You were a slave.

From the moment you were born your skin was scarred with the runes which bound you with unquestionable obedience to your master. Your entire life you were a property to someone else and the ancient magic prevented you from even thinking of freedom. The very notion of having a free will, of doing things not because you were commanded to but because you wanted to, was not something you could grasp. You lived your life not realizing how crippled you were.

It was nothing unusual, though. Your father and the father of your father, and his father, and all your ancestors as far back as memory can reach were slaves. Untold generations of your bloodline obeyed the wishes of the masters never knowing the taste of freedom. You thought you would spend your life as a slave, just like all of your ancestors.

Until today.

You stood in line. At the beginning of the day hundreds, if not thousands of slaves have stood in the line before you, but now only a few more were left. Only a few more between you and a fulfilment of a desire you were not even aware you had. The line seemed to move agonizingly slow, and deep down within your soul you feared that it was all a lie, a cruel joke of the masters.

Soon your turn came. You stepped forward and found yourself looking down at a boy. He was barely standing up to your chest and he was skinny, as if he didn’t eat in weeks. But that was not the most striking feature of the person before you, no. What captured the eye was the colour of his skin, his hair, his eyes, and every part of him that appeared from under his plain clothes. It was white. The boy before you was lacking any pigmentation.

You immediately recalled the stories you heard about the mighty Beyazalan. The White Lion, the Liberator of the Khul, the Scourge of the Askar and the Breaker of Chains… The boy in front of you looked like none of the images those titles conjured. Standing before you he only looked tired and fragile.

“Come!” He gestured you to approach him and you did. He took your head in his hands and looked you in the eyes with his colourless irises and suddenly you could feel something change within you.

Slowly, a weight was being lifted from your heart. A mass of chains piled up on your mind and soul was being removed. The cuffs locking you to the life of servitude and selfless obedience were getting broken. You felt the energy swell inside you, the force of life you didn’t knew you had. Your senses were attacked by the new sensations, as if finally you could truly experience the surrounding world to the fullest potential. At last, you could finally feel what has been denied to you until now, what has been denied to all of your ancestors for centuries. Like a man who was drowning you gasped for air and felt it in a new, unique freshness you never thought was possible. The emotions assailed you in a never before experienced intensity and you didn’t know whether you wanted to laugh or cry, to rage or rejoice.

When you finally managed to regain your senses you realized you were on your knees before the boy. He was no longer holding your head with his hands but was instead looking down on you with a kind smile on his gaunt face.

“From this day on, you are a free man.”

The Empire
A nation which used to encompass the entire world. Today it is de facto split into many smaller states, but they all proclaim loyalty to the imperial throne so the Empire technically still exists even though nobody respects the central authority. Most of these states still use the class system of the Empire.

Imperial cult
The official religion of the Empire, it worships thousands of different gods, but the chief goods are Haidion (Sun), Selnon (Moon), Imreon (Sky), Bophiel (Ocean), Molfis (Land). The cult heavily enforces the social structure of the Empire.

Padishah (Emperor)
Hero who defeated the Demon Lords one thousand years ago and founded the Empire. He disappeared three hundred years ago.

Shahzadeh (Royal Bloodline)
Direct descendants of Padishah, the highest class of the imperial society. Their power makes them demigods.

Askar (Nobles)
Descendants of those who followed Padishah in his war against Demon Lords. They have received blessings of the gods which made them immortal and superior to mere mortals.

Rayah (Commoners)
Descendants of those who did not join either side in the ancient war. They are farmers, craftsmen and merchants. On average the Rayah live 200 years.

Khul (Slaves)
Descendants of those who followed the Demon Lords. They are magically bound to serve the Askar and the Shahzadeh. On average the Khul live 70 years.

Elefthori (Freemen)
Slaves liberated by Beyazalan in the slave rebellion of Nestrim.

Beyazalan
A boy who started the slave rebellion ten years ago. He possesses the mysterious gift to remove the magical bondage of the Khul, which was thought impossible since the founding of the Empire. He has many nicknames and titles, but the most famous one is the White Lion which served as inspiration for the banner and battle cry of the Free Legions.

Free Legions
A professional military force formed by Beyazalan after the liberation of Nestrim. Its main purpose is to conquer the entire territory of the Empire and free all of the Khul.

Magic
Magic is not considered a supernatural force but an integral part of the world. Every living being possesses some magical potential but by the law of the Empire the Rayah are forbidden from practicing magic.

Technology
Because the magic is considered a part of natural order, more often than not technology exploits magic to work. Nestrim is the centre of technological innovation of the world, which makes the Free Legions the most advanced military.

The Khul are not able to use magic and thus no slave upon liberation has had any knowledge of spellcasting. Not having time and resources to in-depth teach every recruit willing to study magic, the leadership of the Free Legions has developed several spells which are relatively easy to learn quickly and serve military purpose. However, the training is still insufficient to fully prepare the caster for all risks and difficulties of using magic and so it is possible for spells to misfire and seriously injure the caster and his or hers allies.
In order to cast spells you need to pick the Magic skill. Once you do pick up to 4 spells from bellow list for your character to know.

Combat Spells:
Smite – send an arcane missile at a target up to 50m away and hit it 100% certainty.
Blast – blow up an area you can see within 500m of you.
Shield – create a shield in a 5m radius around you which stops physical objects from passing it.
Stun – send a shockwave around yourself which stuns all living beings.
Telekinesis – move an object without physically touching it.

Support Spells:
Heal – dampen the pain and heal wounds.
Empower – increase physical attributes of the recipient.
Weaken – reduce physical attributes of the recipient.
Illusion – make one target up to 30m away experience hallucinations.
Camouflage – cover the target in the surrounding colours, making it difficult to detect.
Alarm – caster designates an area and is warned if anyone enters that area.
Whisper – send a verbal message to a person up to 20km away.
Rejuvenation – the person feels refreshed as if they had a full night sleep.
Clairvoyance – be able to see clearly at extreme distances.
Valour – target ignores fear.
Panic – target experiences intense fear.

Meta Spells:
Counter – disrupts the target spell from being cast.
Obstruction – as long as the caster channels this spell it is more difficult for other mages to channel.
Sense – sense traces of magic in the surroundings.

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Skills represent learned or inborn abilities of your character. Pick up to 5 skills for your character to have. If you pick the Magic skill you can pick only 2 more.

Skills:
Athletics – ability to climb, run and swim.
Stealth – ability move and do things without being detected.
Speech – how persuasive you are.
Security – proficiency with opening locked objects.
Knowledge – information about world’s history, geography and culture.
Acrobatics – ability to defy the laws of gravity and travel over rough terrain with ease.
Medicine – ability to treat wounds without magic.
Ballistics – proficiency with ranged weapons.
Melee – proficiency with melee weapons.
Ride – ability to ride a mount.
Survival – ability to find food and shelter in wilderness, as well as follow tracks.
Engineering – ability to maintain and fix technological devices.
Operate – proficiency with controlling vehicles and using technological devices.
Vigour – endurance and ability to take hits before falling unconscious or dying.
Reflex – speed of evading attacks and danger.
Prowess – physical strength, how hard you hit in melee and ability to lift things.
Perception – ability to notice things in one’s surroundings.
Throw – determines speed and precision of thrown objects.
Willpower – ability to resist attempts at mind control, combat morale.
Magic – ability to channel spells.

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Bellow is the list of standard Free Legion equipment. Every legionary receives 1 ranged weapon, 1 melee weapon, 1 outfit, 4 grenades, 3 potions, as well as water canteen and a knife. He or she also receives specialist kit if he possesses relevant skill.

Ranged Weapons:
Free Legion ranged weapons are based on magic. All ranged weapons look the same. They are a meter long staff with a triangle-shaped fork on one end. The only difference is the type of enchantment put on the staff. The weapon passively gathers mana from the surrounding area and the spell embedded into it is released by pressing a serpentine lever on the end opposite of the fork.

Pulsefire – shoots an arcane missile up to a distance of 100m, damaging the first thing it hits. Can shoot once per post.
Spitfire – shoots a continuous 10m stream of fire. Can shoot up to 5 consecutive posts, but then it has to recharge for the same amount of posts it was used.
Blastfire – shoots an arcane missile which flies up to 300m and explodes upon hit, damaging anything in 5m radius. Can shoot once per 3 posts.

Melee Weapons:
All melee weapons are enchanted to remain sharp and not break.
Sword
Cudgel
Axe
Morningstar
Knife

Outfits:
Standard Uniform – standard Free Legion uniform holds enchantments which make them more durable and protect the wearer from the elements.
Armoured Uniform – holds the same enchantments as the standard uniform, but it also comes with a metal breastplate, helmet, gauntlets, boots and shoulder pads, which also come with a shielding enchantment making the wearer better protected from ranged attacks. Due to the weight of the armour the wearer moves slower.

Grenades:
Fire
Flash
Smoke
Magic-jammer
Shrapnel
Explosive

Potions:
Healing
Strengthening
Perception

Misc:
Medic Kit (Medicine)
Burglar Kit (Security)
Mechanic Kit (Engineering)
Water canteen (enchanted with water-purifying magic)

1. No godmoding and powerplaying,
2. One character per player. This may change in the future but don't hold your breath.
3. List your skills, spells and equipment in a hider at the bottom of your post. Don’t forget to edit the hider when you use items (like throw a grenade or drink a potion).
4. Strive to clearly state what you intend to do in battle. Miscommunication can lead to your character’s untimely death.
5. I’ll make updates once per week. Try to post at least once in that period. Person who doesn’t post for two consecutive weeks without explanation will have their character killed off.
6. Your character may die but I will strive to keep the story open for easier introduction of new characters so you can continue playing.
7. Don’t create a character who has no reason to be a soldier or who is completely incapable of working with others.
8. Be respectful to other players and the GM.
9. My word is final. If I make a ruling on something don’t debate further.

Name: Self explanatory.
Gender: Male / Female.
Age: Between 16 and 50.
Personality: How do you act, what do you like, what do you hate, etc.
History: Your life as a slave, what job did you do, how did you feel about your liberation, why did you join the Free Legions, etc.
Level: A simple numerical representation of your experience. You start at level 1 and as the level increases you are better at using your skills and your spells are stronger.
Skills: List your skills here.
Spells: List your spells (if you have any) here.
Equipment: List your items here. If there is some item you wish to have that is not listed in standard equipment contact me about it and we may work something out.
Other: List all serious injuries and other special conditions here. I will inform you when you acquire anything worth putting here. At the beginning it should be empty.

Name: Amy Idolum
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Personality: Amy is a woman of a few words and keen eyes. She is the first to scout a dangerous area and the last to leave the battlefield. Amy is courageous in that way and also loyal to her fellow soldiers. She likes to hunt alone or practice hours upon hours shooting her bow. Ame hates the notion of not being free, of not be able to hunt in the wild or run with the animals.

History: Your life as a slave, what job did you do, how did you feel about your liberation, why did you join the Free Legions, etc.