"The gems were never meant for mortals, for mere humans should never be given the power of gods."
Humanity had never seen anything like it. Thousands of strange and beautiful gems all appearing at once, each gem inscribed with strange golden lettering the likes of which mankind had never seen. Each gem differed in color and shape, though all of the gems were seemingly unbreakable. Almost everyone was drawn to the gems, their splendor undeniable, but for the vast majority of the population they were nothing but shiny trinkets or pretty stones. It would not be long before stones reshaped the entirety of the world.
Word began to spread that there were a few who could actually read the golden lettering on the stones. It seemed that each stone had some phrase written on it, each phrase was different and varied in length and complexity, just as each stone differed in color and shape. The world could feel the importance of the stones, rumors spread that they were the beginning of something amazing, that they were some form of alien technology, that they were demonic eggs waiting to hatch! None were prepared when the first summoning occurred.
30 years have passed, and still little is known about the stones. It seems as though they act as a key to some other plain of existence, a place that is now called the Aether, where heroes of legend, and demons born from humanities darkest nightmares, exist. Each stone is bound to a creature from the Aether. The words inscribed on the stone act as a contract, the summoned creature lends the summoner their power, and in exchange the summoner gives the summons something in return. Each summons wishes for something different, some wish to see this new strange world, others wish for precious metals, new books, or even food. And still others wish for darker things, such as blood, or the very life force of the summoner and other mortals. Regardless of the price for summoning the other worldly beings, each one is unique, possessing supernatural abilities. A mad dash to acquire the stones took place and summoners became both revered and feared.
It was not long before war broke out. For nearly 10 years the world battled for control of the summoners and the stones they possessed. Borders that had existed for hundreds of years shifted. Global powers rose and fell. Summoners took positions of power and imposed their will on the world, only fearing other summoners. Nearly everything was lost. In a last ditch effort to save humanity from itself, hundreds of summoners joined together to create the Coalition of Stone. Independent of any nation, the Coalition vowed that if the wars did not cease, they would remove all of the world leaders at once, and install people of their choosing until a peace could be reached. A few doubted the Coalition of Stone's ability to do such a thing, but after a demonstrations of their power in which an entire government was wiped out in a single day, the fighting ceased, and the world entered an uneasy peace.
17 years have passed since the show of power. The coalition of stone still remains, though they do not interfere in the business of most governments. Their sole mission is to watch the other summoners, and ensure that none rise to abuse their power as they had before. Most of the world lives in relative peace and normality now. Though barren wastelands of the 10 year war still remain many countries have managed to rebuild. Summoners live as any other humans, they work, go to school, commit crimes, and act as leaders. But something is coming. Their is an uneasiness between the normal humans and the summoners. Whether born from jealousy or fear, acts of violence against summoners have increased over the past year. There is also talk of a new organization brewing, one not unlike the Coalition of Stone, but with a far darker purpose.
And now we come to you, dear reader. For the fate of this world will ultimately rest in your hands. Whether the world burns, or becomes a utopia of peace, is entirely dependent on your choices to come. So choose wisely, for you wield the power of gods.
(OOC stuff)
So that was a sort of brief explanation of the world as we know it. To sum it up in the most basic way, you play a summoner. Someone who has a magic stone that can summon potentially incredibly dangerous creatures, for a price. What that price is will mostly be up to you but there will be a few guidelines that you'll need to follow that I'll spell out for you soon. Please be aware that this is very much a work in progress and that I'm pretty rusty at the whole writing thing right now so you may need to bare with me as I flesh this thing out fully. As this is in interest check, its probably safe to say that I'm seeing if anyone is interested in playing along before I throw to much of my free time into it. I'm also happy to hear any suggestions or ideas others have, though I cant promise they'll be implemented.
A few things about summons;
Their will be a tier class for summons, ranked from E to S. E being the weakest and, S being the strongest.
Each summon will require summoner points to summon, the more points, the more powerful the summon, but also the harder to control.
E "Above Human" tier will require 1 - 2 points (Creatures with abilities that surpass normal humans, but not by much)
D "Super Natural" tier will require 2 - 4 points (Creatures with supernatural abilities that far surpass what a normal person could do)
C "Mythic" tier will require 4 - 5 points (Powerful creatures from myth)
B "Heroic" tier will Require 5 - 7 points (Very powerful creatures that would have stories written about them.)
A "Legendary" tier will require 8 - 9 points (Creatures that HAVE stories written about them. Beings from legend and myth whose power could wipe out entire cities.)
S "Demi-God" tier will require 10+ points (Creatures that approach godhood. Though still defeatable, they are incredibly powerful, dangerous, and rare.)
Summons: Summons range drastically in size and ability, no two summons being exactly alike. Some can look entirely human in appearance while others can look like nothing that exists naturally on earth. Their size can rang drastically as well, although many seem to have the ability to change their size at will.
Each summon has a unique phrase required to summon them to the human realm, the phrase is inscribed on the outside of the summons gem and acts as a contract between the summoner and the summon. Summoners can naturally read the inscription on any stone, however, if the summoner is not able to speak the phrase out loud the summon will not appear.
The price for summoning also differs from summon to summon. Some require a constant “payment” while other only require something just once. As a general rule, the more powerful the summon, the higher the cost to summon them. In addition to a summons price for summoning them, maintaining their physical presence in the mortal realm is taxing on the summoner, thus its rare to see a powerful summons walking around during the day. Should a summoner exceed their limits they will pass out and the summon will return to the Aether.
Summon Tier Change: Though incredibly rare, some summons seem to have the ability increase their power to the next “tier.” How this happens is greatly dependent on the summon themselves and the situation they are in. Regardless, the tole that it takes on a summoner is immense, and the transformation does not seem to be a permanent one.
Summon or Summoner Death: If a summoner dies, their summons immediately returns to the Aether. This makes killing a summoner the most efficient way to defeat a summons. Summons can be hurt, and should they take to much damage, their summoning stone will shatter, making it impossible to re-summon them to the mortal realm. If injured and returned to the Aether a summon will heal quite quickly and any damage done to their summoning stone will be reversed, however, if the injury is sever enough it can take weeks for a summon to fully heal.
Every summoner will start out with a total of 10 points. I may allow summoners to increase their summoner points as the story goes, but I haven't decided yet. Also I should mention that the powerful the summon, the higher the price is to summon them, and the more difficult they are to control. An S class summon might literally require a human sacrifice to be summoned. Because S class is so powerful I'm not really allowing any at this time, or I might allow them on a case to case basis if you PM me a character sheet that I like enough. But they will be very rare.
You can have multiple summons, but you cannot have more summons then points. So you might be able to summon two C class summons. Or one weaker C and B summon. But at the beginning if you want an A class summon, that's all you'll be able to summon, and they will be likely be difficult to control.
Other then these guidelines a lot of the creativeness of your summons will be left up to you. If you're not sure what class a summon would be feel free to ask, I'll probably make up some examples at some point. I am currently working on a CS for a summoner and a summon so you'll have an example, but I'm leaving you with a lot of creative freedom. I'll be adding things in when I have the chance and once I get enough interest I'll make an actual thread.
