A long, long time ago, when people first stepped foot on Avalon, there were those who rose up among the rest and became leaders of their new home. Six countries were formed: Sheale, Atrela, Opalium, Graelia, Remulus, and Caskary. For a time, there was relative peace, save for a few disputes and mock wars-- that was, until the False Gods came across the humans.
At the time, humans worshiped the False Gods. They believed the magnificent, draconic creatures were actual deities that watched over and guided them. As a reward for the humans' loyalty, the False Gods granted some with the gift of magic. However, it would be some time until humans realized that the False Gods were not truly gods they should be worshiping; a prophet called Lorelei claimed to be given visions from the one true god, the Creator. Humans abandoned and destroyed the temples belonging to the False Gods and replaced them with shrines and churches where one would be able to praise the Creator.
The False Gods weren't pleased. They would no longer receive prayer from the humans, and there wouldn't be sacrifices in their name. In their anger, they unleashed a curse upon the land-- instead of taking away magic from the people, they afflicted mages with a terrible hex. Demons and malevolent spirits, their children, became attracted to their font of power. Humans grew wary and frightened of mages, segregating them from society and even going so far as to kill them.
Even though there was conflict between mages and humans, Avalon continued to know peace until fifty years ago; conflict's embers burned and smoldered between Sheale, their allies, and other countries of Avalon-- Sheale wished to broaden their borders and bring about the era of the False Gods once again. War brewed for many years between the six nations; Atrela and Opalium sided with Sheale, while Graelia led Caskary and Remus in battle. Eventually, the capital of Sheale collapsed, and the war between the nations of Avalon finally ended. Atrela and Opalium suffered many losses, however, so did Graelia and its own allies-- the Holy War had crippled many.
For now, peace has once again fallen over the nation... but how long will it last for, this time?
Avalon-- the realm we call our home. It's where the skies are more blue than the oceans and the land is filled with a beautiful array of flora and fauna. Magic runs rampant in the land as well, sometimes lurking in the veins of the unsuspecting or hidden by those who are frightened of what would happen to them if others found out about their forbidden abilities. Nevertheless, people thrive throughout the six countries of Avalon, and some even serve the five Houses as mercenaries or bannermen. Despite tensions between countries and Houses, Avalon has been in a state of general peace ever since the Holy War.
However, this peace is about to come to an end. House Caerlight of Graelia has received word of treasonous mutterings to the south. Couriers and wanderers speak of plans to remove lords from their seats of power by force. Of course, House Caerlight cannot immediately declare war on the so-called "treasonous" country; the war left them depleted of able men and women, and so they don't have the ability to send their most skilled soldiers to battle without serious consequences.
Instead, House Caerlight offers a proposition: the men and women who offer their skills to Lord Dramon Caerlight will be properly reimbursed when the situation is dissolved. If they cannot find any trace of a festering rebellion to the south, then it's an easy reward. But the task is easier said than done, for there's bound to be conflict somewhere down the line, whether it be with each other or something else...
Magic is all around Avalon; it's in the sphinxes that roam the south and the wyverns that soar the skies, in the giant carnivorous plants of Opalium and the golden-petaled gloryroses in Caskary. While it may be common, only a select few can use magic. These individuals are dubbed mages. Mages have the ability to cast powerful spells with the help of tomes, or catalysts that allow the spellweavers to conjure elemental storms and more. Without tomes, a mage is just as useful as an archer without a bow or a soldier without his blade.
Due to the fact that magic takes an incredibly long amount of time to master, mages focus their studies on one or two types of magic at a time. Battlemages, or mages that are skilled at the blade as well as their arcane powers, are rare to see. A person is born with magical capabilities, thus a warrior cannot suddenly put down his weapon and choose to study magic without hailing from a bloodline of mages.
Mages are considered a lowly race and are heavily discriminated upon. This is because their powers attract the attention of demons-- a curse from the False Gods. Demons, and even benevolent spirits, can attach themselves to mages rather easily due to their powers. If a demon attaches itself to a mage, it's only a matter of time before the mage becomes possessed. A possessed mage becomes something inhuman-- a Blight, or a grotesque, demonic creature that only lives to destroy and kill. Even benevolent spirits can pose a threat; if a spirit attaches itself to a mage, the mage can accidentally corrupt the spirit and turn it into a harmful one.
The mage-hunters are an organization that serves the churches of Avalon and seek out mages in the Creator's name. They seek to either capture mages and send them to Ivorytower, an institution for mages in Graelia, or kill those who prove themselves too dangerous for human contact. Most mages would rather die than go to Ivorytower, as that means being locked up in the building until they are trusted enough to be released (which never happens). However, there are some mages that are lucky enough to be selected to serve in the Avalon's armies, though even this is uncommon as well.
Mages have a variety of weaknesses, but are most affected by silver.
- Do I really have to go over RPG rules?
- Please, please, please be active in the RP: this means be active in IC, OOC, Discord, or whatever else comes along your way.
- Again, this is high-casual. We're not asking for huge posts. We're asking for quality characters and posts (which are at least two to three paragraphs long.
- I prefer to play with 18+ year olds.
- If you don't wanna follow these set rules, then there's no point in joinin'; it'll just cause conflict.
- I'm going to definitely need co-GMs that can be trusted.
- You can make as many characters as you'd like, as long as you can handle them. I'd also like to ask that you take your time making the sheets instead of rushing through them.
- You can format your sheet however you'd like, since it'll be permalinked from the character tab.
- There will be a limit on the amount of mages present on the RP, and there can only be one character with a flintlock pistol (if it makes sense for the character). You must ask permission to make one, however.
- I will not accept faceclaims or extremely realistic art (so much so that it looks like a photograph) for the appearance section of your character. Anything else is fine, including anime.
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] [18-30]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Country of Origin:[/b] [Where your character was born/raised/etc]
[b]Weapons:[/b]
[b]Abilities:[/b] [Magical powers; leave blank/delete if your character isn't a mage]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [Pictures preferred, but not needed]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Short Biography:[/b]
[b]Other:[/b]