Darkness Ascendant
Fifty years ago Dagon IV, Emperor of Aldebaran, covetous of the lands he did not rule and fearing his own mortality, enacted a heinous rite with the help of five of his closest lieutenants. What they did, exactly, is the source of constant speculation: some say they sacrificed children of Aldebaran's capital, Kuranes, to the spider-god Nyarlthos in exchange for a share in the deity's power. Others that he consumed the souls of the city's populace, increasing his might immensely, though at the price of being constantly dependent on continual sacrifice to survive. Others still maintain that Dagon found an ancient artifact of immense power.
Whatever the Emperor and his circle of followers did, it caused the sun to shine an angry, dull red for ten full days, with no moon at night, only strange and sinister constellations. From the Red Night, which ruined crops and plunged the world into panicked chaos, the Emperor emerged as a being of immense power, whose armies swept over the other nations of Geryon. His five lieutenants too had become something more than human, wielding powerful and dark magics, and in time became known as the Immortals, his most fearsome servants.
The powerful kingdom of Varyon, neighbor and ancient rival to Aldebaran, was the first to be destroyed, crushed by Dagon's unexpected onslaught. After the shocking defeat and enslavement of Varyon, some nations bent the knee, others actively collaborated with the new god-emperor, but most were enslaved and destroyed in their turn.
Aldebaran, once a rich and fertile riverland, slowly became a twisted, haunted place filled with the husks of once proud cities, now sinking into poisonous bogs and fens and haunted by monsters and demons. Where once was a thriving culture and economy, now there is only slavery amid ruins, and the omnipresent totems and shrines of the Cult of Dagon. The citizens of Aldebaran are changed too.The Emperor's dreaded Legions are increasingly made up of horrible mutants and abhumans, with bulging, vaguely insectoid eyes and sharpening mouthparts and claws. The Emperor's ruling caste- the self-proclaimed Perfecti- suffer even more horrible mutations than the lesser ranks, whom they also outstrip in power and cruelty. They are faster and stronger than normal men, and are capable of potent sorcery.
Now Dagon IV is now nearly master of all, ruling with the aid of his five Immortals and the Perfecti. They enforce a strict caste system in the lands they control directly, and demand tribute in the form of children, woman and blood-slaves from the nations they've subjugated. Human sacrifice is offered to the god-emperor night and day in his haunted capital of Kuranes, and the nights grow longer and darker as the world itself begins to sicken. Strange, unpleasant plants and fungus have begun to spread beyond the borders of Aldebaran, and wildlife in many places is becoming increasingly aggressive and strange.
Some, however, resist still. The Scarred King, once the brother to the King of Varyon, now little more than a guerrilla captain, has continued to inflict defeats on the Legions, and is a legendary figure of hope to the masses chafing under Dagon's yoke.
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Welcome!
This is a small nation/faction RP that takes place after the victory of the sinister God-Emperor Dagon over the fantasy world of Geryon.
The setting is what I call "High Fantasy OOC/Low Fantasy IC", meaning that the world would have as many fantastic elements as we like, but there would be limited magic "on camera" in the IC, as both an aesthetic choice to keep magic... magical and mysterious, as well as to put a limit on IC power levels while allowing for maximum creativity and freedom OOCly. There will be no magic system and no 'canon' cosmology for this RP, so competing and mutually incompatible understandings of the world, gods, and magic are fine.
Players are free to play as nations conquered/being conquered by Dagon, or resisting Dagon's advance (though I will limit the latter category), as well as lone heroes and villains. Some nations and characters may have allied with the God-Emperor, so collaborators or high ranking members of the Empire of Aldebaran are welcome as well, including Perfecti and Immortals (see below). Mafias, pirate gangs, resistance movements, brigands, cults, etc, etc are all fair game. While this is a nation/faction RP, this will be very character focused, with the subjugated nations serving more as a backdrop for the drama than as primary actors- at least at first.
Chat/Piratepad for ideas
