Allaria is a multi-chapter Roleplay that has seen the successful completion of the first four chapters. It is a Fantasy roleplay that envelopes many of the usual tropes with some additional features to make it stand out. In previous incarnations, it proved to be a very popular roleplay that combined plot-driven roleplay with character driven roleplay, effectively making a game where, the end result could be vastly different from the stated goal. Not all of the world has been fleshed out, and due to Guildfall, many of the NPCs have been lost, as well as the laundry list of former players, not to mention many of the maps. However, much of the area known as the Hook has been fleshed.
About the World:
Allaria is a continent on a yet unnamed world. It comprises mainly of a Hook, characterized by the feature of it hooking around, two islands, one at the base of the Hook, and one in the Ocean off the southern coast, and a main continent.
Some of the notable explored cities include Valgar, a city that houses the Undead and has a strange effect on people who visit. The longer they stay, the more crazy they are driven(leaving reduces this effect, but is substantially harder to do if one stays too long). Rocoa is another notable city, as prior to the Apotheoses takeover, it was dubbed the 'God Capital' where all Gods were worshipped, freely.
Allaria, the only explored land Kayfabe(storylined), is home to a variety of classical races, including humans, Surface Elves, Drow, Beastkin, Dragoniods, and Goblins. Each has their own God, except the Goblin race who don't believe in them, and their own 'Councilman/woman'.
The Story so Far
With the Gods in high Heaven, and the Council as middlemen, Allaria entered a lull which allowed a mysterious group of men and women to form and begin a takeover. It started as a peaceful one, the group encouraging those of the world to release their faith and put it in people they could see and feel, people they could talk too. As their ranks grew, did their methods turn from peace to violence - ultimately culminating in the heinous act known as the Mayor Drag in Port Jinn. An Apotheoses Leader, Ivan, used his malicious form of Healing to keep the Mayor of Port Jinn alive as he dragged him from the Hall, and out of Port Jinn, blood and guts trailing the way.
From the Eclava, the Drow Apotheoses leader, launched a full scale war on Port Jinn, as it was the last remaining major city or town not under the Apotheoses Iron Fist.
Groups of adventurers set out, leaving from Port Jinn and headed towards Rocoa, in hopes of recruiting there - but it was so havily under the fist of the Apotheoses they could do nothing. Yet, with the help of a traitor in the Apotheoses ranks, named Fananatu, a grup was able to escape a harsh fate - aided by the distraction of one of the Rocoan Three, the Rocoan Chimera.
Fananatu sent a group out to Mallah, which saw them aid in the resurrection of the second of the Three, the Undead Leviathan, in Valgar. This group was to participate in a gathering of Warlords and the like, in an effort to band Allaria together against the Apotheoses. This too, ended in somewhat of a failure.
On another island, a group was contracted to find out the state of the final of the Allarian Three - the Emperor Dragon. However, they were tricked by the Apotheoses and now they have control over the city sized dragon.
The Allarian Three came together at the Summit in Mallah and began a reign of terror, sending everyone scattering. Many died, but some remained to pass on word, or stop it.
Respected Warlord, Szazah has been saved, if a little worse for wear. Now the resistance must recruit more members for the war effort.
Chapter Five Plot - Recruit the Shadowwald!:
Having reached the Northern Mountains with Szazah in tow, the players managed to hand off the man to much fanfare with the caravan known as the Moving. The next group is in the final stages of planning the next expedition, one that will take them in the North Eastern Direction. Towards what is known as the white lands.
Here their mission is to attempt to recruit the armed forces of Shadowwald, the largest city in the snowy region. The leader, Goren Joquinal, is a member of there incredibly rare race if snow elf that build their homes in the drastic low temperatures. Szazah heard of the place while imprisoned, and sent word via transfigured mouse.
The trip will not be easy, as these lands have been rarely traversed, meaning what manner of beast and foe reside here are unknown to the masses. Szazah also heard word that the magic here is Wilder, unrefined by the rest of the Allarian standard.
There is much glory to be found here, new discoveries. But the Apotheoses may already have set foot here as well, in an effort to increase their range.
Address to the Players:
Allaria is my roleplay baby, one of the biggest I've done and by far the longest lasting. I have high hopes for this RP, perhaps one day it being featured as a persistent world, but until then, I want you all to enjoy playing here and helping shape the world! It has been through many variations, and may even go through more. I'm a pretty easy going GM and usually try to be prompt with answering questions; however, I currently work on a sort of revolving schedule(next week, I'll be working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday; 6:30 pm -9 am, accounting for sleep before and after. )
Allaria has hosted more than 50 roleplayers, and more than 70 characters, prior to Guildfall, in all of it's both successful and failed attempts.
Human: Tall, strong, quick. Often wearing light armor, or heavy armor. Intelligent, able to become skilled in many weapons, including swords and bows, as well as all magic. The most compatible for a large selection of skills. The drawback, is they are only average in all skills, which lends to their ability to learn most things all around. Thus, growing in one, means leaving others behind to be picked up later.
Surface Elves: Standing at or around 5'11, they have gold tinted skin, pointed ears, and slightly almond shaped eyes. Generally always with blue to green eyes the Elves are forest dwellers. With intellect beyond that of most other races. Quite commonly in Light armor, if any. Their defenses are small, and they are incapable of learning Dark Arts, mostly.
Drow: Around 5’7”, lean, quick. Mostly wears light armor, for mobility. Fond of the Darker areas; as it reminds them of the underdark. Highly intelligent, Drow are the best spell caster when it comes to the power of a spell. Feared for the power of their spells, though they are often slower in casting than their Surface-bound cousins. They suffer from the same lack of defense, as the Surface elves as well.
Dwarves: Short, and stocky. Wears heavy armor. Excellent night vision, and somewhat exceptional daylight vision. Proficient in navigating mazes, and caves. This race is quite powerful, their stout size allows for their muscles to be bound tighter together, making for harder blows and increased endurance. However, what they have in power and endurance, they lack in speed and agility; as well, many of them do not have an affinity for magic, but make up for it in their ability to build things in half the time it would take another race. There is the extremely rare dwarves mage.
Dragoniods: This race is a rarity in of itself; being picked off by the Minotaur, due to their mutual distrust of each other. Capable of gliding several seconds, but not capable of extended flight. While smart in terms of the environment and battle tactics, they are quite dense in other areas, and lack speed a bit. This is made up by their strength and defense, the latter of which doesn’t hold up to a Dwarf’s. They are proficient in Magic, but not nearly as much as a human,
Beastkin: These have taken the place of the Minotaur race, to allow for more types of creatures. They are strong, and have many of the same basic advantages of animals, as well as losing some. There are many different sects, as some congregated based off what animal they are, and some live in a happy harmony, so to speak. They aren’t very magically inclined, most of their magic is based on self, and not so much as projecting magic. Prominent races include Minotaur, where one is a prominent member of the Apotheoses and Tengu, one of the Warlords, while the rest usually stick to themselves.
Goblin: Goblins are very short creatures, who believe in no God, but hold to the spirituality behind Reincarnation. They believe that when they die, they’ll simply be born as something as based off their deeds in their past life
Gods: These are always NPC, and will only serve to bend the PCs in a certain direction. Unless a person prays to that God, specifically, they won’t see them if they show up. It is not necessary to believe in any God.
Michael: The primary Human God; often appearing in a pristine set of armor.
El’I: The God of the Surface Elves; brother to the merciless God, Lloth. His teachings lend towards the way of good magic and how it affects the world we live in. Elves pray to him for guidance of their magic and protection of their home.
Lloth: The Black Goddess of the Drow. Most respect, fear, and love this Goddess, despite her tendency to be the harshest of the Gods.
Abbathor: The strong God of the Dwarves. Little is known about him, as most records show him constantly hammering away at his anvil; attempting to build a weapon, or material that outstrips anything before it. Dwarves have said that his blessings come in the form of better buildings and strength, something they value greatly.
Ouroboros: The God of the Dragonoids, and several snake-lizard-Dragon races in the world of Allaria. His true form is rarely seen, as it is often the form of the person he is appearing before. His mind state is psychotic at best.
Anomandaris: This is the God of the Beastkin, often appearing as a Minotaur or a Lion. He resides with the rest of the Gods, and often has a very war-like attitude when it comes to the events of those below.
Reincarnation: This would be the primary ‘God’ of the Godless race, the Goblins. They don’t believe in Gods, but to be represented, they were allowed to send one representative to reside with the rest. It often appears as a rotating set, from butterfly, to cat, to human, to butterfly.
Optional Reading:
From the corruptible minds of scheming liaisons, the Council has become obsolete and the God’s have given up on those who once prayed to them nightly. Misconstrued words from the Council have fallen onto the ears of those who faithfully follow their Councilmen’s orders without question, leading to the hectic disposition of the world now. And this, this world that has fallen from grace, is the world you’ve been giving to shape and mold in the name of good. But, of course, you have no real reason to change the world; nothing was taken from you, not in the least. Or was it, where has your freedom went, when the place you called home has began to take in slaves? Began praying, not to the God’s above, but to the God’s who claim themselves a more accessible Council? At first, things were alright, a false trust built in people who had halted the messages from being truly passed along. And now, with their grasp steady around the necks of those who foolishly danced to their tune, once colorful words became as black as night and freedoms were stripped wherever they went.
You are the final frontier, be it trapped in one of these slowly rotting towns, or in a place where the dark grasp has not reached and belief in the True Council and God’s have remained true. This adventure takes you on a journey across a land, fighting to return peace to the land and power back to the rightful owners, or even show people that while the Council is a historic front, it is the people that truly make their own decisions. In this, you shall also find yourself, be it your salvation, or what you’ve always wondered about the world and how you fit.
Go forth and save the world.
Reaching the main plot, overreaching as it is, will take several plots and quests to get anywhere; like all questing Rps. This is to account for the large amount of land and the NPCs who all have different information and needs. It also helps to develop the plot and effect how people(The NPCs and fellow PCs) view you.
Tech Level: As this is a medieval world, everything will be as it was in that timeline, though ingenious inventions happen all the time. Therefore, there may be shimmers of the first sprouting of clockwork, nothing extremely large and certainly no firearms past crossbows.
Magic and how it works: In ‘An Imagined World’ magic is present everywhere, however, it is unable to manipulated by anyone who isn’t heavily trained in the magics of the universe. Because of this, people manipulate their own magic reserves(Their soul) to cast their magic. This has both consequences and rewards. On the good side, this opens up the world to a non-structured set of magic, by that, I mean, the type of magic is not limited to certain things, but there are still limits(Time/Space Manipulation is out; Reality; and extreme teleportation. Anything else is up to scrutiny, anything seen as overpowered, will be denied). On the bad side, you are casting your own soul when using magic, however, it DOES slowly replenish itself the longer you go without using magic. Healing, is allowed by those who specialize in it, and they are every rare. Most healers have no other skills past healing, as they are often used to in places where battle skills are unneeded. Also, with healing, healing magical wounds are often harder to do by magical means(Soul vs. Soul). It is possible, but it requires a longer period to do.
Magical Limits: I ask that people who choose magic, do so and forego, for the most part, major skills in more physical combat. Like, if you choose to manipulate(Including creating) fire, I would like it if you were not able to fight on par, always, with someone who went the physical route. There is a way to circumvent this, however, and that is using the magic purely on yourself and/or weapon. Say if you were manipulating lightning in a weapon sense; you’d only be able to use it in the form of arrows(If a bow and arrow were your weapon choice), or in conjunction with your fists or sword to give a shock(dependent on the strength of the spell). You get the gist. At the start, your magic may be relatively weak, growing as you progress in the story. Also, each soul has certain things it can do; a fire-related soul, for instance, won’t be able to do anything wildly differing from fire. Magic, as it stands, cannot be used to make a weapon composed completely of fire, doing so would consume a lot of a person’s soul, if not it in its entirety.
Character Type: This differs from race, as it goes more into profession. Not all of you have to be wanderers, nor do all of you have to be specific mages or warriors; add some variety, throw in some everyday folk.
Skills: Yes, there will be skill castes in this RP. Ranging from most things your mind can think of. Being an advanced RP, I would expect that you would come in with something sensible - A Major and a Minor.
Created Race(s): Not without very, very good reason. Most of the time, there won’t be a good reason.
Starting Level: At the beginning, I want everyone to start as novices/beginneers/noobs, in their chosen fields(See: Class/Skills), so as the story progresses the characters can develop, instead of starting off outright good at what they do. A baker/cook would cook for the group, during downtimes, and eventually get better at it, after cooking not so good meals. For Chapter five, players will be stronger, on par with decently trained members of the military effort.
Spirit Animals: These characters are physical, or metaphysical, representations of your spirit and what it represents. They act as spiritual guides, and can sometimes be used by god’s to convey thoughts to their spirit’s vessel. The closer a person is to their animal, the stronger his/her magic will become. At the beginning, most are only able to get their animal in the form of a hazy imprint; as time progress it’s ghostly presences comes about, and finally a physical specimen. Non-magical people have animals as well. Using a lot of magic causes the animal, if manifested, to slowly deplete based on how much magic you spent. Completely losing it, causes it to revert back into your body and be unable to summon(Cutting off your magic) the animal until sufficiently recovered.
Messenger Magic/Magic of the Messenger: This is a peculiar magic type, as it is very specific. It allows long range communication between messengers, and even between messenger and God(a very rare occurrence, almost always one way). They are identified by their once famous status of body ranging tattoos, head to toe. These are rare, as the Apotheoses member, Eclava, was able to construct a type of tower that was able to magically intercept messages being sent without proper approval. Messengers were also rounded up and killed, if not ‘impressed’ into the Apotheoses ranks.
I am interested. This was one of the big ones I was never available for in the past and now that I'm returned it'd be sweet to have a chance to participate.
I'm definitely interesting. I cannot say for sure how active I can be in the next few weeks (I'm hoping to close on a new house and move in the next couple of weeks). On any accord, put me down for a typical human accustom to dwelling in the northern snowfields.
To refresh my memory, Beastkin are more or less any anthropomorphic mammal within reason? If so, I'd like to work up a Capybara beastkin. Think monk, if possible, with an emphasis on taking a punch and slow, methodical stances.
I might have gotten myself a hunch on a fledgeling character concept, a Dragonoid. I think he could be more the 'auxiliary' type, someone who doesn't directly throw himself into the frontline whenever such appears but could be more on the stealth and trickster side of things. Speed is not exactly an requirement for that I guess, but situational awareness is.
-Are there wide size variations between different beastkin? Are they very obviously human shaped, or are there beastkin that have more feral forms? I'm thinking that Phinuphus (our prospective Capy-kin) could share far more physical features with Capybara than humans--prefer to walk on all fours and have limbs that are still predisposed to that, but have opposable thumbs to use tools, etc. -Monk in this case means just natural weapons when fighting, supplemented with self-augmenting magic, which is the beastkin default anyway. Seem good?
Once this is hashed out I can work with those constraints and do up a CS. Feeling almost too open-ended atm.
They are basically animals that walk upright, talk, etc. I don't mind a wide variety of them in terms of how they look, but your question gives me an idea for the future. The second Continent is supposed to be less advanced due to magic or something. So the beastkin there would retain a lot more physical features of the animal they are based on.
Also. Yeah. That's fine. One of the NPCs, is a Tengu, who was born in a monk-like setting. His best friend was left on their doorstep essentially.
Do I understand correctly that for now humans are just general race that comes from "Hook" and there is no difference in their appearance or they can't have any proficiency in certain skills or any racial benefit depending on region they come from?
Humans are generally from all over, most of the storyline has taken place in the Hook. Depending on where they are from they may have different skills and all that fancy jazz. Someone from the cold regions may be more adapted to surviving in the cold.snd hunting there, then they would be if they were dumped in a jungle or something.
Hey there! Brand new user here, but long time roleplayer. Specifically with the fantasy/medieval genre. Yay for first posts, haha.
I'm definitely interested in this roleplay. A part of me wants to go with a steretypical dwarf drunkard, wielding a massive axe and all that jazz. Overdone? Absolutely. Fun? Absolutely-er.
I'd like to get a bit of a grasp on the source material before I think too deeply into a character, though. Is there anything specific I should know about dwarves in this setting? Would a drunk dwarf berserker feel out of place here?
Also, a bit of a newbie question, but do I post my character here when I have him figure out, or is that something I do when this moves on past an interest check?
