There are countless legends. They speak of valiant knights and paladins, great kings and mischievous tricksters, but also witches, dragons, bear-men, and darker beasts still. And these same mythical figures do seem to come up in many different tales, yes? A giant serpent is valiantly slain, or a paragon dies defending innocents, and yet they are alive in well in other tales. Perhaps these tales are all simply lies, told to entertain and frighten children, and that looking for continuity in folk legends is a fool’s errand. Or perhaps some of the old tales may be truthful.

Perhaps… they are all truthful.

You and I, were are mere mortals, and when we die, we’re gone for good. The thought that there are monsters out there that will keep coming back, no matter how many times they’re put down, back to reave more innocents- that’s a terrifying thought. Oh, there would be the benevolent ones as well, but that’s scant consolation to the rest of us, isn’t it? When the gods play, men die.

It’s a good thing that’s not true, right, friend? I mean, the land’s been at peace for two hundred years now, how could that be true? And there hasn’t been any kind of reliable sighting of any “monster” for well over a thousand years. It’s just harmless stories. Except if they were kept locked away, of course. If they were, then it’d explain why they haven’t popped up since then. So, no problem either way.

But if they were to escape… Well, that would be terrible.
Your friend, Tendred. Get the hint already.

Heretical filth. To be kept as evidence in the trials of Senator Gaenus and Pit Guardian Tendred P. Lucianos.
Faemun Berunii, First Censor of the Republic and the Godmother”

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If you have questions, commentaries, or suggestions, feel free to voice them. You may have noticed I left a lot of the world's details, such as cities, empty. I highly encourage world-building in my RPs; your contributions to the lore are just as important as my own (Well, not quite, I have the veto, but you know what I mean).

If someone wants to Co-GM, in case I get run over by a bus or something, we might need one of those too.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Barrett
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Barrett Oh, the year was 1778...

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So I will probably be joining this but before I work on a character sheet, I have to ask; is Omnia a reference to Sir Terry Prattchet's Small Gods?
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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So I will probably be joining this but before I work on a character sheet, I have to ask; is Omnia a reference to Sir Terry Prattchet's Small Gods?


Nope; I've yet to get around reading a Discworld novel, despite a couple sitting on my shelf, taunting me. Sorry to say.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Barrett
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Barrett Oh, the year was 1778...

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@Vahir
Ah, well. It would've fitted as a reference and it's a great book but still.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by The Grey Dust
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Hrm, I developed a nation which had a resident demigod/idol a few years back.

It was an east-meets-west culture in a mountainous snowy region.
Norse mixed with Shaolin, to create a tribe of gruff but deadly warrior peoples.

Their patron was the spirit of the mountain, who dwelt on the peak of the mountain in Shangrila/Valhalla which are considered the same.
Although technically Shangrila is the temple itself, and Valhalla is the name of the arena of the temple grounds.
And the mountain, although the highest peak in all the land, is actually a long dormant volcano, with Shangrila/Valhalla being found in the crater, allowing for sacred hot spring well fed from the melting mountain snow to nourish the hidden temple garden from which the tree of the mountain grows her golden peaches of nirvana.

Beneath the high temple are 8 temples dedicated to learning the ways of killing, as opposed to the normal settlements lower on the mountain which are pleased with learning the arts of war, women, and wine. These 8 temples are home to the Death Monks, fearsome warriors which dedicate their lives to the study of death. The monks train to become experts in combat, routinely getting themselves seriously injured or killed in tournaments to progress their ranks and maybe one day become the master of their school by taking the pilgrimage to the peak and impressing the Grandmaster in a single-bout duel. To do so would be to blow the horn of Valhalla, a fabled horn carved from ancient wood that sits frozen within the temple and announce the newest Master of the 8 schools, and calls for the ritual suicide of the last master who shall throw himself off the mountain to make way for his successor. Although the true horn is actually a smoking pipe carried and used often by the grandmaster, and anyone who he shares a smoke with shall be given authority over the mountain and take his place as he ascends to the heavens until the death of the latest mortal protector.

Of course living on a cold mountain, there is little to no vegetation, and certainly while ores were readily available from the mountain, wood was a rare commodity. There is also few in the name of animals, merely wolves which come from the foot of the mountain, rams which avoid the wolves from the bottom by surviving in the upper parts of the cold mountain, ravens which pick the frozen flesh off the dead and the occasional fish from the frozen rivers. From these animal aspects, the schools of the Wolf, Ram, Raven and Fish were created in two flavours, the white and the black, each specializing in a unique style of killing and philosophy.

Since food is scarce, the society is slightly twisted in a sense that, in this polygamous patriarchy, men and women were expected to settle down and have a family within their 25th year, and women were to bear many offspring to continue their tribe's survivability in their remote mountain nation. This of course leads to plenty of inbreeding and bad genetics, so most of its people have some degree of albinism and other rare genetic diseases, some good some bad. But essentially there are 4 major noble families ruling the mountain, with one Khan ruling as administrative king of the mountain. The men of course are graded by the number of wives they have had, thus concubines are plenty, along with strong fermented alcohols which will keep your body warm in the coldest nights surrounded by your multiple women. And women are graded by the number of children they have produced, for a barren women was considered useless. And all citizens who did not marry and have children by the age of 25, or those who are too old (and not important enough) to be of child-bearing capacity are slaughtered for meat in the cold seasons. Yes, ritualistic cannibalism was practiced as it was necessary to sustain the population. Those who feared death by slaughter could venture up the mountain to be taken in by the monks, only perhaps to die in one of their tournaments. Either way, it is a hard life, but easy death for everyone.

Perhaps Qayu would work?
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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@The Grey Dust

Woah, that's some interesting fluff you've got there!

Well, I didn't envisage the Qayu as a warrior culture necessarily, but then again I'm not closed to it. And they've got the secluded mountain people thing down.

I've got an idea: your culture could be the northern, "hardcore" Qayu, the original tribe. As time went on, the Qayu settled into southern, more fertile valleys, abandoning some of the harsher parts of their culture as they became no longer necessary. The Shangrila/Valhalla mountain would exist in the northern reaches of the world. After a thousand years without their demigod, some of the temples may have abandoned, or razed by warring clans. Or, if we want to be even more poignant, a climate shift saw the region become flat-out uninhabitable for large scale societies, so they were forced to abandon the entire mountain to ruin. Lots of possibilities to integrate that idea.

Also, a call to arms:

@The Narrator@Nevis@banjoanjo@sakurasan@R0bE0@abloomingflower@Crimson Raven@FernStone@Zendrelax@Flagg@Polybius

Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by FernStone
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FernStone One Again Addicted to Pepsi Max

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I will begin working on a character within the next week - exams are kicking my butt, and I have another RP character sheet to get done first. But I will do something!
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Crimson Raven
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Crimson Raven *Rolls a Nat 1*

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@Vahir

Why do you need my arms?

Eh-hem

Nothing has changed here.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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@Vahir

Why do you need my arms?

Eh-hem

Nothing has changed here.


As long as you keep making OOC posts, I keep having an excuse to keep listening to Azura's song. I'm selfish that way.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Crimson Raven
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<Snipped quote by Crimson Raven>

As long as you keep making OOC posts, I keep having an excuse to keep listening to Azura's song. I'm selfish that way.


:D

That is what it is there for.
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Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by The Grey Dust
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@The Grey Dust

Woah, that's some interesting fluff you've got there!

Well, I didn't envisage the Qayu as a warrior culture necessarily, but then again I'm not closed to it. And they've got the secluded mountain people thing down.

I've got an idea: your culture could be the northern, "hardcore" Qayu, the original tribe. As time went on, the Qayu settled into southern, more fertile valleys, abandoning some of the harsher parts of their culture as they became no longer necessary. The Shangrila/Valhalla mountain would exist in the northern reaches of the world. After a thousand years without their demigod, some of the temples may have abandoned, or razed by warring clans. Or, if we want to be even more poignant, a climate shift saw the region become flat-out uninhabitable for large scale societies, so they were forced to abandon the entire mountain to ruin. Lots of possibilities to integrate that idea.

Also, a call to arms:

@The Narrator@Nevis@banjoanjo@sakurasan@R0bE0@abloomingflower@Crimson Raven@FernStone@Zendrelax@Flagg@Polybius


Yes this could work. Perhaps these are the oldest of Qayu who have remained dedicated to their sacred mountain. As the generations go, tradition was forsaken in fear of death. Thus in lieu of dying with the monks, the younger generations fled south, to where the mountains were not as harsh and gave way to greener valleys. Those who remain in the mountain are doomed, clinging on to their old "barbaric" ways.

I'd imagine something of that nature. Like with the Grandmaster gone, the mountain is in a state of political turmoil. 4 factions vying for power over the mountain, and the rest of Qayu. There is the Khan and his court who is in charge of the militant branch, the 4 Noble Families who are exerting socioeconomic pressure, and finally the Eight Masters who have lost their mythical leader and are now barely able to control their own schools let alone their spirituality. And of course there is the Etruscian Republic which wants to keep the entire region under control as they puppet the 3 factions into destroying themselves.

As such landscape is essentially changed into one of a cold war between all three. The Nobles having enlisted the Etruscian forces to back them against the Khan in a political measure. The Khan in turn seeking authoritative mandate against the Nobles from the Monks who have none because their Grandmaster is gone. And the Monks crumbling internally as the 8 schools are dying off with their internal affairs in attempting to produce a substitute for the grandmaster. It is at this time, where the Grandmaster needs to make a return and justify everything before the entire mountain erupts and destroys the world (or so the legend goes that the Mountain erupts only at cataclysm, and will herald the destruction of everything, Angels, Demons, and Mortals.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Renny
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I bumped into the intrest check and it directed me here. I'm not sure if you're full or not, doesn't look it, but I'm curious and inspired.
Hidden 9 yrs ago 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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@Renny

That all seems like it fits the setting. I mean 1000 years without your god to tell you what to do would probably warp the Qayu considerably.

Besides some general cultural outlines, such as Etruscans = Romans and Xochimilco = Mayans, the peoples of the world are left intentionally vague. Everyone should feel free to contribute their own worldbuilding just like this.

@Renny

You're actually coming in at the perfect time, there aren't any characters created yet, but still the more the merrier!
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Renny
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@Vahir Great, I don't have the faintest of ideas what I want my character to be. But I did feel a tug at my creative strings when I read the interest check. Something's a brewing in my chest. lol.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Barrett
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Barrett Oh, the year was 1778...

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My current character concept is to make a wildcard, jeseter-like god. Not quite lucid, malicious or planned enough to be the trickster but something along those lines. Perhaps more like Feste the fool in 12th Night; he's looked on as a fool by fools but wise men knows there's more to him than meets the eye.

Does that sounds acceptable @Vahir?
Hidden 9 yrs ago 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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My current character concept is to make a wildcard, jeseter-like god. Not quite lucid, malicious or planned enough to be the trickster but something along those lines. Perhaps more like Feste the fool in 12th Night; he's looked on as a fool by fools but wise men knows there's more to him than meets the eye.

Does that sounds acceptable @Vahir?


Of course, we needed a trickster involved. And I imagine a thousand years of isolation has done wonders for his sanity.
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Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by R0bE0
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Whoa, I love the current detail of the world (I also love that you're giving us some creative freedom with it).

As of now my concept for my Child is a rather apathetic creature. He likely never cared about humanity and their struggles, only seeing them as a means to an end. What that end was? I'm not even sure he truly knew. He was probably rather amoral and lazy, fighting only when it was truly necessary. I'm guessing those who followed under him had a rather hedonistic, if not nihilistic view of the world. I also imagine he was pretty crap at his leadership role, given his lack of care or concern for his followers.

He'd probably have been one of the ones who took a long time to pick a side. I doubt he wanted to get involved in any war, and likely didn't care much for both angels and demons. If I do go with this concept (and it works within the bounds of this RP) I'm not sure what side he would have ultimately gone with. Naturally I'd think he'd go with the demons, but I think the betrayal of the Seer might prompt him to go to action more quickly in the future.

Decisions... decisions..
Hidden 9 yrs ago 9 yrs ago Post by Crimson Raven
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@Vahir

What is the technology level? Like, steampunk, futuristic or medieval, or what?

Edit: And is there a character limit?
Hidden 9 yrs ago 9 yrs ago Post by Vahir
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@Vahir

What is the technology level? Like, steampunk, futuristic or medieval, or what?


Post-renaissance - basically, 1700. Pikes and swords are still around, although muskets are pretty common, and the republican armies have recently started adopting thin line formations. The economy is still based on guilds and such. Canals are all the rage as the Republic tries to improve trade.

The world isn't in the industrial age yet, but it's getting there.
Hidden 9 yrs ago Post by Zendrelax
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I'm thinking that I'll play a scholar, who ordered its tribe to construct a great tower (once, y'know, there was technology enough to build towers) at the hottest and most forbidding part of the wasteland that is now the province of Koyatia, using its arcane might to keep them safe from death by the tremendous heat, if not the usual conatruction-related maladies.

Once the tower was complete, its purpose was revealed: to serve as a storehouse for all the world's knowledge. The Child of Aton then offered its followers a choice: stay and serve as the keepers of the tower, or leave with the blessing and protection of their former master. After the years of back breaking labor, many chose to leave, and established the first tribes of Koyatia, some of which survive, in some form, to the present day.

Those who remained were henceforth known as the Devoted. The Child of Aton entered into an enchanted bargain with its Devoted: "All who dedicate their lived to the protection and stewardship of my tower and library shall know power arcane."

From then on, the Devoted would serve their master faithfully. Some catalogued and maintained the tower's Scrolls and times, others safeguarded it against those who would steal or destroy what lay within, and others still would go out into the world, seeking new knowledge to add to their master's trove. The most powerful of the Devoted would change physically over time, gaining traits that resembled their master--such ad feathers sprouting from their backs, or eyes growing in their foreheads.

The tower had been built out of the way on purpose. The desert served to keep away those who packed either the minimum intelligence, to plan the journey, resolution, to make the journey. Those who reached the tower were free to learn anything contained within its walls, so long as they did not try to prevent others from doing the same. If they managed to gain an audience, they could even bargain with the Child of Aton for some of its knowledge.

Of course, things changed after the Seer bound all her Siblings in chains...
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