[OOC] Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

[Slamurai]

<Snipped quote by Aristo>

Both sides are welcome- sorry if that's not clear in the OP. Especially playing as Salished mercs, clients or vassals is fine.

@Flagg

Cool - I have an idea that could go a multitude of ways. I'm thinking about a character as sort of a foil or antihero counterpart to Daigon. He could be an exile, fugitive, or maybe an agent in Salished employ, leading a warband of cataphracts. They've carved out a sliver of the desert for themselves, allied with local tribes and peoples and have become something of a wildcard to the balance of power.

Under the scrutiny of the Salisheds and the hostility of the Drathans, they have no strong allies, save for the free peoples of the desert. Yet their leader's motives are known only to himself and a close circle. It's apparent they have the ear and the patronage of some Red God(s), but it remains to be seen what he does with that asset.

I'm hoping that whatever avenues open up for these guys, they have the opportunity to be both enemies and allies of the Coward's Men, depending on plot shenanigans.

[Flagg]

@Aristo

love it- cant wait to see what you come up with.

[Dead Cruiser]

Here's something quick so I can jump in. I can get the faction done later.

Gost

Name: Therion "Gost" Domitian

Description: Tall and strongly-built, like many among the warlike Clan Domitian, Gost is an intimidating, formidable presence. Almost none of his features can be observed, as his face is covered at nearly all times by an arcane survival masque, and no skin is left exposed under his dark, lengthy robes and archeotech augmentics. While his masque normally gives him the countenance of some metallic beast with eyes burning with azure light of lost technology, in the rare moments it is removed (typically only to eat), his countenance is grim and pale, hollow-eyed, and with thin, matted hair the color of silk.

Race: Avanagashan (Augmented)

Faction/Unit: Necrodomii, Clan Domitian

Location: Zar Vorgul

Synopsis of Role: Therion (known by his child-name of Gost among his clanmates), is a Warlock of the Necrodomii, specifically the dominant and militant Clan Domitian. Already an esteemed warrior and scholar among the cultish Necrodomii, he is currently undergoing his Rite of Ascension, a ritualized trial to mark his advancement to the ultimate rank of Magus and earn the privilege of working directly with Deus Machina. To complete his Rite, he must acquire a functioning component of archeotech that can interface with a Deus Machina in the event that one of the god machines is damaged.

To this end, Gost has come to bargain with the sorcerer lords of Zar Vorgul, and plans to offer his services and potentially those of his clanmates in the coming hositilites in exchange for one of their relics. Gost's very body has been augmented with the archeotech that his people venerate, specifically a series of relics known among them as Kyrofulgarii; these amplify and shape the neuro-electricity that runs through his nervous system into weapons that seem to function magically to the ignorant masses. Sparking bursts of lightning, blades of channeled plasma, and electromagnetic barriers can be produced by the wondrous Kyrofulgarii, though its use runs the risk of shorting Gost's entire nervous system. For reasons of practicality, he also wields a galvan-lock pistol and a taser maul.

[Flagg]

Here's something quick so I can jump in. I can get the faction done later.

Gost

Name: Therion "Gost" Domitian

Description: Tall and strongly-built, like many among the warlike Clan Domitian, Gost is an intimidating, formidable presence. Almost none of his features can be observed, as his face is covered at nearly all times by an arcane survival masque, and no skin is left exposed under his dark, lengthy robes and archeotech augmentics. While his masque normally gives him the countenance of some metallic beast with eyes burning with azure light of lost technology, in the rare moments it is removed (typically only to eat), his countenance is grim and pale, hollow-eyed, and with thin, matted hair the color of silk.

Race: Avanagashan (Augmented)

Faction/Unit: Necrodomii, Clan Domitian

Location: Zar Vorgul

Synopsis of Role: Therion (known by his child-name of Gost among his clanmates), is a Warlock of the Necrodomii, specifically the dominant and militant Clan Domitian. Already an esteemed warrior and scholar among the cultish Necrodomii, he is currently undergoing his Rite of Ascension, a ritualized trial to mark his advancement to the ultimate rank of Magus and earn the privilege of working directly with Deus Machina. To complete his Rite, he must acquire a functioning component of archeotech that can interface with a Deus Machina in the event that one of the god machines is damaged.

To this end, Gost has come to bargain with the sorcerer lords of Zar Vorgul, and plans to offer his services and potentially those of his clanmates in the coming hositilites in exchange for one of their relics. Gost's very body has been augmented with the archeotech that his people venerate, specifically a series of relics known among them as Kyrofulgarii; these amplify and shape the neuro-electricity that runs through his nervous system into weapons that seem to function magically to the ignorant masses. Sparking bursts of lightning, blades of channeled plasma, and electromagnetic barriers can be produced by the wondrous Kyrofulgarii, though its use runs the risk of shorting Gost's entire nervous system. For reasons of practicality, he also wields a galvan-lock pistol and a taser maul.

@Dead Cruiser

accepted. very cool.

[Lone Wanderer]

The Many-Faced Master

Sorcerer-Lord Alkhazar

The Many-Faced and Most-Splendid Master of Zar Endal

Description:
A form bedecked in colorful robes and garments, the aloof Master of Zar Endal makes for a flamboyant character whose whims and wants ebb and flow like dust on the wind. A servant of chaos who revels in his unpredictability, the colourful Alkhazar presents something of an engima to even his fellow Masters whose visage remains ever-hidden behind a sinister theater mask.
Race: Drathan
Faction: Drathan Union
Location: Zar Vorgul
Synopsis of Role:
The Master of Zar Endal, a minor city-state sitting on the Scarlet Plateau within the shadow of The Claws. Alkhazar has decadently ruled his city for as long as most can remember though few is the number of subjects who can claim to have actually seen their distant ruler, whom bids his time ensorcelled within his tower seeking knowledge and plotting within the Congress of Masters. That time however has come to an end with the year of the setting sun upon us and blood on the air, the throngs of slave-soldiers of Zar Endal have gathered and march out to support their fellow city-state of Zar Vorgul. In a unique display of commitment not often found amongst the Masters, the Many-Faced personally leads his legion of slave-soldiers though whether this is out of a recognition that Zar Vorgul is likely to be vital in the coming campaign, or whether the Master seeks to further his own interests and dastardly plots remains to be seen.

Zar Endal

Zar Endal

Location:

A worn traveler's map reveals the location of Zar Endal

(If our splendid GM could add a water source nearby, whether it be a lake or a river running down from a spring in the mountains, it would be much appreciated!)

Faction/Unit: City-State of the Drathan Union
Description: (TBD when I can get a location sorted out.)

[Flagg]

The Many-Faced Master

Sorcerer-Lord Alkhazar

The Many-Faced and Most-Splendid Master of Zar Endal

Description:
A form bedecked in colorful robes and garments, the aloof Master of Zar Endal makes for a flamboyant character whose whims and wants ebb and flow like dust on the wind. A servant of chaos who revels in his unpredictability, the colourful Alkhazar presents something of an engima to even his fellow Masters whose visage remains ever-hidden behind a sinister theater mask.
Race: Human, Avanagashan
Faction: Drathan Union
Location: Zar Vorgul
Synopsis of Role:
The Master of Zar Endal, a minor city-state sitting on the Scarlet Plateau within the shadow of The Claws. Alkhazar has decadently ruled his city for as long as most can remember though few is the number of subjects who can claim to have actually seen their distant ruler, whom bids his time ensorcelled within his tower seeking knowledge and plotting within the Congress of Masters. That time however has come to an end with the year of the setting sun upon us and blood on the air, the throngs of slave-soldiers of Zar Endal have gathered and march out to support their fellow city-state of Zar Vorgul. In a unique display of commitment not often found amongst the Masters, the Many-Faced personally leads his legion of slave-soldiers though whether this is out of a recognition that Zar Vorgul is likely to be vital in the coming campaign, or whether the Master seeks to further his own interests and dastardly plots remains to be seen.

Zar Endal

Zar Endal

Location:

A worn traveler's map reveals the location of Zar Endal

(If our splendid GM could add a water source nearby, whether it be a lake or a river running down from a spring in the mountains, it would be much appreciated!)

Faction/Unit: City-State of the Drathan Union
Description: (TBD when I can get a location sorted out.)

@Lone Wanderer

Accepted!

[Sightseer]

The quality of writing made this hard to pass up on, so I hope I am not too late.

The Mad Knight

Name: The Mad Knight to most, but just Meg to those who've taken the time to politely ask.

Description: An imposing figure invariably swept up in a cloak of faded red and attired in a strange suit of reddish armor, more plant, stone, and sand than metal. Taller than most, she possesses the sharpened body of a warrior, with short black hair hidden beneath a great helm of stone, and grey eyes that dance with complete madness. The Mad Knight wields a bough of rust colored Ironwood that matches even blades of Soulsteel and carries a towering shield of blood red stone.

Race: Human of an uncertain origin and ethnicity.

Faction/Unit: Claims to be on a holy quest at the behest of the Old Ones.

Location: Last seen entering Zar Vorgul.

Synopsis of Role:

An enigmatic knight, believed by most to be quite mad, famed for her travels across the Red Desert and the strange, sometimes heroic, sometimes terrible, but always absurdly reckless tasks which she is rumored to have performed.

Powered by grand delusions and a belief in her own destiny to recover what she wholeheartedly believes are a number of holy artifacts created by the Old Ones, Meg occupies a reality completely of her own creation and rarely, if ever, does the physical world seem to affect her to any great degree. Convinced of the vital importance and righteousness of her actions, she pays little heed to danger, viewing death as merely another obstacle to be defeated in battle and suffering as an old friend that often visits.

Meg pursues her holy quest with a singular ferocity that has long since spilled over into utter madness and consumed what remains of her once generous soul. Those that stand in her way are dealt with swiftly, decisively, and with great violence, but always in accordance with the ancient code of chivalry.

Having long since lost her wisdom to madness, Meg is easily distracted and it does not take much to lead her astray or convince her to alter her course of actions. However, there is an edge of deadly, terrible and alarmingly unpredictable cunning lurking beneath the insanity that possesses the knight and more than one silver-tongued devil has met their end unexpectedly at the hands of the deranged wanderer.

Blessed by the strange magics of the Great White Erg and gifted with relics of the Old Ones, Meg is a fearsome spellsword, channeling the arcane into each blow of her Ironwood sword and calling upon all the terrible archeotech that she possesses to defeat her foes.

The TL;DR of the concept I had in mind is an apocalyptic/dystopian corruption of the classic questing knight, tinged with quite a bit of madness and a sense of delusional grandeur or certainty.

[DELETED32084]

@Lone WandererSolid call on the mapping...

@FlaggZar Zirak is the green dot.

Map

[Nib]

@Flagg I'll join in on the mapping. The purple dot will be where The Hermit's Ruins are.

Hider

[Flagg]

The quality of writing made this hard to pass up on, so I hope I am not too late.

The Mad Knight

Name: The Mad Knight to most, but just Meg to those who've taken the time to politely ask.

Description: An imposing figure invariably swept up in a cloak of faded red and attired in a strange suit of reddish armor, more plant, stone, and sand than metal. Taller than most, she possesses the sharpened body of a warrior, with short black hair hidden beneath a great helm of stone, and grey eyes that dance with complete madness. The Mad Knight wields a bough of rust colored Ironwood that matches even blades of Soulsteel and carries a towering shield of blood red stone.

Race: Human of an uncertain origin and ethnicity.

Faction/Unit: Claims to be on a holy quest at the behest of the Old Ones.

Location: Last seen entering Zar Vorgul.

Synopsis of Role:

An enigmatic knight, believed by most to be quite mad, famed for her travels across the Red Desert and the strange, sometimes heroic, sometimes terrible, but always absurdly reckless tasks which she is rumored to have performed.

Powered by grand delusions and a belief in her own destiny to recover what she wholeheartedly believes are a number of holy artifacts created by the Old Ones, Meg occupies a reality completely of her own creation and rarely, if ever, does the physical world seem to affect her to any great degree. Convinced of the vital importance and righteousness of her actions, she pays little heed to danger, viewing death as merely another obstacle to be defeated in battle and suffering as an old friend that often visits.

Meg pursues her holy quest with a singular ferocity that has long since spilled over into utter madness and consumed what remains of her once generous soul. Those that stand in her way are dealt with swiftly, decisively, and with great violence, but always in accordance with the ancient code of chivalry.

Having long since lost her wisdom to madness, Meg is easily distracted and it does not take much to lead her astray or convince her to alter her course of actions. However, there is an edge of deadly, terrible and alarmingly unpredictable cunning lurking beneath the insanity that possesses the knight and more than one silver-tongued devil has met their end unexpectedly at the hands of the deranged wanderer.

Blessed by the strange magics of the Great White Erg and gifted with relics of the Old Ones, Meg is a fearsome spellsword, channeling the arcane into each blow of her Ironwood sword and calling upon all the terrible archeotech that she possesses to defeat her foes.

The TL;DR of the concept I had in mind is an apocalyptic/dystopian corruption of the classic questing knight, tinged with quite a bit of madness and a sense of delusional grandeur or certainty.

@Sightseer

Accepted!

[Flagg]

@Ink Blood @Lone Wanderer @The Wyrm @Dead Cruiser @Sightseer @Aristo@Cairo @Valor @Nieszka @DracoLunaris @ShwiggityShwah (apologies if anyone is missing, please let me know)

Great posts so far! Very pleased to see the level of interest and quality of writing this has generated.

I'll try to get a post up today introducing my main character a bit as well as the mage-lord of Zar Vorgul.

My policy is that everyone can write as any NPC (such as the mage-lord) as needed (and of course create new protagonists), and people can control within reason the actions of other player characters, unless the other writer has requested that no one do so. Please use your judgment with this and be courteous with other writers if they request that you change something or you think they've done something off-base with your character and would like them to change something.

What are folks' thoughts on a discord channel? In my experience it can be helpful to talk stuff out in real time, but discord can become a bit of a distraction from IC posting.

• @Dead Cruiser I will be posting things relevant to where your posts left off.
• @Valor, I can have your character be summoned by the mage-lord who is impressed w/ her kill and her ichor-enhanced nature unless you have an alternative plotline planned?
• @Ink Blood The image for your map edit isn't coming through.

@everyoneI will try to have an updated version of the map up by tonight or tomorrow. Please keep map additions coming, even if it's just world building new locations/cities/landmarks/whatever that dont directly impact the current plot.

[DELETED32084]

@Flagg I would discourage a Discord channel.

[Squad 404]

Discord works for me. Also, sure. There's also the meeting with The Hermit that Ink wants to do. Hopefully those two can coexist.

[Flagg]

Discord works for me. Also, sure. There's also the meeting with The Hermit that Ink wants to do. Hopefully those two can coexist.

@Valor

I'll let your char and @Ink Blood's char tag up first.

[Dead Cruiser]

I wasn't able to get together a decent reference image for Gost but this is a good enough reference of what his mask looks like.These guys were a general inspiration for his robes and metal armor/implants look also. Should function for a rough idea. I'll try to have a lore sheet up for the Necrodomii today.

[Slamurai]

These guys

@Dead Cruiser

Skitarii! I almost started playing AdMech when I got into 8th edition.

[Slamurai]

What are folks' thoughts on a discord channel? In my experience it can be helpful to talk stuff out in real time, but discord can become a bit of a distraction from IC posting.

@Flagg

This is pretty much my experience with Discord. Useful for collabs and hashing out ideas between players, but has the potential to draw too much attention from the writing itself.

[Dead Cruiser]

<Snipped quote by Dead Cruiser>

Skitarii! I almost started playing AdMech when I got into 8th edition.

@Aristo

Secutarii, specifically. Titan-guard. Don't have rules in 8th yet, which sucks because they're super cool.

[Nib]

<Snipped quote by Valor>

I'll let your char and @Ink Blood's char tag up first.

@Flagg

Would it make more sense for her to be summoned by the Mage Lord first since she's already in city?

Also, is anyone else not able to see my map edit?

[Cairo]

I would also be against a Discord - I've seen a lot of RPs sputter and die out as soon as one is introduced, simply because everyone is talking too much about the things that their characters might do or the places the story might go and nobody's actually posting, as well as the fact that the discussion can move so fast that less active people tend to be left behind and drift away from the RP. Just my two cents, though.