IMPORTANT: It doesn't matter if you didn't read the books. You can still RP here. All the info needed can be found below.
Note: It might seem overwhelming but you do have a choice in all this, to lead your character to a simpler life or to lead one full of politics or wars and interaction. If you have a problem, please post it instead of just leaving. Thank you.
You can contact me via PM for more personal/character based questions or find me on the IRC fairly often for quick discussion.
Adarea is a land of Magic and battle inspired by Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, the first book being Eragon.
People taking part will be able to explore and adventure through whole of Adarea, which is massive.
Map of gamer5 check out his stuff, he's good.
There are multiple playable races in Adarea, including: Humans, Foreas, Elves, Dwarves, Narven, Gran'zuls and Dragons.
Dwarves: Native to Adarea. They were the first race along with Dragons to inhabit the continent. They fought with the Dragons a lot due to them stealing cattle and other animals. Now, they live in the Beors, massive mountains, kilometers high. They have three cities inside three different mountains, the biggest being Tronjheim which is situated in the biggest mountain in whole of Adarea. It took multiple Dwarven generations to build, and Dwarves do live for a very long time. Their pride lies withing the Star Sapphire, or Star Rose or Isidar Mithrim, a massive and beautiful red gemstone carved to resemble a blooming rose. It is found at the top of Tronjheim, overlooking the city. The city is so big it could house the whole of the dwarven population, just like it has multiple times in the past.
Dwarves use underground passages mainly to travel from one settlement to another.
Dwarves are divided into 9 clans. Which are:
-Grazkadr Azgrund - Masons
-Grazkadr Grimnar - Warriors
-Grazkadr Drongol - Priests/Accountants
-Grazkadr Grungnaz - Smiths
-Grazkadr Aldrunr - Scholars
-Grazkadr Vorndrimst - Farmers/Herders
-Grazkadr Ghurknarl - Hunters
-Grazkadr Izril - Jewellers
-Grazkadr Agrildrumst - Miners
Each clan has a specific focus area but that doesn't mean that lets say a Dwarf from the Izril Clan can't be a librarian or a hunter.
Each Clan has a clan leader which is a family thing. The son inherits the position of Clan Leader from the father. When a Dwarf King dies, the Clan leaders get together and vote for a new king. The Clan Leader with the most votes wins. Becoming a King can only be achieved through the votes. Potential candidates talk and make offers to other Clan Leaders to gain their support. Clan Leaders who realize that they have no chance becoming King usually retire and support someone else. Right now the King is Hrothgar, Clan Leader of the Grungnaz clan.
The speak Dwarfish. Magic wise, they have Magic users but like to forge their magic into certain items, using runes.
Dragons: They are very powerful beasts, also native to Adarea. They communicate telepathically with other races. They cannot use magic like the other races but many Dragons were known to accomplish amazing things without anyone knowing how. Magic seems to flow in their blood and come out in times of great needs. They can be different colors; Black, blue, green, brown, red... And live for as long as their Riders, or until they get killed. Wild dragons no longer exist. They were natural hunters though, and have great pride, and often see themselves as rulers of the skies and stealing food from Dwarves just because they are Dragons which means they can do anything. They are as smart as any other race can be. They grow until the end of their lives, some Dragons becoming very large. They have various grow spurts within the first couple of years of their lives. They also learn to talk in a question on months.
Foreas: They live in the huge forest of Du Weldenvaarden. Their skin is made out of plant fiber and have leaves instead of hair, making them more of a walking plant than anything, they do have faces however. They don't usually wear clothing, but when they do, it's more like armour than anything.
They don't eat anything, since they are fully able to photosynthesize as any plant. Their culture and way of life is based around a massive tree, whose leaves are all varied, not just one kind. This tree is where the Foreas go back to share their memory and experiences with the great tree, also known as the Heart of the Forest or Hjarta abr Welden. This tree serves as a vault of memories, allowing any Foreas to gain knowledge and experience things first hand. When they turn 100, every Foreas must bring a special experience, memory, back to the the Heart of the Forest. Sadly, most die in the process of adventuring, as they all want to bring back something amazing. Many try to venture North into the unexplored, or East to where the Shadowlands are rumoured to be. Many more travel West, trying to cross the Ocean, or South, into the seemingly never-ending Beor Mountains.
They were in Adarea before the Elves came, greeting them kindly and curiously. Elves have great respect for this race and they have been know to live together in harmony since always.
The Foreas, similarly to Dragons, can't control magic but seem to use it instinctively in times of great need.
Elves: They live in Du Weldenvaarden, the great Elven forest to the North-East of Adarea. They don't have the usual villages or cities, but houses made by growing trees in a special way, using Magic, making it hollow on the inside and making multiple floors. They can have different eyes and hair color except ginger, but their skin is very light. Some tend to change their appearance to look more like animals. They grow body hair and claws or maybe even wings. They have their one and only queen, in case she dies, her daughter will take her place. Elves became immortal when they founded the Dragon Riders and very rarely had to change Queen.
The Elves came over to Adarea from the west, across the ocean. They liked quarreling with the Dwarves because of the Dwarven Gods and Goddesses, but it never came to open conflict. The biggest event in Elven history was when a young elf killed a Dragon, thinking it was just some beast. The other Dragons found this elf and killed him and declared war on the Elven race. After years of war, with numerous deaths from both sides, they made peace, founding the order of the Dragon Riders. Every Dragon would only hatch when their egg would be touched by a worthy Elf. The two would then live with a lifelong bond.
Elves speak in the Ancient Language.
Humans: The most numerous of the races, also taking up most of the land and conflicting between each other. They arrived over the West as well, but from a different place than the elves. They came after the Elves made peace with the Dragons and their race was also included in the ones able to be Dragon Riders. They all lived under one king for a very long period of time. Their Kingdom used to extend all along the west side of Adarea, from the Ice Plains to the Hadarac Desert. Recent conflicts have changed this.
There are some generic culture differences between the Northerners, the Southerners and the MiddleLanders. Northerners are usually bigger, wider, often almost fat but with a lot of muscle as well. In battle, they choose to go with Battle Axes or large two-handers rather than swords, and they are also quite good archers, given that hunting on the Ice Plains is no easy task with beasts such as the ice giant attacking them on sight. They very rarely ride horses.
The MiddleLanders are your "normal" looking men. They tend to be the most armored in battles and are also the most numerous. They are also the ones most likely to be able to wield magic. They also build the most fortified castles and have the best military technology, only a bit worse than the Dwarves'. The are in which they live in is populous in whole of Adarea.
The Southerners have darker skin, some very dark. They are the most successful merchants, shown by trade cities such as Dawehsh, Gazaso and Foral. They are usually friendly to every race but the Gran'zuls, living specially well with Narven. In battle they usually wield shorter swords, often one in each hand, and wear light armor, counting on their agility to evade attacks. There are not many however that actually are skilled soldiers.
Every other race speak the Human language, because humans are the most numerous. (and because it's easier for the rp)
Narven: They are reptilian like, not many know of their origins. They just appeared sometime along with the humans. Some say they came out of the sea, some say they came out of the rivers and others say they came out of the desert sands. There are mainly two areas Narven live in, near the Great Oasis and in the Swamp. The desert Narven tend to have scales with lighter colors. Cities such as Issith and Cytcal are mainly Narven but the southern humans mingle with the inhabitants. Desert Narven and the southern Humans tend to get along well, with no discrimination or racism. The swamp Narven have darker colors and tend to be bigger, just as fast but less agile, as their desert cousins. Swamp Narven don't have cities, rather, they have tribes and very small villages. Their houses are made out of wood which is usually sustained by logs to keep it above the murky water. They are usually good fighters due to the many hostile creatures inhabiting the misty swamps.
Narven in general don't really practice Magic, although they can, and swamp Narven usually even despise it.
Narven have their own language but desert Narven don't use it as much, mostly only in written texts.
Gran'zuls: They are big, muscly creatures with horns and protruding fangs. Easily the strongest creatures physically in whole of Adarea, even stronger than elves. They came over the Great River on the east. Now they live in numerous villages like Urzul. Their biggest settlement is Narg'hôl, which is almost like a small town. Other Races would define them barbaric, especially humans, who kill Gran'zhuls on sight. They mostly spend their lives fighting or raiding. Honor for them is achieved through battles and scars. They are however not like they seem. They still have families which they love, they are willing to give their lives to protect them and their village. Sadly, humans basically hunt these creatures and get paid for it.
They have their own language and not many know how to speak any other language. A few speak human language.
Non-playable:
Shades: When a Magician summons too many evil spirits, or if the spirits are evil and very strong, the spirits rebel and take control of the Magician, creating probably the most evil and most powerful creature known in whole of Adarea. Shades are probably the strongest Mages, to ever have walked on the land. They are also very good at hand-to-hand combat, also protected by all its wards. They can only be killed by a straight stab through the heart. If you were to decapitate a Shade, you'd stop it only temporarily because it would just dissolve and "respawn".
Ra'zac and Lethrblaka: The Ra'zac are very ugly humanoid creatures with a bird-like face. They have a big and very big black eyes, with no eyelids or pupils. They are physically very strong, very fast and very agile, even more than Elves. However, they can't use magic and they aren't generally very resistant physically. They eat meat, human meat included, now they are near-extinct and only a few remain. The Lethrblaka are big, winged, eyeless snakes, smaller than Dragons but very agile in the air, twisting and turning always behind their foe. They have very piercing screeches which makes almost any race cower in pain. The Ra'zac are immune to their screches.
There is only one kind of Magic in Adarea, but it is extremely flexible and complicated. I will try to explain it all now.
The basis of Magic is the Ancient Language. Everything has a real, true name. For example fire is Brisingr. If a Magician says in the Ancient Language "spark, light my pile of firewood" and puts channels Magic in his words, that's exactly what's going to happen, at the cost of energy. However, if someone says "fire" in the Ancient Language, than he can do anything related to fire, no matter how lightly related. The thought is what matters. There are downsides for not specifying and using longer sentences though. Things can get out of hand. If you say "fire" and accidentally think of a massive fire hurricane, you will die. Magic costs energy, an old man won't be able to make magic which pushes mountains aside, as he needs to have the strength to do so physically. An old man might be able to move a mountain actually, but only if he amasses power. Gemstones are naturally able to hold energy. A man can put in it spare power every day for example, and call upon it when needed. Dragon Riders used to have a gemstone the color of their Dragon in their sword's pommel to store their energy in.
Magic doesn't have to be spoken aloud, it can be used with just thought, but that is even more dangerous than saying few words, as it can go really out of control, even trained magicians tend to say at least a word to use Magic.
Wards are another important magic aspect, they are defensive spells. Wards are undetectable and stay until the one who created the wards removes them. For example a ward would be, "whenever an arrow comes towards me, diverge it from it's path to avoid me". And so every time an arrow comes towards you, it will automatically be deflected to miss you, of course this also costs energy, as much as you'd need to physically deflect the arrow, which really isn't much though. This can be used against Magic as well. Let's say someone tries to break your bone with magic. If you have a ward against magical attacks like such, the other magician will use the energy needed to break the bone, but won't actually do it. The person with the ward will also use energy to prevent the magic from doing him harm. The most efficient way to somehow cause harm to one that has wards, is to bypass the wards with creative spells, there are tons of ways to kill someone. For example instead of magically smashing someone's head, you could just pop an artery in their brain. The latter uses a lot less energy, and does the job just as well. You can always just deplete the energy of the other magician if you are confident you have more energy than he does, in which case he would die before his ward broke.
There is another very important aspect of the Ancient Language, people's and item's true names. The Ancient Language has a true name for every single individual, which defines the individual in his every aspect, giving a definition of his being. True names are always multiple words. If someone knew your true name, he could do whatever he wanted to you. He could command you to remove all your wards, to suicide, to kill someone else, to not see another person, whatever. True names can change though, but for that, the person itself must change. For example in the Inheritance Cycle, Murthag's true name changed because of his love for Nasuada, which changed him as a person as well. Saphira's true name reflected her as the last female Dragon in Alagaesia but her name probably changed as soon as she discovered that there were a lot of other hidden Dragon eggs on, from which females would hatch as well.
Items also have true names, such as swords, especially magical swords like the Riders'. Eragon believed he found the true name of his sword Brisingr because every time he would say the word, the sword would light on fire, but Glaedr tells him that Brisingr can't be the sword's name because it's the name for fire. The sword's name probably only contains the word Brisingr.
Spirit summoning is also possible with the Ancient Language. Some Magic users call on the spirits to obey them and make them do what they want. This doesn't drain the power of the Magician but it is very hard to control the spirits, and things can go very wrong, like losing control and giving birth to a Shade.
If you speak in the Ancient Language, you can't lie, for the Ancient Language is the ultimate truth. You can however say one thing and mean another. While what you're saying is technically true, you might phrase it so others understand something else. (You push someone off of a cliff and that someone dies. You can say you didn't kill him and mean it in the way that it was the fall that did. Others though would think it wasn't you who pushed him down the cliff.) Elves are particularly good at this since they speak the Ancient Language every day, even if not for magic.
Oaths and promises made in the Ancient Language are unbreakable, but can be bypassed at times.
Ancient Language dictionary. Just ctrl+f and type the word you'd like to use. Make up the words that aren't there or PM me and I can make some up.
The Dragon Riders, an order who swore to keep peace in whole of Adarea, has fallen. Their seat on Vard'eal is in ruins, the Dragons are near extinct. The Kingdoms are preparing for war, ancient magic is stirring. How did this happen? Here is how:
Tharvan was a young boy when the men and elves with Dragons arrived to his village with the eggs. They all got called over to touch each one of the three eggs. This was the day, this is when he would become a Dragon Rider. He felt it in his bones, he would do glorious deeds and kill evil creatures with his Dragon, and live an immortal life. When his turn came, he touched all three eggs and stood there, waiting for one to hatch... But none of them did. People told him to move but he stood there, the anger boiling within him. Some people of the village took him gently and pulled him away. Just then, another boy touched a Dragon egg, which started moving immediately, and it hatched. Tharvan believed that was supposed to be his Dragon, which just took some time to hatch. The Dragon Riders didn't listen to him and tried to explain how the other boy was the chosen. Tharvan ran off and soon came back with a stone, and before anyone could react, threw it at the chosen boy's head, barely missing him. Some of the villagers took him back home but told nothing to the parents. Tharvan's parents were definitely not ideal, his dad a drunk and his mother a lazy pig. As soon as he was old enough, he ran away and joined the army. There he met a battle mage, who's jobs were to defends platoons with wards against other Magicians, as well as seeking out enemy Mages and killing them. This magician offered to teach Tharvan in his free time. After just a couple of months, Tharvan knew all the Mage knew and set off to meet other Mages to learn more words, some didn't want to tell him, so Tharvan just broke into their minds and stole all their vocabulary. At a point, he even stopped asking, he simply submitted other people with his mind or sword to gain more knowledge of the Ancient Language. After around five years. He stole a ship and went to Vard'eal, where he stole a dragon hatchling as well as murdered the young owner along with two other dragons and riders. He successfully escaped and raised his Dragon, twisting his mind early on into thinking that Tharvan was his Rider. Like this, Tharvan quickly became psychotic, and drove his Dragon into madness along with himself.
Other Dragon Riders who met him met their death as well, Tharvan stole all the power from the gem pommels of the Rider swords, amassing it into his own gem, growing ever more powerful. Some Riders chose to join him instead of dieing. Soon, Tharvan and thirteen others attacked Vard'eal, causing great destruction and killing all the Riders. Many of the ones who joined Tharvan died, leaving only him and three others. With no one to stop the four, Thervan flew to Gward Haeth and easily slayed the king, claiming the throne for himself. That was how the empire started. With Tharvan now being immortal and the only one with that much strength, it seemed like his rule would never stop. Tharvan didn't care about the people, he wanted immense power, nothing else. His way of ruling is based on mind control and corruption, leaving the villages vulnerable to anything and everything since no one cared about them anymore. To the far North, the Northerners rebelled, creating their own kingdom of Faxaos, under King Kvjaskor. The armies are preparing on both sides but the Northerners are mostly preparing to die honorably, since if Tharvan flies into battle on his dragon, the Faxaos army will have no chance and be wiped out. A group of rebels and elves recently managed to steal a few Dragon Eggs from the Empire and ambush two of the three Riders sworn to Tharvan.
The Elves and Dwarves are hiding in their forests and mountains, trying to figure out what to do, knowing that one day, the Empire's army will come and attack them, while Narven and Humans alike are escaping the Empire to join either Faxaos or some other rebel organisation, maybe with the Dwarves, as they are the closest to the Southerners. Meanwhile Gran'Zuls have been spotted in large groups, larger than ever seen before. It seems they are amassing an army, putting aside the rivalry between the different villages.
Now it's the calm before the storm. It seems whole of Adarea held its breath for what is about to come.
Where are you going to stand in this conflict?
Things you can do:
-Create your own NPCs, as many as you like, which you can control. You could technically play as a whole village but you need to have one person who is more important than the rest.
-Wield magic, but you have to think reasonably, are you an elf who knows the Ancient Language? A human who just knows basic words?
-Join any side. Will you be a rebel? A Dwarf Clan member? A Narven? An Elf? A villager wishing to do more than tilling ground?
-Be a Dragon Rider You can't start off as one since Rider powers can be abused very easily. I will see if I trust you and send you a PM asking you if you want an egg.
-Join Tharvan who also has Dragon Eggs great powers to give to those who wish to serve him.
-Invent Settings and creatures wherever you want. You think a sunken city of Narven would be cool? Your character can discover one when a huge Kraken attacks his ship, causing him to sink and the sea Narven finding him and rescuing him. You want to fight huge mutant polar bears as a Northerner? Go on. Swamp Nagas? That's good as well.
Faxaos: Faxaos has cold winters and Mild summers, but the population has adapted very well. They don't farm as much, and when they do, they plant mostly potatoes and other resistant plants. They also breed these massive herbivores, similar to sheep. The herds however, need to be protected by the giant beasts of the North. Such as the giant carnivorous Ice Yetis. Even farmer Faxaons tend to be very good fighters. Making their armies small, but very strong. Eyrar is their biggest town, relying on the surrounding villages for food, and Jeoln for other goods. Eyrar is very well fortified, with a castle near the river.
Empire:
-MiddleLands: The most populous area in the whole of Adarea. With huge cities such as Gward Haeth, the capital, Duringham and Icathe. The Land is extremely fertile, with a lot of farms around the villages and towns, but still leaving a lot of open grassland. Icathe is a very big port city, but it's main purpose is to keep Gward Haeth and Duringham stocked with goods from the south.
-SouthernLands: They focus on trade, exchanging spices and other luxuries, then exporting it to the rest of the cities. Settlements such as Issith and Cytcal which are originally Narven-built, are made out of bone white marble or other light stone, sculptured and heavily decorated, taking care to make the house of even a simple fisherman extremely beautiful. The inhabitants tend to help each other all the time, especially in Issith and the surrounding villages, making the area flourish since everyone has what they need.
Du Weldenvaarden: It is an enchanted forest, filled with the Elves' magic. Spells from the outside of the forest cannot enter it, protecting the residents for centuries. The Elves don't really have villages or towns, according to human standards, all their settlements are at least big enough to be considered a bigger town, but that is only because their homes are very spread out, otherwise an Elven settlement consists of only enough individuals to be considered a very big village or smaller town. The Elven capital of Illenora, where the Queen resides, is
Beors: Kilometres and kilometres high mountains, it is said that if you climb on top of one, you will be able to touch the sun. The feet of the mountains are covered with a dense vegetation of tall evergreen trees which block the little sunlight that manages to make it's way over the mountains, so on the ground there isn't much vegetation. Beasts such as big ferocious wolves and giant bears live in these lands. And the Dwarves live only on the out skirts of the mountain forest, not many have ventured too south.
Plains: The eastern plains between the Beors and the Hadarac, and between the Beors and Du Weldenvaarden are mainly Gran'zul territory, thus making it quite dangerous to travel. There are various Gran'zul villages, which all fight amongst each other and raid whoever passes through their land.
Hadarac: The Hadarac desert is one of the harshest areas in whole of Adarea, surpassed only by the uninhabited lands North of Faxaos. Theree can be huge sandstorms, in which if you don't keep moving, you'll find yourself buried within minutes. Creatures such as Sandworms and Blaziers (very big plants that will eat anything that triggers it by touching any of it's roots hidden all over, under the sands.) And of course, the scorching sun and no water for kilometres. There are Narven however that spend a lot of time in the desert, recovering precious materials such as Sun Pearls which are somehow formed when a sandstorm occurs.
Swamps: Perennial mists with a damp and humid climate, is is the best place for bigger reptiles and amphibians. Which is one of the reasons Narven are also found here. There are no cities due to the fact that it is difficult to come by large amounts of food. Also here, hostile creatures that attack anything coming close to them can be found, such as Crocodiles with eight legs, surprisingly fast and slim, who tend to take on larger creatures in groups.
Power of the mind:
Most if not all magic users, know how to attack and contact other minds. This allows telepathy, exchange of emotions, images, and sensory data such as seeing what the other person is seeing. Kings and other important people all learned to defend their minds extremely well, but distractions can cause them to lower their defenses for a split second, which is enough for experienced people to take what information they need. Sometimes though, a strong defense isn't enough, Tharvan for example is extremely strong with his mind, that is how he got his power in the first place. If someone is in your mind, he can see what wards you have and what can harm you, making you as good as dead if he wants to kill you.
When two enemy Mages meet, a mind battle starts instantly, as well as a Magic battle simultaneously, trying to find gaps in the other's wards and distract the other to lower their defenses.
How battles work:
Mages tend to be spread in the middle of groups of soldiers, who the Mage protects from enemy Mages, but not from physical damage, that would be too energy tolling. While protecting soldiers, a Mage searches with his mind for an enemy mage and tries to kill it in the manner described above.
One or multiple Magic users can touch minds with another and send that person their strength, so that the person can use more powerful magic without killing himself. The rest is standard medieval warfare. Swords clashing and arrows flying.
Superpowers? Nope, Fantasy Races
Elves and Gran'zuls can run for multiple days without having to stop. Dragon Riders can as well, since they get the powers from the Dragons, although they prefer flying.
-Good written English. With correct grammar and no too much repetition of words.
-Be fairly active. Its very bad when you cannot post because you have to wait for someone else to do so, and they just wont.
-Contribute to the RP. We will all shape the story together. We should all add to it.
-No raging. If I say no, that means no. I won't say it without reason, and will explain why i took decisions I took. If you really have a problem, PM me.
CS structure:
Name:
Race:
Appearance:
Text of whatever: (History, intro to character, his thoughts or anything else. I just want to see how well you write and if you can write in English well enough. Do your best with it though)
Accepted
Anais - Human (Clove)
Belgol - Dwarf (wonderful_wolf_wizard)
Kurgan - Gran'zul (Fluffy Warlord)
Lees - Foreas (Frettzo)
Sir William - Human (data549)
Alvin Callaghan - Human (Nobunaga Jin)
Eldrin - Elf (Xzayler)
Zarkhun - Gran'zul (Xzayler)
But with normal hair and glasses