Something Wicked This Way Comes

[SanaChan]

The Empire of Caradia. An expansive piece of land that would take a year to cross if it were flat and had no trees. But it's got rolling foothills, forests, villages, ancient relics and buildings, and lakes and rivers all over. It's back and sides are enclosed by the mountains which opens up to the sea. The have ports that allow them to travel to countries such as Lumoise, Waylox, or the singular island country of Haton for trade. The other countries are a little further out and they've yet to establish a good repertoire with them. It's currently in a time of peace, but with a slowly building anxiety. The current Empress, Esmeralda, bares an uncanny resemblance to the statues of the twin Goddesses that the people worship. The problem? One Goddess represent everything that is good, which leaves the other to be all that is bad. But they look exactly the same, it's the posture of the statue that separates them. Good reaches for the sky and the other reaches towards the the earth. The Emperor insists that this is sign that their reign is divine and that no one has the right to question it. The people debate constantly which twin they believe that Esmeralda is supposed to be. She strives to be the good Goddess to them, wanting nothing more than to see the country flourish.

The Goddesses seem to almost be insulted by her trying to be them because in the past few years, reports of a plague in some of the villages on the far side of the empire have reached the royals. Then to make matters worse, creatures started crawling out of the woodworks, originating from one of the villages. The creatures have bodies that are completely black like ink, but are practically bulging with muscles. Their heads are elongated skulls of animals, teeth stained with blood as well as the claws on their hands and feet. The only way to tell if one is alive or dead is by the dull red glow in the eye sockets. They're mercilessly and seem to thrive on the reaction their presence creates. Needless to say, blame is being flung at Esmeralda's lovely face, blaming her for the problems being struck up under her rule. What is an Emperor to do for his distressed queen but to take up arms and go to the problem at the source. He plans to make the journey to the village where the creatures were said to first appear and he hopes that the answers to making them disappear lies there. Esmeralda pleads for him not to leave since the plague was in that region as well, but he can't sit idly by while his people continue to suffer. He sends out a decree to have those willing to brave the trip join him. He insists that his armies need to stay where he has them posted to protect the people from the monsters.

You will be one of the recruits joining the Emperor as he makes his journey to the mysterious village. Please check with me on species other than human, please and thanks.

CS

(Picture here) Name: This one's simple. What's their name? Age: How old are they? Gender: Male or female? Personality: I want at least a paragraph here. Tell me about the quirks. Just cause I know them doesn't mean the other characters have to. Role/Title: Were they a noble? Are they a robber? What can they do? Be specific. History: Two paragraphs. Why are they here? Why did they come to her call for aid? Did Ovorion do something to their home? Did their parents do something to them growing up? Don't skim the details. Anything extra: Is there anything you want us to know about them that perhaps might come up later? Or do you have a theme song that works for your character?

These rules ought to sound a little repetitive for an advanced rp, but I'll state them anyways. No god moding or power playing. Your characters are not perfect and will miss or get hit eventually. You cannot control other people's characters to make them do what you want them to do, unless you have expressed permission from that character's user. Try to post at least once a day. I realize that's hard and sometimes you get busy, and if that's the case, try to forewarn us. I don't want people getting left behind and then getting ill when we thought they were a no show. On that same note, try to not post a hundred gazillion times and leave people behind. If it's you and one other character talking, try and find one of those collab things and post it that way. Just try not to have ten novels in a post. I suppose I shouldn't make the assumption we're all adults here, but I kind of am. I don't mind swearing, just try to have some other kinds of vocabulary mixed in there too, and innuendos and such are fine. Anything too much more than that, we need to draw a line. If you really need to have your kinky scene with someone, take it to the PMs. Lastly, this is a made up world. Anything that isn't directly stated by me or by a character that's devised the place we're in is up for manipulation. You can do whatever you want to get your plot conveniences. Run your idea by me in the ooc or the pms and if I give the ok, then go for it. If you have a question about how the people of Waylox would react, again, just shoot me a question. Have fun with! I'm looking forward to it! Okay to sum up how magic is looked at in Caradia: It's not a foreign concept to them. They do trade with a country called Lumoise (Which is on the other side of the crag than Waylox for those who look at my other rps) which is run by mages, their religion revolves around it. Caradia's not super thrilled with mages, but if they're not hurting anyone then they see no need to really involve themselves in their business. People are a little more likely to give a weird look if they know you're a mage, but, unless you have a bad reputation, they aren't gonna run in terror from you. If you've established a good reputation then they'll ignore that weird magic mumbo jumbo and be quite chummy with you.

Related rps:

Something Wicked is about a decade prior to Long Live the Queen and A Cracked Wand is a few years after that one http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75737-long-live-the-queen/ic (Closed) http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/76738-a-cracked-wand-and-a-tarnished-sword/ooc

[Rtron]

CS being whipped up.

[Gowi]

Definitely interested, and might have a CS in progress. Been craving something like this.

[SanaChan]

Balan Dirgeblade

Name: Balan Dirgeblade Age: 43 Gender: Male Personality: The Emperor, much to his queens horror for her poor heart, has never been one to sit on the sidelines. Not just because it was expected of him as a leader, but because he felt it was his duty. If he's asking someone else to do something that puts their life at risk, he best be willing to do it himself. He is still a noble though and some of those ingrain personality traits are still there- he does give a condescending look to peoples whose profession is less than.... honorable, but he will get it of it as quickly as he can and will say nothing about it. He is slow to trust, hence why he still has a high ranking knight with the party, but he will eventually warm up to someone when they've proven they're not out to assassinate him. In his relaxed company, he is a jovial man that appreciates a good joke and good company. Role/Title: He is the Emperor of Caradia. History: When Balan was a boy, he knew right away what was expected of him. He strove to meet those expectations and then go beyond them. He had dreams of being the best Emperor in Caradia's history, though he knew he couldn't match the legends of the man who made it an empire to begin with rather than a bunch of small broken countries. He studied and trained with all his might, though he never seemed to reach that level to impress his own father. He didn't let it slow him down- in fact, it made him work harder. He trained with the knights, insisted they work him just like anyone else in their ranks. As he got older, stronger, and wiser, his father created the fixed marriage between him and Esmeralda- the daughter of a noble of a large city on the far eastern edge of their empire, trying to keep the peace between them. Her beauty was already rather well known, her likeness to Caradia's Goddesses legend. She was quite her own person, however. She was opinionated, stubborn, and perfectly aware of just how pretty she was. She was not about to just be that pretty face, though, to be stationed at his side. She wanted him to hear what she had to say and he quickly figured out his best bet was to hear her out. And it proved to be useful. She had tactical knowledge for both the battlefield and the throne room. This is what lead him to being absolutely smitten to his future bride. There were more than enough skirmishes that lead him to the battlefield, putting all his expertise to use, and leaving her at home. Though she kept the courts in check, she was always the first person the knights would see upon returning as she would sneak out to meet them on their return. The two became insperable with time and she almost thought she was going to the battlefield with him once because he couldn't bear to leave her side- and she'd have been willing to go, though her own knowledge of the sword of the time was lacking- something Balan was sure to fix upon learning, in case anything should ever happen. Finally, they had a decade of peace, no skirmishes, not accusations of one town trying to take over another, the crops were flourishing. Balan had just come in to the crown, his father having lived quite a long and prosperous life. He and Esmeralda had been wed for some time and had several wonderful children, his favorite being his youngest daughter, Adralyn, who seemed to have the maps of the land memorized faster than all her other siblings- eager for an adventure of her own. When the news of the plague hit, it all but broke his heart. A plague was out of his hands, a curse from the Goddesses, but why? What had they done wrong? Had he not praised them enough for their peace? Then the monsters came and he had something to direct his anger towards, his disappointment. He has his main forces staying to take care of his people and spreading out to the villages most vulnerable to falling under the monsters attacks. He figured it started in a small village. He wouldn't need an army to handle that. Anything extra: Will add songs for them later

Osanne Bladefury

Name: Osanne Bladefury Age: 25 Gender: Female Personality: If the stick could be completely buried in the mud, then that would Osanne. She has zero since of humor. Her duty to the crown comes first and anything else doesn't matter, including her own safety and life. She isn't social and she trusts absolutely no one outside of the knights and her leaders. They haven't proven themselves worth that trust, so why should she trust them? She especially has a hard time getting to trust any unknown males, which lead most of her superiors to believe that something unsavory happened to her. Role/Title: Knight Captain of the Imperial forces. History: Osanne was found in the lower parts of the Imperial city when she was 7. She was dirty, hair matted, bruised, and clothes tattered. She would scream whenever a man got close to her and ran in to women's arms for safety. When she 10, she was passed in to an orphanage when a knight realized one of the villagers was harboring the girl that belonged to a murdered family. That same knight came to check on her every single day from that point forward, unless he was away in the field. She began to anticipate his return and some of the sentries outside the main gate began to tease her that she was the only one ever waiting for "that dumb bastard" to come back. And when he would come back, it was the only time she would smile, relieved to see him in one piece, even if that piece was in bad shape. When she 15, he left to deal with some small time problem. At that time in her life, she was already working on getting herself in to the ranks, doing odd jobs for people to make herself seem useful. She would wait for him to come back and continued to wait until one day, one of the three knights that left returned and it wasn't her friend. They had been ambushed by bandits on the road back, bandits that were angry about the resolution of a problem they had started. All the knight had to give her from her friend was a ring he had purchased for her in the town, planning to give it to her for her birthday saying "All young ladies ought to have a least one piece of jewelry, right? Would hate for her to feel left out." She put that ring on a chain and she still wears that necklace to this day. When she was training to become a knight, some of the guys tried to harass her about the ring, calling it the gift from her perverted lover, to which she would get in trouble for beating them bloody. Once given the title of knight she went about proving herself to be the most capable they'd had in some time. She forced herself to bury all emotions, not wanting them to get in the way of her progress. Being a knight gave her life some purpose, a reason. Plus it kept her close to the memory of the last person who cared two cents about her. She only very recently gained the title Knight Captain, having to prove herself able and willing to be in charge even if only on a small scale. Anything extra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncd_cMZnC3I

[Rtron]

Finished!

"Foul magic tried to slay me. It only released me. Mages who serve no master beware. For I am Death. I am Vengeance." 6ft 3in. Name: Logen Age: 55 Gender: Male Personality: I am well aware that I sound like a hypocrite. Preaching the restraint of mages and the slaying of those who refuse to be restrained, while I myself use magic. But it is a different type of magic. Mage magic comes from the darkest places on the earth, given to them so they can disrupt the balance, and ruin the balance the Goddess has created. My magic was granted to me by the Goddess, the day she let me survive the destruction of Zalcan, and I use it to bring her will to bear. I am generous to my friends, merciless to my enemies. Kind to all but the unrestrained mage, I will not suffer anyone to do harm or wrong in my presence. They will learn to be just, or they will learn to fight well. Role/Title: I was a holy warrior of a Zalcan(I can edit this an all information to pertain to it out, if you want), an island nation far to the north. There, unlike these foolish southern nations, we controlled magic. We didn't let those who wielded it run free. They would either accept chains that restricted their magic, or they would die. To enforce this rule, Zalcan had holy warriors, the closest equivalent being Paladins in the southern nations. My armor naturally resists magic, and my sword naturally slices through it. Such are my holy enchantments. I have been trained for all my life to be one thing: a mage hunter. Trained to be lethal in combat, fearless against mages and all their creations, and ruthless in the judgement of the Goddess upon those mages who refuse to serve. However, the mages have left their mark upon me as well. When they destroyed Zalcan, they failed to kill me. I am trapped in my armor. Aging has ceased, as have most bodily functions. I no longer need to eat or sleep. I am still quite mortal, and able to be wounded and killed. But when they trapped me in my armor, they also gave me some of their foul magic. I can now fight fire with fire, as much as it disgusts me to use it. The earth itself obeys my commands, in a 10 yard radius. Shields, swords, boulders, they are all mine to make and send at my enemies. History: My life has always been that of a mage hunter. I was given to their organization at birth, and I was raised for one purpose. Control the mages, and hunt down those who do not wish to accept the Goddess's decree. The training was brutal, much like my life was after it would be over. The mages I would hunt down would show no mercy, thus my instructors could not. I watched over half of my peers die during the years my training took place. By the end of it, I was physically, emotionally, and mentally hardened for whatever the mages could throw at me I was given my armor and my sword, and I was formally inducted into the service of the Goddess as a Mage Hunter. That was..roughly thirty years ago. Over that time, I hunted mages all over Zalcan. I lead assaults on their strongholds, desperate defenses against their attacks, and fought in vicious duels against them. I fought them in ruins and tunnels, forests and mountains, deserts and cities. My life was a constant war, a constant vigilance, against them. But my vigilance failed me when it most counted. My entire order's vigilance failed them. We failed to notice that there was a large gathering of mages in time. We failed to notice that they were planning on freeing all of Zalcan through death. By the time we found out, it was too late. They were too many. As every Mage Hunter of my order that could be alerted in time assaulted their fortress, and many of them died around me, the mages unleashed their spell. Zalcan was destroyed. It is nothing more than an ashen wasteland. An entire civilization, and all it's people, gone. I am the only survivor, by the grace of the Goddess. It is clear she has one mission for me. To spend my days hunting down rogue mages and ensuring that what happened to Zalcan never happens again. Ever since the destruction of Zalcan, I have been wandering the Southern nations, bringing the foul creations of mages and the mages themselves to justice. And what beyond magic could this epidemic of monsters be?

[Gowi]

There will be a character below me... eventually.

My CS

“Why do people suffer? Why do we hide and let plague destroy them? That isn’t nobility. That can’t be nobility… can it?” Name: Pythia “The Yellow Rose” Heartspire Age: 15 Gender: Female Personality: Pythia is ultimately a child of kindness and earnest naivety, whilst her teachings have led her to understand the world isn’t entirely sunshine and rainbows she still maintains a sense of kind optimism despite understanding what horrors man is capable of—it isn’t “easy” for her, either, as she struggles with many moral and ethical dilemmas when faced with opposition. Her relationship with her adopted parents is on good terms, despite a few years of hoisting up their trueborn heir to their house over her, which is understandable by all means but it still hurts as she despite what the law says is still a very young child who even with her longtime mentor finds herself being pushed into action way too early in life. So you could say that Pythia is a ‘beta’ personality as she prefers to be led, though if she feels opposition to her beliefs she will confront said leader… probably… maybe over tea… in front of everyone… under a good omen. Role/Title: Cleric History: The story of Pythia is one that is vague to the adopted daughter of the noble house of Heartspire, as she has heard all of the tales of how she came to be—in the end, she had no concept of the truth of where she came from which maddened the girl from a young age to have her questions answered with more questions. A big question arose early regarding her obvious affinity with magic, something that didn’t necessarily outcast her from her friends and peers but did make her feel strangely out of place. It was by her parent’s coin that a noble scholar and magical tutor from Lumoise was afforded and it was with that person that she learned what type of magic she was attuned to. Her place at the table of magic was one of healing, warding, and protecting; something that would resonate with her personality as she would hear story after story of plague or famine or fatal injury that she felt were not necessary. As Pythia’s youth carried on her instructor became the only guiding light in a sea of what she felt was irrelevance, because why was she within these walls if people outside of them suffered? She pondered as she looked to the noble heroes of old and new for inspiration whilst she struggled with her beliefs. Such struggle was not made easy by the lessons given to her by her instructor who explained the varied opinions of magic of the world, historical consequences, ignorant fear-mongering, and brutal dangers of magic as pertinent teachings that she should be aware of and as she was quite young at the time she found herself terrified of them but never to the point she wanted to shy away from her magic. It was about this time that her parents conceived their first blood child, a male named Xanye. It was then that the divide between the “high society public” became apparent—it wasn’t that they were afraid of her but simply disregarded her as she was no heir of House Heartspire and they made that abundantly clear as they nicknamed her brother as “trueborn”. She was twelve years past her nameday. With her parents paying more mind to her brother, Pythia absorbed herself more into her studies of the arcane and divine. She looked to the gods for guidance in the spiritual nature whilst she looked to her instructor for even more guidance on not only magic but philosophy. Such dedication became her daily routine outside of court etiquette of the nobility. This would come to conflict when she turned fourteen when the conversation of courting came from her parents lips as if they interested in the concept before at all. “Your life is your path.” – apparently that was only true in the case of engagement. The fifteen year old looked to her instructor for guidance and she was told a truth she had not considered. Within a year she would be an adult by law and her choices would be many; amongst that realization her mentor also confessed that they had little more they could teach them from here and it would be best to apply to a foreign academy of magic or alternatively begin her own path by self-teaching—as a mage without experience was just a fancy scholar. The boys her parents began suggesting would turn into a game of sorts as Pythia took all of the collective knowledge before her; she would deny betrothal and instead enlist in some manner for the empire itself. It was no surprise that after being in a safe, walled city that she would want to find an avenue to explore and help people at large with her skills. In a matter of time she was a legal adult and had a decision to make. So it was in a rare enlistment that her story continues. Anything extra: Pythia’s skills as a cleric are that in wards, restoration, and to an extent alteration. You can basically view her as a quantifiable “white mage” who works within a holy dynamic but as a very young and inexperienced caster she doesn’t have proper battle focus nor does she have the years of dedication for really powerful spells so I’ll have to play that into her combat style. The idea is to have her as a young cleric to learn through experience and probability.

[SanaChan]

Gonna put this down here too so people see it. I always forget to mention this stuff >_< Okay to sum up how magic is looked at in Caradia: It's not a foreign concept to them. They do trade with a country called Lumoise (Which is on the other side of the crag than Waylox for those who look at my other rps) which is run by mages, their religion revolves around it. Caradia's not super thrilled with mages, but if they're not hurting anyone then they see no need to really involve themselves in their business. People are a little more likely to give a weird look if they know you're a mage, but, unless you have a bad reputation, they aren't gonna run in terror from you. If you've established a good reputation then they'll ignore that weird magic mumbo jumbo and be quite chummy with you. Caradia's own religion dictates good is to be praised and bad to destroyed, but they believe each person dictates whether they are bad or good, not the circumstances they are born with.

[Rtron]

Finished with CS!

[Zurnt]

My Character

Name: Hector Ward Age: 15 Gender: Male Personality:

[Archetype] Paragon - Hector has a strong sense of justice cultivated by years of prejudice and mistreatment. He will try to aid anyone who asks him and isn't hesitant to put his body on the line when shit hits the fan. Rather than intense purity or naivete, Hector has a talent for seeing a person's true colors and accepting others misgivings. He has a forgiving spirit so long as the perpetrator seems to genuinely seek atonement. Hector's desire for peace and fairness often conflict with the black and white mentality of those around him. [Talent] Strong Body - A life of grueling physical labor and almost daily beatings has given Hector a sturdy body and some natural resistance to pain. He is quite strong for his size, and sacrifices neither agility nor speed. [Talent] Cooking Skills - Being a cook has given Hector a strong sense of memorization and a practiced manual dexterity. He can use a knife in combat without harming himself. Cutting lumber to build cooking fires has also given him basic mastery of a lumber axe in combat. Being around exceptionally hot kitchens has built up a moderate resistance to intense heat. [Flaw] Inexperienced - Hector has little to no combat training and is prone to getting in over his head due to his reckless nature. [Flaw] Uneducated - Hector has never received a formal education and is ignorant of many social customs and study-related facts.

Role/Title: Hopeful Cook History: Hector was born a bastard child to a broken noblewoman, and therefore inherited the surname Ward as a sign of his illegitimate birth. He never met his father, and his mother was murdered by an unknown assailant when he was only six. Hector would have probably ended up like any other kid in his position and be quietly brushed under the rug, but he was picked up by a 'nice man' named Gande, who put him up in a warehouse with numerous other children. As it turned out, the children were forced into terribly intense manual labor and paid a paltry sum that they knew no better than to accept. In addition, the costs of their living expenses were being tallied in the background and were subject to 'interest rates' as the children aged. It was a brilliant and terrifying scam that circumvented the need for actual slavery and masqueraded as charity. Even if he made it out of the 'orphanage' alive, Hector's body would be broken long before he would be able to pay off all of the debts. Even so, Hector accepted his position with a strange maturity. Maybe it was his inborn pride as a noble, though Hector himself was completely unaware of his heritage and he had no reason to think this way. He looked after the other children, taking the brunt of their work as his own burden. He even learned how to cook in order to feed himself and the others, though their meals amounted to little more than scraps. Despite his best efforts however, the other children were not as strong as Hector and one by one succumbed to exhaustion and illness until Hector was the only one left. He thought there would be others, but Gande expelled him from the house when he came of age at 14. For the past year he had been working as a cook in a tavern for food and board, though his freedom was still firmly locked behind an impossibly high wall called "debt." When Hector heard of the expedition from rumors in the tavern, he was skeptical at first. He wasn't sure it would be enough to escape Gande and his shady backers, but when he discovered it was to liberate a plagued village from monsters he signed on for the mission thinking that the debt collectors would avoid him at all costs. Despite his young age he was technically an adult, and his cooking and labor skills made him ideal as a worker and support for the voyage. His only goal is to prove his worth and make a name for himself, and hopefully receive a commission to become a knight in order to escape his life of endless poverty. Anything Extra: [Talent] Magic Potential - Unknown even to Hector himself, he has the makings of a fine magician given careful cultivation.

[fantasyfan28]

Very interested in taking part. How many people are you accepting for the group?

[Gowi]

Finished with my CS, decided to create something a bit younger than usual (for my typical fantasy adventure affairs), figure Hector and Pythia could have an interesting dynamic if I went this route.

[SanaChan]

Haven't really decided a cut off point yet, I would say twelve additional people just so it doesn't get out of hand. So far everyone's characters look rather interesting

[fantasyfan28]

Alright, I will get started on my character sheet then.

[Gowi]

What type or class of character are you thinking about, FF? Just curious, since it's early and such.

[fantasyfan28]

Possibly a Thief or Rogue character, just have to work out how they would get themselves involved in joining the group. (Either for a reward or to get out of being hung would be one of the options).

[Sloth]

Gowi totally isn't commissioning me to join this RP at all. Regardless, hello people with whom I am not yet acquainted! I'm just here to say that I've got a few ideas rolling around in the think tank. Possibly a hunter/ranger type who reported the growing threat from whatever village? Hmm. I'll have a think on a few more to see if I can come up with a niche.

[SanaChan]

Let's just try to avoid having too many thieves and such. Had to put a stop to those on the last one too. Not saying you can't make them now, I'm just saying once there are already two or three, let's just hold off or change it up a little. And it would be interesting to have someone who saw the threat firsthand braving to go back towards it

[fantasyfan28]

How would a Druid fit into this world? I am asking as I would like to make said character instead of the thief/rogue if there is already an influx of that particular type

[SanaChan]

There's not on this one, that was just sort of a forewarning to others that come looking. Right now there's none here, I just don't want to have like ten people trying to be rogue/thieves/spies/assassins, ya know?

[Rtron]

Name: Hector Ward

@Zurnt

Depending on what magic he displays, Logen may or may not react badly. :p

Name: Pythia “The Yellow Rose” Heartspire

@Gowi

She is sufficiently holy enough that Logen won't try to impale her on his sword. :D