Near the edge of the Kingdom of Entomos lies a large ant city, "Heidek," Run by Duke Myrma. She was a crafty woman, though not without empathy, and had an excellent idea. The Spider Laws forced everyone to start eating the same food, which would surely lead to shortages if they didn't branch out. Spiders had already started demonstrating their ability to take down the large beasts that occasionally wandered into the land, what was to say others couldn't do the same? She sent out a message to the neighboring fiefs that she was looking for bugs willing to venture out and slay these monsters, be they simple ant, exotic mantis, or even a spider. Of course, such alliance is tenuous at best, and there are murmurs of something greater happening around the kingdom...
Setting
In the backyard of some random human lies the kingdom of Entomos, where 8 species of sentient arthropods coexist, trading, fighting, making magical potions, that kind of thing. Each of the 8 races has it's own fief, culture, and people that all intermingle, though the bond between some species is more tenuous than others. There is the underground ant empire, the Great Hive bee city, the Rolling City of roaches, and much more. These differing peoples will come together to slay monsters, be it for Chips (small shards of metal, the currency of Entomos), glory, kindness, or just to experience the journey of a lifetime. After a few missions though, things come apart, spiraling out of control into a civil war that could change the very fabric of Entomos!
Races
A very social species, the most numerous in Entomos. The central Formicadae ant empire is the most far reaching, it's queen having been the main orchestrator for the Spider Laws. Ants mostly live in underground cities, dotted around their capital. Each city has a duke, who commands the ants under in her fief and routinely gathers all the males for mating, though occasionally during this season A small congregation of ants will break off from the city to live nomadically as traders or mercenaries. Ants are a secular people, focusing their efforts on the expansion of their empire and development of new technologies, though there is a definite worship for their past queens. [Their names are generally Germanic]
Bees, while similar are much more organized than Ants at their core. Castes are rigidly defined in the Greater Hive, an ever expanding city with the Queen Anthophila at it's center. Highly fertile females reproduce and command under her, while occasionally creating art in their downtime are at the top. Below them less fertile or non-fertile females design, care for the young, forage, and trade. Below even them are the males, whom are used exclusively for manual labor, like farming and building, and as warriors. Some bees are not so appreciative of this dynamic and split off from the main hive to form small, more equal villages. These small communes are decidedly not under Anthophila's protection, and it's a marvel if they last more than a year. Still, due to their closeness, these drifters are often taken in by Ant fiefs.[Their names are generally Greek]
Hated by most races in Entomos due to their likelihood to become murderers and bandits, Wasps are loners by nature, a majority having no actual state to call their own. They often build their homes in villages with other bugs, acting as a mercenary or sheriff, or in places secluded, but near natural resources or trade routes. There is one fiefdom of Wasps, led by Queen Vespidae. They've had a storied history as warriors, first conquering the ants and bees, losing it all, disbanding, and finally warring against the spiders, before the Spider Laws. Now, those under Queen Vespidae make their wage as simple hunters and carpenters, though they do seem to have a natural knack for architecture.[Their names are generally Roman]
Roaches are a nomadic people, who place a big emphasis on family. To them, everyone is equal, and none of their tribes exhibit any form of leadership, instead all roaches come together to make decisions democratically. As such, most Roach tribes aren't that large, though there is the famous "Rolling City" where hundreds of roaches have banded together with movable structures and decide where to go and who to make trade agreements with through ballots. Roaches are very secluded though, and have no interest in interacting with other races except when very beneficial or necessary. Roaches do not leave their tribes often, but it is not entirely unheard of. [Their names are generally Native American]
The stoic, warrior people of Entomos, Beetles base a lot on strength. Fighting competitions in Beetle villages are common, and they make the best blacksmiths in the land. These people value unity within a family, calmness, ceremony, and prowess on the battlefield above all. Though they aren't too fond of other races in Entomos, this is mostly due to simple cultural differences and if an outsider was to blend in, they'd be accepted. Their young routinely go on warrior pilgrimages at their Warrior King Rokurou's behest. [Beetle names are generally japanese.]
Most would call Butterflies and Moths lazy. They often bask in the sun and Wasps regard them as "too lax to chew their food." Butterflies and Moths, though, say they have an appreciation for the finer things in life. They are very focused on the arts, especially dancing, and praising their God, The Light. They do so through luminescent alchemical concoctions that can predict the future, dance, and feeding wood, food, and flowers to flame. Their leader is Pope Clement, both their king and ultimate religious leader. More ambitious Moths and Butterflies masquerade as spies, disguising themselves as Wasps, Bees, Beetles and Mantises to gather information, sabotage, or even murder. Don't let the species stereotypes fool, Moths and Butterflies can be forces to reckon with... When they aren't busy writing the next great romance. [Their names are generally European]
The Mantises are a ruthless race. They have no issue killing or eating their own in dire situations, and as such their relations with other races are casually sociopathic at best. They follow laws mostly out of paranoia of the consequences, but if there's a guarantee that they'll get off scot free, they will kill. Oddly though, they're very honorbound, and don't often lie or cheat. To them, since survival is everything, they're pioneers of alchemy almost on par with the Moths/Butterflies, though their alchemy is more utilitarian, focusing on restorative effects and tools of war. [Their names are generally Chinese]
The spiders used to be the bane of all bugs. They were intelligent trap makers, generals, and often larger than the other sentient species in Entomos. But once the other races of Entomos banded together, their fate was sealed. The spiders banded together into colonies, but still weren't able to overpower every insect in Entomos. Sergeant Major Edwards was forced to surrender and in doing so, signed away the Spiders' rights to eat any sentient life in Entomos, these treaties nicknamed the Spider Laws. Now the spiders put their skills to use catching larger prey, or foraging for fungi, plants, and the small number of non sentient insects, biding their time, waiting for their chance to reclaim their spot as the kings of food chain. [Their names are generally American]
Magic & Technology
Magic is handled through Alchemy; Diluting, mixing, heating, cooling, or otherwise changing around substances. This results in concoctions that can be applied in numerous ways for various effects. Oils that electrify weapons, salves that instantly heal wounds, and potions that allow one to predict the future are all some of the most common effects. Some of the greatest alchemists have even devised potions with permanent effects, like the ability to shoot flame, but these secrets are well guarded. Technology is around Late Middle Ages, with the cannon and handcannon being common, though lances, crossbows, metal armor and the such are still being used a lot as well.
[h1][b][i][color=][center]Character Name[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1] [center][img]Character Image[/img][/center] [h1][color=][center]Character Summary[/center][/color][/h1] [b]]Name:[/b](Full Name And/Or Aliases) [b]Age:[/b](Not in years, simply Young, Maturity, Middle Aged, or Old) [b]Race:[/b]( Ants, Bees, Wasps, Roaches, Beetles, Moths, Butterflies, Mantises and Spiders are all great choices!) [b]Gender:[/b](Male, Female, or Androgynous) [b]Class/Job:[/b](A simple descriptor of your role in the party. Warrior, Alchemist, Blacksmith, etc.) [b]Appearance:[/b](If you can't find a good image, just describe how your character looks. Or, if there are any differences between the image and how you want them to actually look, note them here.) [h3][color=]Belongings[/color][h3][list] [*](Include all weapons, alchemical ingredients, pre-made concoctions, armor, Chips, all that jazz.) [/list] [h3][color=]Skills and Abilities[/color][h3][list] [*](Are you good at fighting? Dancing? Alchemy? Blacksmithing? Tell us!) [/list] [sup]Personal Quote[/sup] [h3][color=]Personality[/color][/h3] (Does your character like to read? Are they an oathbound warrior? What's their opinion on sugar water?) [h3][color=]History[/color][/h3] (If you're a Spider who loves ants, an atheist moth, or the world's nicest wasp, tell us how that happened.)
@Azazaa Sadly, for now no. Once the Civil War kicks in some people may switch sides and even before that someone may drop. If you want, I could alert you when there's a spot open?
Here ya go, a crappy little map that shows where everyone is relatively. The ants and the bee tree are where Entomos pretty much stops, leading way to the wilds where giant beasts roam free. Than there are the beetles sort of equidistance from both of them. Sort of close to the beetles are the mantises and the moths/butterflies. Off near the right edge is the small Wasp congregation. Near the sea's edge are the spider colonies, broken up by a spot of free land spotted with trading cities leading to a giant free city in the middle of the sea inhabited by a large amount of spiders, mantises and oddly roaches.
Current Group:@Krayzikk@Write@Plank Sinatra At the gentle sigh of the group's... leader he supposed, Kazou steeled his nerves. Right, they were probably working through this stuff too, and they may not have been as foolish as he was to believe this all free of mind-shattering revelation. She began her story. Daisuke-senpai and Kimiko were friends simply walking home from school. A transport truck crashed, unleashing golden-eyed robotic nightmares, slaves to the modern art project Kazou had seen earlier. After beating it to death, in an uncharacteristically violent manner he'd add, the Pizza bots were all dead, except for the one Kimiko had been holding at the time who was simply freed from the Golden Fog's stifling embrace.
After that Sasori-san and Hitmoi-kun showed up, as well as a "Cali-senpai" whom Kazou hadn't yet met. He hummed curiously, many thoughts racing through his head. She caught Kimiko glancing at Sasori, though he couldn't tell why, and Hitomi cut in with an oddly coherent thought. Whatever this was, it was bigger than four dumb kids. Or, three kids and a detective it seemed, he wasn't part of the group yet. Obviously. Duh.
But then she said something else. “It’d be wise to include everyone present in the relevant discussion I think.” It was oddly tense, no one was saying anything. "That wasn't the full story..." Kazou mumbled, crossing his arms Sasori spoke up again but Kazou wasn't listening. He was flipping the coin mentally as to whether he could really go through with this, press the issue on what they were hiding, become someone in a group, instead of someone leering at groups, desperately miming 'let me in!' and reminiscing about when he was.
He tapped his foot, face scrunched up in thought, when Kimiko's eyes met his. They were already in this 'flutter' or whatever Sasori-san had said, Kimiko and Daisuke having personal stakes. He nodded his head to her. He needed, more than anything, for himself to be let in.
"Yeah, I agree with Kimiko-ku-"
Did she just say magic?
"I... you can do magic? Not the standard party tricks I assume... Is this related to yesterday?" He asked, but he knew the answer. Those two things were linked, one causing the other. Must have been. The only two people who can do magic just happened to have been attacked by a wooden puppeteer? Maybe if he'd follow these two, he'd get magic of his own.
@Scrapula I've been meaning to make like an actual map. There's a big "sea" (a small pond in the yard) as well as a tree where the ever expanding hive of the bees is. There were some mapping programs I saw and I've got free time, so I'll look into making something.
@Pathfinder Ouch. That guy had a hard life. No wonder he'd turn to religion like the Lepidopterans, even adopting their type of name. So does he follow The Light specifically?
Thanks for the info @Stern Algorithm. I'll admit I didn't take too too close a look at everyones CSes, but I probably should have noticed that. Shogun especially is a distinctly japanese term I completely missed. I do appreciate the idea you gave me of Mantis history being separated into two distinct dynasties, one represented as the savage mysterious past and one as the honorable new future, @Thecrash20. I think I can incorporate that into the plot. You are also right, Stern, beetles do use japanese names. If you could A. Change that, or B. Give a reason for him not to keep his birthname @Pathfinder, I would appreciate it.
Yay, more characters! I'm surprised it took someone this long to choose a beetle, I had assumed they'd be quite popular. @Queentze@Stern Algorithm@Thecrash20 and @Shortcake, your characters seem all good! @Briza As I mentioned with Stern, I'm not a big fan of the more human characters. I found an image for you, if you'd like, though you can keep the one you have. Be aware if you do, though, you're going to have to describe them.
As for the plot, I think it's the major consensus that Captain Entomos: Civil War, is what errybody wants. I'll begin work on the OOC shortly.
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