Firstly, wow, thank you all for your interest! Now, onto your questions.
1. Okiedokie, long version:
Magic, evidenced by the existence of the undead, is a very real and prevalent force in the world. There are four kinds of magic that humanity has access to – arcane, wild, blood and daemonic. Each type is derived from a different source. Wild magic is exclusive to the druid clans, who have the blood of the fey running through their veins. Daemonic magic is a twisted experiment of arcane magic, and those who employ it derive their power from a daemon that they have forcefully bound to their will.
However, arcane magic is the most prominent kind used for humans, and the most diverse. Arcane energy, or thala, is accessed only by those of the Bloodlines (of whom, there are many). The Bloodlines are the descendants of the first maegi (yep, we spell things with an ‘e’ in this world!), men and women who were called to consume the waters of the Well of the World. Practitioners of blood magic utilise their own blood (the blood of the Bloodlines), their own vitality, to perform feats of incredible power that would be otherwise impossible.
Arcane energy is the most malleable, and over the years, humans have expanded upon it and developed different ways to utilise it. One of which is ebon pyromancies, fire magic exclusive to the Order of Cinders. Pyromancers of the Order (and some of the tools regular hunters and warriors use) wield a very intense fire that has a rather wicked redness to it, with streaks of black that dance through it when the undead are nearby. It receives its name for a few reasons – one, the black streaks that appear when undead are near; two, its use as a tool against the undeath and three because to access it as a maege, there must be some form of hatred in your heart, a darkness of your very own, one that seems to be unique to the Order of Cinders.
Opposing ebon pyromancies is necromancy, a very dark and mystical art that is permitted in some nations and forbidden in most. Necromancers are few and far between but their power is incredible. Necromancy is a form of blood magic, where their blood is their power. They break all of the rules, they take the balance of the world and they rip it apart, and they take great joy in doing so. It is important to remember that a necromancer is not evil, but like the Order, they have a terrible reputation for doing things that could be considered evil.
Short version:
Order has access to pyromancy and they make dead things go boom, hence why they refer to themselves as the Order of Cinders.
2. The Order responds only to the threat of undeath. Anything else is frankly not their issue and they have no qualms in dismissing a report or case if there isn’t anything undead about it.
3. Preferred post length – well it is casual so at least a paragraph will do fine!
4. Preferred posting frequency – I will try to post every day, so maybe three to four times a week. People’s circumstances change so I’ll try to respond to that and go from there.
5. The world hates the Order. They’re four thousand years old, so they’ve had a lot of time to make a lot of mistakes. To them, these aren’t mistakes, as they have a very different code of morals and ethics to justify some of the shit they pull. The example I gave earlier of burning down an entire village to root out a necromancer is common for them. There will be situations where the threat of a necromancer throws people into hysteria and people will point the finger left, right and centre and the Order acts first, then asks questions later, so situations like the witch trials have arisen in the past. Local laws and authority don’t apply to them, or at least they believe so (others would disagree fervently). They have a reputation for being vigilantes, for acting on instinct, for being blinded by the hunt, for being unconventional and pragmatic. And people complain but to the Order, it’s like, “would you rather have a vamphiir sucking you all dry?” and people can rarely argue with that because the fact is that the Order get shit done. There is respect, but there is also a lot of disdain, and a lot of fear. Many kingdoms no longer send the Order recruits (a testament to their diminishing numbers) and many demand that a hunter make himself known before pursuing a report.
6. There is a lot that has been done and predetermined but I’m willing to give people a lot of freedom regarding their characters, where they’re from, etc. based on a very vague framework – for example, the geography of the world. I won’t be too austere with the setting as I do want players to have a valid say in what’s going on.
7. Words. What do you mean by numbers? As in players?
8. You have to be human and you have to be a member of the Order. At least if you’re going to be with us from the beginning. I might change this for people who join later on, or for people who might want their hunter to be a casualty and want to remake a different kind of character.
9. I live in Australia, the sunburnt country!
