Ruins of God -- Dark Age Character RP (Barbarian setting)

[Grijs]

The Setting

Ancient History: The beginnings of humanity at the dawn of existence was in a primordial kingdom under direct guidance of God. A civilization known as Celesea. God loves his creations and so ensured the Heavenly Kingdom had a wealthy surplus of food and resources to sustain itself. As a consequence humanity began to take its prosperity for granted, and rapidly overpopulates the continent to the point it became unsustainable -- even with God’s help. God takes the food away to encourage humanity to learn to adapt and become self-reliant.
Having lost the favor of its creator, the Heavenly Kingdom is determined to survive by whatever means necessary. The Celeseans were soon compelled to spread out across the world to establish colonies as to sustain its massive population. For resources, food and also slaves to sacrifice to God in a bid to win back his favor.
As a consequence the Heavenly Kingdom of Celesea transforms into a merciless maritime Empire with no equal, tyrannizing all of creation.

To stop the power of Celesea from oppressing the world, God understood he had to destroy the Empire, that creation could be freed of its yoke. …He had to destroy what he created, and this was the first big blow to his psyche. He unleashed unto Celesea plagues and calamities. Culminating in the spawning of a vicious Race of Locust that attacked the Heavenly Kingdom’s home continent, and devoured every last bit of green, carrying desolation, triggering massive famines across the world and engulfing the Empire in war for survival of apocalyptic proportions. The Empire went down a brutal and grisly end. This wasn't as God willed it, and he was overcome with regret and pity for the humans of Celesea. To stop the Locust Race from wiping out all humanity, God smote the continent in half. The Locust Race was isolated in the East on the ruins of the Empire, and the surviving humans on the west. The two broken landmasses were separated by a wide ocean of God's tears. 'The sea of tears'.

This last event proved to be one divine screw-up too many, and God lost faith in his own ability to salvage creation. He figured it would be better for the world if he were to withdraw altogether, and avoid another cataclysmic screw-up. From four fragments of his own essence he sent down the Four Champions to the western continent of Visandza, to lead and protect the tribes of humanity in his stead. The Champions and the Tribes they championed drove the Divine Locust out of Visandza, and an era of relative peace fell on the western continent. The reign of God was over, the continent was divided by four Barbarian Kingdoms and the Locust were confined to the east, separated by a great sea.

As each Champion lorded over their respective kingdoms as the Four High Kings of Visandza, they established dynasties and spawned various heirs and offspring. More and more Splinters of god were ripped from his essence to became the Royal families of Visandza. And by time God lost so much of himself by relinquishing those splinters that he became powerless, depressed, a ruin of his former self; stopping him from acting in the world altogether. Visandza slowly sank into a dark age. Without the flame of God a growing chill is taking hold of the world, a climate change against which there is little hope of divine intervention. Triggering southwards migration, triggering famine, triggering war. What follows is that the Royal families inevitably turned on each other. Now Visandza is again torn by war at the hands of one expansionist and belligerent barbarian tribe advancing south and east; the glory-seeking Chlotars. The goal of their new King, Cauroman, himself a part of God, is to revive the world to the state of antiquity by restoring power to God. The Chlotars seek to bring about the submission of the other tribes through fire and sword, and sacrifice all other Splinter Dynasties to God in order to quell his dark depression. In the Chlotar pursuit of Empire, hopefully history will not repeat itself.

The Tribes are obsessed with bringing honour, fame and glory to their people through heroic deeds. Years come and pass but bravery will last.

-To get the basics straight: This is a Character Roleplay

-It's a fantasy setting based on the 'Dark Ages'. Modeled after the Barbarian Kingdoms of the early Middle Ages. The humans are expies of Germanic Barbarians and Romans.

-It takes place on a single continent called Visandza.

-Your character is part of one such Barbarian Kingdoms or Roman Rumpstates (mostly Barbarian Kingdoms) of Visandza, and your character will work to further that Kingdom's goals. But how loyal your character is to the King is entirely up to you. You have the freedom to go traitor.

-Your characters are all retainers of the Royal Family. High Positions. This can mean Household guards, Captains, Squires, Stable boys, Shield maidens, Priestesses, the royal standard carrier, a nephew/ distant relative of the King, Princelings… any role placing your character in proximity to the faction royalty. Think of the characters as Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

-Magic in the D&D sense isn't really a thing, but the supernatural certainly is. Witch magic exists (turning humans into animals, brewing potions, summoning spirits of the dead) There are non-human races outside Visandza, and blessings and curses are very real and functioning things.

-While this is the Advanced Interest check, I am thinking of posting the actual RP in Casual. (Probs with Casual-Advanced in the title)
The reason: Making long and detailed posts is fine if you want to, but doing so frequently for months on end just drains too much energy and I’ve seen RPs die that way. Therefore preferably make your posts concise and direct. Avoid dragging out and take it easy. It's fine.

Character sheet

Let's keep it simple!

Name:

Appearance:

Kingdom Allegiance:

Tribe: (Unless Celesean. There are five known tribes; Chlotars(Franks), Lamperts(Lombards), Viigocs(Goths), Eodaens(Angles/Saxons), Radbouds(Frisians).)

Background: Include at least where your character came from and what his profession is, and how this came to be.

MAP OF VISANDZA

Hider

Map of the known world

The four great factions of Visandza to pick from:

West: The Glory-Seeking Chlotars

The most famous (or infamous) of the Barbarian kingdoms. The Chlotar people are industrious and belligerent. The Kingdom they built and conquered is united in common purpose; to topple God’s splinter dynasties and sacrifice them to God in order to quell his sadness, and thereby hopefully save the world. Ending God’s chronic depression is the only chance of averting the impending ice age that is driving the tribes to migrate further and further south. As the Chlotar homeland is in the northernmost tip of Visandza, the Chlotars have much to lose if they fail to avert this climate change. Only God can save their ancestral lands now.
In the past century the warlording Chlotars have invaded, annexed and absorbed several of their rival tribes during the conquests of King Clodovech. At the moment their Kingdom is fractured; its territory divided between two royal brothers: King Dagobert and King Cauroman. However already they set their sights on the next target for conquest; the ungodly Tautans to the east who the Chlotars have hemmed in during their recent conquests. Though they are but a diversion, for their end-goal is to wipe the God-hating Kingdom of Lampertia off the map for good and all. Depose their vicious King, sacrifice him and his kin to God and install a monarch who is properly Godfearing!

South: The God-Hating Lamperts

It’s all in the name. But obviously not every Lampert hates God -- some Lamperts love God! However they cannot come to the public light with their secretly-held convictions, for the stigma is immense. In the Kingdom of Lampertia the hatred of God is of utmost conformity; those who stray from the norm or show open dissent from God-hating orthodoxy are outcast, shunned, mocked… sometimes lynched. Do not underestimate how serious the Kingdom of Lampertia is on their stance of enmity towards God.
Even before the Lampert Tribe conquered the southern peninsula of Amalia, they were rivals of the growing Chlotar confederacy of tribes, who in a time long forgotten exiled their ancestors from the north. It was encroachment of the Divine Locust paired with the allure of seizing the fertile, depopulated lands it left in their wake, that drove the Lamperts to migrate southward. The Lampert people’s beef extends beyond the rival Chlotars and is more directed against God himself. They are not driven by paganism or atheism -- the Lamperts are genuine misotheists. It’s not a matter of religious difference as it is a matter of actual God-hatred. Twenty years ago with the ascension of King Dalgiserius the relations with Chlotaringen has soured further (if that was even possible) and the two powerful Kingdoms are at the brink of a great war the likes Visandza has never seen -- one that could forever alter the continent’s history.

East: The Depraved Tautans

Orgies. There, I said it. Let’s not shy around it. I am only saying what everyone else is already thinking at the mention of the City State of Tautom. Debauchery, decadence, depravity. That is all there is to them. God damn them, and damn God for not smiting these ungodly people. Sure, they have good merchants, skilled artisans, the world’s finest cuisine and cunning alchemists to help further humanity and the like, and surely the capital of worldly pleasures. But their virtues do not make up for their vice, no way. The Tautans will lure you into darkness.
Every night at the plaza, they hold festive orgies. And they have a squadron of men skulking the street to defile and debase any newcomer or gullible foreign visitor to their city. To corrupt them into adopting their uncouth perversities and ambiguous practices…
Keep your daughters and wives away from the Tautans. And probably your barnyard animals too.

North: The Conniving Eodaens

God is outdated. To the Eodaens anyway. When God is too depressed to be a force in the world, you simply create your own god! As such King Badastan presented his court and people with Xeaxaenot, the Golden Squirrel-demon. All of Eodaland turned to Squirrel-demon worship, and this seems to have revived the slumbering spirit of its people. Those that refused to embrace this new idol, remaining loyal to god, were exiled. Fools don’t understand that squirrels are the future.
The Eodaens are actually keeping mostly to themselves as a dormant third power, waiting to exploit and benefit from the impending war between Chlotaringen and Lampertia. Cunning foxes as they are, the Eodaens will most certainly side with the winning-side to reap the benefits.
Only a few years ago Eodaland nearly came to war with Chlotaringen, and they are anxious to provoke the numerically superior and battle-tested Chlotar armies on their own. Depending on how well the Chlotars will fare against the Tautans and Lamperts, the conniving Eodaens may side either with them or against them.

The Barbarian Kingdoms

‘’The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.’’ -Psalm 9:17

Kingdom of the Chlotars

Kingdom of the Chlotars, or Chlotaringen

and to some cheekier people the Chlotarian Empire.
Capital City: Aaixen

From the Dynasty of the First Champion; King Cauroman of the Faramundian dynasty

A young King burning with ambition. Cauroman is raring to start trouble, as young men so often are. To bring honour to God, his people and ancestors. Now that the wounds have healed from the civil war between his royal father and uncles, there is nothing the mighty Chlotar Kingdom can’t do. They are the mightiest Kingdom Visandza has seen since the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom of antiquity. The time has come to expand its borders and seize new lands. To establish an Empire the likes the world has never seen! And if anyone can see this done, it is King Cauroman. Of all four barbarian kings, beware this one the most.
He is more than just the next link in the long Faramundian Dynasty, for Cauroman has been distinguished with the blessing of the Hierophant of Udos, and selected by God specifically to usher in a new era. The establishment of a universal order and the unification of all tribes of humanity. He won’t just live up to the deeds of his ancestors… he will exceed them.

Chlotar Characteristics:
Mentality: Chlotars are disciplined, strict , zealous in their worship of God with no patience for fine garments, trinkets or any kind of luxury. They insist on a rigorous military tradition and a simple lifestyle. They are as such by default hostile towards pretty much all their neighbours.
The Lamperts for their outright hostility to god, the Tautans for their ultra-decadence and hedonism, and the Eodaens for being honourless schemers embracing false idols.
The Chlotarians regard themselves as God’s chosen, and that is probably because they are. They are driven by a prophetic purpose to unite Visandza into a single order, and determined to overcome, persevere and smite down their many enemies. Not just for God’s sake, but for survival’s sake. The Chlotars are convinced firmly that humanity needs God in the age of trials ahead.

Visually: Chlotar warriors tend to wear scale armor, iron nasal helmets and a cape or an animal pelt serving as cape. While scale armor is expensive and harder to obtain, even the footman Chlotar is distinguished by an obligatory cape with a basic tunic. Their dress code, even in battle, is rather austere. Chlotar men often have long shoulder-length blond hair and sport long drooping mustaches.
In battle the Chlotars are renowned for their throwing axes, which the warriors throw prior to hand-to-hand combat with the aim of splitting shields and disrupting the enemy line. In melee Chlotars commonly employ spatha swords and lances.
Like the men, Chlotar women commonly have long hair, always braided and sometimes going as deep as their waistline. Where men wear capes covering only the back, women wear long cloaks covering up their whole bodies. While in ancient times there were such things as Chlotar female warriors (particularly in battle against the Locust), when it came to wars between human tribes that role has mostly eroded -- except for rare cases for the daughters & sisters of chieftains.

Chlotar History:
Chlotar history began in the deep north inhabited by a mighty tribe ruled by two brothers; Chlotacher and Lambertar. A legend goes that this particular tribe was struck by an evil disease killing off all its youth. To resolve it, Chlotachar knew the tribe had to turn to God to cure the blight. But Lambertar’s refusal to do so caused the disease to persevere unchallenged. After a heated dispute, the tribe fractured indefinitely. Those loyal to God joining the clan of Chlotachar’s, and those that refused to submit to God joined the clan of Lambertar. When the hateful Lambertar left, the disease was at last lifted from the north.

Chlotachar’s clan was to mark the beginning of what later grew into the Chlotar tribe. Though for long after this they were an insignificant and weakened tribe amongst many. Until the Divine Locust, an evil race bent on annihilating all mankind, was approaching. To shield the fractured peoples of the north, God sent a Champion, a splinter of himself. His name was Pharamond, a mighty warlord tasked to champion the northern tribes and unite them into a confederacy of tribes. And together they repelled the Locust from the north. Following this victory, the confederacy named itself after the tribe that brought the most sacrifices and fought the most valiantly of all; the tribe of Chlotachar. While few of the original clansmen of Chlotachar survived this battle, it marked the beginning of a closely allied barbarian confederacy which collectively named its members ‘the Chlotars’ in honour of their sacrifice.

In a vision, Pharamond was foretold the inevitable doom that awaits the new continent without the revival of a New Heavenly Kingdom to govern it under providence of God. The Celeseans had proven themselves corrupt and evil, now alienated from God. Only the much purer and noble Chlotar peoples could embark on this divine mission. As such Pharamond set the Chlotars on the path of conquest and empire building, inviting Celesean scholars to the north and drawing in neighboring tribes seeking Pharamond’s protection against the spreading Locust.
The conquests of Pharamond’s descendent, Clodovech, are responsible for the present borders of the Chlotarian kingdom. It was through belligerent expansion into every direction with scores of impressive victories in battle, primarily at the expense of the Tautans. The Viigoc armies that served Tautom were ultimately disillusioned with their own inept King and saw in Clodovech a True Warrior King they could relate with.
As per ancient Chlotarian custom; when the King dies his Kingdom will be divided between each of his sons. Clodovech had four sons, and as such four Chlotarian kingdoms emerged following his death. After two decades of infighting, one of the royal brothers eventually came out on top; King Carlovech, father of Cauroman. Through blood, sweat and tears and various vicious crucibles against his own kin, Carlovech ultimately reestablished the same boundaries that his father’s kingdom had, but at a price. As to not repeat the mistakes of the past, King Carlovech vowed to ensure the transition of power towards his two sons would be one without suicidal infighting.
Following a visit to allied King Eathelbehrt of Eodaland, who supported Carlovech’s claim against his three brothers, he was unexpectedly betrayed by the Eodaen host with poison… in an attempt to cripple and divide the Chlotar Kingdom once more. On his deathbed, Carlovech summoned the two princelings Cauroman and Dagobert with the revelation he had been hexed by the treacherous Eodaen King and their pagan magic. And they were to vow on their forebear that they unite to punish the Eodaen King.
To avenge their father, the two Chlotar kings marched their armies north to the land bridge dividing Eodaland from mainland-Visandza, where King Cauroman challenged King Eathelbehrt to single combat. There Cauroman slew the Eodaen king and avenged his father, but was mortally injured in the process. Afterwards Eathelbehrt’s brother, Badastan, bought King Dagobert and the Chlotar armies off with a great sum of Eathelbehrt’s gold, jewelry and other possessions, thereby avoiding war. Carlovech was avenged and the dispute was settled… For now. Though suspiciously only Badastan seemed to have benefitted from Carlovech’s death.

After healing in Holy Udos, King Cauroman has recovered while King Dagobert mysteriously fell ill, leaving Cauroman control of the whole of the Chlotar Kingdom. While recovering in Udos, Cauroman heard the plight of the Udosian people and their Hierophant against the aggression of the ruthless Lampert King Dalgiserius and his encroaching hordes… Looting temples, attacking pilgrims and committing all manner of sacrilege against the worshippers of God. The Hierophant fears Dalgiserius is now eyeing Holy Udos itself as to complete the Lampert conquest of the Amalian peninsula. Cauroman pledged her that he would return with his army to defend the Holy City against Dalgiserius.
Udos can now find a true ally in King Cauroman, and at present Chlotaringen prepares for war against Lampertia…

Kingdom of the Lamperts

Lampert Patrol dispatching a Chlotar interloper

Kingdom of the Lamperts, or Lampertia for short

Capital City: Skadania, with Skadan Castle as royal seat.

From the dynasty of the Second Champion; the reign of King Dalgiserius of the Alboinid dynasty

Dalgiserius hates God. That very three-letter word makes the bile rise in his throat and his teeth to grind. The very mention of God has his skin boiling red with wrath. Every night, King Dalgiserius ascends onto Skadan’s castle roof to curse, challenge and insult God with the spewings of dark heresy, curses of treachery and chants of heretical wizardry. This is in fact routine and comprises the greater part of his daily activity. Beyond the desecration of temples, the iconoclasm of idols and the violent persecution of the faithful, the battle against God is a deeply personal vendetta. For the king stands personally on the roof of the highest tower of his royal castle, (a tower which he had constructed for this purpose, in fact!) raving, ranting and cursing at the overcast skies with a sonorous voice thundering through Skadania, striking the citizenry numb – torn between the wrath of Dalgiserius and the wrath of God, which the folly of their King might any day incur…
He keeps at his court a glorified band of warrior-nobles known as the Gastalds, who serve him out of fear.
His first and only daughter, Princess Dalgiserata, (named after her father) is the only person that still loves her lord father. For he had not always been this vicious. The Princess works diligently to protect the King from those who seek to bring about his downfall, but especially to protect the king against himself.
It is clear to many that the king is growing increasingly erratic, utterly consumed by the hatred of God that spawned in him. Though none, not even his dear daughter, could say what has transpired to make King Dalgiserius the way he is.

Lampert Characteristics:
Mentality: Lamperts are known for being a bitter and brooding people keeping mostly to themselves. Mistrusting to all foreigners, each of them more sinister than the other. You will find few Lamperts outside of Lampertia, even when their current King is an absolute vindictive tyrant. Even when the Lamperts have every reason to move away, tribalism and loyalty to blood is so deeply ingrained in their culture that they will not. The Devil-you-know is still preferable than the lordship of a foreign alien.
Their most hated rival tribe are the Chlotars. Though out of all the tribes, the Lamperts and Chlotars are the most alike, with both boasting a proud warrior-tradition and shared origins in the distant north.
The key difference is that Chlotars are on the offensive, ambitious and ever outward looking, while the Lamperts are on the defensive, paranoid and inward-looking to their own affairs. Fear and suspicion to outsiders paired with hatred for God is what resonates strongly with the Lampert.

Visually: Lampert warriors are distinguished by their unique use of lamellar mail, a military dress code they adopted(robbed) from the Amalian Celeseans. They have no rules concerning facial hair, and as such Lamperts often come sporting long dark beards. The trademark weapon of the Lampert is the Hellbeard, or Halberd pole-axe, and spiked metal clubs, a crude form of mace from their barbarian heritage.
Lampert women meanwhile are known for being plump and similarly sturdy as their menfolk, often accompanying them to battlefields as shieldbearers and nurses -- and in rare cases getting involved in the fight themselves. If they wear armor, it’s never lamellar but a hauberk, and even may use goats’ hair to cover their faces with fake beards.

History:
Lampert history began in the far north of Visandza, a land said in ancient legend to be ruled by twin chieftains; Lambertar and his brother Chlotachar.
After God sent an evil plague to kill the children of Lambertar and many others, Chlotachar scorned them; stating this was punishment from God for their neglect of Him. Then when Chlotachar demanded Lambertar renounce his leadership of the Tribe a brother strife followed. In the end Chlotachar exiled Lambertar and all the others that lost children to God’s plague. The bitter northern exiles joined Lambertar’s migration southwards.
The two chiefs and their split clans grew to become the Chlotar Tribe and the Lampert tribe respectively, and both tribes have long since forgotten their common ancestry to become the bitterest of enemies.

A century later, as the Heavenly Kingdom was devastated by the divine locust and the world broke, the Lamperts seized the opportunity to move further south into the depopulated lands of the Celeseans, going as far south as the Rudine mountains. There they built their first permanent settlement; Skadania. It was to be their staging ground from whence to raid the Heavenly Crownlands. But when the Lamperts were themselves cornered by a horde of Divine Locust, God sent the chieftain Alboin to champion the Lamperts, and under his leadership a coalition of Lamperts and Celeseans drove the Locust out of southern Visandza in four victorious battles. To reward the Lampert tribe (and quell their relentless raids), the Heavenly Kingdom ceded them land in northern Amalia, a rich peninsula in the south of Visandza. However Alboin and his followers were not satisfied with the less-fertile and rugged terrain of northern Amalia, and steamrolled southwards to seize the rest of the peninsula as well. The Heavenly Kingdom was too fractured to put up effective resistance and was itself on the verge of collapse. The Lampert conquests in Amalia were to be the foundation of the Kingdom of Lampertia, with Alboin as its first King. The Lampert tribe finally ended their migration and settled down to work the lands and build a new nation. The Champion Alboin founded a royal dynasty that endures to this day; the Alboinids. However the arrival of the Lamperts displaced the Amalian natives, who were themselves driven deeper south in the lands around Udos, where they vow vengeance on their barbarian oppressors...

There’s an oral legend passed from generation to generation in the Lampert tribe, speaking of a final battle with the tribe of Chlotachar where once again humanity will be tested. The outcome of which shall determine the survival of Visandza.

City-state of Tautom

City-state of Tautom, with its oversea possessions colloquially the Kingdom of Baltia

Capital City: Tautom

From the Dynasty of the Third Champion: the reign of King Orso of the Balti dynasty

Universally referred to as simply a King, rather than a High King as the Kings from the other 3 dynasties, for the Balti Dynasty has lost the power and prestige it once held to the expansionist Chlotars. Orso and his fathers believe that in a world without paradise, man must create its own paradise. As such the troubles afflicting the rest of the world, long since overrun by barbarians, should all be shut out. Orso believes the best way to deal with the Chlotars… is to simply ignore them! Those primitive Chlotar party crashers with their fetish for violence and conquest don’t have the navy to seize the Baltian islands, nor the machinery to breach the walls of Tautom! And those perpetually angry Lamperts? What a bunch of hate-filled dumb brutes. And don’t even get Orso started on those pretentious Eodaens, they’re nothing more than a glorified pirates bay. None of their types are welcome in Tautom lest Odovakre’s quest for reviving the Heavenly Kingdom be truly squandered. Within these fortified confines and inconquerable walls of Tautom City, life is paradise. The people of Tautom live worlds apart from the outside world. Forget the rest of Mainland Baltia – Cauroman can have it. Hopefully he is happy with it. The Tautans didn’t need those fertile lush green fields and rolling hills anyway. Meanwhile King Orso will continue to entertain his great seraglio of wives while savoring casks of rich flowing wine imported from the finest plantations of Syrome.

Tautan Characteristics:
Mentality: Tautans are wanton and free, shamelessly so. Any absolute authority has hitherto failed to bind them. They have no tolerance for tyrants and will defend their personal rights and freedoms -- which King Odovakre had won them -- with a religious zeal. Due to their self-serving nature there is never a lasting unity in the Tautan people. Their quest for a benevolent society is through the happiness of its people… Achieved through worldly pleasures.
The only times when Tautans unite, it is in defiance of autocrats, be that from outside or within. This is often perceived as an inherent disloyalty to their own faction’s leadership, but Tautans themselves do not see it as such. Because in times when need is great, surely the Tautans will come together under the King’s banner and fight to the last. Yet whenever there is no apparent immediate threat, they will resume their complacent lifestyles.

Visually: Inside the walls of Tautom, the civilians and warriors alike tend to wear single-piece garments such as loincloths and togas, often a combination of the two. The warriors make sure to oil their abs as to make enemies insecure in their own manliness for not having such a magnificent and athletic bodies. Or at least, that’s the general idea. There is a tendency for Tautan men to shave, particularly on their body, for how else will they make those abs glisten pure in the radiant sun? And if they do have beards they must keep them trimmed. Due to Viigoc influences some of the more sensible in the Tautan garrison still come adorned with more practical chainmail and scalemail, much like the warriors of the barbarian kingdoms. And their assortment of weaponry is a lot more diverse and exotic than anywhere else. Rule of thumb: if it exists, Tautom probably has a pair lying somewhere.
In Tautom nakedness isn’t particularly frowned on. In the warrior class the only things that have to be covered up are the face and the junk. And I kid you not when I say there are Viigoc warrior-women wearing chainmail bikinis. They probably understand that the armor is useless and fetishistic, but they presumably do so to make statements of bravado much like the men with the oiled abs do.

History:
Originally a rumpstate of the Heavenly Kingdom of Antiquity, the Realm of Baltia was positioned in the east of Visandza with many holdouts and cities along the coast and islands in the Sea of Tears, as a bulwark against the races of Locust. Following the breaking of the world the continent of Visandza was settled by droves of refugees from the Eastern continent, most notably the Viigoc tribe and their King Odovakre, the Third Champion.
The Viigocs are a fierce tribe, with a history of alliances and rebellions against the Celeseans, yet during the apocalyptic war against the Locust fighting closely side by side. After the world broke, creating the Western continent of Visandza and the eastern continent of Ostrapathia, the Viigocs were the last humans still remaining in Ostrapathia. Unable to escape, they were doomed to die on their own. But in this hour of need God recognized their strife, and answered by sending the Viigocs the Third Champion; Odovakre.
The Heavenly Kingdom promised the stranded Viigocs ships to ferry them across the Sea of Tears to the safety of Visandza. For days the Viigocs awaited sails on the western horizon, but the Celeseans never came. All the while the Divine Locust were creeping in on the stranded Viigocs… The tribe would have given up all hope, but Odovakre inflamed the spirits of the despairing Viigocs to brace manfully for the imminent assault. After seven days of relentless fighting, Odovakre used his Holy Sword, Weihshairus, to slay the Locust King in single combat. After which the Locust assailants relented at last, and the Viigocs lived to see the new dawn. Finally Ships from Visandza arrived, not of the Heavenly Kingdom, but of barbarian sailors from Eodaland and their King, Hengist. The Eodaens ferried Odovakre and the remaining Viigocs across the sea, after which the Viigocs and Eodaens vowed eternal friendship between their tribes.

Arriving in Visandza, Odovakre learned why the Heavenly Kingdom did not fulfill their promise of help; their capital had been annihilated. What the Viigocs found was a ravaged Celesean rumpstate, where the surviving Celesean lords bid Odovakre be their new King. And so the Kingdom of Baltia emerged, and on the ruins of the Heavenly Capital was built the City of Tautom.
It was a Kingdom with a Viigoc army and King, and a Celesean government structure and population beholden to the new barbarian overlords. Later when the Lampert hordes migrated southwards to invade the Celesean rumpstates, the Viigocs on the frontier withstood their eastern advance, but were stretched too thin to thwart the Lampert invasion of Amalia.

Overtime the royal Viigoc lineage was bred out through marriages with members of the old Heavenly government, who sought the blood of God’s Champions that ruled Visandza after antiquity. That it may link it to its own ancient dynasties, and the Baltian Kings of today long since embraced a Celesean identity.
After three centuries of neglecting their frontier defenses, most of Odovakre’s Kingdom was lost at the hands of the other Barbarian kingdoms. Clodovech, King of the nascent Chlotar Kingdom and grandfather of King Cauroman, invaded Baltia with an army comprising many tribes and barbarian races, and in a disastrous turn of events the bulk of the Viigoc army defected to him. The Kingdom of Baltia lost all its mainland possessions and has been reduced to the confines of its capital city, henceforth mockingly named the City State of Tautom. The southern Kingdom of Amalia suffered much the same fate; having been reduced to the Holy city of Udos. While the Tautans themselves might blame the loss of their continental holdings to the aggression of the Chlotars and the treachery of the Viigocs, the more self-conscious will attribute the downfall of Baltia to the complacency of Odovakre’s descendants and inept leadership of the royal senate.
The Tautan people, those that are paying attention to the doom at their doorstep, understand that in these times they will need a hero to save them from their impending annexation or annihilation… And they can certainly not expect to have the same freedoms and way of life under Barbarian rule. What good are their freedoms if they are not willing to protect them?

Kingdom of the Eodaens

Kingdom of the Eodaens, or Eodaland for short

Capital City: Cantaware

From the Dynasty of the Fourth Champion to enter the world: King Badastan of the Horsa dynasty

You may have heard rumors that the Usurper-King Badastan worships a Squirrel. To that it must be added that it’s not just any Squirrel but rather a magnificent Golden Squirrel-demon by the name of Xeaxaenot! Also Badastan is not a usurper, you clearly misread that – His Excellency King Badastan Horsa is rightful claimant of the Eodaen throne. But while he has the support of many of the Earls that budged to the worship of his squirrel idol, he was likewise met with opposition loyal to ‘God’. Particularly from the loyalists of his deceased elder brother Aethelberht. In the eye of some Earls, Badastan has unjustly usurped the late King, going so far as to claim that it was Badastan that was responsible for the assassination of Carlovech and by proxy also set up Aethelberht’s demise... As only a Splinter of God can kill another Splinter of God, the number of possible culprits can be counted on one hand. Needless to say Badastan is a bit of a shady figure, and the Earls are not fully unanimous in their support. Aethelberht still has a son, and some of the Earls are secretly vouching for him to take the throne.
There is division in the realm of both dynastic and spiritual nature. Though the King’s cunning did spare Eodaland an invasion from King Dagobert by coercing him with a sum of money his henchmen plundered from Aethelberht’s estate, in compensation for Cauroman’s mortal injuries and Carlovech’s death.
Badastan has with this act all but consolidated his Kingship over Eodaland. At this point the son of Aethelberht will be powerless to challenge his uncle.

Soon afterwards, however, King Dagobert fell terrible ill… leading some to suspect the Squirrel King’s treachery is once again at work.

Eodaen Characteristics:
Mentality: Eodaens are solution oriented, utterly pragmatic, always open to negotiation to settle disputes, seeking compromise, and not nearly as stubborn and single-sighted as all their neighbors. This works to their advantage. Particularly as they do not have the number of manpower in their population to rely on aggressive expansionism alone. But don’t mistake their diplomacy for weakness, or their craftiness for cowardice.
Eodaens are adventurous and like to put their sticky paws in the honey of others. By which I mean to say; Eodaens like to be involved in affairs abroad. Wherever there is something to gain, whenever something interesting happens; they want their people to be represented. Eodaen sailors, merchants and sell-swords can be found in every major international hub.
Eodaen traveling adventurers tend not to travel in just groups of marauding men, but bring their women and families with them with the purpose of eventually colonizing new lands.

Visually: Eodaen warriors tend to wear long hauberks and cloaks, with their leaders wearing Sutton Hoo helmets. They also have their own brand of blade unlike those on the mainland known as the Seax. Today Eodaens come with squirrel-themed idols and acorn trinkets around their necks and waists. Eodaens associate hair and facial hair with social hierarchy. Only old men, Earls and squirrel-priests may have long beards, whereas young men and warriors either shave or keep their beards short. Mustaches are fine.
Eodaen clothes are largely tunics and animal skins, and jackets of sheep wool. They have the same custom of wearing capes and cloaks as the other tribes do, but for Eodaens it’s less a fashion & cultural statement and more out of necessity to stave off the ocean wind.

Eodaen women aren’t known to be pretty. Don’t tell them this. Due to the relatively scarce population of Eodaland (partially due to the climate change that is gripping the northern coasts), the women have assumed some of the work and manual labour the men would normally be doing. This includes sailing, but not soldiering.

History:
Long before the world broke, the Eodaens were a collection of tribes that lived at the far northern coast of the world-continent, territories originally tied to the mainland. Following the breaking of the world and the invasion of the Divine Locust, the Eodaen territories were torn from Mainland Visandza to become a group of islands, one of which Eodaland.
The Eodaens started out as a sea-faring confederation of tribes that grew to a regional power in the then-newly formed Sea of Tears. There are some related groups and tribes on the Visandzan continent south of their island/peninsula that are culturally aligned to the Eodaens, but never joined their north-sea confederacy, such as the Radbounds of Dorestead.
The Fourth Champion that God sent to humanity was Hengist, spawned amongst the Eodaens. He was originally a corsair that defended humanity against the Locust races in alliance with the Viigoc refugees of the east, and helped ship many of them to the safety of Visandza. When the Heavenly Kingdom collapsed, so too did its renowned maritime armada. Hengist shouldered the responsibility of being humanity’s naval power in its stead, absorbing the remnants of the Celesean fleet to keep the Divine Locust contained in the east. Normal human weapons and the archaic spears, seax-swords and arrows of the Eodaens were largely insufficient to deal with the Locust. Hengist knew the greatest weapon to be employed in defense of the new western continent was the secret weapon of the Old Celesean; the Mirror Towers scattered on islets in the Sea of Tears. Thus the Eodaens skillfully manned them to fire light-beams at the Divine Locust until at last they dispersed.
To this day, the Eodaens pride themselves as being the defenders of Visandza and the greatest maritime power post-antiquity. However centuries of peace and Locust-dormancy have made them complacent, and the Eodaens of today are hardly as valorous and prestigious as they once were. The majority of the Eodaen navy are nominally of the same ‘fleet’. But in truth, the Eodaen sailors are largely all rogues, having turned to petty piracy and with no qualm seeking employment from foreign lords and different kings across the known world. Their allegiance is no longer to the descendants of King Hengist, but the highest bidder. Eodaen mercenaries and acolytes can be found in just about any corner of the world. More of the Eodaen fleet is pledged to the Celesean Island-state of Syrome than it is to the King of Eodaland. A smaller number of them, particularly those that were exiled for their rejection of the Squirrel-Demon, are in the employ of King Cauroman in laying the foundations for a Chlotar navy.

This isn't everything yet, but let me know if you're interested in joining based on only this! I plan to actually finish this RP, and I tell you.... we will march on to the bitter end, and otherwise rush to the ending if people start wavering. The story will only be finished when the war in Visandza is resolved.

[neogreggory]

Hmm... I can't help but be interested in the concept and lore thus far presented. Put me down as a hard maybe, I'll keep my eyes on this and contemplate on the matter.

[Sierra]

While this is the Advanced Interest check, I am thinking of posting the actual RP in Casual. (Probs with Casual-Advanced in the title)
The reason: Making long and detailed posts is fine if you want to, but doing so frequently for months on end just drains too much energy and I’ve seen RPs die that way. Therefore preferably make your posts concise and direct. Avoid dragging out and take it easy. It's fine.

@Grijs

What I just read felt like a capable writer more than comfortable with advanced quality standards concerned about constant pressure to write novel-length and about maintaining player population. As both a fellow GM and an interested party, I think you should stick to your guns on what you expect for posting quality. It's a hard decision to stand your ground, but I believe it would be worth it long term. And honestly you shouldn't worry about the length. Advanced is first and foremost a quality standard. I run something in that section where some posts are only about 400 words (less than 20 lines excluding whitespace). Demand quality and let length take care of itself.

The way you wrote the int check does not suggest you're remotely a casual level writer. If you put something in casual, that's the level of writing you'll get. That's not to say people in casual can't step it up to a superior tier of quality, but it sets the lower common denominator. I think you should build the RP to your ideal participant, and then the closest people to that are exactly what you'll get. It may reduce your prospect pool, but I personally consider that better than compromising the vision. Hell, it's worked out for me so far. The advanced section does inherently move slower, but a little determination to ensure the inexorable march of progress goes a long way to running a roleplay until the end of time.


These are the hard decisions to make, but they're what define you as a GM. So tell me ... "Who are you, and what do you want?" You have my keyboard, and my sword.

[Grijs]

@Sierra You flatter me, and you make a good case. It's indeed about practicality; once this starts off I do not want people to grow disheartened or too stressed to continue. Making posts should not have to always take up a lot of time. But I suppose you're right.

(Also I recognize the references of the last line, lol)

[Dusty]

You've caught my eye and I'm considering creating a mercenary captain character, with a command of a few hundred professional sellswords. I would like to confirm this sort of character, with a personal army like that would be acceptable in this world? I imagine if it was made up of men from Eodaland this wouldn't necessarily be uncommon.

[Sierra]

@Grijs You're going to lose some people over time. It's a fact. It's a shitty situation when you lose someone or have to eject them for inactivity, but it does get easier. You will also have dedicated people who stick with you through thick and thin. I recovered from almost 30 days of inactivity with only 1 player lost out of 8. The people who browse the advanced section are usually less liable to flake and disappear than casuals are.

Now to get into actual roleplay stuffs ... I may be dabbling with a really exotic 'out-there' character concept. I think I'm gonna write up a simplistic form of it and pitch it to you straight pending inevitable rejection before I get to work on a real sheet.

[Wernher]

Evil squirrels and chainmail bikinis. How can the other factions even compete?

[bloonewb]

Hey, is there still room in this? I'd like to join if there is.

[Serpentine88]

Reporting in as usual. I see you added some text to my map I drew for you.

[Grijs]

@neogreggory
I appreciate that. I will keep you informed when the OOC's up.

@Dusty
Your character(s) actually work, as there are multiple parties in need of Eodaen naval support. Particularly in regards to Tautom city. Mercenaries are sort-of-unique to the Eodaens. The soldiers of the other tribes are either all household troops of the Kings, or levies, and are, as you can expect, alleged to the tribe. But the Eodaens also have a degree of tribal loyalty.
Also other than the captain/Earl (in the dark ages, Earl was the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of a viking Jarl) of the band, you can also create 1 or 2 other characters to be the captain's henchmen. The character sheets are short more-or-less for this reason.

@Sierra
I will look forward to see what you turn up with. Do you think I need to make the Lamperts and Chlotars more appealing for people to pick them? The Eodaens and the Tautans are the most memezy so I feel more people are interested in them for just that reason. lol

@bloonewb
Naturally, we didn't even begin. I think when there are between 6 and 10 players we're good.

@Serpentine88
You just have to go and take credit. lol

[Archetype Zero]

My interest is potential, we'll see how things develope. But it seems like an interesting setting. From what I've talked with you, the lore is also quite fascinating.

[Oraculum]

Si quis foris provincia fugire timtaverit, morti incurrat periculum, et res eius infiscentur.

[Sierra]

@Grijs Interesting that you seek my opinion on that. I think the Chlotars are described as a bit brutish and war-obsessed in their initial description but in the expanded lore below they come across with more of a righteous zeal that's actually quite attractive. Aside from addressing that discrepancy, I think they're in a good place. The Lamperts I think suffer from a descriptive identity crisis moreso. Initially, it is made out as if the entire culture revolves around cursing God and seeking his ultimate demise. Later as you read into the expanded lore, this seems to be a fixation only of the king. The rest of the people are a hardy atheistic population just happening to live under a borderline-deranged, tyrannical leadership. That latter scenario I think is a bit more appealing and provided there's enough player influence in the Lampertian nobles' court to temper the king's bad behavior, they're a force to be reckoned with. I would also say that you mentioned the king having a daughter. I would strongly advise having a basic character framework for her done (or commissioning her out to someone), because she might come into play heavily.

Now for the fun stuff, exotic concept in brief:

Rothgar - Grandmaster at Arms of Lambertia, advisor and protector to the High King
Chlotarian by blood, Lambertian by heart
-Originally trained with Chlotar master swordsmen in the art of dual-wield speed fighting , but later banished from the tribe's lands by the Chlotar Inquisition (seems like something they'd have) for his absence of faith.
-Having more in common with Lamberts than his own pious people, his training was completed here after many years and many weapon proficiencies gained.
-Proficiency as a weapon master gains the favor of a lord; he ascends through the ranks of the garrison leadership.
-Favor is gained with the king, who replaces that noble with him (swords are more valuable than tongues) as both a court member and personal guard.

I know its probably a hard sell getting Lambertian leadership to put any trust in an outsider no matter how loyal they are ... but it would no doubt be very cool. I haven't written enough down to make retooling the character a pain in the ass when I inevitably have to. :P

Oh and I caught one more thing while writing that. The CS lists 5 tribes, but only 4 are talked about in lore. Who are the Radbouds and what makes them interesting? (or snip that before anyone else notices)

[neogreggory]

Hmm...
Both the Lamperts and the Tautans are appealing to me, the question is which one? Out of curiosity how much care do the various factions put into gladiatorial combat? I'm fond of the idea of someone who earned sufficient glory in the ring of honor to earn the interest of powerful figures. Would that be viable and realistic in this setting?

[Serpentine88]

@neogreggory

Concerning gladiators:

I was handed out the commission of Belisar, the Doux of Syrome (One of the islands), basically the hypercompetent chancellor to incompetent king Orso of Tautum. Tautum itself doesn't have proper gladiatorial combat beyond the private audience of the king, though it has a lot of rabble street-fighting and ad-hoc gladiator-esque fighting. Syrome is the Tautom!lite, more organised and imperialistic half-brother of Tautum due its closer cultural loyalty to Heavenly Kingdom traditions/beliefs, as the actual 'true' Not!Romans. Syrome still practices genuine gladiatorial combat, arena and all.

[Grijs]

@neogreggory I am actually thinking of a role where Dalgiserius sends one of his Gastalds to Tautum with an expeditionary force, not because Lamperts like the Tautans, but only to stall the Chlotar invasion of Lampertia. Are you up with taking that role? While there, your man could have been invited to King Orso's court to entertain him through battling his champion.

[neogreggory]

@Grijs I feel this role is one I could fill, and one I would be honored to fill.
Granted, I quickly had to double check everything you just said, and admittedly had to reread what Serpentine a few times so I suppose I should quickly state a fault of mine before I invest myself in this any farther.

Names, among other things, are not my strong suit. I'm not great at coming up with them, but I'm even worse at remembering them. I'm sure with time I will come to know the various players and places in this setting that has been created, but I must admit that it will not be a quick process and sometimes I will be confused or slow as I try to remind myself who is who and what is where. I realize this may in fact be a burden in a roleplay taking place over a large landmass with many sites each bearing unique names, ruled over by named people who are in turn surrounded by names, all of them no doubt having some amount of thought put into them, and for that I will apologize now for any inconvenience I cause as I try to partake in this.

That said however I will do my best to partake in this and to do so well, to make a character worthy to exist in this world, and to make their actions believable, reasonable, and interesting. To those ends I will once again accept the gracious offer you place before me Grijs, having a role, a solid detail, will allow me to collect the stray wisps of thought in my mind and mold them into a single character much more easily. To that end if you've any other information I may find useful I beseech you to offer it to me whenever it is most convenient for you, so that I may create a character and identity worthy of Visandza.

[Grijs]

@Sierra Thanks for the feedback.

Hmmm.. It's a tough sell. I'll entertain the idea of there being such a thing as dual-wield speed fighting. Chlotars do not have an inquisition per say, but they are devout enough that they are actively uprooting all forms of heathenism within their borders. Who is responsible for this uprooting? Probably the Paladins and an order of Warrior-Monks. I've not so far actually thought about it. These Warrior-Monks are probably a mix of archaic Teutonic Knight-Crusaders and proto-Inquisitors. God worship happens through a network of Temples and missionaries, and is mostly spread peacefully. But for a noble to REFUSE to embrace God... well that's why your character would've been cast into the outter darkness!

As for how the hell a Chlotar became a Gastald.. I think the only way this is possible is if Princess Dalgiserata convinced her father to not nail him to a tree at the sight of him. But more likely, I think your guy just never said he was a Chlotar, he might've lied about his Tribe. However the Lamperts speak a different language than the Chlotars.
Let's say the Lampert language is a blend of Not!Germanic and Not!Latin. Your Chlotar, who was of fairly high birth, may have been able to speak Celesean, and so communicated with the Lamperts by speaking Celesean instead of Chlotar.

Also there are reasons why the Lampert Gastalds are unable to stand up to King Dalgiserius. I will have to get to that in the OOC as well. But it comes down to; with all the Kings being Splinters of God, they each have a degree of supernatural powers that comes with that. Kings are essentially very lite demi-gods.

Indeed i've not written anything about the Radbouds yet. There's a mention that they are similar to Eodaens. For all intents and purposes they are a blend of Eodaen and Chlotar. In the OOC i'll write something about them. Their existence is a small added bonus but nothing plot-relevant.

Edit:

@neogreggory
Will add this to the OOC:

Character Naming guide

Chlotar Names:
infernaldreams.com/names/Europe/Medie…
Names often have ‘Ch’ in them, always pronounced like K.

Lampert Names:
infernaldreams.com/names/Europe/Medie…
B’s are often turned to P’s. Bert becomes Pert.

Celesean Names:
infernaldreams.com/names/Europe/Medie…
Male names tend to end with ‘ius’ or ‘us’. Female names with ‘ia’/’a’.

Eodaen Names:
infernaldreams.com/names/Europe/Medie…
Use an Ae here, an Ea there… Easy.

Viigoc Names:
infernaldreams.com/names/Europe/Medie…
Often a mixture of Germanic and Greek, ‘Theodulf’ being a good example.

You are allowed to make slight variations to each of these names. Just make sure they sound somewhat authentic. I made the name Cauroman up. The original Frankish name I based it on is Carloman.

[Sierra]

I'll evolve the concept a bit more and make a more complete version of it. I think a few of the difficulties in sale could be rectified by that. It also isn't *too* hard to retool to one of a couple of options that don't strain credulity as much.

And you have an entire faction built around zealous piety .. and they don't have an Inquisition? That just feels wrong. :P

[Oraculum]

An Inquisition would be a tad anachronistic, given the setting's inspiration. Besides, those nosy friars are only good at their theological casuistry. The only real defences (or unmakings) of faith are blood and steel!