The Court of The Red King

[Little Bill]

The Court of The Red King

_{Wizards // The Lord of The Rings // Final Fantasy // Flash Gordon}
♪

That's right nerd. Final Fantasy is part of the inspirations, despite not being a 70's pulp story. What gives? Let me explain, italicized voice. Final Fantasy, in all of its incarnations, has always had a pretty firm environmentalist message shared by Wizards and a lot of the fantasy-scifi half of the pulp genre. This story shares those messages. Final Fantasy also has a more lighthearted, but still similar setting -- Magic and machinery exist alongside one another.

Our story takes place on a nameless planet, which just so happens to be Earth, several million years after a nuclear holocaust killed most life on the planet. The still-irradiated stretches of the globe known as the Badlands have spawned mutated humans such as the Orcs, Wolfmen, and The Illithid. Additionally, many residents of The Badlands have begun reclaiming and repairing ancient remnants of technology. One such figure is Ziltoid The Omniscient, an Illithid king who has set out to revive humanity's most powerful supercomputer.

Our heroes will be a ragtag cast selected for unknown reasons by The Red King, the mysterious and illusive leader of The Fair Folk. The world will feature Elves and robots, dire-beast mounts and reclaimed hoverbikes, and so on. Our characters will come from different backgrounds across the world, having been selected to destroy the last remaining component of the supercomputer, and be known as "The Court of The Red King". If you couldn't already tell, this will not be the first prog rock joke.

WIP

The Badlands & The Mutants

The Badlands is the term for the irradiated desert that covers most of the world. It is a land of salt and brimstone, populated by the limping, mutated remnants of wildlife and the foul inhabitants of Terra that have adabted to the harshest surroundings. In the least irradiated portions of The Badlands, there are oases of hardy prehistoric ferns and black pines that have withstood the area's acrid irradiated atmosphere. Most of The Badlands, however, is made up of sprawling gray deserts and cityscapes.

Reclaimed technology is generally found in larger cities, whereas smaller cities make do with the twisted machinations of the current time. The current technologic era is most similar to that of the early 1900's -- Electricity, small planes,internal combustion, and the factory assembly line all exist, though calculators, satellite technology, computers, and jet engines are all only found in ancient ruins and deep underground. Due to the existence of things like history books and instruction manuals, the technologic era has started much earlier now than during the time of man, and has skipped the steam age as part of their industrial revolution. Even though rifles are in mass production, swords are still being forged every day.

The mutants who live in The Badlands are as harsh and unnatural as their home, borne from humans who struggled in the poisonous land with escalatingly grotesque birth defects. These mutants have not only lost their humanity in a genetic sense, but in a mental sense as well -- Concepts such as filial piety, consensual sex, and mourning one's dead are foreign to them. Cannibalism is a commonplace fear tactic and food source, and leaders remain in power for as long as they are quick-witted and strong enough to avoid assassination. Only one thing is true about The Badlands; It is a foul place, where all things good have been forgotten.

Orcs -- mutated humans with hardened skin and fangs -- make up the bulk of THe Badlands' population, followed by humans and The Illithid, a psychic race of cephalopod-like humanoids. Among the wildlife are the usual mutant variants of common wildlife, sandworms, and the cactusmen -- living plants, and among the few lifeforms who can tolerate the planet's nuclear caps.

Terra & The Fairfolk

Terra is the name for the parts of Earth that remain unspoilt and free of radiation. Ruled by Tiberius Khan, Terra is known for its bountiful wildlife, abundance of trees, and widespread use of magic. Though much of it is only a fraction of lush and green as it was millions of years ago, it is still considered the more comfortable region of the world by far.
Humans make up the bulk of Terra's denizens, followed by the elves. The outer regions of Terra, closest to The Badlands are ruled by the hardier dwarves, gnomes eager to tinker with the machinations of the more savage parts of the world, and scores of dragons, which usually counteract any resurgences of sandworms.

Most of Terra has a negative view of technology, citing it as the reason for The Last War. Most have outright rejected technology and refuse it in their villages, making those with cyborg prosthetics -- an option for the wealthy, but nonetheless option -- pariahs and scapegoats in the more rural villages.

[Flagg]

Hey- super interested in option 2.

[Jerkchicken]

Option 2

It's a good mix of cheese

[Jozarin]

I'm interested, particularly if we'll be aping the style of the genre.

[Little Bill]

Due to the 2/3 vote, Option B it is. Currently working on some worldbuilding stuff, glad to see all this interest. Any ideas as to what kinda characters you folks are interested in playing yet?

[Flagg]

Due to the 2/3 vote, Option B it is. Currently working on some worldbuilding stuff, glad to see all this interest. Any ideas as to what kinda characters you folks are interested in playing yet?

@DeadBeatWalking

Slightly unhinged robot gunslinger, of course, maybe remote controlled by someone in a bunker somewhere.

[Jerkchicken]

I was thinking a dude with a prosthetic hand that turns into a magical engraved sword.

Or another sword dude in a cowboy type outfit that wields lightsabers made from his magical energy.

Oh wait fuck I thought option B was the fantasy/sci-fi mashup or did you change the post to reflect the chosen option?

[Boss Fight]

I'd love to get in on some post apocalyptic pulp fantasy scifi goodness.

[Little Bill]

Oh wait fuck I thought option B was the fantasy/sci-fi mashup or did you change the post to reflect the chosen option?

@Jerkchicken

Correct. Fantasy/Sci-Fi Mashup wins.

[Little Bill]

I'll be able to add some stuff I've thought up when I get home. Till then, if you guys have any ideas for magic systems/not-evil races, now is the time to send them to me, as I am currently working on The Fair Folk.

[Jerkchicken]

How about terrestrial octopus people or something like that.

And while I'm at the subject of aquatic things how about an Atlantis type area to poke around in?

[deadpoet]

Looks real cool. I'm down.

[Boss Fight]

if you guys have any ideas for magic systems/not-evil races, now is the time to send them to me,

Giant, domesticated tarantulas: There was a time when you wouldn't think of keeping company with, let alone giving scratches to and sharing a bed with a wolf and yet, here we are.

Phorusrhacidae, or Terror Birds: I don't know; man sized, meat eating, flightless birds just feels right for this sort of setting. I may want to ride one or ceremonially kill it and use its bones and feathers as decorative flair.

Cactus People: Wasteland Ents made of succulents and or weeds. Largely useless as they are preoccupied with a widely different approach towards both morality and time management, they none the less maintain a monopoly on the region's environmental economy, dictating the ebb and flow of natural resources.

Sentient Ruins: Giant Mech / Transformer style bases / cities that maneuver around the continent occasionally seeding self sustaining technology in the form of factories, infrastructure, weapons, and robots that further perpetuate a particular technological and political agenda.

[Little Bill]

Minor update with way more to come tomorrow. Usually I say "I've got so many ideas but not enough time" to postpone addressing that I have no ideas, but this time I actually do have a lot of ideas and little time.

Expect more Luddism than you can shake a stick at in the coming OOC!

[NowIGiveUp]

Yup, ok, just thought I'd get in here and say that I'm definitely interested.

[Little Bill]

IT LIVES.
it's a super WIP, but, IT LIVES. Until then, if any of you have some free time, I'd be down to have a Co-GM since I anticipate a lot of worldbuilding to add on.

[Little Bill]

@Flagg@NowIGiveUp@Boss Fight@Jerkchicken@deadpoet@Jozarin
Bumping to harass you guys with email notifications!

[Boss Fight]

Tomorrow after 8pm EST I will have stuff for you. Fuckin' work, amirite? Getting in the way of working out my hockey mask rocking lawful neutral serial killer cleric who wields a chainsword in the name of the greater good through eugenics.
By the way, you name dropped terrorbirds; let's make this happen.

[Polybius]

This is too good to let die. Nothing to add at the moment. May edit in some things shortly.
As for my character:

A non-descript lad of meager proportion-basically a weakly but possessing the detached cybernetic arm/appendage of (perhaps his father?) a powerful man long dead. The arm is the boys main weapon, capable of projecting some sort of diabolic sorcerery. Basically a giant boom-stick. I don't know I just love the image of a scrappy boy travelling the badlands in rags holding (basically Iron Mans arm) a severed arm that happens to be his only means of survival.

or:

Seleucus The Liar, a card-sharping shotgun wielding fornicator, womanizer, thief and vagabond wanted in most of Terra, but well versed in the flora & fauna of the Badlands. Writing a dozen books, mostly about his own greatly embellished exploits, but also a few manuals on how to survive the irradiated zone. Rides a hover-steed that is on its last leg, well informed of often by the sarcastic AI personality it contains. Seleucus no doubt stole the thing.

[Little Bill]

@Polybius Your character ideas have given this RP a dose of penicillin. So, I guess this is a diabetic RP.
I like both of the choices equally, so my only suggestion is to merge them. Kind of half Luke and half Han, y'know? Anyway, up to you, figured I'd bump this to poke those interested so they know I haven't forgotten this. More OOC stuff soon to come!