Thinslayer

The Faraway Land: Path of Heroes (18+)

Interest Check

The Faraway Land: Path of Heroes (18+)

To join this RP, please provide a character sheet with the following format:

* Name:
* Pic/Image:
* Physical Appearance:
* Personality & Biography:
* Powers, Abilities, & Equips:
* Story Role:

-The Name should include a given name and surname.
-The Pic/Image should at least be a URL, but ideally a visible image in the post.
-The Physical Appearance section really only needs to be filled out if the given picture doesn't completely describe the character.
-Personality and backstory are often related to each other, so I find it useful to combine them. Don't spoil everything about your character, but provide enough that we can roughly gauge what kind of person they'll be.
-Powers, Abilities, and Equips describe everything your character can do when they first appear in the story. If the character's picture contains any relevant designs, I'll assume the pictured weapons are canon unless otherwise noted.
-For the story role, please choose one of the following:
* Exile Prince
* Captured Princess
* Prince's Knight
* Antagonist for the Princess
* Prince's Companion
Multiple players may take this role if all of the above roles are first filled.

The Faraway Land: Path of Heroes (18+)

On January 1st, 2300 AD, a portal opened in the sky above the planet Charon. Billions of spirit-beings poured forth from the void beyond and infested everything in their path. Microorganisms, plants, animals, and living things of all kinds fell prey to them, mutating and evolving in a matter of hours into hideous monstrosities. At the time, the humans living on Charon were ill-prepared to face a whole world's worth of enemies, and soon humanity was driven to the brink of extinction. Just as all hope seemed lost, twelve humongous beasts called Guardians rose up from the earth to drive back the invaders. With their impossible strength and earth-shattering magic powers, they drove the void-spawn back through the portal (or into hiding) and closed it. Only four of the twelve survived the war.

The war inflicted irreparable scars upon the land. The crumbling world of the Void collided with the world of Charon, leaving great swaths of darkness in its wake. Lands that were once teeming with joy and life were now covered in ashes and obsidian glass. The formerly docile creatures of Charon would occasionally and without warning transform into vicious, cunning monsters.

The Guardians sought to tip the balance of power back into more rational hands. They genetically modified some of the humans into several branch-species including elves, dwarves, and orcs, each with their own unique strengths. To all species they gifted Undying Strength, wherein no person would weaken or exhibit signs of age until the last ten or twenty years of their lives.

But humans are an ungrateful lot. The very first colonist of Charon, an immortal demi-godlike human named Vanaerys, realized that if the Guardians were slain, their powers would scatter and give the power of magic to the world. With eight of them already down, there was just enough magic to threaten the others. He rallied the survivors of the conflict and helped them kill three of the four remaining Guardians. The last one, a fire dragon named Caradras, fled and went into hiding, swearing revenge on the humans who betrayed him.

Years passed. Stories of the Void War, and the subsequent hunt for the Guardians, passed into legend. The various races began to spread across Charon once more, filling it with life despite the everlasting scars of war. But Caradras did not forget, nor would he soon forgive the humans' betrayal.
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If you wish to join this RP, there are a few rules I'd like everyone to follow.

* Be active. Each player character will be assigned a vital role in the story; thus, anyone who drops the RP may ruin it for everyone. Do NOT join if you have known life events coming up that will hamper your ability to participate. I expect at least 1 IC post per week; please notify me if you need another week. If there are 2 weeks of inactivity for any reason, or if you consistently take longer than a week to post, I will begin working on a plot solution that minimizes your character's involvement. If a month of this behavior slips by, you'll be dropped from the RP. I don't mean to sound all tyrannical about this, but nearly every RP I've participated in has died due to shenanigans like this. Please try to understand.

* Participate. As protagonists in your own story, your characters will be expected to take action of their own accord. Don't expect me to put in all the work just so you can react to it. To facilitate participation, players will be allowed to create NPCs, towns, obstacles, events, and even MacGuffins and minor antagonists (the latter two with my consent first). Please make use of this freedom. Also please do not abuse this freedom.

* All narration must occur in third person past tense. No exceptions.

* Do NOT post Character Sheets in the OOC thread. I will not review or accept them in any thread except the Characters thread.

* Don't ask me to bend my own rules. The story is designed around them, and while I confess to being a walking carpet when it comes to bending or breaking rules, in the end, it'll hamper my ability to properly GM this story to a conclusion. Don't take advantage of me, please. :P

* The themes of this RP are intended to be upbeat and hopeful, with anime-themed character art styles. I may post epic music and background pictures to enhance the experience. If you're looking for grimdark and gore in the story...well, you'll probably get it, if I'm being honest with myself, but that wasn't my intention! xD

* Romance and relationships are encouraged. If characters engage in more explicit activities, however, take it to PM and fade it to black in the thread.

* Speaking of maturity, deeper themes like racism, ethics, love, and family will probably be explored in this RP. Adults only, please.
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Theory & Mechanics of Magic

Every sapient creature has three components: soul, spirit, and body. The soul is the essence of who you are. Your memories, personality, rational faculties, and such are part of your soul. It is the "spark of life," the difference between a living creature and a dead one.

The spirit anchors the soul to the body by channeling energy, or "life force," into the soul. Blood is the primary medium of this energy. Note that it is, I repeat, a "medium," not a container - one does not lose spiritual energy when they lose blood. It's more like the relationship between sound waves and air - air is the medium of sound waves, but one cannot lose, collect, or capture sound waves by manipulating air.

The body is your manifestation in the physical realm. The brain functions as the interface between soul and body. When your soul attempts to move, your brain translates the thought into a corresponding bodily action. The interface works both ways - if your body encounters a traumatic experience, your soul (and thus your personality) may be permanently altered.

To cast magic, one must convert spiritual energy into physical energy. Humans normally cannot do this unassisted. Traditionally, mages would summon a higher spirit to provide this assistance, so all the mage had to do was give it instructions. But higher spirits are just as sapient as we are, and considerably more powerful. Moreover, the only higher spirits that respond to summoning are demons. Thus, such magic is risky and extremely dangerous.

The ancient settlers of Charon found a solution. Mimicking the microtubule structures in neurons responsible for consciousness, artificial transplanar substances could be created. That meant consciousness could flow through areas other than one's own mind. They designed a nanoparticle using this principle, called lazuli, to use as an artifical medium of consciousness. Send spirit energy through it, and it would convert that energy into physical energy.

Lazuli revolutionized the practice of magic. By drawing certain shapes with suspended lazuli dust, the spirit could be partially ejected and manipulated in a consistent manner. Spells could be coded like computers, and by the time Charon was settled, they'd created whole libraries of spells for untold millions of unique tasks. While much of this information was lost during the Void War, the basic principles are still widely known.

The life forms on Charon were genetically altered to organically synthesize and produce lazuli dust on their own, and in time, the substance could be found in all life on the planet. Today, the vast majority of all spells cast use lazuli dust as their conversion medium. Until the death the Guardians, though, there wasn't enough mana in the world to cast much of anything.

How does one apply this?
(Note: If the following is too obtuse, refer to this post for further explanation.)

Suppose you want to heal a wound with a substantial chunk of flesh gouged out. First, create a memory matrix spell to store all subsequent spells you wish to include. Your first instinct should be to add a regeneration boost; that'll be helpful, but it won't restore the original functionality of the damaged flesh. For that, you'll need to regenerate it according to the body's "blueprints" - in this case, DNA. Use a limited Copy spell to copy the DNA structure into spell code and cast it into the memory matrix. Modify your regeneration spell to follow the DNA development profile and cast that into the matrix too. Finally, you must specify the area to be healed. You don't want to overheal or underheal, so use either a timer or position function. Physical tracing of the area usually works best, so cast the spell, channel it through your fingers, and trace it over the wound until healing is complete.

Or suppose instead you want to launch an exploding fireball. Create a memory matrix, add Element Summon spells for your reactants, specify containment parameters, and let her rip!

Tomes are useful because some spells can get impossibly complicated, and drawing them correctly freehand would be a superhuman feat. With a tome, all you need to do is Copy the image on the page and cast it. Some of the more technologically inclined mages take it a step further and design weapons that can "print" lazuli dust into the desired shape and cast it with a simple thought. Such magic weapons don't even need a trained caster to function - anybody can use them.

Forging magic weapons, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal...

The IC opening post will be created once the Crown Princess player character is submitted.

Remember, while our ultimate goal is to stop the dragon Caradras from destroying humanity (and the world of Charon), we will have multiple sub-goals along the way. For the more active members of this RP, here's a rough roadmap of where we're going:
* The princess player character ascends the throne on her 20th birthday. Her generals (portrayed by me) provide her with a report on the war and will suggest some strategies. Depending on her choice, the player characters will be summoned and issued their respective orders.
* The human cities that surrendered are enslaved. Freeing them from enemy control will provide immense strategic advantages.
* Valuable assets, such as brilliant commanders or spies with intel, may be found in dangerous and hard-to-reach places. Retrieving them should be a priority.
* Humanitarian missions can bolster our popularity among both humans and non-humans. Propaganda and culture can be just as potent weapons as swords and bows.
* Caradras is the cornerstone of the enemy's forces. Kill him, and opposition will eventually crumble. Not immediately, mind you, because he chooses his commanders well, but without his guidance and sheer power, they won't last long.

medieval /fantasy

@Aqutanama
Q: First who is the QM, GM, DM, or whatever?
A: This thread was started by @AcetheKidd, but I seem to have inadvertently hijacked it (I was just trying to give him ideas, I swear!). I'll be GM until AcetheKidd says otherwise.
Q: Second what kind of characters are allowed? Like limitations and such.
A: At the beginning, I'll only take human characters. The players may create NPCs of other races later on in the story.
Q: Third is there a timeline of some great war or something?
A: If we're using my lore, then yes, there is. The Void War was a brutal conflict that started when a portal in the sky opened from another dimension and let billions of Voidspawn into this world. Initially a spirit species whose only physical form was "fairy dust," they came to our world seeking bodies to possess in order to escape their crumbling world. Possession required kicking out the souls previously indwelling said bodies, resulting in the "death" of the previous owner. The resulting war nearly wiped out the human race were it not for the timely intervention of the twelve Guardians, several of whom were dragons. Caradras was one of them. The twelve Guardians kicked out the Voidspawn, sent them packing back to their crumbling homeworld, and closed the portal. Until the code is found that can destroy the portal for good, another Void War is always a possibility.

This war occurred a couple hundred years ago, and is still relatively fresh in the minds of the people.

medieval /fantasy

Still open for people?

@Aqutanama

Yup!

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Stressed by waiting.

The Faraway Land: Resurrection

<Snipped quote by Thinslayer>

I don't mind.
Question: How about we take this on a post by 3 days/week basis or something instead?

@Samdragonx

You mean 1 post every 3 days or 1 post every week?

I've often contemplated using posting rate requirements, but it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, eepecially considering how the original The Faraway Land ended. I'm not convinced yet that it's necessary.

The Faraway Land: Resurrection

Poll: Who gets annoyed if I only post responses to one or two people? I'd like to keep things moving if possible.

medieval /fantasy

More concrete refinements incoming.

Each player character will have a meaningful and defined role to play. We will need...
* The villain Caradras, of course (played by me)
* An exile Prince destined to become the next king
* A Princess to be captured
* The knight who serves the Prince
* The conflicted antagonist who works for the villain at first

I may add roles if more players arrive, but these are the base ones. The broader plot will work something like this:

The Kingdom of Man is but a shadow of its former self ever since the line of kings ended. The dragon, recently disenchanted with humans for undisclosed reasons, took advantage of their weakness and started conquering the land with his orc armies. Because he hates humans, he rules them with an iron fist. The Prince must answer the call of his people and save them from the dragon.

The intro, then, is fairly obvious. We can tackle it from two angles: a Prince who can't stand watching the oppression of his people, and a beleaguered Princess who gets captured by a dragon.

I can work with this. Expect a thread soon.

The End of the World on an X

Solomon must have slept well, because he got up out of bed quickly. "Morning, Rose," he yawned. "Already up?"
Rose made an exaggerated scowl. "No, I can do inventory in my sleep. What's on today's agenda?"
"I guess while we're in town, I need to buy some new clothes... Maybe a weapon to go with my staff, should the smith here be good."
She laid on her arm and smiled at him. "How about a sword? Heroes always use swords."
Solomon walked up to see what she was doing. He remarked, "Inventory? If that's the case, add this to the pile." His coin purse thumped onto the desk.

As he muttered something about coins, Rose leaned back her head to look up at him. His face was close. What would it be like to kiss him? she mused. Her lips parted slightly as she let her imagination play for a little. She could see him lean down, his lips just brushing hers as their breaths mingled like the calm before the storm. She would run her hand through his hair as he traced down her chin, her neck, and lower. He would hold her by the waist, and if he was feeling bold, slowly draw his hands upwards until he left her gasping for breath-

Pfft. Not gonna happen. Rose sat up and stared at the coin purse, finally realizing just how much he said was in there.

"Wait, four crowns?"

She stared some more. This guy is loaded. I think I'm in love.

"Four crowns," she repeated.

Rose turned around again to look at Solomon and raised her brow. "Are you sure the princess doesn't have any ulterior motives?" she joked. A teasing smile tugged at her cheeks. "To be fair, though, your purse will feel much lighter when you buy a new sword. Come on, let's find you a good one." Rose pushed back the chair and motioned for Solomon to follow.

There were a couple blacksmiths in town, it turned out, but a few probing queries to the locals narrowed their options down to one. Rose approached the blacksmith and waved. "Greetings! May we place an order?"
The blacksmith wiped his hands and put his hands on the counter. "Whaddya want?" he grumbled through his beard.

She looked to Solomon for him to take over. As he described the sword he wanted, she spotted a bug on his arm and batted it away, thinking nothing of it. After the blacksmith considered Solomon's criteria, he picked out a weapon and set it on the counter. "Will this work?"