OOC is up Hey there if any of you have a hankering for dark fantasy you've come to the right place. This roleplay will feature all your favorite story book characters and mythological figures in a world of magic, faeries, demons, monsters, and gods where life is a constant struggle for survival and dominance and words are as dangerous as swords or spells. This roleplay will have you playing your beloved fictional characters or those related to them and how they navigate their families and themselves through a conspiracy that threatens to kill millions.
You can engage in high-octane and fantastical combat, slink and sneak around for secrets, or wage war with words in this high-stakes game and your choices will determine if kings fall, cities burn, or loved ones die. You can be either the Knight in Shining Armor, or the Dark Lord, but by the end of this nobody will likely be clean and there will be the victors and the defeated.
This is not a happy fairy tale but a story filled with deception, betrayal, atrocity, scandal, seduction, brutality, and murder. Your own character may not die but sometimes there are things worse than dying. Problems can be solved however you wish but stupidity and blind action will likely find your character and their life in ruins rather than riches. Even magic has its limits and cannot solve every problem.
Setting
The roleplay takes place on the Plane of the Nether, a reality of dreams and magic that parallels our own and sometimes intersects. The Nether does not exist in the material Universe and is woven from the dreams and imaginations of humanity as well as the will of its denizens. Within the Nether exist Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and every afterlife and realm imagined by man and a few others. It is less a tangible space for travel than a web around Earth, it's form is malleable and sometimes we can travel into it with our dreams and sometimes as ghosts.
In the Nether, gods like Odin and the Aesir reside on Asgard alongside Angels and Demons. The places where these forces reside are collectively called the Outer Nether while there exists a world in the Nether that is both similar and very different from our own. This world is called Terra. It is a terrestrial landscape that resembles Earth but is much more expansive and majestic, bordering on impossible. On Terra, magic is a fundamental and diverse force, and the rules of our material world can be bent if not entirely broken.
King Oberon and his Fae live on Terra alongside the Youkai of Japanese myth, the monsters of Greek Antiquity, and every other creature and race humanity has ever dreamed of. Spirits roam nature and Vampirism and other afflictions are very real. And even humans live there, though they are somewhat different from their Earthly counterparts. They are as diverse as Earthen Humanity and have a wide variety of origins as the gods we used to worship shaped Terra as they did in legend. Terra is a world that is forever linked to Earth and the stories and events of it's twin affect life there and perhaps the opposite is true.
As such, the history of Terra is shaped both by the strife of its magical inhabitants and by real-world events. It's people are as well and among those living in Terra are those who have been known to humanity for generations. Fairy tale characters like Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella as well as legends like Count Dracula, Cu Chulainn, and Beowulf actually existed as flesh and blood in Terra.
Their legends are over but your story begins.
One of the main focuses of the RP is world-building and I hope that the players as well as myself can work together to create a large vivid and magnificent world. Any knowledge you may have of mythology, legend, fairy tales, world history, classic literature, and even urban legend would be invaluable in helping create this wide world.
Terra is a world as large as our own but it's land-masses are much larger and populated by myths. Terran lands are shaped by Earthen locations as well as imagination of Humanity and the meddling of deities. Some of it's lands are: the Sultanate of Arabia home of 1001 stories and others, the Imperial Dynasty home to untold numbers of Chinese stories and myths which holds, this Dynasty is in conflict with a Khaganate and its hordes, the Nippon Shogunate where Youkai live alongside mythical Samurai and more, the Raj of the Indus home to countless Hindu myths, the Oceania Archipelago, the vast continent of Alkhebulan which is the last breeding ground of the great lizards, and a rumored New World. Other less historical lands like Wonderland and Oz also exist in the world.
Europa- A wide continent that is made of the Western stories and traditions permanently etched in our collective consciousness. It is here that some of the most famous Tales live such as the Sleeping Beauty or Prince Charming. Historically, Europa was always a divided land and saw much violence. The Celtic, Slavic, and Olympian gods fought with each other and themselves for power along with the Faeries and other forces. It is where the main events of the roleplay reside. A few of it's major inner regions are
A mirror of the real-world Roman Empire, which arose after the Olympians finally united themselves and the creatures and humans they ruled. Their gods had seeded their blood in large swaths of the population and had created an army of demigod champions that followed the example of Perseus, Jason, Hercules, and many others. The warrior Amazons were also among their subjects and the Olympians had even used their power to abduct thousands of their real-world worshipers, the historical Ninth Legion of Rome.
The Imperium rose to prominence and permanently united Italia, Hellas, and other lands into one Imperium ruled by the Demi-God class who were directed by their gods on Mount Olympus. It conquered large swaths of Europa, Arabia, and the Indus. But like the real Roman Empire, internal strife and corruption within the Demigods and the Olympians led to its downfall and splintering that lasted generations before it reunited again but as a shadow of its former self. Today it barely extends any further beyond Hellas and large swaths of Italia were lost to it but it remains independent and proud.
The Imperium Demigods are in constant conflict for dominance, and slavery is still alive, but science and technology remain as valued as magic and alchemy and the Imperium is a center of art and music. Democracy is slowly taking hold in the Imperium with the existence of a Senate alongside a Demigod and mundane blooded nobility though only land-holding free men born in the Imperium can have a vote. Some of its most famous inhabitants are Lady Penta the Handless, Perseus and his family, and the descendants of the Houses Montague and Capulet which united after the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
The former Imperium lands that border Imperium Italia are called the Marches and are ruled by the Duke of Rose whose famous daughter is Lady Talia Briar Rose the Sleeping Beauty whose retainers include Sir Pinnochio the Wooden Knight who left the Imperium to adventure. More and more Imperium citizens, mostly peasants, have come to worship the Abrahamic God rather than the ones of their forebears. The famed city of Atlantis exists under the sea and independent of the Imperium though the Imperium continually tries to reclaim the underwater kingdom, Poseidon's sons and daughters are divided between those who support Atlantis or the Imperium while their father himself remains aloof from the conflict.
The Rus is a very large, very foreboding, and very cold land. It's land is rough and the people that live there are rougher. The infamous Rus Winters have stopped countless invasions though the internal strife of the Rus Lords has resulted in generations of war and conflict. It is said that beneath the snows of the Rus lie kingdoms of skeletons. Despite this, the Rus is not without it's beauty and eventually it's culture and society became as advanced and gentrified as mainstream Europa.
After generations, the Rus was finally united by a Czar and the Tsardom of the Rus remains to this day, though it's borders fluctuate from time to time and the one who holds the title of Tsar often changes for the throne is has inhospitable as the winter and only the hardiest and most cunning survive either of these. The ruler of the Rus is the Czarina Vasilia the Beautiful, who rose from peasantry to the royal family though guile and daring and was said to be as ruthless as she was beautiful.
There are more than a few whispers that Vasilia was behind her husband's death though the Czar had been old. After all it is said she meet the Baba Yaga when she had been young and those who have lived to tell of the Baba Yaga are few and none remain the same afterward. Her brother-in-law Grand Duke Ivan, much younger and much more famed than his brother, is said to be on good terms with the Czarina and some say very much so. Her late husband (and some say Ivan) left her with several children, the oldest of which, Anastasia is said to be as beautiful as Vasilia if not more so. Her eldest son Crown Prince Vasili is said to be a great warrior, more proof to some of the royal children's true parentage.
Indisputably, Czarina is one of the most powerful people in the world with a vast army led by Ivan and a trio of magical knights. These knights are chosen from among the greatest knights in the Rus, blessed by the court mages, and given the titles of the Knights of Dawn, Day, or Night. Grand Duke Ivan and these three knights have destroyed armies when they take to the field and they are a force to be reckoned with.
Europa is a large and diverse beast made of the conquered peoples of more than a dozen lands and hundreds of cities. From the frozen shores of the Sea Reavers, the former Kingdom of Camelot, Germania, Francia, the tribal lands of the Celts, and many more an Empire was carved that has lasted for centuries. Mainstream Europa is where the noblest heroes and loveliest ladies of Western song and story live from the Frog Lord of the Riverlands to House of Beasts and Beauties. For centuries the region had been divided and a center of dozens of conflicts between the countless kingdoms and ethnic groups.
They were finally united by the Dragon Lords of House Drake, scions of one of the High Dragons a breed that had almost died out entirely. House Drake rode the lesser cousins of their forebear and had lived in isolated island chain for generations before the Dragon King decided to begin his conquest. Many dispute the origin of his decision but House myth dictates that the decree came down from their draconic ancestor himself.
And so with dragonfire and great magic, the Dragon King Alexander and his siblings and cousins conquered Europa. The divided Europan lords fell one by one, and whole armies burned as the Dragon Lords progressed through their campaign. Houses that sensed the tide such as House Rivers and House Charming, actively aided the Dragon King and were instrumental in his conquest. The Europans had their own magic, their own monsters, and their own gods to help them and many of House Drake fell with their mounts though their killers paid dearly for it.
Alexander's initial kingdom began small but grew month after month. The House Drake were foreigners and had no stake in any of the regional or ethnic feuds, and it is said that no Draconian bowed to gods much like the High Dragons. As such, Alexander saw fit to permit worship of all gods in his Empire, and saw all peoples as one under his rule. Alexander had a habit of turning former enemies into friends and he always allowed those that surrendered or aided him to retain their titles. As such the Princes of House Charming have retained their principality to this day and have been staunch allies of the Drakes for generations.
The Celts banded together against Alexander and were eventually crushed. The Nord Reavers soon followed, though their respective pantheons did not begrudge the new mortal ownership as they were allowed to continue extracting worship and veneration. Alexander won the love of Albion when he reformed the Round Table and pulled the Sword from the Stone, proving himself their rightful king if not a scion of Arthur's bloodline.
Finally it was only the Kaisers of House Roe in Germania who stood against the Drakes in Europa. The Roes were Kaisers of a nation that had been formed from hundreds of smaller kingdoms and were one of the strongest martial families in the world. The Roes had many allies and made a pact with Oberon King of the Faeries, the Mystical Forests, and the lands under the Earth to resist Alexander.
With Faerie assistance and vast armies, the Kaiser stood held out against Alexander for years and armies on both sides were lost. The Kaiser even joined the Wild Hunt and led them to battle in what was infamously called "the Dragon Culling". More Drakes and their dragons were killed in that battle than at any other point in the history of the Empire, though the Kaiser's forces had been severely bloodied. Alexander's own beloved twin sister Alexandria was herself mortally wounded.
Of course afterwards, the wrath of Alexander and his surviving kin was terrible. "the Burning" entailed the only moment where House Drake utilized all of it's dragons at once. Tens of thousands in Germania burned, along with thousands of the woodland Fae. The sky became red and black, the rivers ran with ash, and for a generation after nothing would grow in what has become the Branded Plains.
Kaiser Godfrey Roe then challenged Emperor Alexander Drake to single combat. Neither would use mounts or magic and if the Kaiser won then Germania would remain independent while if Alexander won then Germania would lay down its arms and join the Empire. Alexander accepted and in one of the most momentous and hard fought duels ever, the Dragon King defeated the Kaiser. The Kaiser awaited an honorable death but instead Alexander bade him rise and proclaimed himself the Emperor of all Europa. Alexander gave the Kaiser his life and the Roes remained the Great House of Germania, though a good chunk of their attendant lands were given to House Charming while many more were given to the lesser lords who rose against the Roes for the Drakes.
In the generations that followed it would be the Drakes who stopped the Imperium's advance and who would reclaim the Marches from them. The Drakes also liberated several of the Rus vassal states and the three nations have been in conflict since then, though the dragons could not quite overcome the demigod army nor penetrate the Rus winter the Empire created by Alexander is the greatest of the three nations and relations between them have become more amicable.
With the assistance of Count Dracula of House Tepes in Transylvania, the Empire stopped the Arabian Sultanate from advancing into Europa and drove them back to their lands and started an ongoing conquest of the Alkebulan against the Sultanate who must also contend with the rebellion of Kemet and its people and the Hebrew peoples. As such the North Alkebulan is one of the bloodiest parts of the world with House Drake making little progress and the Sultanate's hold being slowly chipped away.
Alexander found even he could not stand against the combined might of Oberon, Titania, Mab, and the Elvish Kingdoms and formed a treaty between Europa and the Fae where the Fae would remain under the ground and in the magic forests and both would be independent of the other. The Emerald Kingdom of Oz and the Queendom of the Wonderlands remain exotic curiosities to House Drake as they are far from Europa and uninvolved in international politics while being powers in their own right. However the Dragon Lords have made vast progress in conquering the Neverlands and those lands surveyed by Gulliver the traveler, but much more peacefully than Alexander's campaign.
Today the blood of House Drake has diffused into many houses and some of the house would say diluted as the House long-ago stopped its practice of marrying within only the Draconian houses in order to keep the blood of the Dragon pure. This was due to the encroaching inbreeding due to marrying within the limited sphere of Draconian nobility as well as sibling marriage, regarded as an abomination by their subjects. As a result it is theoretically possible for several Noble Families to ride their own dragons as well as the many commoners who are descended from centuries of Draconian bastards. Though this largely unlikely due to the fact that House Drake and the other Dragon Houses strictly control the breeding of the ancient bloodlines and that wild dragons in Europa are very rare, especially due to the actions of Sir George the Dragonbane.
Emperor Conrad Drake rules Europa with his brother Luthor as Viceroy and his brother Donovan as Lord Marshall of his armies. It is widely whispered that it is really Luthor who makes all the important decisions and that Donovan, being a much renowned warrior and rider of a greater mount, the most deserving of the throne despite being the youngest. Despite this, Conrad is a popular ruler if not a particularly active and effective one. Alexander's descendants rule a vast and growing empire, and the royal cousins have been effective in maintaining their presence in the Alkebulkan.
His marriage with Annabelle Charming, the eldest of Duke Charming's brood, was regarded with wide renown by many Europan nobles and the couple has borne several children including Crown Prince Xavier Drake, by all accounts a handsome and noble youth. However there is a well-known enmity between the Queen Mother Helena Drake and the Empress who regard each other with suspicion and between the Empress and Duchess Amelia of House Roe and wife to Donovan. It is said both royal wives rule the minds of their husbands and are the source of the widening gap between the two brothers.
A few of the most prominent houses are: the House of Beasts and Beauties who are ruled by Lord Beast and Lady Beauty and rule vast lands with many children who all carry the blood of the Beast. Lady Belle's relatives in House Beauty are themselves a wealthy and powerful family, though many disdain her marriage to Lord Beast. There is also House Rivers, led by the Frog Lord who rules a large prosperous realm called the River Lands and is married to the youngest daughter of the prominent House Solis, the Sun Lords of the Heartlands. It is whispered that the scions of Rivers retain prodigious leaping ability as well as grotesquely prehensile tongues due to their father's transformation into a frog. Another one of the odd houses is House Horner, a very new house led by Lord Jack Horner and his wife Jill. Lord Jack was knighted and forever named the Giant-Slayer for his killing of several giants and gained many riches from his plundering of the Sky-Kingdom. Lord Jack is one of the premier fighters in the ongoing war against the Sky Giants, the largest of whom can challenge even Dragon-riders.
House White, led by Lady Snow White who usurped the holdings of her mother the Ice Witch. Lady White was the first husband of the eldest Prince Charming and the two had a child together. However due to reasons unknown the popular couple separated. Some cite Lady Snow's support of the Seven Dwarves in their rebellion against the Winter Stone King despite Charming's treaty between the Winterlands and the Winter-Stone. The Winter Dwarves, led by a democratic council of seven, have since become one of the Lady's staunchest supporters, forming the backbone of the elite Human-Dwarf Snowguard that has kept Rus raiders from breaching the Winter borders.
Others say the marriage was a shame because Lady Snow had already been engaged to Lord Ursa's son when she was young, after the young lord had been saved from an enchantment by the young Snow and her sister. Even though the Ice Queen's rule had seemingly destroyed that union. And yet others say the arrival of her sister Rose Red at their court drew the eye of Snow's Prince. Some say it was a combination of all three. Nonetheless, after several years the Prince and Lady Snow were separated. A red-haired and blue-eyed child soon appeared in Rose Red's private residence and the child seems to confirm Charming's infidelity.
The Lady White and Red's relationship has grown increasingly tense but Rose consented to a marriage with the younger son of House Ursa. Snow re-engaged the older Ursa brother, honoring a long forgotten promise from a noble to a young girl. However, the marriage remains cold as Lord Ursa is reported to keep trying and assume the powers that Lady White had cultivated to no success.
It is said that Snow only trusts Sir Hart, the Huntsman who she knighted for his part in her rebellion and her Seven Dwarves. And is said that she only truly loves her children, the sole Charming child and her brood of Ursa children. Her relation with her former husband's bastard is unknown but the child has been allowed to remain at court. Lady Snow tolerates her new husband, because he is one of the great lords of the Winterlands and has been essential in keeping power. It is whispered Lady Snow is a powerful magic-user, even more than her mother, due to her blood and her utilization of the Magic Mirror and it's prophetic abilities though these reports remain rumors.
House Rose, is the strongest of the Marcher families and is responsible for buffering the Empire from the Imperium. It's only heir, Talia Rose, is the famed Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming's second wife. The Lord and Lady Rose are still in power and after long years of slumber they have reclaimed their holdings with the aid of the Seven Fairies, those godmothers of their daughter. Lady Talia is said to be a great beauty, and exotic, because of the Imperium blood in her veins and her enchantment by Faeries giving her something of an elvish appearance. It is said that she possesses latent magical abilities as well.
House Rose is one of the few to have especially close ties to a mystic forest Faedom and theirs is one of the few lands where Humans and Fae mingle commonly. Their land also borders that of a large Orcish tribe that had been under the rule of the dark Fae Maleficent. Maleficent had been driven out by the combined forces of the Faeries and the Houses Rose and Charming and seemingly banished forever. The Orcs and the goblins, trolls, and ogres who lived with them submitted to the rule of House Rose making them one of the very few Houses to have ties to both Summer and Winter Courts of Fae.
Prince Charming had twins with Talia, children named after the Sun and Moon. It seemed as if House Charming would recover from the debacle with Snow White but another scandal arose. Rumors abounded that the Prince's middle brother had impregnated the Sleeping Beauty before the Prince had awakened her and that he was the real father. And the issue was further clouded when the Prince killed the Orc Chief's daughter. The Orcish Princess had been his betrothed after his father Duke Cullen Charming arranged the union to bring the House favor with the Winter Fae. However the war with Maleficent and the Prince's adoration of Talia had led him to break the vow and the Orcish Princess in her rage had tried to murder Talia, dying on Charming's blade after a pitched battle.
The Orcs had risen against the Charmings and it took the interference of Talia and her godmothers to stop the bloodshed. Many Orcs and Elves died in the short but bloody battle. To make amends, Duke Cullen and Duke Rose arranged a marriage between the Chieftan's young babe and one of Talia's children while the other would marry an Elf royal when they came of age. And due to the ambiguity of the parenthood, the two fathers broke the marriage of the Prince and Talia to the protests of both. The Prince became a bachelor again and his brother, a possible rapist, became Talia's new husband. The Charming name in the Marches was blackened as well as in the Winterlands. A third child named after the Dawn, was born soon after the Prince's departure though now none now whether the child is the the third or the only child of the Prince's among House Rose.
Prince Charming's third and current wife, Lady Cinderella is the heir to one of Duke Cullen's strongest bannermen, the sole heir of House Ashen. The Prince and Cinderella are a complicated couple, understandable as Cinderella soon found out about the history of her husband's marriages. None can agree on the general mood of the marriage, some say they are loving while others say they are aloof. However the pair has produced heirs. Duke Cullen has married Cinderella's step-mother, who herself is the heir to the lands of House Tremaine and it's lands. The enmity between the young newlyweds with their "mother" cannot be understated and is said to be a major unifying force of their marriage. Cinderella's stepsisters remain unmarried and the Duke and Duchess continue to search for suitable grooms for the pair.
The youngest son and daughter of House Charming are also wed. The Prince's youngest brother, often considered a naive lad, wed a common girl he found in a tower named Rapunzel and had twins by her. He had been blinded by thorns by Rapunzel's custodian the Witch Dame Gothel and wandered for months in grief and thought dead. But Rapunzel had discovered her young groom and healed his eyes with her tears, having strong magical talent after living with the Witch for years. Duke Cullen had been gladdened to find his youngest son alive but then enraged he had married a commoner. He had demanded the young lord to set her aside but the Charming siblings united behind their brother, the Prince most of all, and Duke Cullen relented not wanting to annul yet another marriage.
The youngest Charming, Annabelle's younger sister, had wed Lord Bluebeard a great lord of Francia. However her husband's marital proclivities, that of murdering his new brides came to light and the young lady had nearly died had her brothers not arrived to save her. She was then wed to the Lord's brother, who was then found by her to be even worse, a Necromancer who did the same with his wives. That time, the young lady brought about his downfall herself but not before she found herself carrying another Bluebeard in her. House Bluebeard had been depleted by the Charmings, as they rose up to avenge the death of the brothers, and several heirs were killed save for a handful of cousins. Now the young lady remains unwed and is the custodian of Bluebeard lands, a wealthy swath of Francia. She must contend with the remaining Bluebeards, all vicious nobles who were too smart to rise against the Charmings and with her own child who carries the blood of a madman. Time will tell what becomes of the child.
There you have it, but a small sampling of the characters available in this roleplay. You are allowed to play up to four and can control NPCs who are associated with your characters. There are more Houses based on ladies and lords of story and of course more famous commoners like Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and Goldilocks. You are not limited there and you can play characters from basically any fairy tale, folk story, tall tale, nursery rhyme, and urban legend and even characters from classic plays, poems, and novels as long as they can fit in the setting.
You can also play those related to said characters such as the aforementioned Charming Brood and members of the Imperial Family that were not named. You can play anything from a random knight or even a commoner to a lord or lady who heads a family. Your character can also be a mythical creature or even perhaps a talking animal that is tied to the intrigue of the humans for some reason. Characters from the Rus, Europa, Oz, Wonderland, Neverland, or the Imperium can all be played and perhaps a few in other lands if their presence can be justified.
As long as the story is in the public domain it's free game to base a character out of and I might allow someone to play Mary Poppins or a Suess character if they really want to. If the character died in their story they remain dead but there are ways to continue their story with someone different. Maybe Grendel had a son before Beowulf killed him or maybe the Portrait of Dorian Gray passed to someone else.
When you imagine the tech setting think Assassin's Creed 2 or perhaps Dragon Age, the world is not industrialized yet but they do have advanced alchemy and machinery for such a world. And gunpowder is limited to cannons, explosives, and single-shot rifles but technology is advancing. Magic is common but not utterly ubiquitous like in classic fairy tales and again you can think of Dragon Age when it comes to how much magic can do.
Remember this is much darker version of all the tales in question and is meant to deconstruct classic cliches but is not meant to be completely grim-dark either. Sure it can get very Game of Thrones but it isn't totally hopeless and devoid of happiness. The tone of your biographies and posts should reflect this. There will be swearing, blood, guts, and mature themes like that. There will also be a lot of sexual intrigue like any good dark fantasy but it's all going to be implied and cut-to-black and not in-your-face.
The people you kill, the foes you defeat, the nobles you seduce, the monsters you slay, the alliances you create, the enemies you make, and every other choice or action you perform individually and as a group will determine the course of the roleplay and influence future iterations. The focus of the roleplay is as much on subterfuge, diplomacy, world-building, and character development as much as it as on epic duels and magical combat.
This roleplay is basically a mish-mash of the Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed, Avatar, Percy Jackson, the Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, the Dresden Files, and all the fairy tales, legends, classic poems, plays, and novels we've been talking about all into one miasma. If you're into any of that then you should definitely give this roleplay a try, the door is always open.
Anyone interested?
