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"One finger a key,
One finger a blade,
One finger a needle,
With which his curse was laid".
-Excerpt from The Liturgy of Xovic,
the Seven-Fingered God
Since this world began, there have been three great ages that defined its very being. First came the Age of Purity, in which all things were separate. The King of Life, Xovic, watched over the primordial realm where the mortal races dwelled. Giants, Humans, Elves, Orcs and Gnomes lived in a precarious balance in their primitive kingdoms. The reflection of this mundane realm was Dream, a mystic and everchanging expanse of mysterious and fantastical beings, and Dream was the home of Ammartas, King of Dreams.
The mythos of the First Age and its end has passed down for thousands of years, and the Church of the Three tells it as follows:
(This is a fairly long-winded mythology, if that's not your thing you can come back to it later)
When the world began, magic belonged only to the realm of Dream. Its denizens were artists, and Dream was there canvas. This power allowed them to shape their world to their desires. Xovic saw this and desired the same for his people, who toiled in the mud and shaped the world only with their own hands, but Ammartas refused, telling his brother that each realm was their own.
Xovic waited for many years until finally his brother slept, and then he went to Razia, Queen of the Stars. Razia's domain was the passage between worlds. Xovic asked Razia to shepherd him to Dream, which confused her because she knew Ammartas slept. However, she had no reason to doubt the intentions of her siblings, so she complied. After entering Dream, Xovic found himself on his brother's doorstep, but the gates were locked. Seeing no other way, Xovic severed his smallest finger and, from it, he crafted a Key to open all locks.
Moving through Ammartas' domain, he found himself standing before his brother, who's silver hair pooled at his bedside. From his next finger, Xovic crafted a Blade to sever all bonds, and with it he cut away the source of Ammartas' power, his hair. With his power severed, Xovic knew that his brother would not wake. With his betrayal complete, he hid the hair in his armor and asked Razia to shepherd him to the primordial world once again.
Now, with a third finger, Xovic crafted a Needle to join all things. He worked day and night and sowed the threads of Ammartas' hair into the primordial world and through the ley lines of power he created, granted magic to the mortal realm. Razia, realizing she had been deceived, waited until Xovic returned to the Sun to look down upon his work and sealed him within, cursing him to remain until Ammartas' woke. Thus began the Age of Splendor.
Much of the history of the second age is lost to time. It is known that with the power of magic at their disposal, the kingdoms of the world grew like never before. Tensions rose as each power sought to uncover new ways to use it for their own gain, and wars were fought on a scale previously thought to be inconceivable. Everything changed when a human kingdom discovered the source of this power ran beneath the land. The humans in their greed dug too deep, and sought to tap the lines directly for power. In their simplistic understanding of the forces they were dealing with, they ruptured the ley lines and began a cascade of magical reactions that shattered the world.
Exposure to untamed magical energy warped the landscape around the breaches, and reshaped both creatures and people who were living in their radius. While the original mortal races still remain, many new races were born from this mutation that have since formed their own cultural bonds within the world. This also lead to the rise of monsters born of mundane creatures, including such forces of nature as dragons. Thus began the Age of Dreams.
Seeing that, left to their own devices, the mortal races could destroy their world, Razia devised a plan. She cast a million stars into the empty night sky, each one a little window into Dream, and so it came to pass that when mages slept some of their power would be siphoned away through the stars, and they would be visited by strange images and vision which came to be known as dreams.
Now, in the Age of Dreams, true humans are a minority and the once mighty nations which spread across the landscape have been scattered and divided into city-states. Each of these city-states seeks to protect themselves from the rise of dangerous magical creatures and phenomena, resulting in the creation of numerous adventurers guilds. One such guild, known as the Wayfarers, is a shelter for those who have no place left to go. Criminals who chose service over sentence, those carrying insurmountable debts, and even those who simply had nothing left and sought out something bigger than themselves.
The Guild
Built in the remains of an abandoned barracks, the Wayfarer's Guild operates in the city of Arskel, which lies in the southernmost reaches of the Lothring Vale. They are unique among the other guilds scattered around the continent in that they provide a place for those with nowhere left to turn. Their members consist of people from all walks of life, even including a number of dangerous and not-so-dangerous criminals who've convinced the Grandmaster that they have potential within the guild. This system is not without it's risks, for this reason, there are several "handlers" within the guild. Senior agents who monitor and evaluate initiates in the field, and offer them assignment information.
Initiates are the entry level members of the guild, only in rare circumstances are members allowed to begin above this rank. Before being considered for advancement, initiates must prove themselves to be both skilled and trustworthy. This is the rank most of the player characters should fall into. Consider what caused your character to turn to the guild, and what potential you have that lead to your acceptance.
Adepts are the second rank within the guild, and are subdivided into 1st through 3rd class. They are members who have proven their skills, and that whether or not their intentions are earnest they will still get the job done. For a character to start as an Adept 3rd Class, they would need a recommendation from one of the Guild Captains.
The final tier within the guild are the Avowed, and they are also subdivided into 1st through 3rd class. Becoming an Avowed means the guild has recognized you to the point they are willing to absolve your debts, and seek to clear any criminal sentences that await you. Some return to their old lives after this, but most choose to remain within the guild. The Avowed stand at the top in terms of their skills, and receive assignments directly from the Captains.
Despite the wild variety of races and backgrounds within the guild, cooperation is encouraged and many assignments are handled in teams. Initiates, specifically, will be given assignments by their Handler as a group of three to four and expected to complete them together.
Magic
The source of magic in Olanthus are the ley lines, currents of extraplanar energy sown throughout the world in a past age. Magic now permeates the world, and can be accessed almost anywhere by skilled users, but the closer a mage gets to a ley line the higher their output will be. Ley Breaches are places where the ley lines have ruptured, and they are the source of the most dangerous magical creatures and phenomena. Creatures exist within these breaches, such as dragons, which require such a high density of magic to survive they can only leave ley breaches for short periods of time without bringing a source of energy with them.
The process of casting spells requires gathering the ambient energies around the caster and forming them into something usable. Thus more powerful spells will typically have a longer activation time depending on the skill and affinities of the caster, as well as the location. Magic is viewed as a vital, but volatile, tool. Since the calamity, the use of magic items and tools by the uninitiated has been strictly policed and lead to the flourishing of a black market for arcane goods.
There are three primary forms of magic use.
-Primal Magic: This form of magic is fairly simple in concept, your power is drawn from the ley lines but is shaped by a primal source. A primal source is concept that a mage holds in their mind, a sort of stencil that allows them to shape a magic specific to them. This leads to fewer applications than a mage who shapes their own magic, but results in much quicker activation times if your source is nearby. The source can be anything from an element to a material to an abstraction.
-Spiritual Magic: This form of magic is rarer than the others, as it requires a connection to another power. This connection is usually to one of three types of being. The first are lesser gods, beings which are scattered throughout the realms (think Shintoism) and can be persuaded to grant you their power through supplication or offerings. The second two are intimately connected. When Xovic stole magic from the realm of dreams, its denizens were split into two factions. The first are Terrors/Chimera which seek to sow discord in the primordial realm, typically through possession (these can be thought of as devils/demons). The second are the Numin, who seek to maintain order in their realm and offer guidance to mortals through their bonds (Dream Angels).
-Arcane Magic: The final form of magic is the most versatile. Arcane magic typically requires extensive study and practice to shape the ambient energy of the ley lines into usable forms, but is also the most versatile in the hands of a skilled user. These mages use a variety of different techniques to help them focus, including but not limited to incantations or arcane gestures.
Arskel
The world of Olanthus hasn't been the same since the end of the second age. The prosperous, sprawling nations which once divided the continent are no longer viable. Now, each city is a nation unto itself, with travel and communication between these cities being a treacherous endeavor. The one exception to this rule is the High Road, a strip of land that stretches several hundred miles through the middle of the continent and is just safe enough to connect a string of major cities. Its policed by several guilds, most prominently the Knight-Ridge Compa, nyand maintained by a joint effort from the cities along its length. The city-state of Arskel exists at the very southern end of this road, and is reputed to be a dead-end backwater, where only those without better prospects settle.
With no dominant culture or race, Arskel is a sprawling metropolis with residents living in any corner they can etch out for themselves. It's divided geographically into three primary sections. The Cliff is the highest portion of the city, constructed in the ruins of the ancient human city that once stood here, it is where the town started but is now considered primarily to be a slum. The Road district is the economic and political center of Arskel, and is where the Guildhall and City Council Chambers are. The Lake district is split in two, with the northern portion being basically an extension of the Road district with some fishing business and middle class residences, but the walled off southern section is where the wealthy elite of Arskel, such as they are, reside.
Being all the way on the southern end of the High Road, Arskel is surrounded on three sides by untamed wilderness and has several breach zones far too close for comfort. With the city council frequently squabbling over political considerations, it is left to the guilds to safe guard the surrounding lands from the dangers that arise.
The Map
Map by @Aerandir, and featuring contributions from the following:
@Haha Skri'tak, the village of the Yanaki people.
@Epsir The northern cities of Bandridge and Kinthe, of which little is currently known.
@Psyker Landshark The Fortress City of Tyrcliff, home to a myriad of rivaling knightly orders.
@Cu Chulainn The ominous Hallowood, south of Arskel.
@Metztli The oasis city of Seyf, over the Stormridge mountains in the desert of Kann.
@Dark Cloud The dwarven city of Helmlenfell, in the King's Pass to the east.
@OwO Saint Telhan, a mystic refugee of elven sages whose exact location is a mystery in itself.
@Rune_Alchemist The religious city-state of Borea, which lies in the cold north on the opposite end of the High Road.
@Asuras The Coven of the Immortal Black, a den of powerful witches whose exact location is unknown. Rumored to be in the distant northern forests.
The Rules
This should be a fairly short section:
-Please don't make things awkward for anyone else, if you are having an issue my PMs are always open.
-I probably don't have to say this, but consider the scene you're in. Ignoring something that a previous post established is almost the same as controlling a character to me.
-I plan on making a post that moves the narrative forward a minimum of once a week on Friday/Saturday, if things are moving faster hopefully I can ratchet it up to two. Make sure to do your part in the intervening time, but also don't flood the thread. I encourage collabs if you want to have a back and forth dialogue in downtime.
-Post your CS in the OOC until approval.
-I'm rusty, please point out my writing mistakes and make fun of me as a team.
-I think that's it, other than the basics which we all know and love already.
-If you read these, don't do anything different because that would be silly.
Character Sheets
NPCs
This will be filled in as your characters encounter new, memorable individuals.