Let's start a riot... or a fight...or a skirmish...or a war...

[A Man Is No One]

Greetings,

Well I'm looking for...I don't know, I'm not exactly sure what I am looking for. As you can there are multiple tags selected. Essentially, let's talk. Let's figure something out. I'm intrigued by things like an apocalyptic underground society controlled by rival gangs struggling for control over a specific sector. Maybe a post-apocalyptic struggle between two warring factions skirmish for an important control point. Or maybe it is just a couple of warriors meeting in the colisseum before the crowd. I'm a open for pretty much anything but I'm not quite sure where I want to go with it.

So help me out? Let's brainstorm!

[Doc Doctor]

@ELGainsborough

Long time no see! You've got good ideas, but I imagine you'd have to literally pay people to get enough attention for a proper large scale battle outside of the Casuals. You'd think some folks have waiting lists booked ten years in advance for fights, and every entry consists of-



If you want, we can go for it, perhaps it'll take off. However, that'd likely take a long while, so how about this for short term? I've been wanting to use an old character again for a while now, so if possible, we could get a 2v2 going. We can chuck in with whomever is feelin' lucky. There's always someone up for some TLC.



Here's the dude I'd like to use.

Captain Kull

Captain Arlgor Kull

Name: Arlgor Kull
Aliases: Cap'n Kull
Titles: Captain of the Crimson Guard
Age: 36
Gender: Male

Physical Attributes

Build: 5'7", 172 pounds, heavily muscled
Eyes: Dark Brown (close to black), overshadowed by sardonic eyebrows.
Hair: A black widow's peak, combed back
Skin Tone: Pale
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Kull's eyes and mouth have distinct scarring from fistfights, permanent cauliflower ears, several white notches crisscross his chest and arms, presumably left by various bladed weapons. His right forearm is enircled by several deep tissue scars, from when he shoved his hand down a lion's esophagus.

Day To Day Attire: A full set of bronze armor (faceless helmet, pauldrons, breastplate, armguards, gauntlets, greaves, the works), a maroon cloak emblazoned with the insignia of a black bull, a twenty-two pound double headed greataxe, a pair of gauche daggers at his waist, a pair strapped to his calves, and one on each flank. Six daggers in all. He's very fond of wearing crimson war paint, in tiger stripes across his face.

Abilities: Kull is a physical powerhouse, able to bench 450 and kick through cinderblock like styrofoam with his reinforced greaves. He once killed a lion with asphyxiation by ramming his fist down its throat.

Personality: Kull is an abrasive, overwhelming, and incredibly intense man who has no concept of what an indoor voice is and no off-button. He's of a wild, brave nature, meeting every challenge in the only way he knows how; by beating it down with his axe and/or screaming profanity at it. He's quite creative in his lunatic insults, but it's rarely personal. It serves as a psychological aid and weapon for Kull, enabling him to work himself into a war frenzy while intimidating his opposition. As a professional warrior and captain of the guard (he was a former mercenary as well), he lives solely to hone his skills in combat, and to help mold an environment free of scum. He's drastically impatient and highly critical, despising any course of action short of stalking right up to the bad guy and strangling him.

Despite his faults, though, Kull is truly a good man at heart. Sometimes good guys don't wear white and act nice, after all. He strives to make the lives of innocent people better, and is more than willing to sacrifice himself to a noble cause. His loyalty is undying, for all his lack of social skills. He knows how to have a good time, and can be surprisingly understanding at times. He tends to be greedy, not much for sharing food nor glory, but he's always more than willing to share (profanity laced) encouragement and advice. When it comes to animals, he seems to have a soft spot. Kull gets along well with most creatures, until he kills and eats them for protein. Hey, a man's gotta eat!

Habits: Kull tends to shudder, jerk or twitch with frenetic energy whenever he feels like he's about to get a chance to fight. He often tosses around loud, creative expletives, especially during combat.

Childhood: Kull went through the old Spartan glut, you know. Training as soon as he was of age, fighting wild animals bare-handed, killing men on a battlefield when he was a teen. Sure, there are some nice old stories of his feats and adventures, but he's not here to tell history. He's here to make it.

Adulthood: Served as a mercenary for several years, and then joined up with the Empire of the Crimson Throne. He helped them win a critical battle and was thus promoted to Captain. He'd conked a fuck-ton of baddies, got hitched with a woman as crazy as he was, you get the idea. He never had any silly dramatized moments, no whiny tears in the rain. He never even had any rivals, or a nemesis. Whenever an enemy jumped up, Kull simply knocked them back down. Needless to say, he's very good at his job.

Theme Song:

[Ciaran]

I'd be interested in taking part here, though my arena experience is nil. Still, if that's okay with you, "let's talk".

[Decoy]

Hello @ELGainsborough,

I'm kinda new here myself but I read your request and I think that there may be a few things coming up shortly that would interest you. I know that there is some Arena RP that's been planned by Devil (AKA Mobius) For the Arena that should be starting in the very near future that kind of fits your request. It's sounding like it'll be New York under siege by superhumans or mutants or whatever (he's way better at explaining it). The big thing that makes it sound like what you're describing is that it will host multiple groups all vying for control over New York OR Vying to Save it from those combating against it.

starts relatively soon too!

[Doc Doctor]

Hello @ELGainsborough,

I'm kinda new here myself but I read your request and I think that there may be a few things coming up shortly that would interest you. I know that there is some Arena RP that's been planned by Devil (AKA Mobius) For the Arena that should be starting in the very near future that kind of fits your request. It's sounding like it'll be New York under siege by superhumans or mutants or whatever (he's way better at explaining it). The big thing that makes it sound like what you're describing is that it will host multiple groups all vying for control over New York OR Vying to Save it from those combating against it.

starts relatively soon too!

@Decoy

Heard about it in Discord months ago, completely forgot. It'll be shortly after the TZDL tournament. It'll be mid tier to high-mid, with many of the same fighters from the current tournament unless I'm mistaken?

[Liliya]

Is the Crimson Throne from an established cannon somewhere, Doc? I read through your sheet and didn't notice anything that confirmed that he couldn't exist in a generic post-apocalyptic setting. How about confirming a few of the basic tags/requests/interests? Even if the Crimson Throne exists in a different multiverse and some of the details have to be fudged the Crimson Throne in and of itself is a useful actor for this purpose. Kull himself may be a, "nice guy," but empires don't arise from the actions of good people, at some point the Empress/Emperor actually conquered at least one other society to gain the title, or so I assume. This creates the plot need for those who are actively opposed to the Crimson Throne's rule, if only because they want a bigger slice of the pie over their own territories for themselves. There's always the angle of the popular revolution, though given the request of, "apocalyptic underground society controlled by rival gangs struggling for control over a specific sector," I would propose instead that what is going on is that a singular primary opponent, either a populist movement headed by a charismatic leader or a single faction larger than the individual gangs one on one but significantly weaker than the gangs as a whole (some 60/40 or even 70/30 split would be fairly realistic) who are dependent on the separate gangs to not turn on them en masse but to whom these individuals aren't exactly, "friends," nor desired in the long term. This would allow for these individual gangs to both be able to fight with one another over territory, and to have two separate, "superpowers," fighting over general control of the city/territory to occasionally cut deals with in return for resources.

I would propose that the surface world is covered in a permanent ash that has essentially obviated farming as a practical food generator, and what has taken over in its stead is a heavy dependence on less light intensive plants, fungi and night blooming plants, and the shepherding of animals who can subsist off of these plants, with water being the most singularly important resource any town can possess followed by access to a workable metal for tools/weapons and the tech needed to accomplish this. Most people live as slaves scattered in small groups across the wastelands and ruled/owned by various competing warlords who are locked in a constant struggle between the established superpowers in the region, most notably the Empire of the Crimson Throne whose high towers and walls of stone have been built up and around the remains of an ancient city of glass and steel (Doc’s choice as to the real world location), and the Children of Aberforth, Archibald (or Archimenon, whatever) the former Court Wizard of the Crimson Throne. That isn’t to say that magic is real in this setting, the wizard may well be a delver of the old places who gained knowledge that permitted him to teach the Crimson Throne building techniques, weapons manufacturing, etc., that permitted their empire to rise above the slaver collectives and attain their lofty heights until he decided that they hadn’t done enough to stem the injustices in the world that led him to teach them these old world secrets in the first place and left to form his own faction opposed both to the slavers and the Throne.

From this point we enter the city of Karitos, nestled in a patch of mountains pocked and cratered in the aftereffects of whatever tragedy befell the old world and borne the new, consisting of old sewer tunnels, a complex series of half-collapsed basements and natural mountain caves more labyrinth than traditional city. There is no such thing as a grid layout here, and it could take you so long to get to the physically closest living space from where you are as it would to cross the underground city depending on the environmental factors and local degree of collapse. Natural water is easily accessible from all of the districts in the city, and the heart of the town for which the city is named is a natural cave with free flowing ground water by the name of Karitos (or Heart) of the Mountain. To control this point would automatically make you the ruler of the entire town, for though other districts have some amount of water themselves there is no other point from which the entirety of the population of Karitos could possibly sustain themselves. No wonder it’s also the most heavily contested and watched over point by the various gangs and factions operating in the area. The common convention accepted by the people of Karitos is that the districts, each ruled over by one or more gangs local to them, have equal access to Karitos and that no weapons are permitted inside, with all factions keeping a permanent guard and defensible position from their individual entrances pointed towards the heart as both a forward strike base and in case of any funny business on the part of the other gangs into Karitos.

What makes the city itself distinct from both the slaver gangs and the freeholds of the wastes and makes its people of specific interest to the Crimson Throne and the Children of Aberforth is that they rest atop a bastion of ancient writings and knowledge that is kept bared from the population by only a few meters of debris. The problem for all sides is that this bastion is located in the remains of the super structure constructed directly above Karitos in the old world. A museum in relatively good condition owing to its collapse into the earth before the worst of the damage to the surface world came to pass, whose knowledge of the old world and its technologies could shape the next century of human development, and hand the keys to control over the wastes to a single faction or individual, and though it would be beyond any side’s abilities to dig down hundreds of meters to get into it from above any side with a solid dominion over the city of Karitos could tunnel up into it in a matter of days.

This city-wide dominance is something that no side has been able to accomplish as of yet. The Superpowers have refrained from storming Karitos directly in an attempt to keep from unifying the population into a single fighting force, and one that would potentially ally with the other side indefinitely should they be faced with an outright invasion by one or the other, and neither side have so much as a definitive foothold in Karitos proper. The local gangs are consistently untrustworthy over long stretches of time, and are more likely to cut temporary deals with one side or the other for their resources before shirking back to neutrality, as likely to cut the next deal with the other side as the former. There are a handful of gangs who have only ever been neutral or temporarily aligned with one side, but these represent about thirty percent of the population split roughly even between the Crimson Throne and the Children of Aberforth, and are by no means to be considered legitimate loyal soldiers. That isn’t to say violence isn’t an everyday, commonplace event in Karitos. They’ve even managed to make a spectacle out of the event. The one and only situation where weapons are permitted in the Heart of the Mountain is when two factions have a disagreement and challenge the other to a duel before the eyes of the townspeople. The only place that can be witnessed by the entirety of the town is, of course, the center of the tunnels and sewer networks. Roughly circular and approximately thirty three yards in diameter, the factions gather to witness the spilling of blood in the Heart, and once a duel has been issued and accepted there is no end but on that hallowed ground.

Beyond the duels in the Heart the factions, though they all meet in the Heart, are still interconnected in other locations along the complex underground systems. None of the factions hold territory that is completely inaccessible from a location held by another gang, and in these contested hallways and open caverns and basements battle rages near constantly in an effort to gain more influence, more territory, and more control over the next group. The fighting is fierce, and often moves inch by inch with projectiles lobbed at the opposing side’s palisades or shield walls until both sides reach a breaking point and charge one another with bronze dirk and iron battleaxe at distances of a mere handful of yards. Each gang controls several important locations noted for their production capabilities, food or water harvesting, or natural resource reserves, and the blood spilled by their soldiers is always considered to be worth the price when taking or defending these priceless resource generators.

I think this would be a useful starting point for further discussion, but of course take or leave as much of it as you both want. It simply accomplishes the goals of having the potential for two superpowers warring over a conflict zone, underground gangs fighting over smaller points of interest, an arena that has plot background for being used to generically spill blood, plus it could easily transition into a Nation Roleplay. That would either be accomplished by players reprising the as of now faceless, “gangs,” of Karitos or even as totally independent freeholds or slaver gangs in the Wastes who are trying to compete with the superpowers and each other for dominance over the wastes. It can also be filled in with setting details that would allow it to fit the category of Post-Apocalyptic, Future, Medieval, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Military, or whatever really, and so few as two or as many as might join could realistically take part in the setting in one form or another. If you do want to try it out as a 2v2 or something in this setting (modified, not modified, or even scrapped entirely) I would be happy to write up a character for the fight, either with you versus Doc and his second, or with Doc versus you and your's.

Important Information ~ WIP

Setting Specifics

Technology

The State of the World

Factions

Super Powers of the Wastes

The Empire of the Crimson Throne:

The Children of Aberforth:

Gangs of Karitos

Slaver Gangs

Freeholds

Persons of Note

PCs

NPCs

[Decoy]

Hello @ELGainsborough

I'm kinda new here myself but I read your request and I think that there may be a few things coming up shortly that would interest you. I know that there is some Arena RP that's been planned by Devil (AKA Mobius) For the Arena that should be starting in the very near future that kind of fits your request. It's sounding like it'll be New York under siege by superhumans or mutants or whatever (he's way better at explaining it). The big thing that makes it sound like what you're describing is that it will host multiple groups all vying for control over New York OR Vying to Save it from those combating against it.

starts relatively soon too!
@Decoy

Heard about it in Discord months ago, completely forgot. It'll be shortly after the TZDL tournament. It'll be mid tier to high-mid, with many of the same fighters from the current tournament unless I'm mistaken?

Yeah, though it's not starting after the tournament anymore - it's currently in production to start sooner than that as the Quarterfinal Matches and Semi-Final matches are still going. @Devil doesn't want the wait to continue so he's going to launch it sooner than he had originally stated. That said, alot of that isn't far off - Its Mid - Mid-High, though primarily Mid. Alot of us in the Tournament proper are still coming over for that game, but its open to ALL parties on RPG Guild

[A Man Is No One]

@Decoy

I may be interested in this. I'd have to see how things pan out with the original interest check or original OOC. I'm not quite sure I'd be really interested in any "high-tier" but we'll see.

@Liliya

I'm not going to lie. I couldn't make myself read that wall of text. But that isn't your fault. I'm going through some real life bullshit right now. Could you give me a TL:DR?

@Ciaran @Doc Doctor

Since it looks like we have three people so far I'm contemplating something along these lines - so let's see if you are interested still. Consider something like a "hive city" (referencing you to the imperial world of Warhammer 40K) or something similar to a Midgar (reference to FF7). Each player controls a rival gang of say three or four individuals were we do combat in a relatively sized setting in order to gain control off the poor/criminal underworld. I think I'm looking for something a little not so typical or perhaps too conviluted.

[Doc Doctor]

@Liliya

Your walls of text are much beloved. That being said, give me time for by broken body to heal before you drop another on me. The Crimson Throne is a filler setting I came up with on the spot just for backstory purposes. Not a single inkling about the specifics, aside from it being medieval fantasy, my favorite genre after horror.

Until the TZDL royale, let's suck on some immediate gratification.

At any rate, we have @ELGainsborough, @Liliya, @Ciaran, and potentially @Decoy for the gladiator-style rough 'n tumble, assuming you'd not mind that kind of fighting, Decoy. 2v3 is fine, I don't mind being on the short team.

Y'all wanna gimme a holler if yer in? I'll make the thread.

[Liliya]

Well, the gist is that I basically proposed post-apocalyptic Hive City except underground and during a period of perpetual global twilight spawned by said apocalypse. The most valuable thing in the world right now is old world knowledge, from before the apocalypse I mean, and the two local superpowers are the Empire of the Crimson Throne and the Children of Aberforth (or whatever, just a post apocalyptic version of your Children of Archimenon). The two are fighting over a museum that survived the chaos by falling into a natural cavern complex, only problem is the caverns are held by gangs that are locked in perpetual war over the scarce underground resources, and without clearing them out the superpowers can't risk mounting an invasion on the city for fear of unifying the gangs against themselves and, even worse, possibly in favor of the other side. So the gangs occasionally cut deals with the superpowers in return for the resources needed to carve out their territories in the underground, but won't agree to any permanent alliance with either side because the offer from across the table gets better the higher their price from the former was, a system that is only sustainable because of the extreme value represented by the museum. I'll start on some sheets in case this does become a gang vs. gang type of thing, but I could also do a generic gladiatorial type of deal with one character. Medieval melee with no magic seems to be the direction we're leaning, so I'll build my character/gang that way.

[Doc Doctor]

@Liliya

Aw yeah, let's do that. That's much more in-depth than a simple gladiator scrap. But, let's see if everyone else is on board. Still haven't heard back from a few.

[Ciaran]

Sounds good to me.

[A Man Is No One]

I'd be down for a gang versus gang thing. Doesn't necessarily need multiple players if some flake. But I'm down. How advanced are we talking regarding weapons? What kind of armor would be available? Are we talking these gangs are stuck with biker leather for the best quality at this point? Important bits of information.

[Liliya]

I agree, but I think there is already a bit of a baseline. Unless we change things pretty drastically Kull (Doc's Character) already uses plate mail, cast out of bronze for some reason, but it's effectively plate mail. He is, however, the captain of the Empire's household guard, so that doesn't mean that this is commonly available gear. In the setting I proposed most plant life is pretty much destroyed, so if we're going with that wood would be an extreme rarity, but again would be available to anyone who has significant funds. Bone, leather and metal are commonly available and metal shards would be the likely currency in this setting, so my estimate is that the technology exists for late medieval arms and armor sans gunpowder weapons as I can't see how they're synthesizing the powder without advanced chemistry equipment or a natural source of saltpeter, but its kind of a meta agreement (assuming that's good with the involved parties) that metal is still very expensive and unless you feel that your character could rationally afford something you shouldn't have it. I'd advise that the baseline start with most any professional warrior being able to afford laminar of varying qualities as leather would still exist for the padding and the plates can be sewn on as you can afford them. Some of the plates would be bone in the beginning, others bronze or iron, and you'd essentially be wearing your wealth on your body, which I like for a kind of post-apocalyptic hedge knight feel, with more noble types having access to chain, brigandine, plate, etc. Thrusting short swords and daggers alongside axes and other cleaving weapons, to include poleweapons if you could afford them would likely be common, as ranged weapons lose a lot of their intrinsic value underground. The sky would be the limit from there, all depending on how wealthy you feel like your gang is.

[Doc Doctor]

@Ciaran@Liliya@ELGainsborough

Alrighty then, so mostly pre-gunpowder and improvised weaponry. Steel armor is fine.

Lilya, it seems like you have the most solid idea of what should be going on, and have made the most progress into developing a plot. Want to make the thread and incorporate that hefty story of yours?

[Liliya]

I'll write it up tonight, send you and EL the interest check and post it as soon as you both sign off on it. As of right now I'm assuming that I have your permission to use the Empire of the Crimson Throne and EL's permission to use a modified version of his Children of Archimenon as the two major superpowers trying to gain influence over the individual gangs in the city, with those being played by the rest of the players. Is this going to be in arena or in casual? It could even go in Nation, but that's a bit more of a stretch. And if we're going through with having this being a gang vs gang thing with two superpowers (those being the Empire and the Children) it could easily turn into a lasting series of arena battles, some of which would be stacked against different sides for political reasons. If one gang cuts a deal to give the Empire a foothold in their territory in return for some military assistance against another gang the other side would be at an automatic numerical disadvantage, so the question is how realistic do you want this to be? If it's a normal arena game with a plot surrounding it, then I'll just toss all that stuff out and run it like a tournament. If the realism adds something desirable to the game then I'll put in some basic mechanics to keep people aware of the potential political plays they or their competition might be able to take advantage of. Anyone who has any suggestions/desires/questions please feel free to leave them here or message me.

[Doc Doctor]

@Liliya

Sweet. You're a boss, Lil.