Do The Eagles Circle the Mountains?

[Kassarock]

Well we'll have to see how the relevant areas work out then. I suppose there's always room in the end.

@Dinh AaronMk

Cool, like I said, other ideas as well.

[Chapatrap]

I don't think gypsy is a racial slur. I know plenty of Irish Travellers around here who insist on being called 'Traveller' or 'Gypsy' as opposed to 'pikey' or 'knacker'.

Anyways, interested.

[Vanguardian]

I don't think gypsy is a racial slur. I know plenty of Irish Travellers around here who insist on being called 'Traveller' or 'Gypsy' as opposed to 'pikey' or 'knacker'.

Anyways, interested.

@Chapatrap

In something called Polandball, Gypsies are typically put as Romanians.

[Chapatrap]

/implying I'm unaware of Polandball.

[Byrd Man]

Question:

What if I were to say, theoretically, play a bunch of dimensionally displaced American History figures who ended up on this world and started their own kingdom? Too out there?

[Pepperm1nts]

Goddamn it, Byrd. Can't you, like.. not be American History figures for once?

[Chapatrap]

Question:

What if I were to say, theoretically, play a bunch of dimensionally displaced American History figures who ended up on this world and started their own kingdom? Too out there?

@Byrd Man

Only if I can play King Richard III crawling out of a car park.

[Byrd Man]

I just want a group of badass knights composed of Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, U.S. Grant, MacArthur, and William T. Sherman, fighting for the Realm of 'Murica and King George Washington I.

I'm a simple man with simple pleasures.

[Pepperm1nts]

You could do this.

[Byrd Man]

House 'Murica
Sigil: Bald Eagle
Motto: Ours Is the Double Bacon Cheeseburger

[Dinh AaronMk]

With a side of fries.

I'll get moving on this. Just gonna sweep through my usual internet haunts and get caught up.

[Vilageidiotx]

If you ask me, I think all races should be comparable in terms of ability. I mean, fantasy games have popularized the notion that humans are the "jack-of-all trades," elves are immortal and "perfect," orcs are strong, dumb fighters and dwarves are the advanced techno-miners, etc.

This leads to pretty boring rehashes over and over, even in new material. For some reason, people are afraid of breaking the standard tropes and trying out something new. So I'd recommend to do away with these common themes and differentiate among them in different ways - cultural norms, art, architecture, religion, etc. can give flavor to these races without limiting them to certain long-established traits.

Not to mention, humans have tons of diversity - we come in all shapes and sizes, and individuals have different strengths and weaknesses. Why don't these other fantasy races follow the same natural trend? Not every orc is going to be a musclebound powerhouse, not every elf is going to be tall and graceful, not every dwarf need be an astute mechanic. They should exhibit levels of diversity comparable to humans.

@Aristo

Oh yes, absolutely. I agree with your 200%. We have to break the cliches or else everything gets dull.

Question:

What if I were to say, theoretically, play a bunch of dimensionally displaced American History figures who ended up on this world and started their own kingdom? Too out there?

@Byrd Man

We need to buy you a few different books I think. Diversify your scope of interest =p

[Pepperm1nts]

Let's get some sheets in homie G.

[Dinh AaronMk]

I'm workin' on it fo.

Like, gimme a minute.

[Dinh AaronMk]

A'ight. Ready.

Application

"Nation"

Faction
<Enter Nation name here>
Race
<The dominant, ruling race, see races>
location
<Fill out on map with whatever you got. Avoid taking up all of or the clear majority of a region>
Backstory-History
<Should be obvious>

Races

As a note, if you want to be anything but a human then there's no reason to do this one. As well, they should not be the dominant 'race' within your realm and for this I'm requiring that humans at least are present in the lower classes at least within your society. They may also be present in its aristocracy. Whichever the case, and however it's explored they must be present. If you fill out anything other than human and do this to detail some basics then it's recognized in some manner that they have majority rule over your nation. This has probably been a sloppy way of explaining it.

Also, when you apply in as a race I'm "Public domaining" it. So anyone else can pick up on the race you introduced to tell a different story with them and a different side of them. You can claim a vast majority of them, or enough to form an administration. But I would discourage a monopoly. You can probably talk to me too on how many other people may claim significant populations if you want them limited.

Also, I will plainly admit to biases towards certain parties. These certain parties also have had an influence in the development of this RP over roughly a month. So I will state it here and now. These persons are permitted to bend around the above rules because I not only understand them as people, I also know they can write, and I have received their intentions. I know for [some of] them they can stay committed to an idea. Others, not so much: I've seen people jump into some RPs with a concept that may be "cool" but they never actually write enough to offer anything as to why they're cool and in fact end up putting down a big black hole that we have to carefully step around so as to not interrupt them while they only post infrequently.

So often time the option that seems "cool" to you may not be the best if you can not do anything with it or is ultimately so hard to write that they become shallow without their author comprehending nearly as much as they should. As such I'm clamping down on a lot of really silly shit. no angel winged humans, no dragonkin, no mushroom people. It must be relate-able in some way so it can be written.

So on that note:

Name
<Obvious>
Basic Description
<Obvious>

Please only use if your nation's ruling race is anything but "human" and isn't in a player-resource encyclopedia (coming out in full thread)

Individual

Pending all failure to convince yourself you can handle the complex openness of having the option to operate potential thousands of characters, I am allowing people to apply as individuals with the freedom if down the road they can evolve them to incorporate something akin to a nation or an organization. Please only use if you think you can keep up with and be relevant to political agendas as the smallest possible unit. Or if you don't mind writing in a world where you might not be able to determine very much, only capable of spinning your own tale and quest, like Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher-verse.

Name

Physical Description
<Includes race and age>

Bio

__________________________________________________________

So now have this:

Realm:
Manyaa-Samya Raj
Location:

Race:
Satyr
Backstory-history:
The history of the satyr of Manyaa-Samya can be traced back before the Vishput in local lore. Though some might chronicle their origins from the Visha themselves. For whichever the case a certain amount of cultural identity and an awareness of heritage came upon the Satyr in their four centuries of enslavement by the Visha, and they might say they blossomed in their darkness, coming of age and maturity.

In their earliest stories of identity they talk of the grinding smoke and demands of the Vishput's industry. Of the fierce humiliation of being enslaved to the mighty underground Empire. Though they recognize their masters as brilliant craftsmen and aristocrats their positive role on the fledgling Satyr race never went further as their own qualities were eclipsed and over shadowed by their own slavery. As the Babylonians to the Isrealites the Vishput were not a kind master. For them, the Satyr were a beast of burden and a sort of entertainment to them. They forced them to work underground in hauling the coal and minerals their masters demanded. Or if not that they were dressed in obscene, skimpy ways to serve and dance for them; a reflection of their image of the surface as being barbaric.

When the Vishrashtan Empire crumbled – almost quite literally by their later accounts – the satyrs were able to escape the crumbling realm and make for the surface. It was for the first time in centuries. For many, stepping hoof first into the blinding brilliance of their most sought after sun was too much. Stepping into the open fresh air, their lungs taking their first gasp of warm clear air the many thousands that fled nearly collapsed them. Many more sought to return to the claustrophobic mines they had known all their lives, but the plumes of smoke, cutting dust, and ravaging fires left in their wake was such as ferocity that return was impossible. Those who went back, ran out blinded more from the smoke than the sun, and vomiting forth inky black soot.

Prior to their escape, the Satyr race had been led to revolt. Lead by a towering man of a half-horse, Sithsravat Amin. Inspired by spiritual enlightenment, Sithsravat had come to the conclusion that their slavery was doomed to be eternal. But not that the cycle could be ended. Within the orthodox Satyr faith – Booen – with its many gods he had been enrolled into the cult of Krivasha, the god of Martyrdom. By him he believed that his people may be lead out of slavery and in doing so caste down the Visha into hell. The option violent revolution, to martyr them all so they may move ahead into a better left after and their captors may burn for many a millennium in the Hells.

There was no plan to Amin's mission save to invoke as much chaos as possible in their city of mass, Samana. Though there were many more of his kin spread across the Visha Maharaj. It was hoped his display of action would inspire them to follow in some way. But during the chaos of the mass slave revolt in Samana something went terribly wrong.

It would be a generation after the fact the Satyr would be capable of describing what happened in words, but even so in vague terms. Not even the revolting slaves or Amin understood what was happening. In the midst of their act of martyrdom a great noise rocked the massive underground city. described as a clap of thunder a blinding light engulfed the cavernous city; from which brewed sulfur and smoke. And those Visha who were not in the way of their clubs cried in fear. The sound of the screaming and the rushing of heat is said to have been like the cries of Hell ushering from the ground. And in fear, they all ran. Fleeing with the scattering Vishput for the surface.

When the shaken slaves managed to shake off the fear and open their eyes to the sun for the first time they believed to have been in paradise. But when they lowered their gaze to the ground they found to their surprise and horror the Visha. If they had ascended to paradise, how was it they have joined them? Sithsravat Amin saw and quickly understood, and wasn't about to squander their fortunate escape. Amin ordered the execution of the surviving Visha; man, woman, and child alike. On recovering from the massacre and getting their grips with an infinite ceiling, Amin led them on an exodus across the wilderness.

For several years they lived as nomads, perhaps as a left over of from before they were enslaved. In due time their wanderings found land to anchor on. In Conquest.

Coming into ill relations with a local human lord a quarrel broke out between the locals and the satyr tromping across the fields. The liege-lord came into strong dispute and attempted to remove the “vermin” by force. Only to find they would not push over like sheep or cattle. Amin only needed a quick few battles, but what he fought was enough that for them to acquire the upper hand. And taking the king's son hostage were able to negotiate his abdication and the exile of he and his followers from his capital.

With territory of their own the thousands of survivors could settle down, and over the years thousands more of the enslaved satyr found emancipation. Migration steadily expanded the population of the fledgling city-state, gradually pushing the surface human population about as Amin showed preference to his fellow half-breeds.

The growth and demands of the growing refuge soon began to overflow the legal boundaries of Sithsravat's lands and they were forced to engage in conquest to ease the burdon. Several years of expansive warfare pushed out their territories as he began to construct the territory of Manyaa. Ultimately though, his ambition caught up with growing piety and he began to complain about his perceived sin. After several decades in power, he abdicated as an old man and retired to a monastery as a monk to cleanse his spirit, his original purpose all but lost in its different direction and he now no longer fighting his sworn enemy.

His son, Rapala Amin took control of the state, ultimately filling it out to its current borders. Considered shrewd and cunning, he wasn't lacking in his pragmatism. Though he notably displaced many to grant privileges to the satyr noble class around him he was notable conscious of the bitter respite by the human class and took note. Even if following generations wouldn't be nearly as aware.

His son and the generations after experienced the gradual population growth of the kingdom from continued satyr migrations. Over the next several generations the balance between man and beast entered into a state of balance. Commentators note it as a social harmony, if sometimes stressed. Though even with the expansive interest of their multitude of identities they never forgot about the Visha. Even if coming to a state of temperance in the generations since and a lapsing of the Amin family out of power there's a notable wariness of anyone related to the Visha or who show notable similarity to what are considered the Vishpustani.

[Vilageidiotx]

Faction: Kingdom of Poertia

Race: Human, with Gul/Vampire ruling dynasty.

Location:


Backstory-History

The land that is now called Poertia was, in antiquity, the home of tribal peoples who made their homes in the arable river valleys amongst the mountains. In these days, there was no single name for these mountain cultures. Despite any shared characteristics they might have shared, they considered each other as quite separate. The word "Poertia" is a Shapuran bastardization of "Purita", one of the tribes in the sandstone hills that sit next to the desert, while the Vishput preferred "Hurut", the name of a different tribe further in the mountains. Some current day tribesmen have began to use the term "Hurut" to distinguish them from the Shapuran conquerors, but this has not brought any true sense of unity to their race.

Historically, their relationship with the Vishput was one of loose, nominal fealty. The Vishput hired some tribal peoples to guard their border with the northern deserts, who's nomadic peoples enjoyed raiding Vishput outposts. Though there was cooperation between the two peoples, there was little trust. The mountain tribesmen called the Vishput "Jinn", a term both them and the peoples of the northern deserts used to describe demons and trickster spirits. Children and women were taught to avoid going out at night, or else the Jinn might drag them away. Warriors bragged about slaying Jinn abductors they met along the roadside. Some superstitious sorts even avoided looking out windows or doorways at night, afraid that a Jinn might be just outside watching them.

The arrival of Shapur changed the political atmosphere of the area. Shapur was a king from a land far across the deserts in the distant north or east. His armies were so large that legends have been born from their alleged enormity. Some say that the deserts once bloomed until Shapur turned his armies to fight the Vishput, and they ate up every living thing. Others tales have it that it took so long for his forces to cross the land that the vanguard will have died and been replaced by their children before the men in the back of the column arrived. Whatever the case, Shapur's forces had a difficult fight ahead of them. The wars between Shapur and the Vishput lasted decades, and at their end all Shapur had managed to wrestle from them was the mountains where he would establish the Satrap of Poertia.

What happened after Shapur's death is less known. It is said that he was succeeded by a frail ten year old daughter named Sulena, but the details of her reign are muddled. Some say she left the territory for good to govern her fathers homeland far away, while others say she was murdered. These stories have been dwarfed by the official tale that is told by the current rulers of Poertia: That she lived, and she sired a dynasty of Vampires, or as the locals call them, Guls.

In this official story, Sulena's frailty and the ambition of her father's officers puts her in danger until a mysterious wanderer offers her powers. He tells her of the things that he can give her, strength and long life, the ability to inspire fear and fight like her father had. By the time he reveals himself to be a Gul, she is intrigued and orders her guards to spare the monster. She takes up its offer and is turned.

The Gul is a creature of regional myth that lives off the flesh of men and goes mad. Folklore presents the condition as a punishment given to those who try to circumvent the Gods and increase the spans of their lives. Their lives grow longer, but they become wretched and pathetic as the years go by, until all dignity is gone and they are animals. For Shapur's people, similar creatures called vampires were known, though in their world they were servants of the God of Death, and much more dignified and respected. The term "Gul" is most commonly used by the native peoples, while the Gul's themselves refer to their kind by the "Vampire" term of their Shapuran ancestors.

Sulena's story varies wildly from teller to teller. Some say she turned her infant child when he was just born, destroying his ability to come of age and turning him into the freakish killer-infant named "Kizzeh." Many scholars point out, however, that the Kizzeh is referenced in some folk stories and art that predate the Shapur dynasty. The official story does not elaborate on this. Eventually, she has children who she allows to grow older before they are turned, and their dynasty becomes the "Gul Shapur's" and all that remains of their old empire is Poertia.

As monsters, local mistrust and fear threatened the Gul Shapur early on. It was with a few clever strokes that they would secure their thrown. First, they helped to hunt all other Gul's to extinction within the realm of Poertia, and they swore a solemn pact to kill themselves before their condition drove them into madness in old age. This kept the beastly later form of the Gul's from ever taking place. Next, they promised to only feed on tributes taken as captives in battle, or on raids against other peoples. Twice a year, taking place on each solstice, a delivery of captives takes place in the form of a religious ritual. In this way, the Gul Shapur have ascended to a sort of demi-god status, and their thirst for flesh is quenched by the vanquishing of the realm's enemies rather than murder and mayhem.

Another result has came from the taking of prisoners. With glory and honor now placed in raiding and plundering, the mountain tribes have become much more warlike. Some neighbors have chosen to pay tribute rather than face bloody attacks for sacrifices. As time goes on, the kingdom has began to slowly grow, and new populations means more warriors seeking to prove themselves. If they were to leave their mountain homes, Poertia and its Gul masters could become a threat to most peace loving peoples. And the Gul Shapur's remember when their ancestor ruled half of the world.

[Pepperm1nts]

I'mma go ahead and call dibs on the immediate area surrounding the lake in the mountain-range-split, while I write my sheet.

[Wilted Rose]

Yea, I'll start work on a sheet for some stuff in region o 4

[Vilageidiotx]

Name:Gul (Shapuran: Vampire)

Basic Description:
Physical:
A curse (or blessing, depending on who you ask) given in adulthood, there are no immediate physical changes. The most obvious change is the two which they are most known for: Immortality, and the need to eat human flesh. Though they can consume blood as well, they can live on anything edible taken from the human body, and tend to prefer choice cuts the same way normal people prefer certain parts of a cow or a pig.

Children can be given the curse, but the changes in them are much more extreme and result in feral monstrosity. The mountain peoples tell legends of Kizzeh, infants who were given the Gul curse, that hunt along the roadsides and trick their prey by crying so that travelers think they are abandoned babies. When somebody takes pity on them and approaches, the Kizzeh springs out and feeds on them. Stories about Kizzeh vary wildly, with some traditions giving them wings, while others suggest they have god-like agility. As far as anyone can tell, however, these are just stories, and there have been no believable reports of them in recent memory.

For the adult Guls, the changes they undergo take time. Their skin loses color at first, so that darker-skinned people slowly go a brown-grey and light-skinned people go a ghostly white. This happens within the first year. Next, their hair begins to lose color, turning red in the first few decades of the curse, before eventually cycling through red to faded pink to platinum white. Their hair is usually white within fifty years of being changed. As they get especially older, their hair will grow thin an translucent, and they will begin to lose it roughly one hundred and thirty years after being changed.

Their eyes also lose color, becoming either red, pink, or grey as time goes on. It is said their eyes have a faint glow to them as time goes on. Their skin ages, but in a very different way, so that they remain youthful looking until around the time their hair goes white, and even then their skin doesn't grow loose. Rather, it seems to grow tighter, like their skin is being stretched. Once they reach the last few decades of their sentience, their skin grows thinner.

Guls are harder to kill, impervious to disease, infection shock, or sepsis, though they can still bleed out and will suffer the same effects as humans do when it comes to damage to their organs. They are technically immortal, but mid to late 100's they will begin to lose their mental facilities until they become rabid beast-like creatures. The Gul-Shapur of Poertia have countered this with a promise to commit suicide once they reach this advanced stage, and the entire dynasty swears to police itself. Outside of that kingdom, however, different rules may easily apply.

Reproduction is peculiar for them. Male Gul's are sterile, but females can give birth to human children so long as she has a human mate. For the child to become like their mother, they have to receive the curse in adulthood, thus they are human in childhood with human weaknesses and needs

The other physical changes are these. They do not sleep. Though they can eat and drink typical food, they do not get sustenance from them. They are more energetic than normal people and have a tendency toward mania, causing them to take more risks, seek more pleasures, and be more aggressive on the battlefield.

Despite wives tales of the sort, Guls/Vampires do not have pointy teeth. They do not sleep during the day, and the only danger the sun causes them comes from the lack of protective pigment in their skin, causing them to be more susceptible to sunburns.

Historical:
In the lands of the old Vishaput Empire, Vampiric legends tells of the Guls. These were men punished for their hubris and their attempts to live like the Gods. They become predatory, paying for their extended lives by the need to feed on human flesh so that they are forced out of society. Eventually madness grips them, and the lesson the Gods have taught is complete, that no man born mortal can handle the effects of Godhood. Before the Gul-Shapur came to power, Guls were mostly hermit-sorcerers or monsters living in the dark places of the world, and they were hated and feared. Heroes hunted them down, finding their lairs and slaying them with displays of heroic heroism.

The people of Shapur from the forgotten lands across the desert had similar legends about the creatures they called Vampires. The Vampires of the Shapurans were people so great that death himself chose them to serve him. Death, Shapuran legend has it, was the first man ever made by the Gods. The Gods made it so that the first man would not age because they did not understand what aging meant, and when the man died they fixed his wounds and brought life back to his flesh. His life was a struggle, fighting to survive and suffering any time he failed, only to be brought back to suffer all over again. After thousands of years, the First Man grew tired, and he begged the Gods for his life to have an end. The Gods could not understand death, because it was not of their nature, but they felt that the first man could, so brought him up to true Godhood and allowed him to become the force of death because they knew he would be wise in that matter. When he ran across men who he felt could handle immortality, he would allow them to continue living so long at they chose to serve him. In these stories, the Vampires are noble heroes who prey on the weak and stupid so that the strong and clever shall live on and prosper. Vampire stories often involve two men, a hero who is a great fighter and a villain who is weak and cowardly, or a hero who is clever and wise and a villain who is immoral or foolish, who are put to the test by the Vampire. The villain dies, the hero survives, and the Vampire grants the hero the property, offices, and wife of the villain.

[Dinh AaronMk]

Because Vilage reminded me, I haven't done my race app. So I'm going to have to deny myself and say that he's good.