[OOC] Knights of Galvarok: The Forbidden Gate

[Lionheart]

No longer accepting applicants

I stood in front of my pupils, light from the fire illuminating them before me, curious and young faces staring at me in the comforting light of the fire. Tonight was the night of their first mission, and such it was my obligation to tell them what they've surely heard a thousand times by now, yet tradition must be obeyed. "Long, long ago there once was a kingdom by the name of Galvarok. Her citizens were happy and prosperous, her land rich and fertile, and her king kind and courageous. Until one day they came. From the depths of the earth the beasts rose, otherwordly monsters who killed as if it were some game, pillaging and plundering all that stood in their way. The other nations Voro, Nosk, the Midlands and Westland gave everything they could to aid their neighbor.

Yet it was not enough..........The king couldn't bear to see his people suffer any longer and took matters into his own hands. With his most loyal followers he built a gate, a seal that would lock these demons away for the rest of eternity. And so it came to pass, but at what cost? The king had died, or so it is said. Gave his own life to seal the armies plaguing his land away forever. And so his loyal followers, the men and women who stood by their king as he made the ultimate sacrifice, swore to stand watch over this gate and ensure it never be opened again. The other nations vowed to support these knights in their endeavors, and thus the Choosing came to be.

From this oath, from these watchers came, an order of knights, sentinels to stand watch over the gate and to protect those who cannot defend themselves. Sworn to valor, duty, and honor these knights have stood for a thousand years, protecting the weak and innocent, and striking down the arrogant and unjust. You are these knights, you have all been selected in the Choosing and have advanced to where you are now, standing before me. Each of you will set forth, Raiments in hand to do your sworn duty." I delivered the story solemnly, as tradition requires. Yes, soon these young knights would face the world and stand tall, or be crushed underfoot. I couldn't help but hope for the former. Rubbing my bearded chin I feel......hesitant, I can tell something is coming, something will happen soon, I can feel it on the wind, and only time will tell what awaits us.

---

And here we are, the OOC. Also known as the MASSIVE INFORMATION DUMP!

But first some obligatory rules.

Rules

Of course there are rules, but I run a pretty laid-back operation.
-Obligatory no godmodding, metagaming etc, etc, you guys know that one.

-This is Casual so no one-liners please.

-If you disappear for more then two weeks without a word to anyone I will continue the RP without you, so if you have a vacation or something coming up just let me know.

-And finally if you guys start fighting, settle it like adults. If I have to get involved things will get ugly.

Also a re-post of the flavor information in the Interest Check.

Flavor Info

Magic besides the Raiments exists, but it's not nearly as common. The Midlands capital Veilron is home to a magic school itself, however one cannot simply learn magic, he has to be born with it. All Knights innately have the ability to learn magic as it is a criteria in The Choosing.

Races that I would allow you to play as amount to Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Half-Elves. Other notable races though include Goblins, Trolls, Orcs, Myrmydia, and the Slasks.

Tech level would be like the Medieval era. Catapults, crossbows, ballistae, stone walls, etc. Except with the inclusion of magic, making feats of architecture, biology, medicine, and transportation a few hundred years ahead.

The five most prominent nations from west to east are: The Westland, the Midlands, and Voro, which are in a crescent moon shape. Galvarok is a separate body distanced by a strait between the two, and is technically the largest country in Ascalon. Finally Nosk is a island nation off of the east coast of Galvarok, it's size is about equivalent to that of the Westland.

For some culture flavor Nosk is very far north it's very cold and experiences harsh winters and mild summers. It's people are mainly dwarves who hunt the icy plains to survive. They are mainly a tribal people and mostly keep to themselves.

Voro is a rather temperate nation with open plains, large lakes, and a few notable mountains. Actually an expansive and perilous mountain range seperates Voro from the Midlands, as such a great bridge was built in an indent like gulf between the two. It's people are cattle herders and farmers mainly, with a proud standing army and king, as well as a very decent economy allow it's citizens to live pretty well.

The Midlands are a collection of arid plains, nearly dessert like. It's east border are mountains and it's west border are woodlands. It's people are peddlers taking advantage of pretty much being in the center of the known world, or magic users from the great school in Veilron. It's government is a coalition of smaller states within the borders forming a common council of representatives.

The Westland is a wooded, wild frontier, and is also the youngest nation. It's a bit rainy and wild animals are pretty prevalent. It's people are trappers and foresters, trading fur and meat as well as other plantlife. Elves are a very common race in the Westland. The government there is mostly non-existent. Much like Nosk it's pretty much a council formed of the oldest and most experienced among the people.

Galvarok is the largest nation and home to the Knights of the same name. It's climate is foothills and plainland at it's southern region and becomes more mountainous and eventually downright freezing the farther north you go. It's economy is mainly based off of the enormous amounts of fishing and herding that's done, with a little farming in the south. The knights are the main form of government and they are an enclosed organization who's leadership is composed of a council chairman-ed by the Commander. There are also three great bridges leading from Galvarok to each nation on the southern crescent.

Knights can hail from any of the 5 main countries, that is the oath they swore. To provide their children in gratitude and support for what the king did. Also if one of your parents was a knight you are guaranteed to also become a knight. However all of your characters would have been chosen to become knights at a very, very young age and will likely have never been to their homeland.

And now to some new stuff. First off eventually there will be a crude map, as soon as I get around to drawing it. But until then if you have any geographical questions just ask.

The Choosing The Choosing is the ritual that symbolizes the pact the 4 nations made with Galvarok to support their cause of standing watch over the Gate. Every 4 years every child from infants to 4 years of age in the Westland, Midlands, Voro, and Nosk are gathered and brought to the Knights Citadel in Galvon. In the next few weeks each child is examined in a magic rite to detect favorable traits in the child. If they are detected the child is taken and trained to eventually become a knight. If they are not, the child and it's parents or caretakers are free to leave. The child of a Knight will always become a Knight, such is the will of The Choosing.

Knight's Raiments A Knight's Raiment is a symbol of Knighthood. A Knight's Raiment is his own personal sigil and varies from knight to knight. Knight recruits are taught to project their Raiment at about age 9, the act of actually projecting a Raiment comes with weeks of meditation and soul searching, one must truly be in tune with himself in order to project a Raiment for the first time. Afterwards though it never goes away and will never fade from it's wielder until the knight himself dies, in which case it enters into a dormant state.

The Knights of Galvarok The titular faction of the RP. The Knights of Galvarok act as a sort of Peace Corp, seeking to end wars, protect the innocent, and promote the general welfare of the entire known world. The Knights are governed by a council of 10 which is lead by the Knight Commander. The council consists of the most prominent knights of the order, who have made themselves known by being exceptional or are old and wise enough to have earned a seat with their knowledge. The Knight Commander himself holds no power aside from the governance of the Knights Citadel itself and overseeing the council. Now the council will develop policies, laws, and review quests sent from the other nations. These items are then brought to the assembly which consists of every knight present in Galvon. There the policies and laws are read and voted on. Quests are announced and a Champion is called as a volunteer to lead the quest.

Notable Events

A short recap of notable events in recent history. Note that the current date is 1343.

The states of The Midlands erupted in a civil war over the magic "School" in Veilron. The war started in 1328 and was finally ended by the Knights of Galvarok after thousands of casualties in 1331.

The MIdlands council questions the necessity of the Magi Keep in 1325.

The island people of Slask invade Voro in 1325 and are repelled by a combined defense of the Knights and local militia.

In 1318 Iskandaar Elius Voro takes the throne of Voro at age 18, a week after his father Noctus Verinus Voro passed away due to illness after his reign of 35 years.

Alright, I think that about does it as far as information goes. So on the the piece de resistance, the CS!

CS

Name:
Age: (Between 15 and 20)
Gender:
Race:

Personality:
Appearance: (A written description is a must, you can add a picture if you so desire so long as there is an actual description to go with it)
Backstory: (Well you all have more or less the same backstory, but you can put notable events and stuff here.)

Knight's Raiment: (Describe your Raiment and it's abilities. Just remember that your Raiment is your own personal symbol and belongs to you and you alone.)

Skills: (Can you cook? Or perhaps operate a forge? Maybe you're a natural linguist. Things like that go here.)
Magistra: (A magistra is a standard type of spell that all knights are given the option to learn. If your raiment is of the particularly magical based then your character likely knows just a few magistra.)

Character List

Minato Morimoto
Elia Maridah
Koren Zillias
Garret Llewellyn
Nox Aeterna
Rhea Llewellyn
Cyrus Reinhardt
Dry Wolfblood Aelious
Armendir Galamiel

[Zero Hex]

just dropping my raiment here, since it's basically done. I'll add the rest of the bio later

Raiment: Soulforged
Taking the meaning of the word "raiment" perhaps somewhat literally, the Soulforged is not a weapon but an exquisite set of armor which covers the entirety of the user's body. The armor is seemingly made out of polished bronze and its design is obviously ancient, a mixture of solid plates and small scales which together manage to cover the entirety of the body. While the armor's material and design are eyecatching enough it's also covered in runes from head to toe, each scale inscribed with an individual symbol while the solid plate cuirass, pauldrons, gauntlets, grieves and indeed the helmet are covered in intrincate diagrams. Not a single symbol is ever repeated across the whole armor and the entire set seems to blend together into little more than decorative carvings, requiring close inspection to make it all out.

The Soulforged is a very practical Raiment, instead of providing stranger or more complicated powers it simply boosts the user's physical capabilities to supernatural levels, making them innordinately strong, fast and tough. In exchange it lacks the more complex magical abilities of other Raiments, makes the use of weapons or implements practically impossible (as they tend to simply shatter from the Raiment's power) and, perhaps worst of all, the Soulforged attaches itself to the user's body, a painful and traumatic process which has killed potential knights in the past. The helmet is the only removable part, while the rest of the armor only ever detaches itself after the death of its user.

[chukklehed]

What exactly is a Magistra? Is there a list of them?

Name: Minato Morimoto
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Personality: Minato acts much older than he is, even his speech is strangely archaic. He has adopted the mannerisms of his old master, and adheres to the same, strict moral code. He spends a lot of his free time reading, writing or simply relaxing outdoors.
Appearance:
Minato strikes an elegant figure, from his brown hair tied in a ponytail to his slim features. He wears the clothing of his home village as taught to him by his master, which generally consist of a loose fitting robe tied around the waist with a sash, a long plaited skirt and wooden sandles. (For those of us in the real world it's a traditional japanese outfit)


Knight's Raiment:
天カット [Heaven Cut]
A Katana that does not cut immediately, but instead delivers it's blows all at once when the blade is sheathed.

Other Weapons:
後悔の剣 [Sword of Regret]
A normal Katana Minato uses when he cannot use his Regalia. Drawing this blade means he has made a grave mistake, and he will sometimes fight with it first as a symbolic gesture.

Skills: Cooking, Research, Kendo, Katana Forging (Can be applied to other things), Calligraphy
Magistra:
[First Seal: Release] - Minato releases the first set of his body's limiters, allowing him to become faster and stronger at the cost of using more energy.
[Second Seal: Release] - Minato releases the second set of his body's limiters, becoming signifigantly faster and stronger and also healing faster, but expending much more energy and creating more risk for damage.
[Third Seal: Release] - Minato releases all of his body's seals, becoming immensly powerful by burning his own life force. He has never used this Magistra, for obvious reasons.

[Lionheart]

Basically a Magistra is just a spell. The difference between a Magistra and the spells Sorcerers from Veilron use is that a Sorcerer requires a catalyst and a magic source to use his spells. A Knight can use a Magistra anytime so long as he has the energy for it.

[chukklehed]

So is there a list?

[Lionheart]

No, no there is no list, aside from a few some Knights are known for using specifically. So if your character knows some magic figure out what it is he knows. Just remember to balance it a bit, if you're nearly full on martial you wouldn't know too many Magista.

[chukklehed]

I made some

[chukklehed]

Hi

[PrimezTime]

Aye.

[chukklehed]

Lol, guess who's watching boring training videos about things they'll teach me better later?

[Gisk]

Name: Alphonse Chevelier
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Personality: A little cavalier about the whole knight thing. He likes to be flashy and have fun, even in combat. He has an unfortunate tendency to be distracted from his duties, often by women. He's usually the life of the tavern whenever he's allowed leave from duty, and is well known for his drunken generosity. Despite his youth, he already has a kind of fame, not for his heroics, but for his social visibility.

Appearance: A young man of roughly average height. His features are fair, slight and those who are attracted to the roguish sort would call him handsome. His hair is light brown, almost but not quite blonde, and he wears it short. His face usually sports some stubble, due mostly to carelessness about his appearance.
His armor consists of quilted armor, with chain mail over top, a belt around his waist and a short green cloak draped over his shoulders. His trousers are faded gray, and just as well worn as his old leather boots. He wears hardened leather bracers, and has a glove on the right hand, and carries a round shield in his left.
He has a bronze Corinthian helm that he'll don if it seems like he'll need it. In general he prefers to go bare headed, and will leave the helm strapped to his belt.

Backstory: Alphonse's father, Guy Chevelier, was also a Knight. Al was, somewhat against his will, all but destined to become a Knight as well. So of course he was taken in the Choosing, where he was too young to have any say, or even a real informed opinion about the process. As he grew older, however, he went through a phase where he resented the duty that was forced upon him. He has come to terms with it in the years since, but is still occasionally reprimanded for his little distractions.

Knight's Raiment:
Forever Spear: The spear's tip appears to be copper, though it's hard and unyielding like steel. The copper extends in stylized inlays all the way down the shaft, to the pommel on the opposite end. The inlays depict scenes of hunts on stormy nights. The spear is eight feet long, and perfectly balanced for throwing.
Lightning can arc between Alphonse's hand and his spear, striking whatever the spear's tip is embedded in. At the same moment, the Forever Spear travels down the lightning to Alphonse's hand. It will follow the path of least resistance, just like any electricity, but it will infallibly return to his hand. The only thing that can prevent this is to put either Alphonse or the Spear into a completely insulated container. Of course, the physics of electricity aren't understood in this world, so nobody would know to do this.

Skills: Can throw a spear with deadly accuracy, and is not bad with a sword and shield either. Alphonse also plays both the lute and the fiddle, and knows a great many songs. His songs give him a great knowledge of the folklore side of history. It's not always accurate, but usually has at least the essence of the truth.
Magistra:
The Other Key: A very powerful spell to unlock a lock or seal. It even works on magical ones, provided they are not of more power than Alphonse can put into his Magistra.
Failing that, he has
The Other Door: A much more strenuous spell to cast, it creates a temporary opening in a solid surface. It requires Al's concentration to keep it open, and can be disastrous if it closes while something is in the doorway.
Fly Away: Not actual flight, Al's cloak acts like wings and can catch the wind. A powerful gust could lift him off of his feet, but for the most part he uses it to glide from higher places.

[PrimezTime]

Name: Elia Maridah
Age: (Between 15 and 20): 16 Years
Gender: Female
Race: Human

Personality: Elia's personality is about as colorful as her clothing. She has a young, tomboyish charm that is complimented whenever she is in a battle, even if it is just a mock battle. She is a bit boisterous and loves to add flair to a battle using her dancing and acrobatic skills, even if it seems unnecessary. She loves people but she does have a short fuse for some people and she is definitely the person to hold a grudge.

Apperance

Elia is a short, slender human girl with some very contrary traits. Her ears are narrow and come to a point and her hair is a wild blonde that appears almost green, just like an elf but she swears that she isn't an elf. Her clothing selections come from the height of fashion in the Midlands. Bright, colorful clothing with a gentle mix between various colors. Elia will usually wear a short dress piece as pictured above. Her battle armor consists of dyed crocodile skins to form a light leather (and colorful) armor. The armor is modeled after her outfit of choice but with the addition of shoulder guards and wrists guards.

Backstory: Deemed the prodigal child from the Midland city of Dorinia, Elia is the first Knight to have come from the massive desert city. As such, she is regarded well among her kin despite a rather interesting and controversial story about her upbringing. According to the story, Elia is some bastard child born from an Human and Elf relation, which explains her very elvish traits, but nobody ever investigated the rumors so it remained at that. Rumors. Still, Elia hates hearing that rumor and believes she was born to both her human parents, despite never really seeing them ever.

Knight's Raiment:
Serpent's Fang: A spear of perfect length for Elia. The spear tip is a hardened, silvery steel tip with a copper serpent coiling itself around the bottom of the blade. The shaft is made of durable forest wood and the bottom of the spear has a copper brace holding a steel point, almost like a tack. Elia's spear takes after her affinity for poison and will secrete a dark green liquid from the copper parts and leak onto the blade. The poison's effects take effect almost immediately after entering a person's blood system. When injected, a person will start feel winded like they had just climbed a mountain's peak. Every time you breath, a sharp pain pulses out of your chest. It makes fighting extremely difficult while infected. There is one cure, outside of killing Elias curing through days worth of magic, but she keeps that a secret. The poison and pain gets worse and worse as time flutters on. If a person doesn't cure himself/herself after about four hours (some stronger, healthier people could drag it out for about a day if they are lucky) will perish.

Skills: Adept at dancing and acrobatics, expert of poison-making, skilled woodworker, absolutely gifted in spear-handling, accurate knife thrower

Magistra: Elia doesn't know too much as she focused more on the martial aspects of being a Knight. She did learn how to snap her fingers to make a sudden flash of light that can blind the unsuspecting dueler.

[chukklehed]

This has recirved my Spheal of Approval

[Gisk]

Two spears, for real? And here I thought I was going with an oft unused weapon. Such is life.

Is Serpent's Fang super useful, though? If you've already stabbed them with your spear, you've kinda got them in a bad position anyway.

I suppose you could wipe the poison onto something else, like a blow dart. I'd say an arrow, but that would have the same deal as the spear itself: it kinda kills well enough without the poison.

Unless we're talking larger scale creatures. On the subject of which: is there a size at which a dose of the poison will be insufficient to kill a being?

[chukklehed]

With a spear it's only a fatal wound if you score a direct hit. With poison a scratch is all it takes. It was pretty common practice actually.

[Gisk]

Well I stand corrected then.

Your character should still totally invest in a blow gun and darts, though.

[PrimezTime]

I'll add more to her tonight but chuk covered how advantageous a poisoned spear would be.

[chukklehed]

I am teh smarts

[Lionheart]

Let's see. Chukkle yours is fine, Gisk yours is fine. Both accepted.

Prime, I would either like you to sacrifice lethality and make it harder to cure, or make it easier to cure and keep the lethality as a balancing factor. As is it seems a bit potent. Another note is there are very simple Magistra that can dispel most toxins though they take a considerable amount of time and concentration to be effective, like a couple hours of straight up sitting still in one place.

[chukklehed]

It's obviously a magical toxin