The world of Black Lily is one of a medieval time, but also one sorely lacking in traditional structure. Collectively, it is referred to as Pratus and while there are some places where kings and queens exist, most cities and towns are completely self-sufficient and the ones that aren’t rely on their local guilds to bring in money for the local economy. Not every guild is combat-oriented and some--most notably the merchant’s guild--bring in large amounts of revenue regularly.

Due to how Pratus evolved after The Catastrophe, law enforcement is not backed by any official body and the lands are very dangerous because of it. Civilized towns and cities employ their own guard whether it be knights who no longer serve a lord or hired mercenaries or even volunteers, but outside the walls of civilization, no rules apply. It’s common practice for travelers to hire bodyguards and envoys to keep them safe as they traverse the dangerous roads between societies and it’s just as common for unsavory types to take advantage of any and everyone when they seen an opportunity. On top of that, roving beasts of all kinds usually take offense to seeing other living creatures and have a tendency to attack on sight.

Unfortunately, poorer villages are often the subject of much higher crime rates simply because they lack the funds to employ a proper guard and too many people live their lives doing whatever they please. In short, Pratus is dangerous, depraved, and not generally a great place to exist unless you live in the safety of more wealthy cities. Below is a list of a few notable locales that I’ll add to as the rp goes on and as other people add their creations to the world. Right now there is only one major locale because that's where beginning of the RP takes place for the most part.

The Disk
The Disk is the name commonly given to one of the largest cities in all of Pratus and it is dubbed as such because of its giant, circular wall. The Disk is home to the original branch of the merchant’s guild and as such it is a hub for commerce and a popular destination for travelers from all over. It was one of the first cities to become self-sufficient after The Catastrophe which effectively ended monarchies worldwide.

The Disk employs its own guard and it is mostly made up of the knights who once served the lord that previously ruled the area. Due to its standing, it is one of the safer cities one can live in, but in order for one to reside there permanently, dues are required on a monthly basis. Those in charge deem that any who would use the city to shelter themselves from the evils of the outer world need to pay for the privilege.

The Disk is also home to the mythical Black Lily guild, but thus far no one who is not a member has ever found the guild’s meeting place. The Disk also used to be a particularly lucrative place for Black Lily due to the unusually high rate of supernatural attacks, but lately these reports and sightings seem to have been slowing down.

The Wildlands
The Wildlands are the areas between cities, towns, and villages. Civilized areas are usually more free of supernatural entities and beasts because guilds keep them out and away, but the world has grown so dangerous that humanity is content to let these creatures roam free anywhere that's not near a civilized area. The danger levels vary in different parts of The Wildlands, but most people are in agreement that if you intend to travel between societies, you should hire some kind of escort or bodyguard.

The technology level of Pratus fits with the medieval time period. Horse and carriage are the main forms of transportation and melee weapons are the main form of weaponry along with bow and arrows for projectiles. Paved roads have not come to be, but some of the wealthier cities have cobblestone at the very least. There's no electricity so it's fire for light and warmth and traditional methods of storing food using salt and other things to preserve items.

All that said, there has been a rumor for years that some members of Black Lily carry around a strange weapon that seems to fire projectiles that aren't arrows and it fits easily into one hand. People have taken to calling them "hand-cannons" though there isn't really anyone who can vouch for having seen one in person.

Guilds are the backbone of any area's economy. They're collectives of like-minded people who come to together to make money based on whatever they're like-minded about. Guilds are also a good way to avoid paying city dues to live within the safety of a wall and a city guard because since part of a guild's revenue goes straight to the city government, guild members usually don't have to pay dues. There are many different kinds of guilds and a lot of them aren't combat-based with some notable ones being the Merchant's Order and the Bard's guild.

Combat-based guilds are especially important to a flourishing city however because they promote a strong circle-of-life initiative. Citizens take jobs to make money to keep up with their city dues and make a decent living for themselves, but most importantly they need money in order to hire a guild to help keep them safe. While the city guard will do their best to keep citizens safe from threats of crime, supernatural threats are another league and a guild is usually involved with that kind of work. With the world being as dangerous as it is, it's massively important to keep combat-based organizations operating so everyone can keep being eaten as the last on their minds, among other painful deaths.

Black Lily is, by far, the most infamous and renown guild in the business of slaughtering the supernatural. However, their infamy also comes from the fact that half the crime committed in The Disk is usually perpetrated by their members. It's a give and take sort of relationship.

Magic was introduced to the world through The Catastrophe and its presence only grew even years after things had settled down. As far as the scholars have concluded, magic is an all-powerful force that has near limitless capabilities. However, using magic has its drawbacks. Firstly, the energy itself is toxic to individuals. While animals were affected with mutations and twisted transformations, the human body cannot handle the strain of such an unpredictable force. People who try to use magic through their bodies introduce a disease that slowly shuts down organs until there are no more left to shut down. As such, those interested in harnessing magical energies have taken to using mediums to achieve their spells.

Secondly, the use of magic attracts supernatural entities. Those who use magic in moderation while keeping the spells relatively small fare fine for a while within city walls, but those who use powerful, outlandish spells can bring the wrath of any number of different otherworldly creature down upon them. Supernatural entities seem to have some intrinsic ties to magical energies and are able to locate heavy magic users with pinpoint accuracy. Those who use magic in the outside world away from civilized areas can find themselves set upon even quicker due to the fact that these kinds of beasts call the wildlands their home.

Though magic itself can be very useful, most combat guilds only employ one or two magic users for fear of attracting more than they can handle or even causing a citywide emergency.

In the first section I explained how magic came to exist and the basics upon which it works, but it's become increasingly clear that I left out a large chunk of the lore regarding how magic specifically works with mediums. My apologies! In this section, I will explain just that.

Due to the threat of poisoning and disease, magic came to be harnessed through the use of mediums--or objects--by humanity. With a medium, anyone could conjure up a spell or two without having to worry about having their organs shut down one by one until death. The power of a spell (and magic in general) is dependent on the strength of the medium being used. For example, if one were to use their own sword to create flames to coat the blade in, that would work perfectly fine. However, if one intended to use a simple sword to summon a raining firestorm down upon the earth, that spell would undoubtedly fail and the blade would be destroyed because it couldn't handle the amount of energy need to conjure up such a spell.

In effect, the more powerful and outlandish the spell, the stronger the medium needs to be in order to handle it and cast the full spell rather than a partial or even complete failure.

The second part to these facts lie in constant contact with magically-energized items. Enchanted gear and mediums that remain passively activated present another threat to their users as constant contact with a magically inclined item exposes the user to magical energies and can still allow the disease to develop over a longer period of time. Those who use enchanted gear would usually only activate the actual spell in times of need as spells are specifically created to be one time use in order to keep the caster alive.

In summation, while magic offers boundless possibilities for the curious mind, the hard truth is that a lot of the denizens of Pratus do not bother to even learn to use magic because it's simply too much trouble. Others shirk the temptation due to fear of not being able to control the spell they conjure properly. Regardless though, magic still remains a wonder for all and those who do pursue it do so with the knowledge that they'll either die by poisoning and the disease or a certain spell will attract too many supernatural beasts that will also spell the end of their being.

This template below will be what you use to submit your characters. Now, considering there is lots of interest here, I'm going to ask that you submit your character to me via PM. This will also allow everyone to create a concept they really enjoy rather than seeing everyone else's and basing it off of some other reason. There are no needed roles so go ahead and feel free to create what you desire. I left the template un-formatted because I always like to see how potential players individually format their sheets so as long as you include the necessary categories, you can format the actual sheet however you wish. You'll also notice the brevity of the sheet. That's completely intentional because I feel like it's better to reveal information organically within the IC thread.