Sitting on the far eastern edge of the great northwestern continent of Hathaia, the small island country of Avadon is divided from the rest of Hathaian borders by a vast sea known as the Merchant’s Expanse. As a result, Avadon has, over the years, become a strange mixture of self-sufficient and dependent. Living so far from their continental neighbours, the people of Avadon have had to learn to rely on their home to provide a means of surviving, as they cannot rely on the bare necessities to be delivered via a simple daylong horseback ride. Instead, the people who call the island nation home have learned to make do with what nature provides. For example, their mainly seafood-based diet. In the same breath, the country’s economy relies heavily on the sailing routes of countries far to the east, who, when traveling over the emerald ocean, must stop in Avadon to rest and restock before making the venture across the Merchant’s Expanse, and into the other parts of Hathaia.

Avadon’s people have grown to rely heavily on the seas that surround their home. Many Avadonian folk take up lives as fishermen, sailors, or even pirates, for those who live less than noble lifestyles. As a result, Avadonian culture has evolved around seamanship, with great ballads being told of the plights of fishermen who brave the raging oceans, and almost every Avadonian dish contains some hint of seafood in the recipe.

The people of Avadon are a kindhearted folk with a strong sense of pride in their home, and the lifestyles they’ve built around it. One would be hard-pressed to find an Avadonian who does not have a week’s worth of tales to tell, all originating from their homeland. It has also become common knowledge among Hathaians, as well as travelers from across the world, that the hospitality of Avadon is unmatched. Despite their hardy, and sometimes obnoxious demeanours, the people of Avadon are highly regarded as some of the friendliest people to call Hathaia home. As a result, travelers will often make rounds to the country for nothing more than a home-away-from-home feeling.

However, Avadon has not always been such a welcoming land. Before humans began settling on the island, it was home to great reptilian beasts who roamed both the skies and the land. The winged creatures stood at nearly 20-feet tall when on all fours, with wingspans nearly doubling that. Their scaled bodies protected them from possible harm, and their great talons and fearsome jaws could cut through even the thickest of tree trunks.

The beasts, known colloquially as arachs, were territorial creatures. Their aggressive nature easily wiped out the first few human settling parties, and for several generations, none were willing to brave the then unnamed Avadon. Though few in number, the arachs easily dealt with any human invaders, and protected their homes atop the great mountains that littered the island.

Though ever intuitive, the humans knew just how important Avadon would be in the future, as its geographical location pitted it between two major landmasses. This was not something the humans would lose sight of easily, and the arachs were nothing short of a small hill for the humans to climb on their way to success.

After countless attempts at making a home on the northern island, humans were eventually able to study the flight paths, sleeping schedules, and diets of the great winged arachs, as the humans lay low under the brush of Avadon’s lush forests. When winter struck, the arachs were known to stay secluded in mountainous lairs, avoiding the chill of the winter snow. In the summer, they soared freely through the open air, hunting and gathering in preparation for colder seasons, where they would be at their weakest.

After even more failed attempts, and even more casualties in the seemingly endless war on the arachs, the humans gathered the knowledge they needed - a true weakness in the otherwise impenetrable defenses of arach scales. During their time spent in the depths of Avadon’s forests, the humans managed to ally with the buchens - tall, muscular humanoids with varying skin tones, protruding, hooked teeth, and sparse, usually unkempt hair across their bodies. Though rather vile in appearance, and otherwise fairly unintelligent, the buchens did possess a much deeper understanding of the arachs, as well as Avadon in general, that the humans would otherwise lack. In exchange for their continued freedom in the future, the buchens shared their knowledge of the land and the arachs alike, exposing the arach’s enmity for the divine magic found in the horns of unicorns, as well as a soft spot at the peak of arach skulls - the only part of their body not covered by thick, metallic scales.

Together, alongside the buchens, the ambitious humans hunted unicorns, whose population in Avadon far outnumbered those in other parts of human civilization. This population steadily decreased, however, as the greed for power prevalent in the minds of both humans and buchens found a finite sustenance among the unicorns.

Before long, the humans and their native allies had created weapons -shortswords and arrows, mostly - using the sharp horns of the deceased unicorns. Enough weapons, in fact, to boost the confidence of the humans tenfold. That winter, known to Avadonian historians and bards as the winter of bloody scales, the humans carried out their final invasion on the homes of the arachs. During the cold season, the reptilian beasts were most fragile, sleeping for weeks at a time, ultimately exposing their soft-topped skulls to humans brave enough to trespass in their lairs.

That winter, the humans finally saw success. One by one, they managed to slay the arachs, which numbered only in the dozens. Their caves were littered with reptilian corpses, and if one had managed to survive, it also somehow managed to escape the gaze of both humans and buchens, who spent the remainder of the winter season in celebration of their victory.

Now, 150 years have passed. Arachs are a thing of history lessons, and both humans and buchens alike live peacefully in cities, towns, and villages scattered across the face of Avadon. The unicorns live on as the nation’s symbol of success, and the art of slaying arachoid creatures is passed down, generation through generation, in a group of warriors known as Gallowblades.

Though sight of an arach has not been reported in nearly 80 years, the importance of the Gallowblades lives on as strong as ever. Mainly taking care of smaller reptilian beasts that threaten the peace of Avadon, protection of the humans and their home on Avadon is at the forefront of any Gallowblade’s mind, and their training regimen involves deep study of the art of slaying - an important bit of knowledge for anyone looking to take on 20-foot reptiles. With a presence in every major Avadonian city, the Gallowblades have not only become beacons of safety, but also a symbol of the undying pride Avadonians have for their home, and the measures they are willing to take to maintain it.

In recent years, however, numbers within the ranks of the Gallowblades has decreased. The lack of arach sightings in nearly an entire human lifetime has given Avadonians the idea that the beasts are extinct and, as a result, fewer people are looking to take up arms against beasts they do not know to exist any longer. To remedy this, the Gallowblades have been given the rite of conscription. Though it has not been put to too much use, the rite gives Gallowblade officers the right to recruit anyone they deem fit - willingly or unwillingly - into the ranks of the Gallowblades. In turn, these recruits will be trained to live and die in the name of Avadon and her people.

Despite their name, the Gallowblades are not all hardened fighters. The ranks of the Gallowblades vary, and the Blades are known to accept anyone from any walk of life, as long as they show a willingness to protect and serve Avadon. Knights and brigands, priests and necromancers, thieves and hunters, all are welcome, and sometimes forced, into the Gallowblades.

With rumours swelling among Avadonians of a possible undiscovered lair of arachs, the rite of conscription given to the Gallowblades has become a possible lifesaver. The people of Avadon fear an entire pack of arachs may have gone unnoticed over the years in a northern mountain - enough to wipe out entire cities at a time. The power of the unicorn weapons passed down over the last 150 has long faded since the last proper battle against arachs. Tensions are high, and all eyes are on the Gallowblades to stay true to their name, and protect Avadon and the people who call it home.

That is where you, a newly conscripted Gallowblade recruit, will etch their name into the history of Avadon. Were you conscripted into the Gallowblades, or did you join on your own ambition? Will you survive long enough to see an arach yourself, or will the vigourous lifestyle of a Gallowblade introduce you to an untimely death? Do you even care for Avadon, or are you here because of the fame? The money? Or was this your only choice, besides the end of an executioner’s axe? Your story is yours to tell, but all will eventually intertwine with the future of Avadon.



I'm mostly posting this just to see how much interest it drums up. It's an idea that I've had rolling around in my head for some weeks now, and thought it could make for a fun roleplay.

The story will be further explained in a future post, but that's the jist of it. Your character will be a new recruit of the Gallowblades, and eventually the story will take us into the far reaches of Avadon in search of any remaining arachs, which may or may not even be true. That's up to you to find out.

Photos to help give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

Playable Races (can include more, just ask nicely. Hahaha.):

Magic

The use of magic is going to be fairly limited here. It exists, certainly, but any old average Joe isn't going to able to wield it. You want to lob fireballs? You best get to studying, because mastering fire-based magic is going to take years. You want to summon demons? Go for it, but don't come crying to me when one of them turns on you and rips your arm off. And when people start to shun you for working with devils? Hey, you asked for it.

As well as this, magic is going to require almost direct contact with the caster's body. So, you're not going to be able to wear steel-plated armour and shoot lightning from one hand while slashing a sword with the other. Mages are going to have to be wearing clothes that allow the mana the seep through it with relative ease. Things like wizard robes, or even regular clothing, would accomplish this.



I'm not sure how many people I want. It all depends on how many people are interested, I suppose. We could start at four, or ten, or however many we can get, really. All depends on how much interest this post drums up.

I'm hoping everyone can keep their characters realistic, given the setting. Sure, you're training to slay dragons, but that doesn't mean you get to be all-powerful, undefeated gods on earth. I wanna see some jailed thieves serving as Gallowblades, or some nervous recruit looking to redeem his reputation. I likely won't accept your character if they seem too powerful/overdone. That being said, I'll always talk with you to see how we can change them up to fit the story better.

I won't really have an active character myself. Instead, I'll guide the party along with various NPCs, encounters, and situations. This might be common practice on this website, but I'm pretty new here, so cut me some slack. Hahaha.

I'm thinking weekly IC posts from myself to move the story along? Maybe bi-weekly, depending on how many people join. That should give people plenty of time to post their bit.

As the tag/title suggests, this takes place in a medieval fantasy universe. It's a new creation of mine, so it's ever-expanding, so if you want to add a creature, place, etc., just hit me up (here or via PM) and we can talk about it. However, I won't be accepting anything futuristic or technologically advanced. No guns, no robots, you know the drill.



I'm thinking of setting up a list of classes for people to pick from. Like fighter, ranger, wizard, bandit, etc. Is this something people would like to see? Or do people prefer free range with their characters? Let me know, and if it's something people are interested in, I'll add a list of classes to pick from, and expand upon.



Like I said, this is only a simple post to see who's interested in this idea. There's a lot more that I have in mind, but I figured my best bet was to see whether or not people actually liked the idea. If I see at least a decent group of interested people, I'll make this into a full-fledged game, and we can all have fun slaying dragons together!

If you're interested, let me know. We can discuss changes to th plot/world/etc. here, and you can run your character ideas by me and all that fun stuff.

Hope to see some people jumping on board with this! Cheers folks.

@Cube i have a question for the tuvuls. Would it be possible to have one be bound in actual djinn or genie lore. But do to his cruel nature he was trapped inside a lamp. Only to be freed by the party leader to assist in battle and is bound by laws of wishes but limited to only 3 wishes per summon

@Cube
So, give me a moment here. What prevents a mage from simply not wearing any armour on his fireball-throwing arm and having that comfy and protective plate over the rest of his body?

@Thantos

Like the idea, I'm thinking of having someone with a tortured past who just wants to die but doesn't want to die being a cowardice nobody. So he joins the gallowblades in the hopes of slaying arachs until one finally brings him the thing he wants the most.

Woops, mentioned the wrong person. I'm sure Cube will see this anyways.

@Thantos I probably should have been a bit more clear on the races, especially the ones that don't exist elsewhere, haha. The tuvuls aren't actual genies or djinn, they're just blue or purple-skinned humanoids with a particular fondness for magic. They still have legs with bones, muscle, and blood, and not little wisps of blue fog like the classic genie depiction. I just used pictures I found when googling djinn, because that's the general physical appearance I had in mind!

@Keksalot I suppose nothing is stopping someone from doing that. However, the more access magic has to the body, the more powerful/effective the spell would be. If the mana can only reach the arm, then your fireballs are likely going to sizzle out 80% of the time. The power involved behind the spells doesn't change this, either. So if you wanted to create a small candlelight on your fingertip, or shoot a canonball-sized ball of flames, they'd still fail a vast majority of the time if the mana can only reach your arm. It's not a completely fleshed out system, I mainly came up with it because I didn't want every character to be masters of melee combat as well as some kind of magic, and still somehow be in their mid 20s. I wanted the two to remain as separate as possible.

In the same breath, magic in general is not the most well-developed science in this world. Its uses are limited, so things like teleportation, telekinesis, major altering of the body (like invisibility or something) just aren't going to be possible. It's still a very primitive and undiscovered source of power. Hope that helps!

@Kronshi That sounds good! I like that.

What do you guys think of the idea of a class system? Should I throw in a list of classes, like I did with races? Or should I just leave that up to the players? Also, speaking of races, you aren't necessarily limited to the ones I listed. If you have something else in mind, feel free to run it by me. But please run it by me before making the character, because some races just might not work well in this universe.

Hello, I'm interested but I'm very short on time at the moment. I plan on being free in a couple months, on december. i was wondering if I could join in by then, if the RP is still around?

@Frettzo I'd like to say yes, but I honestly have no idea. I hope this roleplay is still around in December, but I'm not entirely sure where the story will be at that point in time. If having someone new join at that stage in the plot, then I'd be happy to let you join. We'll just have to wait and see how things go!

Interested as well... A buchen or a tuvel. Hmm. If there are any token small-person/creature races (not counting) dwarves, a la halflings or small beastkin I'd be interested in that too.

@vietmyke Like I said, I'm open to races! If you'd like to play a halfling, or a gnome, or some such critter, I'd be open to suggestions! The aforementioned two are ones that I know I'd have no problems with, for example.

I had a mind to play a halfling rogue kinda character- super original, obviously /sarcasm

OR actually.. Perhaps an abnormally strong halfling, with an absurdly large sword.

But yeah, if halflings would fit into this world I'd love to play one.

I can certainly see halflings working in this universe. They're a personal favourite of mine in fantasy games such as Baldur's Gate, so I'd love to see one here as well!

I'm open to this idea. Let's see what the initial OOC has to offer.

I'm totes interested in this.

Seems to be getting a decent bit of traction, which is nice. I'm thinking I'll give it another day, and if things keep moving, I'll write up an OOC the following day!

Also, in regards to armor restricting the ability to use magic: is it due to the fact that the armor is made of metal and therefore mana cannot flow through it? If that is the case, would mages be able to wear leather armor and still cast spells?

@Cube
So hold on, where does the magic even come from? Why does mana need to "reach" my body? Does it come from the outside world and despite a mage being able to attract it like a magnet it can pass through the entire world but be stopped by a thin sheet of metal?
If I or anyone else would play a mage I would expect us to know how magic works OOC and In-Universe in quite sophisticated depths. Of course "it's not researched by the masses" is a good reason for common people to have no idea, like it always is in fantasy, but I take it mages who study magic all their lives as it is required here would know exactly how and why shit happens, else magic would not be possible to use.

@Keksalot Well, I planned on expanding on this more in the OOC, but since there are apparently a few questions on the subject, I figure I'll type this up now, since I have some spare time at work. Keep in mind, this isn't a completely polished system, so there may be inconsistencies.

So, the idea behind the magic here is that it sort of flows through the air, though it doesn't have a physical appearance - you can't see it. Since it's always got a presence, it can sometimes alter, or otherwise have some kind of effect on, certain parts of the world. Hence the magic in a unicorn's horn, or other magical beings that I may include in the future. However, magic is a largely undiscovered and underdeveloped science. No one has really been able to pinpoint how the magic seeps out of its pools in the air to alter the world on its own.

That being said, some creatures (namely the more civilized ones like humans) have learned how to draw the mana from the pool, much like a magnet attracts metallic objects. From there, they can manipulate the mana into a physical force, such as a fireball, or a force field of sorts. Since this universe is relatively young, the study of magic is largely unexplored, and the full potential of it is far from unlocked. This isn't like most fantasy universes, where wizards are capable of casting mind control over thousands of creatures, or building a fortress of ice from the ground in a matter of seconds. Instead, they might be able to control the thoughts of a single person for an hour or two, if they really know what they're doing, or possibly construct a small wall of ice for a few minutes. Even then, it's fairly unpredictable, and could easily backfire if they lose focus.

As a result of this, wizards and sorcerers are looked down on in many parts of the world and thought to be evil, or at the very least, untrustworthy for dabbling in the arcane. The use of magic could even be illegal in some places (pro tip: it is. Just not in Avadon.)

For a bit of a real world perspective, the level of understanding people in Hathaia (the main human continent) have of magic could be comparable to our understanding of the universe. We know it exists, and we know the basics of it, but there's about ten times as much information that we don't know. It's an interesting topic to many, but understood by very few, and those who do claim to really understand it, still have only a very basic knowledge of the full scale of it.

As for the actual casting of magic, it isn't just a quick flick of your fingers. It requires a casting process (usually some hand movements, though some larger-scale spells may require the full body to be in motion), as well as a chant in an ancient language spoken by a people known as shurn - people that existed on the planet (still unnamed lol) long before humans and other creatures came into existence. The shurn had a very vast understanding of magic, and it's often believed that magic is the sole reason behind their extinction. It's the discovery of the shurn's ancient writing that led to the discovery of spellcastig in the first place. As an aside, the shurn are who the tuvuls believe they are descended from.

Now, as the ancient words and movements attract the mana to your body, the mana takes on a physical form - it'll glow, and become much more dense. It'll leave its pools in the air and creep toward your body and sort of fuse with your skin. That's where the clothing choice comes into play. Possibly, a good rule to go by would be if water can seep through it, then mana can as well. As such, wearing plated armour is going to bring the mana to a complete stop, and leather would likely have a similar effect. Regular clothing, furs, robes, etc. are your best bet, as the mana can easily seep through and reach your body. I suppose being naked would be in your best interest if you want to cast spells, but that's hardly appropriate. Hahaha. With this in mind, it's also safe to say that the further north you go, the less and less common magic will become, as people will require thicker, more layered clothes to survive the cold temperatures. Avadon itself is a bit further north, so it can be a bit colder, but will still experience all four seasons, albeit the winters may be slightly more harsh, and their summers may not be as hot as other places.

The more parts of your body the mana can reach, the better. If you wear only greaves and boots, and leave the top half of your body uncovered, then your spells will fail about 50% of the time. If you leave your arm unarmoured as was mentioned before, but the rest of covered in steel, your spells are likely going to fail around 80-90% of the time. So I suppose nothing is stopping a wizard from relying on that 50%, or that 80%, but it's also worth keeping in mind that some spells will require body movements beyond just the hands/arms, and the more heavy armour someone wears, the more restricted they are in their movement.

And no, the mana will not look for an opening. It will continue to move forward, and if it cannot reach you, it will dissipate. For example, if your arm is uncovered, but your chest is armoured, then the mana headed to your chest region will not move about until it finds your arm. It will stop, and go back to its pool in the air. The mana that was heading for your arm, however, will be fine. I hope that makes as much sense as it does in my mind.

One last thing worth mentioning, since I want to restrict what magic can and can't do, I'll be grouping it into schools. When I do that, it should give you a good idea as to what your character can and can't do with their arcane knowledge. I'll likely post here again when I have some schools figured out.

So, overall, magic is going to be pretty restrictive. Wizards in the group will need proper protection by their more heavily-armoured allies, and their reputation may take a hit, depending on where they live and study. Avadon's views on magic are fairly neutral, but may change depending on what part of the country you find yourself in.

Like I said, it's not a completely fleshed out system, so any questions you guys may have, feel free to hit me up. But I hope that clarifies things a bit! I'm doing this mostly out of personal preference when it comes to my fantasy universe, but also because I'm tired of seeing people play characters that seem to be masters of every aspect of combat. I want to see both strengths and weaknesses here in everyone's characters, and in a world where magic exists, that can sometimes be hard to do. So I've restricted it heavily, in hopes that those who wish to play wizards can be just that - wizards, and not masters of everything. In the same breath, those who wish to play fighters, or thieves, or even pirates, can focus on being just those as well.

Again, for those who have shown interest, thank you! I hope my magic restrictions don't push you away. Hahaha.

Just as a quick follow-up to that, for anyone wishing to play a wizard, I guess the most important thing to remember is that magic itself is not a completely understood aspect of the world. Your character can't possibly know everything there is to know, and failure is bound to happen, just like a warrior's sword is bound to miss. I want the world to feel dangerous - if someone breaks a leg, then they may be out of commission entirely, because a wizard's spells aren't going to be able to mend that. If a group finds themselves lost in a tundra, then that's going to be detrimental to their journey, because the wizard isn't going to be able to just summon up some better temperatures whenever someone feels a little cold.

I totally encourage anyone who wants to take on a magic-user, but I also don't want that character to become the be-all-end-all, as I've seen far too often in other roleplays I've been a part of.

@Cube i wanted to clear that up before i made a decision on race. Cause all and all it sounds like a real interesting rp and im interested in it.

@Thantos Awesome! Glad to see you're interested. I'm thinking I might write up an OOC tomorrow, if all goes well and work stays out of my spare time. Hahaha.