Centuries ago, the world was a wonderful place. Humanity, in an alliance with the elves, dwarves, and other pure-hearted races of the world, established a civilisation so great that none could oppose it. Not the roaring, crushing brutes of orcs and trolls. Not the subtle malice of ancient liches, necromancers and wielders of dark magic. Not even the mighty dragons, who stood as tall as mountains and rained fire from the sky. For an unknowable eternity, perfection was in the hands of the forces of good, guided by the wisdom of their king, Arnure, to whom the gods gifted eternal life as reward.

However, his gift was a poorly chosen one, for both his eldest son and only daughter had seemingly been denied all hopes of someday ruling for themselves. Only his younger son remained loyal to him.

The pair sought out cruel and evil forces to help them achieve their desires. They sold their souls and killed the demons that bought them so they might take them back to do it again. Their hate became so great that it began to manifest in physical forms: at first a mere feeling of cold when they walked by, or a strange paleness to their skin, but it soon became more obvious. They began to take on the appearance of the demons that wanted the world to burn and had to flee their home to avoid being driven out. Their vanishing lead Arnure to despair, having not yet realised what they had wished for him. He called a hunt for them, sent his legions far across the world in search for his missing children, with his youngest son at the head. It took months for him to finally call it off, and when he did, he still offered huge rewards to anyone who might find them.

The king's children left their names behind them with their previous lives, now forgotten by history. The elder son became Sanguis, a black-armoured, mace-wielding monster with little care for subtlety or patience. The daughter became Nyx, a scheming enchantress, and one of the most capable all-round magic users in recorded history. The youngest son became Sanctus, a defender of the poor and weak, who was constantly in the frontlines when his siblings made their return.

When Sanguis and Nyx finally announced their betrayal, Arnure fell into heartbreak. Unsure of what to do for the first time in his long life, he wept. Locked in a chamber at the top of his palace, he never left, only his immortality keeping him from starving. The people of his kingdom almost fell into panic and anarchy, when Sanctus stepped up and proved his heroism where his father had failed. Nyx had built an army of charmed peasants and warriors alike, with the seemingly unstoppable Sanguis heading the spear, but thanks to Sanctus, they finally stopped gaining ground. The war had been turned around, but being forced to kill those who had once been fellows and allies was taking its toll and the army's morale, and soon they would break again. Sanctus devised a plan to end the war immediately, and free those under Nyx's control without killing them. He had to cut the head of the snake, but this one had two.

One thousand of the best knights in the kingdom rode hard though day and night to the castle where Nyx had made her home. She was not simply an enchantress though, as has been mentioned, she was highly capable in all fields of magic, and had foreseen this coming. Sanguis was waiting for them alongside her.

The knights suffered greatly in the first battle, but Sanguis was killed by a knight named Cantor, while Nyx had escaped when she saw the battle going against her. Nearly two thirds of the knights had been killed just fighting Sanguis, but he had been defeated. Wanting to strike while her forces were already weakened Sanctus began the hunt for Nyx. They caught her trail in the surrounding woods and chased her down. Her magic was formiddable, and soon only Sanctus and Cantor remained alive. The three fought for what seemed like hours before Nyx finally managed to kill her younger brother. Cantor, enraged, attacked her with everything he had, and brought Nyx to her knees. Just before he could finish her off himself, she collapsed to the floor, dead. A dark smoke seeped out of her, her spirit, laughing horribly and placing a curse upon the world.

Cantor carried Sanctus' body to the palace that had been his home, and announced that though the war was won, many heroes had died. Arnure finally relieved himself from exile, and declared Cantor the king. Arnure then gave Cantor his immortality, and he and Sanctus' body were burned at a funeral pyre. Though much of the world had suffered, the worst was behind it, the people thought.

Nyx's curse, however, had been forgotten. Cantor's kingdom was not as strong as it had been, and it was no longer prepared to fight the dark creatures that had been defeated by Arnure so long ago, which had now made their return. However, Cantor was a good king, and he managed to maintain the greatness of his capital. He did this by declaring that each year, the best of the best of the outside world would be taken and forced to fight. The winner would be granted citizenship in his last city, which he renamed Valhalla. This, alongside simple genetics and hereditery, ensured that every citizen of Valhalla was a hero capable of defending the city come orc army or black dragon. The people of the outside world made a struggling existence, barely surviving while having to fight off a plethora of monstrosities, but never again so bad as Sanguis and Nyx.

This roleplay is one inspired by @Lugubrious's "The Crucible". Player characters are people who desire, for whatever reason, to escape the outside world and become a citizen of Valhalla. The key idea taken from The Crucible is that though this roleplay is heavily focused on player-versus-player combat, it will not be handled as an arena roleplay. Instead, whenever a group of player characters are engaged in combat, each controlling player will write a version of part of the fight in a post, controlling all characters present, as well as any other relevant events (they may not control player characters not involved in the fight). Players not involved in the fight, including myself, will then vote (using likes) on which version of the fight they preferred, based on how much they enjoyed reading it, how believable it was, etc rather than which player kicked the other player's ass the most. The post with the most votes becomes canon, other posts are put in hiders. In the case of a tie, I will either add or remove my own vote to break the tie. You may not choose not to vote, nor may you vote for both players, the only exception to this being when I need to break a tie. You may not kill a character until you have had two of your previous posts for that fight become canon, so fights will not end in a single post. Also, since you will be controlling someone else's character, please give them a chance to have their last words.

I think that covers everything, if you have any question feel free to ask.

Do I really need to say it? It's mostly just common sense, and there's nothing abnormal except what was covered in the last hider.
-Post reguarly, and say beforehand if you're going to be unable for whatever reason.
-Avoid double posting.
-If I think there's something wrong with either your post or your character, I have a good reason.
-Don't be afaid to ask questions. You're going to be controlling someone else's character, you'll need to able to know them.
-High casual level of writing. That means generally good grammar and spelling, with occasional typos being acceptable.
-Medium length of writing and depth. Literally what high casual means but I need to be clear when there might be idiots around. We're probably looking at 2-3 paragraphs, depending on how long they are and how much there is to say.
-Rudeness directed at other players will not be tolerated. The victim decides if it's "banter" or "a joke" or not, not you. I honestly can't believe I need to say this, but I probably do.
-Ambiguity kills. If you describe your action poorly and it becomes canon, the other person may react to it differently to how you intended, but they may be allowed. I will adjudicate this.
-Enjoy yourself. That's what thes things are for.
-"Don't make me look like a jerk." - John Wick, writer of, among other things, the RPG Houses of the Blooded, in his section on the Don't Make Me Look Like A Jerk Rule.

They can be stylised however you like, but must include the following things:
-Name, as well as any other names, nicknames, aliases or titles.
-Appearance, image or description.
-At least a short backstory of their life in the outside world.
-An in-depth description of their personality. This is particularly important as other people will be using this character.
-Detailed descriptions of what they can physically do and any gear they have. As in arena, if you don't say it, they don't have it.
-An example piece of writing to help other players accurately portray your character.
-Anything else you think you should include.
Character from other roleplays may be used, but either they must be your creation, or you must have permission from the original creator.