[center][url=https://ibb.co/9ZCYfyW][img]https://i.ibb.co/1zw2pRT/smokeandsteel5.png[/img][/url] [hider=Theme Music][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyA6Ekh70hA[/youtube][/hider][/center] [center][h2][url=https://discord.gg/9p2VHST]Interested in this RP? Why Not join our Discord Community?[/url][/h2][/center] [h1]What is this Smoke and Steel?[/h1] Smoke and Steel is going to be a a low fantasy RP set in a low fantasy world, taking place in this world's equivalent on Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, a region known as the 'Circle Sea'. You will play the part of someone from one of several royal courts vying for control of a crumbling Empire... or perhaps multiple characters. There will be Alliances, betrayals, and not everyone is coming out of this one alive... This is a low fantasy RP. Magic does exist in the setting, though your characters are not magically gifted. The one exception I will make to this is if you want to make your character a healer, because magical healing is a great way to allow injured characters to participate in the next scene. In terms of non-magical tech and societal development, the part of the world you are in will have tech approximately equivalent to the mid 17th century. So think, pikes, muskets, pirates and knights with guns. And if you aren't too sure about why this is the best period of history to set anything in, watch this educational video: [hider=The Most Underrated Era in History][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjpSfpnyHqc&t=176sh[/youtube][/hider] [hr] [h1]How will the RP be structured?[/h1] There are five competing factions aligned to one of two Royal Houses in the RP. Your character may be a merchant, a soldier, a noble... or anyone else really that you think could form part of the inner circle of one of the five claimants. You can be a human of one of many ethnicities, or you could be an elf, one of the ruling class of the crumbling 'Haltian Empire'. The RP will mostly focus on the character drama though there will be battles. Characters commanding in battle will be asked for orders and we'll run a quick simulation in the discord before RPing it out. Not every faction will be busy all the time so if you do want to write multiple characters in different factions, that's cool. You will advise your liege, maybe switch sides and your actions will have an impact on who eventually wins this war. And hopefully we'll get some fantastic stories written against the backdrop of a massive war. Romance, intrigue, betrayal etc etc... [hr] [h1]What is the World of the Circle Sea?[/h1] [center] [url=https://ibb.co/SmgWKm4][img]https://i.ibb.co/QHVz6H3/circleseass.png[/img][/url][/center] 200 years ago, the world was a very different place. Human Kingdoms dominated the coast of the Circle Sea. Of those Kingdoms, none was finer than the Inburian Empire. Then the blight came. Out of the East, poured strange and brutal creatures, which came to be known as Goblins and Orcs. They appeared in vast hordes, destroying and devouring everything in their path. The Eastern Kingdoms fell, one by one, until the horde reached the great fortress of Grendell, strategically placed to control the narrow neck of land that connected Inbur and the Eastern Kingdoms. The horde laid siege to the citadel for two months, launching one futile assault after another, coming within a hair's breadth of breaching the fort before finally a relief force arrived. The relief force of the time consisted of the bulk of the Inburian army along with the allied contingents from all the other human Kingdoms and there, at the gates of Grendell, the horde was halted, though the Inburians paid a heavy price. Off the back of the horde, another enemy arose in the West: the Haltians. The Haltians were nomadic Elven people, known for their fine Cavalry. They descended on the weakened human kingdoms, carving out their own Empire, completely swallowing the Inburian Empire in the process. While the Haltians have traditionally supplemented their armies with human soldiers from their core territories, those in the former Inburian Empire are, for the most part a downtrodden lot. Many are enslaved and have been for generations though a few have, over time, risen through the ranks, some have even become quite wealthy. But now the winds of change sweep the world again. The Elven Emperor, who had sat upon the throne for the past two centuries has been assassinated. His sons, Voron and Orrian blame each other and swords have been drawn. Voron, the Emperor of the 'Eastern Empire' leads the Reformist faction. His brother, Orrian, heads the traditionalists in the 'Western Empire'. Amidst the chaos, two sisters, Andronika, the heir to the old Empire and her younger sister Ariana, have also raised ancient Inburian Wyvern banners and many flock to them, tired of elven oppression. While the sisters are firm friends, they have quite different ideas about what a free human Kingdom might look like. Andronika, the 'White Wyvern' is in favour of cooperating with the elven populations in human majority lands while Ariana is in favour of complete displacement. The chances of their forces coming to blows is very real. Meanwhile, a distant cousin of theirs, the notorious pirate Coralie D'Ambois, has also landed on the Imperial Coast with an army of pirates and mercenaries and is ostensibly trying to press her own claim to the throne under the 'Black Wyvern' banner. And in the East, a massive force of orcs assembles, threatening all civilisation on the continent and tying up many Eastern Imperial troops... [hr] So if you're interested, let us know! Maybe even pop along to the Discord and we can chat about some ideas!