The Thousand-Faced God was slain by the Perishing Star, and with their death, their divinity spilled out to the world, granting unto mortals the gift of magic. At the same time, the lance that slew such a deity pierced into the very heart of the planet, rotting it from within. From that hole, that Abyss, monsters rose, wrecking havoc throughout the lands.
Thus, the Godless Era began.
Civilization became patchwork as monsters infested the lands, cities and villages connected only by adventurers and merchantsβ guilds. Few nations can boast a dominion over anything beyond what the eye can see, and with the fall of the divine came the end of divine mandates. Revolutions sparked by the arcane gift ended dynasties or caused the tyrantβs fist to tighten into a chokehold. Meanwhile, the city-state of Oratorio stands at the forefront of the Abyss, having built great walls around the giant hole to block off any monsters that may climb out from the labyrinthian structure that remained after the lanceβs exterior had crumbled away.
Explorers plunge into its depths in search of great treasures, or to simply hunt the monsters within for their body parts, dense as monstrous flesh is in arcane power. It is this double-edged sword that had made Oratorio the powerhouse of a city-state that it currently is. But the monsters of the deeper layers can only be driven back, not slain, and the capability of the mortals remain limited still.
You, however, are different.
You possess a Spark within you. A single aspect of the Thousand-Faced God has been grafted upon your soul by fortune and fate, and it is in following the pull of the Spark that youβve ended up in Oratorio. For within the Abyss, there is one more thing that can be found: Ichor, the radiance that kindles the Spark, that furthers your divine power.
Your blessing grants Divine Protection upon those who pledge to follow you.
Your favour grants Grace upon those whom you see fit to become your champions, allowing them to surpass the limits of their mortal forms.
Your presence grants Miracles subtle and overt, expressing a supernatural influence over the world in the absence of its God.
Through this sublime capability, gather followers and allies, capital and Ichor. Extend your domain and plunge into the depths. Be the guiding hand that grants glory and immortality to your paladins. Until the Spark becomes an Inferno and you claim that empty Throne. Until the End comes once more, and the Perishing Star arrives to claim the heart of another Divine.
But know too, that until you Ascend, you remain mortal.
And the Spark within your soul can be stolen by another still.
Thus, the Godless Era began.
Civilization became patchwork as monsters infested the lands, cities and villages connected only by adventurers and merchantsβ guilds. Few nations can boast a dominion over anything beyond what the eye can see, and with the fall of the divine came the end of divine mandates. Revolutions sparked by the arcane gift ended dynasties or caused the tyrantβs fist to tighten into a chokehold. Meanwhile, the city-state of Oratorio stands at the forefront of the Abyss, having built great walls around the giant hole to block off any monsters that may climb out from the labyrinthian structure that remained after the lanceβs exterior had crumbled away.
Explorers plunge into its depths in search of great treasures, or to simply hunt the monsters within for their body parts, dense as monstrous flesh is in arcane power. It is this double-edged sword that had made Oratorio the powerhouse of a city-state that it currently is. But the monsters of the deeper layers can only be driven back, not slain, and the capability of the mortals remain limited still.
You, however, are different.
You possess a Spark within you. A single aspect of the Thousand-Faced God has been grafted upon your soul by fortune and fate, and it is in following the pull of the Spark that youβve ended up in Oratorio. For within the Abyss, there is one more thing that can be found: Ichor, the radiance that kindles the Spark, that furthers your divine power.
Your blessing grants Divine Protection upon those who pledge to follow you.
Your favour grants Grace upon those whom you see fit to become your champions, allowing them to surpass the limits of their mortal forms.
Your presence grants Miracles subtle and overt, expressing a supernatural influence over the world in the absence of its God.
Through this sublime capability, gather followers and allies, capital and Ichor. Extend your domain and plunge into the depths. Be the guiding hand that grants glory and immortality to your paladins. Until the Spark becomes an Inferno and you claim that empty Throne. Until the End comes once more, and the Perishing Star arrives to claim the heart of another Divine.
But know too, that until you Ascend, you remain mortal.
And the Spark within your soul can be stolen by another still.
Trying something outta the norm for me this time around, inspired by Danmachi, Honkai Star Rail, and a touch of Revue Starlight.
Basically, players will play as Ichor-Blessed individuals for the purposes of starting up factions, gathering power and Paladins, before using that power to explore the Abyss and/or deepen your Divinity. At the start, you'll basically be not all that different from a common mortal, outside of having access to strange powers that do not stem from magic as other mortals understand it. So ya gotta scheme and strategize your way to the top, while either managing alliances with other players or trying to subvert and consume them. There'll definitely be the possibility of PvP as a result, but it'd be good if none of y'all starting griefing off the bat.
There will be a dice system in place, and a buncha resources to manage. I'll be doing the calculations in private most of the time, so don't worry about having to learn it. What I will need of you, though, is to be relatively active on Discord, which will serve as the OOC, and to post at least once a week in the IC (unless I give you an exemption). Discord participation is particularly important, because IC negotiations will probably be handled via collabs, or it'll take way too long.
If you've got questions, hit me up. If you want to immediate claim a Domain, feel free to slap it down here as well. I personally prefer interesting Domains rather than the usual shenanigans of War, Storms, etc. The Thousand-Faced God has a thousand faces, so why pick the basic ones?
Also, I guess character creation will be kinda involved too, and you'll end up at least doing a mini-CS for every Paladin your Ichor-Blessed promotes, so, ya know. Don't join if you don't like thinking up characters.