Staring up at the towering structure, some dozen meters down the winding cobblestone path leading up toward it, Aranaeyl remembered the place as one of horror -- the hive of villainy from which the downfall of Quel'thalas was orchestrated; Dar'khan Drathir's lair and the place in which he concocted his schemes and simmered against the supposed injustice of not being named the Grand Magister.
It was still that, for now -- in a manner of speaking. Many things were different, of course.
Dar'khan's arcane guardians, constructs typical of nearly every Magister's home turf, still did mill about the structure -- but they didn't spark and spit arcane energy, falling apart at the seams. They went about their duties as usual, as if nothing was amiss... Because it wasn't. The metal making up their bodies shone brightly with a fresh coat of polish, guarding the lifelong home of one of Quel'thalas's most famous, powerful Magisters.
But Aranaeyl knew differently. She lived the truth, and the consequences of what Dar'khan would become. She watched her friends and family be torn to bloody ribbons by slavering ghouls -- her mother, by Sylvanas's side, and her father, in a desperate but vain attempt to protect her and her siblings.
She remembered fleeing to the northwest in a desperate attempt to find refuge in the floating Duskwither Spire, narrowly avoiding the Scourge at every turn.
She remembered staring helplessly as Silvermoon burned in the distance, knowing that she would never see her aunts and cousins and uncles again; that her favorite candy shop and the kindly old woman who ran it would be dead next she saw her, and that she might never get to see her riding tutor again.
She remembered knowing, in her heart of hearts, that death would be a mercy for many of them.
Sighing, she extracted a small glass vial from an elementium lockbox at her hip, filled with shimmering golden sand, the bright blue glow of her eyes reflecting off of each individual grain. For several moments, all she did was stare, before finally shaking her head and stuffing the vial back into its hiding place.
No point in dilly-dallying, she silently reminded herself. She had everything she needed, after all. Stolen documents from another Dawnstar that would hopefully prove Dar'khan's guilt, a courier's disguise, and the package on her back that would change Azeroth forever.
One foot after the other, she began to move toward the Spire. If she was lucky, the Magister himself wouldn't come to greet her... But that meant making sure she could get close enough to the spire to plant the explosive in the first place
Mere moments after starting to move again, one of the tall ceramic constructs turned toward her, the brightly-glowing blue lines forming the runic bindings on their bodies lighting up the night. She could see the crystals joining their parts to their torsos, too -- tall, angular things, far less harsh than she remembered. The glowing filigree was much more consistent, too -- none of the empty carvings she remembered from her time.
The broad, blue, horizontal slit across the construct's face pulsed as it approached her, a cold, robotic voice booming out from its face.
"CEASE YOUR APPROACH AND STATE YOUR PURPOSE IMMEDIATELY."
The Reaver echoed -- and so Aranaeyl did, freezing in place.
"I'm a courier!" She replied, breath quickening. Would she need to try to slay the Magister herself? She was skilled with the blade, sure, but he was an incredible mage, and a cunning one, too...
"I have a package for the Magister, from Commander Lor'themar Theron!" She said, reaching into her pack to extract a large, jeweled box -- nearly a foot long and half as wide, covered in the blue-gold colours of Silvermoon.
The construct approached her, spending a handful of moments staring at the box -- scanning it, she imagined -- and then, apparently satisfied, snatched it from her hands and wordlessly proceeded back inside.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Araneyl turned, wearing a small smile as she left at a brisk walk. Her part was done -- now, all she had to do was wait, and hope that the Magister wouldn't notice the true nature of the package until it was too late. It was something he he surely wouldn't recognize, but the elemental fire it was infused with...
Pausing, Aranaeyl glanced back over her shoulder.
"YOU IDIOT! USELESS GOLEM! IT'S A-"
Suddenly, the whining traitor's tirade was broken by a sharp crack, and a bright flash of angry light that bathed the forest in red. She felt her skin grow hot, as if burning, trees all around the spire sparking, all while a pathetic flash of purple light emanated from within the tower. An attempt at teleportation... Foiled by that Gnomish dispelling device, no doubt. Just as advertised.
Then, just as suddenly, the entire spire was engulfed in flame, and Aranaeyl felt the air being sucking out of her lungs, forcing her to the ground in a desperate attempt to protect herself. There was a great, roaring sound, like that of an entire city aflame...
Then a violent boom as the entire spire spontaneously combusted in elemental fire, arcane crystals melting into bright red magma, all while raging fire elementals emerged from the wreckage.
Aranaeyl smiled, rising to her feet.
Selama ashal'anore, she thought.
Welcome to the Interest Check for Tales of Azeroth: Flames of Chaos, a roleplay set in another Azeroth -- yet one that is inexorably linked to the true reality we know. Many things are similar, but others are very different.
There is, for example, no Burning Legion to invade Azeroth, for demons, as beings outside of time and space, can only exist in singularity; in other words, there was only one Kil'Jaeden, one Tichondrius, one Archimonde, one Sargeras...
Thus, those on Azeroth are disrupted and leaderless, left to run amok.
The Scourge, likewise, ails -- its back was broken by the offensive against Quel'thalas; met by constant Farstrider harassment, it was unable to penetrate deeply into the Eversong Woods, its rapid expansion turned into a brutal, gruelling quagmire at the impenetrable Elfgates and the incredible might of Silvermoon's Magisters. Deprived of Kel'thuzad, there was little they could do aside from shallowly penetrate into the Eversong before being forced to retreat and consolidate in Lordaeron.
The Old Gods, however, still threaten to awaken, separated from the Void Lords as they are. The titan watchers are thrown into chaos, granting them further opportunities to spread their admittedly weakened influence, this shard's Algalon quelled from purging the planet only by the fact that the true Azeroth exists elsewhere, thus making re-origination unecessary.
The Broken Isles -- and the Shal'dorei -- stand on a dangerous precipice, Elisande having potentially discovered through her time magics that her city is finally safe from the Legion, free to spread her influence without worry of being obliterated by the demons.
The Mists of Pandaria -- the final black mark on Emperor Shaohao's legacy -- have abruptly faded, blown apart by the enormous release of magic created by the violent discorporeation of the Legion's most powerful commanders, leaving Pandaria exposed to the rest of the world for the first time in ten thousand years.
The Dark Portal, exposed to the very same release of magic, has abruptly re-opened, wrenching an equally unintended fractured Draenor into being, offering whole Tempest Keep and its Draenei inhabitants an unexpected lease of life.
This Azeroth's Nozdormu, having realized the unintentional nature of this Azeroth's existence, wrestles with the reality of whether or not he can allow it to exist -- and the Dragon Aspects, still as powerful as they ever had been, return to the Dragon Isles decades early, convening on the nature of their duties, Malygos's role still in question, the Aspects grappling with their role in this false world.
Everything else (and the specifics of the above) are for the writers to decide, barring what I specify. In essence -- I'm providing a framework for the state of Azeroth, but only that -- a framework. Think of this as a pseudo-nation RP where you control organizations and nations through important people like Maxwell Tyrosus, Go'el, or people who might have taken their places. Multiple players can fit into a faction, of course, and are encouraged to do so -- Cairne and Thrall, for instance.
As such, while I intend to open things up more later on, initially at least, writers will be heavily encouraged to take on roles of great import, to fill out the essential spots in the world. Some -- even many -- will be canon characters, but you're more than encouraged to field proposals for OCs and where/how they'll be involved. Either way, I expect decently hogh-effort applications. This doesn't mean you need to give me an essay for each character (frankly, I'd prefer to not need to read a novel!), of course, but I reserve the right to reject applications when the time comes for the full RP. Currently, the plan is to start approximately four years and six months after the start of the first war, and about three and a half years after the Scourge was forced out of Quel'thalas by the High Elves, having failed to penetrate the first Elfgate.
Other major events to note -- everything up to Arthas's slaying of Terenas has happened as normal. It's around that time that Aranaeyl killed Dar'khan, creating this new timeline, and past that point when things can diverge. I'm hoping to help solidify some of these events in the process of setting up the interest check.
1. Don't be an asshole. No transphobia, racism, harassment... You know the drill.
2. NSFW content must stay in the NSFW channels.
3. As the GM, I will occasionally push things forward be making certain events happen, or by doing certain things with certain characters. Thanks to @Ezekiel for the inspiration for this metholodolgy! If you feel like the event is unfair in some way or have your own ideas for events and the life, please feel free to get in touch with me!
4. On the topic of activity requirements, while I don't have anything strict in mind as of the interest check, I will be keeping an eye on things -- if I feel that you're not contributing enough, I'll approach you for a discussion. Important nations and organizations will have a closer eye kept on activity. I expect to be informed of extended abscences of more than a week, however. IRL can easily be accomodated for!
5. Try to avoid map-painting. This is a collaborative writing project, not a competitive game -- conquests must be handled in a thought-out way that makes sense in-universe. You can't just conquer all of Gilneas in a single post if nobody's playing it. Take NPCs seriously.
6. On the above note, conflicts involving large NPC factions -- particularly external ones -- will require some degree of GM involvement. Don't go tossing the VanCleefs into the ocean or the Void Lords into a Holy Blender without asking first.
7. Discord participation, once it goes up, IS NOT required, but is encouraged -- it's a good medium for quick plot planning.
