From times immemorial, magic has caused the greatest atrocities the island continent of Altea has ever seen. Those with the gift of magic, eventually turn to exploit it for their own ends, regardless of their previous intentions. But finally, peace was restored, when the Paladins were formed. Armed with brilliant white power of the light, they were capable to negate the powers of the mages and bring order and prosperity to Altea. In the end, mages were still being born. Some turned themselves in for purification, a ritual that robs them of magic and leaves the person with everlasting pain. Others flee and hide. But the society at large were at peace. Altea was united under the banner of Meldiniar, and to crown was given to the founder of Paladins, Grand Master Grinoc, as the king relinquished his throne. 

And so, Meldiniar flourished, but the hunt for users of magic still continued. But this delicate "balance" was broken by the Azure Covenant, a group of mages who kill and destroy everyone in their path, including other mages. After so many years, the Paladins finally get to truly fight their old enemy, not just hunt for runaways. But is all magic evil? Are all mages evil? Is the power of the Paladins truly divine?

Essentially, this is a Mages vs Paladins scenario, but without any good/evil morality nonsense. And there is more to this old conflict than meets the eye. However, this RP is meant to be mainly player driven. While there is a planned ending, the planned plot revelations, they are very flexible, all depending on how the story plays out. Feel free to suggest your own races, nations, events, and so on. All within reason, of course. [u]And as such, the following lists are the base, and more can be added, as long as it fits the world.[/u]

[hider=Races][list]

[*][b]Humans[/b] - The most numerous race in Altea, Meldiniar houses the majority of humanity. While the common man lives relatively peacefully, The Witch Hunt mercilessly hunts down anyone who displays any signs of magical capabilities, unless they turn themselves in for Purification.[/*]
[*][b]Elves[/b] - the secluded, pointy-eared race, living in the dark forests to the south. Though they practice magic, Paladins tolerate them as their magic is connected deeply to nature, and Elves never misused their power. Elves retain little interest in human affairs, and rarely deal with them. Though usually they accept the runaway mages into their isolated society, provided they accept their teachings. Though far more numerous, humans do not dare to enforce The Witch Hunt in Elven territory.[/*]
[*][b]Dwarves[/b] - the bulky, short, bearded cave-dwellers originate on a cavernous plateau west of the mainland. Though they keep to themselves, they trade and interact with humans, some even join the ranks of Paladins. There are very few cases of dwarven mages, and they are quickly turned in. It is with dwarf help that the Fort of Inquisitors was built.[/*]
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[hider=Important characters and terminology]
[list]
[*][b]Grand Master Grinoc[/b] - the founder of the Paladins, King of Meldiniar. Any who doubted his divine power were soon proven wrong, as the man has not aged at all since the founding of Paladins. But there are still some that question his divinity.[/*]
[*][b]Covenant[/b] - A group for people of similar occupation. Covent of Guards, Farmer's Covenant, etc. Covenant members look after each other, spread knowledge of the field, educate their young and so on. One must be in a covenant to obtain citizenship. The Inquisitorial Covenant, founded by Grinoc himself, is the greatest authority in Meldiniar, only below Grinoc. And as it appears, Azure Covenant was named so just to mock the concept of a covenant.[/*]
[*][b]Power of the Light[/b] - the bright white energy, in which every paladin is taught the use of. It violently interacts with any magic, burning it away. It can burn a mage alive, setting aflame the mages own magic reserves. It is said this power is divine, but there is little arguments to contest it. Light can be shaped into many forms, including coating weapons and armor with it, forming it into a spear and throwing it, or summoning a shield of pure light.[/*]
[*][b]Azure[/b] - His real name is not known, but he is the leader of the Azure Covenant. Not much is known about him, since very few faced him and lived. The only survivors were the one who ran away. He is named Azure because of the distinct color of his magic.[/*]
[*][b]Magic[/b] - the mystical energy that can be shaped into any form, and used to do nearly anything, given sufficient power and skill. As such, it can be easily used maliciously. Benevolent uses of magic are rare, but not unheard of. Also, the elves possess their unique nature related magic. However, Light seems to violently destroy magic, though there are quite a few cases where mages were able to fight back. But none were able to just massacre whole squads of Paladins like Azure did.[/*]
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Questions, suggestions and criticism are all welcome.

[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/31605/posts/ooc]OOC IS UP[/url]