So after a relatively short period, life has devoured most of our players, or they have simply just unfortunately disappeared. This roleplay is now seeking fresh blood to join us in the story. The basic premise is that we are captured gladiators forced to fight for our (eventual) freedom. Clicheed, yes, but FUN cliche.
"In this world filled with death and blood...what better way to relax than watching others shed their blood and die?" -Lucius Malleus, History of the Arena
The continent of Arkreides is a cesspool of violence, each race discontent with each other for even the most minor of infractions. The otherwise pacifistic elves wage an incessant war against the industrious dwarves in the eastern Myrian forests while waves of orcs and humans crash against each other in the far northern wastes. Caught up in all of this are the beastmen whose nomadic lifestyle often brings them into conflict with the other factions. This near constant conflict brings in a steady flow of very specific commodities. Grieving mothers, corpses and, of course, slaves. But one can only have so many domestic slaves until all work is done, so what can you do with the excess? Why pit them against each other in mortal combat for your entertainment of course!
What started as backalley duels between wealthy families soon evolved into a nationwide sport for Humans once they realised they could make a pretty denar for charging people to watch this bloodshed. This practice soon spread to the nearby war-like orcs who relished these fights and the opportunity to beat slaves into a pulp for their own entertainment (not that they didn't already do so). Suffice to say most orc gladiators are not slaves, rather they are trained pit fighters. Over time, arena fights spread to almost all major nations, even the elves who used these fights to settle matters with as little bloodshed as possible, using selected champions to settle political matters. These days arenas are more regulated, with fighter training requiring a specific license. Those who hold these licenses are called the 'Lanista', people who hold the keys to the shackles of dozens of trained fighters, and yet somehow still maintain control over them, whether through respect, fear or otherwise.
Arena fights are not only simply pitting slaves against each other, no, there is so much more to it. Sometimes these slaves may be thrown into a pit with ferocious beasts or forced to reenact famous battles of those peoples' history, but by far the most popular are the simulated environments, pitting teams of slaves against each other in a fabricated environment. That ends our brief history lesson children, tis time for lunch. Remember your hats.
By far the most populous, humans are also the most diverse and varied race, quickly adapting to any new environment. While physically weaker than most other races, humans make up for it with quick wits and ingenuity along with a better standing with most races, apart from orcs who they have fought bitterly for the past decade. Generally jacks of all trades, humans set the standard for most of the other races, being average at all of them.
While humanity is technically united under a single banner, one could hardly expect them to be free of differences. Their standing military forces vary from region to region, from the heavily armoured knights and legionnaires of the central empire to the barbaric axe-men of the northern reaches and even the sparse rough riders of the eastern plains. While the differences in tactics, weaponry and numbers may serve to make a united human Imperial force difficult logistically and tactically, it does mean that they have a contingency for any battle plan. If only they could muster in time.
Examples of humans:
Central Legionnaires: Sharing the title of most armoured human with the Western Knighthood chapters, the legionnaires are taught to fight in a unit and excel at group combat. With minds hard-wired into working as a legion, they are a stalwart force should they ever be needed. That does not mean to say, however, that they are useless when alone. Bearing blade and shield, the legionnaires are respected fighters in their own right but are more effective in their units than they are individually, washing over their enemies like a silver tide.
Western Knights: Where legionnaires focus on teamwork, knights from the western region of the human empire take pride in their individual prowess, preferring longswords and maces to the shield and blade. Valuing individuality and martial prowess as virtues, the knighthood prefers to engage enemies in a series of single combat bouts instead of any military tactic, expecting their enemy to do the same. Suffice to say those knights sent to the northern front, while effective, have a high attrition rate.
Tall, slender and elfin, elves are usually lauded as an unachievable gem for adolescents everywhere. Despite how they may look however, they are not without teeth. Dexterous and nimble, elves forgo heavy armour and weapons in favour of manoeuvrability, as befitting their form. Making good use of their longer limbs, elves tend to favour spears and bows in combat, as well as hit and run tactics, provoking their enemy until they make a fatal mistake. While they are faster, however, they are noticeably more frail and most other races, possessing a lighter bone structure and ropey musculature. Able to outlive most races, the elves see the passage of time differently than most mortals.
Examples of elves:
Canopy Striders: Slightly skinnier than the average elf, canopy striders are noted for their moss-green hair and emerald eyes. As their name suggests, canopy striders are at home in the treacherous terrain that sprouts above the ground. Moving along the treetops is an efficient and sneaky method method of transportation and the striders use them to great effect when striking at their dwarven adversaries. Preferring the ambush to any other tactic, canopy striders are no stranger to long waits before striking hard and fast with their bows and disappearing back into the treetops.
Forest Thorns: Considered to be 'the average elf', those soldiers who take on the title of forest thorns possess dirty blonde hair and a slightly green skin pallor. Armed with long spears, forest thorns act as a unit like legionnaires. However, where legionnaires form a column and batter down their enemies, forest thorns flow like water around their enemy, specialising in area denial and encirclement. Surrounding their enemy, they begin the massacre in earnest, spitting enemies upon their spears before disappearing back into the undergrowth
A collective term for those possessing animalistic features, the beastmen rival the humans in variety, but their changes are usually more noticeable. The most common of these beastmen are the "Thunderhoofs", bull-like beastmen who prefer to pit their own bone, muscle and sinew against their opponents, rather than any weapon. Avian beastmen who are captured often have their wings clipped to avoid escape. Generally tolerated by the rest of the population, they remain a neutral faction.
Examples of beastmen military:
Thunderhoofs: While not strictly a military, every young thunderhoof is expected to fight in the defence of their tribe should the need arise. With powerful muscles and incredibly hard horns, thunderhoofs prefer to fight up close and personal, pounding and grappling their opponent into submission with their natural weapons.
Skytalons: A race of beastmen possessing hawk-like features, skytalons are a generally peaceful tribe that lives high up in the mountains. When threatened, however, they make for a deadly opponent. With four sets of sharp, hooked claws and a powerful beak, they strike from the skies with the fury of a starved dog before rising up and continuing their assault. While they generally do not possess weapons, skytalons do seem to prefer a cruel, hooked blade as their instrument of choice.
In contrast to their ancient enemies, the elves, the dwarves are short, squat and heavyset with beards thicker than a human's thigh. Naturally tough, the dwarves prefer to heft heavy weapons like warhammers and heavy armour before striding casually into battle. Their ironwork famous for leagues in every direction, the dwarves are often prideful and refuse to accept loss, no matter how inconsequential it is. With such a squat body, dwarf musculature is so compacted that their body, even without armour, can withstand and, nay, break a badly forged sword with very little damage done to themselves. Standing at half the height of the average human, height is a bit of a tender spot for most dwarves.
Examples of dwarven military:
Ironmongers: Battle-blacksmiths would be the best way to describe ironmongers, who forge their own armour and charge into battle wielding their forging hammers. Always eager to test out new designs, ironmongers are known to be almost fanatical in their desire to fight and get hit, if only to see how their handiwork stands up to an elven arrow. Exclusively found dwelling with their mountain brethren, ironmongers vary extraordinarily in quality.
Valley Dwarves: Unlike their mountain dwelling cousins, valley dwarves invest less into heavy armour and instead trust in their body's natural hardiness to see them through. Hefting axes almost the size of their entire head, valley dwarves are known to be more aggressive than even an orc on occasion, especially when it comes to dealing with their elvish adversaries. Usually tattooed with mystic runes and symbols, their beards are noticably more unkempt than those of their mountain cousins.
Noticably more savage than the other races, apart from a few beastmen tribes, the orc are a warrior society who put honour and martial prowess above all else. Almost as heavily muscled as a dwarf, orcs nevertheless have less stubby legs and can cover more ground than the short peoples, but have less grasp of tactics and...general intelligence. Known to throw all caution to the wind, orcs are able to berserk, their eyes filling with blood as they ignore all pain in an attempt to overwhelm their enemy.
Examples of orcs:
Green orcs: The standard orc. Possessing low-browed features, hunched shoulders and a dense musculature, the green orc brings to mind a powerful ape similar to the ones found in the souther human empire. With their status determined by the size of their tusks, the warchiefs of green orc tribes often have giant, embellished tusks that span the length of their face, and usually have them carved and patterned, although this is not an uncommon practice among the lower ranks as well.
Black orcs: Like green orcs, but black. But in all seriousness, black orcs are considerable tougher and stronger than green orcs, but possess lesser intelligence than even they. Often integrating themselves into a green orc tribe, black orcs are happy as long as they have a chance to test their mettle against others, be they orcish or otherwise. Taller and more wideset than an average orc, the black orcs form the shock troops of their military.
Magic is a gift given to very few and for good reason, for those who possess this ability and misuse it are the most terrible threats. These mages are able to discern faint shimmering strings hanging in the air, attaching to everything, although individuals are tuned towards specific elements. Nascent mages may dismiss these faint strings as simple tricks of the light but those that know how to use them are extremely dangerous. These 'fate strings' dictate everything about their environment. Those attuned to fire can see the strings which control the climate while those attuned to the air can see the strings as they enter a person's body. Of course, those can see them can also alter them, given some assistance. Utilising special gloves or staves, these mages can 'weave' these strings to create something else. The aforementioned fire mages may pull together fire strings to create an excrutiatingly hot fire ball and throw it, or an air mage can suffocate his opponent by simply pulling the air strings away.
While sounding and being fantastic, the use of these fate strings often has long lasting effects. They say the cold, frozen northern wastes which the orcs now inhabit was once a desert wasteland...which turned into a winter wasteland when their shamans discovered their primitive version of fate weaving early in their inception as a civilisation. Their flames acted as beacons for their people, but at the same time they used up more of the flame strings than could regenerate until eventually they exhausted most of the naturally occuring strings, creating their now sub zero hell. That being said, the opposite can be seen in the Myrian Forest where the elves dwell. Their powerful magics were mostly held in check and instead of using it to combat their dwarven enemies, they used it to encourage growth, creating a luscious forest within years and increasing the density of earth based strings in the forest (which they then use to combat their dwarven enemies).
The seat of the Human empire, currently under the jurisdiction of the Aurelian dynasty, Lairea is a grand landlocked city of marble and stone and stands as a paragon of what humanity can achieve. They say that if one cannot find what they need in Lairea, they will never find it elsewhere, and it is partially true as the capital city is a hub of trade for merchants for leagues in every direction and of every race. Partially built into a mountaintop, the city is also surrounded by well aged walls and had never been successfully invaded. This is not taking into account the fact that Lairea is situated in the center of the Aurelian empire, mostly due to logistics, and thus protected by its outlying settlements. Lairea also plays host to the largest concentration of arenas of any city, containing a total of more than 60 registered fighting grounds and arena fights are a daily occurrence and a common pastime. The atmosphere of Lairea is busy with purpose. The constant chatter of voices in the morning belies its prosperity as merchants do business while the nights are filled with whoops of joy and pleasure.
Built into, onto and around the great trees of the Myrian forest is the Elven city of Eltharios which is significantly quieter than Lairea. While less accommodating to other races, the city is known for the serene and relaxing atmosphere it gives off, as well as the quality of woodwork that it produces. While it does not possess a wall per say, the city is protected by a dense layer of vegetation, and a century old ritual maintained to this day casts a confounding field around it that causes trespassers to be led astray. Unless you stumble upon it by pure accident, the only way into the city is through meeting an elven emissary at designated areas in the city and being led in. They say that the forests are littered with the corpses of those who tried to sneak in otherwise, but that is just a baseless rumor, or so the elves say. The city plays host to a single arena built atop a mighty tree which is used to settle political disputes and very little else.
Meaning 'Hearth' in the Dwarven language, Grogbholur is a mountaintop fortress filled with intricate tunnels. While first time visitors may be overwhelmed by the structure, those who live there grow to have a natural sense of direction underground, though acute agoraphobia is not uncommon there. Home to the most famous forges on the continent, Grogbholur is under constant siege from merchants seeking their wares, giving it a similar feeling to Lairea although there are a significant few who would actually dare to enter the seething hot forges themselves. With each entrance to the city being a drawbridge, Grogbholur is as impenetrable, if not more so, than Lairea and the Dwarves take pride in this, calling their city the 'unbreakable'. There are a series of tunnels in Grogbholur collectively referred to as 'The Crucible' which function both as weapon testing grounds and arenas. Interestingly enough, being built into a dormant volcano, the city does not possess any braziers and is actually lit with lava flows.
Hel-brok'thar serves as the most developed city of the orcs and, thus, their capital city, though many would dispute that claim. Home to the Blacktusk tribe, the city's towering basalt structures may seem unbalanced but thanks to some...inspired engineering on the part of the orcs, are actually quite stable and manage to seal in warmth, which is a blessing considering the sub-zero temperatures outside. It is said that almost every stone that makes up the city has tasted blood thanks to the constant tribal raids preceding its construction and, while some may not believe it, it is certainly the case in their arenas. Black ovular structures dominated by spikes, their arenas are known to be some of the bloodiest and most entertaining, at least for them. Not long after the last fight, it is common to have a ritual sacrifice to appease their savage gods, though this practice can be seen in many areas where the bodies of animals are left to rot in pits.
Human Cities:
The largest landmark for miles in the west of the human empire, the city of Feriston is known as the soul of the Aurelian dynasty. Built next to a lake that once nurtured the nascent human race, it is the original location from which humanity spread and remains a common pilgrimage for both historic and religious reasons. Where the streets of Lairea are choked with merchants and labourers, Feriston's clean cobblestones are lined with row after row of monks, head bowed in deep prayer as they shuffle from one monument to the next. The air constantly smells of incense and smoke while church bells ring at regular intervals, creating a righteous cacophony. Churches both modest and extravagant pop up every five buildings or so and, inevitably, so do the chapels that house the Crusader Knights that act as the church's militant arm.
The people of Wolf's neck are known to be more orc-like than human, but that is specifically what makes them so invaluable in the north, where they engage in a near constant fight with the orcs. Unlike the tin can crusaders or the heavily plated legionnaires, those who inhabit Wolf's neck and the lands near it are clothed in cloth wraps and furs which manage to take the edge off of the near constant winter chill. More savage than their southern kin, these people are larger, more heavily muscled specimens which heft their favoured axes with ease. The city itself is made up of roughly hewn stone and wood, surrounded by a the densely compacted stones of their ancient wall. Paths are lined with minor heat magicks to thaw the ice and snow which forms on it, allowing at least some respite from the bitter chill, which lead to their ugly stone buildings, lit from within with constant roaring flames.
A land of harsh steppes and mountainous climbs, the stepped plains of Eredar are home to various nomadic tribes. Due to the poor soils, Eredarians move through a cyclic path around their lands where they tend to soils not worked for months. At the same time, they herd bovinian creatures and compete with the beast tribes around them. The need to move around the treacherous steppes has made these people sure footed in even the most free of screes, and that goes for their beasts of burden as well. A horse born and raised in Eredar can go for thousands of denars in Lairea, and it is from this region that beasts of war are also drawn. One of the more permanent settlements, which claims the name of Eredar for administrative reasons, plays host to some of the greatest mounted archers humanity can train, which may rival even the elven canopy striders in their accuracy.
A dense canopy covers the city of Uk Tu, but it is not what one would expect when one hears of a dense canopy. At first, one might think of the Elvish city of Eltharios, but they would be horribly wrong. No, Uk Tu is a city that is instead covered by the alternately thick and thin caps of gigantic fungi. The city itself is in a permanent state of night, but it possesses a mystic beauty due to the iridescent spores and bioluminescent lamellae of the mushrooms. Using woods imported from the North and west, the ever humid city of Uk Tu plays host to a confederate of people who have learned to use the world around them to their advantage. Toxins normally harmless to people may be refined into a deadly venom while potent potions may be brewed from the spores that fall ever so lightly from the mushroom gills. The site of medical and alchemic advancement for humanity, Uk Tu is, despite how it may look, the scientific center of their race.
Humanity's main trading port, Port Hairne is just as, if not more filled, with bustling merchants than Lairea. With docks constantly in use and the customs house filled to the brim at all times, one would think that it would be a ripe target for any pirates to attack. Or it would be if there was not a watchful eye placed on it by the Human Navy. Most of Human wealth comes from its status as a trade giant and this is only further enhanced by the tariffs and taxes which it places on those merchants privileged enough to trade anywhere in the Empire. Here, one will find more necessities and curios than in Lairea, which is filled with slaves and luxuries. Divided into two sections, the western side of Port Hairne is reserved for industry, such as building materials, tools, ammunition, weapons and armour while the eastern side holds all agriculture and aquaculture, as well as the slave trade.
Named after the late Admiral Athels, this port serves as humanity's naval base. Imposing sea walls conceal large bore coastal defences and marines constantly patrol its high peaks. Built upon a cliff face, Port Athels has very little in terms of mercantile traffic apart from military suppliers of black-crystal and ballista ammunition. With an effective kill-zone of up to two kilometres, the port is avoided by all without any pressing business.
Orcish Cities:
The only other notable Orc 'city' as opposed to Hel-brok'thar or the ports, Pae-Zun is a mining city run by the mercantile 'Gold tooth' tribe, who are distinguished as the ruling class by their gold capped teeth. The source of much of Orcish wealth, Pae-Zun is an economy which runs off of slaves, sending them into the deep mines to unearth its mineral wealth. Unlike Hel-Brok'thar, Pae-Zun is built more like a Dwarfish city, being tunnelled deep into a series of interconnected basalt peaks, although it does bear the usual marks of Orcish inhabitance, including arenas exposed to the elements along with the near constant bloodstains.
These two races were not always at odds,though these days it may seem that way. Centuries ago these two were prominent trade partners, shipping trinkets and raw materials to and fro to supply each other and building empires which eclipsed humanity which was still in a nascent stage of development. The dwarves would supply minerals, weapons and armor while the elves would supply wood and food. Then, one day, supply dried up on the elven side. The lands which they would dedicate to their trade grew barren and they tried to explain it to the dwarves, but they wouldn't accept it, the current king too selfish and childish to take proper action. With little warning, they marched across the landbridge linking the two islands and began to cut down wood. Only, this wood was considered off bounds. With little other recourse, the elves mounted an attack and killed the woodcutters and burned down the dwarven saw mills and processing plants. Decade by decade, the war escalated and the two are now some of the most bitter enemies to even exist together, with both fundamentally opposed to each other. Racial tensions are high and both will usually not hesitate to attack each other. The dwarves have recently gained the upper hand due to their tendency to innovate more than the elves, but elven magics have advanced faster thanks to that. It is a dangerous arms race between these two and most other races keep a close eye on them.
Appearance: (Approximation of how your character looks. An image is good, so is text. Both would be wonderful)
Name: (Your character's name here)
Gender: (Does he/she need to check?)
Age: (Humans have a similar age to actual humans, Elves live to around 400, Dwarves to around 250, Beastmen to 150 and orcs usually to around 50 before another one sinks an axe into its back, but the oldest one having been 190)
Personality: (How your character acts, any racial prejudices)
Previous Profession: (What your character did for a living before becoming a slave-gladiator)
History: (An account of how you came to be in your current predicament. Up to the point where you've been purchased)
Preferred Arms: (What your character prefers to use in combat, be it sword, mace, bow or fist along with armor. Remember, we all start pretty much nekkid apart from cloth covering our delicates)
I'd be interested; with regards to the beastmen, is it mainly just minotaur-esque creatures and the mentioned hawkmen, or are there a myriad of other 'taurs as well. If so, I would be most interested in playing some kind of naga.
