The Gladiators of Arlen
It was a quiet night, in the castle. Even the servants who were on night-duty were in bed. Leaving only the night guard…
A scream rang out, breaking the silence. Clashing steel. And death. In the courtyard, two horses had been saddled. A man sat on the back of one. A boy on the back of the other.
“Endar!” a woman screamed. “Take Mari and go!”
“I can’t leave you!” the young boy replied as a small babe was forced into his arms. “They’ll kill you! We can stay, we can fight--!”
“No!” she yelled. “Please, just go! No matter whether I live or die, Mari must survive!”
“Your Majesty!” the knight exclaimed. “You can come with us! You are the Queen!”
“No, Sir Sharn. I cannot. They will know me, and then they will know you… Endar, your face will change, in the years to come. Mari will turn from a newborn child into a girl. Both of you will be safe. Leave through the Western Gate – they likely have no knowledge of it.”
And then she ran, back into the palace…
From the Western Gate, concealed from all, rode two horses. A man sat on the back of one. A boy on the back of the other, a small babe in his arms.
Welcome to the Five Realms, or Areth. A world where combat in the arena earns gladiators fame and glory, in this most sought-after sport. The Realms are in an age of peace, minus that blight ten years ago, but no war has occurred in a hundred years. This peace has let warriors of all shapes and sizes hone their skills for glory and riches in arenas across Areth. The arenas are at the center of it all: money, power, influence, respect. The greatest among the gladiators sit beside warlords, sultans, emperors and kings. They revel in their eternal chances for battle, protected by the ancient runes that restore them to life unfailingly. They challenge other heroes, and beastly monsters, all for the crowd, and the influence they gain.
In the Eastern country of Oriens, in a coastal town by the name of Risha, a tournament is on the horizon, to celebrate the crowning of a new king of Arlen, King Ulfrur, warlord of Noctis. The tournament is small, and humble, but gladiators have to start somewhere. Nobility from all over have their eyes on these events, searching for talent that they can sponsor, and then profit from when their champions move on to grander events. But you are not among this talent. At least, not yet. For whatever reasons, you have yet to find a team that will take you. Perhaps you were thought to be too young to have enough experience, or too old to retain your skills. Too untrustworthy to welcome into the ranks. Or too bestial to be loved by the crowd. And as time goes by and the tournament draws closer, you may miss this chance to make your name known.
But your opportunity comes when a young man with the gold and the wish for a team makes himself known. He is untested, but has been granted entry. Nobody knows where he came from. Nobody so far has joined him, with barely days until the start of the events. But for you… it’s your way in. Your chance. Whatever your motivations could be…
Hi, there! The name’s Collector, or Myst, whichever you prefer. Welcome to The Gladiators of Arlen. I’ve been wanting to start an RP for a while, and now I’m going for it. I’ve combined my own story with the basic concept of an RP which recently died. You might have been part of it – The Gladiators of House Valens. The GM, Estella, stopped posting unexpectedly. The basic plot is; we’ll play as a ragtag team of gladiators that want to make their marks in the arena, whether it be for influence, power, money, or fame, that’s for your character to decide. We start in Risha, where you will meet with the Exiled Prince, Endar. He’s looking to reclaim the throne of his half-sister, Mari. Eventually we will travel far, through each of the Five Realms, through many regions, fighting all manner of men and beasts. As we go we’ll get caught up in intrigues outside of the battlegrounds, with higher stakes as we become more widely known, and get closer to Arlen.
There’s some stuff we need to get out of the way, though. Yes, there will likely be a lot of fighting, but that’s only a part of it. The rest is outside of the arena and battle, and in team building and character development. The characters may be unexpectedly thrown into things without time to prepare, but I’d hope that they delve into histories, motivations and personal stuff that will likely appear on the way. So we can’t simply have fighting machines.
Second, the same for the Valens RP, so if you were part of it, you don’t need reminding, probably – you will die. We will die. Repeatedly. But in this world, gladiatorial combat is so prevalent partly because match deaths can be reversed, meaning you don’t die forever. Every match is watched over by mages that use enchanted runes around the field to restore the dead to life. It can only be used in local fixations, and not for extreme periods of time, and is too complex to be used effectively in war. Thus it’s used to keep beloved combatants fighting. Point being – be willing to lose. We’re a brand new team, going up against equally skilled, if not greater, opponents. Defeats and setbacks will be a certainty at times.
Like Estella when she first started, there’s still a good deal to lay out first – races, realms, magic, and so on – but I do want to know if people are interested first. Depending on who we get and how many, things may need to be structured differently. I hope this can be a mostly-advanced and collaborative roleplay with a fairly relaxed posting speed… wow, that’s straight out of Estella’s post, maybe I should change that. Any parts of the world your characters come from/know of, or we come across, feel free to develop as much as you’d like.
That’s it for now, though! If anyone’s interested, let me know!
