Kingdom of Ra OOC

[darklink_shadow]

The Kingdom of Ra

The 4th Age of Man:
Chapter 3: Quagmire of Aggression

The World

Spoiler

Show

It has long since been that the Kingdom of Alrick Ra was at war. Alrick XVI rules over a land of peace. There are minor conflicts, brief skirmishes, but nobody can withstand the forces of the Imperial City. Within her walls are the largest factions in the world. The Mighty Kirhi raiders guard the boarder to the south of the Kingdom, protecting the fair plains and forests from the filth of the swamp. The Imperial Guard patrols the highways, and have all but ended bandit activity. The more magically gifted can find sanctuary with the Radiant Missive, if they can channel the divine, as the ancient eastern elves always have.

The Missive serves and protects the Imperial City itself with legions of paladins, and the Gods themselves with hordes of Clerics. Within the Missive, duty and honor are drilled into young minds. Their hearts are filled with the Light. While their tenets are strict, they allow for plenty of enjoyment. Many paladins add their own tenets upon themselves, but no tenet enforced by the Missive is unreasonable. In fact, most people follow the Missive's tenets naturally.


But those with the touch of the arcane live and learn within the secondary redoubt walls of the Tenebrious Dawn. Life within the Dawn is filled with work and training. Magic is a double edged sword. The skilled magician can perform miracles and are the kingdom's most valued resource, but an untrained adept can level villages with a single mishap.

In the Dawn, people are reforged into a new breed of animal. Because sources of magic are so varied, individuals are also very varied. There is, in fact, only three core rules of the magician.

1. A magician may not injure a law abiding member of the Kingdom.
2. A magician must obey the orders of their superiors, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A magician must protect himself or herself, as they are valued tools for the crown, except in situations that would conflict with the First or Second Law

Outside of these major factions; outside of the Imperial City, there lies four other major cities, the capitol cities of the races. Near the center of the Kingdom lies the vast mountain Jarlberg, home of the Dwarven Capital of the same name. The mountain and city are inseparable. Inside the vast hollowed out mountain, the dwarves craft and mine the finest tools and weapons. Woodworking, stoneworking and leatherworking are all professions the dwarves have claimed supremacy.

North of the mountain, there us a river that heads north for a great distance, but then squarely bends westward. At the bend there is the Human Captial, Riverbend, aptly named after it's location. This city is easily the smallest of the quartet of capitals, but the human settlement is the center of all trade throughout the Kingdom. The Douglas river swells widely at this bend, allowing plenty of river barges to run goods to and from the Imperial City. Following the same river south of Riverbend leads to the dwarven home of Jarlberd. North, along a well maintained road, lies the path to the trading outpost of the wild elves. To the east of Riverbend is the major farming area and beyond that is the Mystic Forest, where the High Elves live. Not much trade happens between the High Elves and other races, but most that does happens in Riverbend.

Map

Spoiler

Show

All the white was blue for me... whatever, that's the ocean. The swamp extends an unknown distance to the south. I think everything else is obvious!

Spoiler

Show

The dangerous creatures of the swamp have recently become more active. The orcs who never before seemed to understand more than basic hit and run tactics have suddenly started using bold aggressive strategies. They are now using crossbows, javelins and slings. Even worse they have acquired a sudden capacity for magic, and are using it to rain hellfire on the Kirhi Raiders. Hellhounds howl in the swamp.

Larger, dumber creatures have been reported being led to villages. Ogres and trolls have been spotted. Instead of fighting amongst themselves, the war parties of the swamp have apparently united as one.

There must be a leader. The orcs are too stupid to suddenly have these complex plans. A captured orc begged for mercy as the Murk Tredders pried secrets from him. Before succumbing to his wounds, one sputtered word seemed to confirm that they had some leader: Kil'Kor Tahn.

An elite group of citizens was assembled, informed of this and given a mission statement. The new Ra Guard would be formed.

{table=head]Player|Character|Class|Race|Alignment|Role


AeonsShadow|Pax Moonfire|Pyromancer|Human|LG|Blaster

Shyftir|Roland Paine|Duskblade|Human|CG|Melee

Stack|Tor Spiritsbane|Spirit Shaman|human|LN|healer/summoner/BFC

Necrovosh|Escorth Detoa|Artificer|Human|N|Support/crafting

TheStillWind|Avis|Warlock|Human|LN?|Melee/Debuffer
[/table]

Ok, pick a speaking color. I will be using all sorts of colors, but the bolded versions.

Also, put your backgrounds on your character sheets, in the "other notes" section, then PM them to me, so we can work on them together to get your fully fleshed out. Then we will do a short bit of one on one roleplaying to get your character smoothly to where I want them, and then once all of that is done, we will play in earnest!

[stack]

This should all have been in an OOC thread according to standard practice.


Tor Spiritsbane will speak/think in Navy.

Background:

Spoiler

Show

Tor Greenbow was marked by the Missive late, not displaying his sensitivity to the divine powers until his teens, his home far into the hinterland where government agents where less common. He was discovered shortly after defending the small flock of sheep from a wolf, the wolf that would remain ever in his mind after, speaking in his dreams and teaching him the secrets of drawing power forth from the very land. He was taken by the Missive some months after, a tearful goodbye from his family that never aspired to more than tending the land. His training was unusually brief as he was selected due to his particular talents to accompany the delegation to the wilder elven lands, to monitor unlicensed magic and any subversive activity in that untamed land.

He learned much from the wild elves, though did not win their respect until the ghost uprising. He served with distinction, winning him honor among the locals (those opposed to the upstart necromancer anyhow) and the notice of his superiors. Now that reports come from the swamplands of unlicensed magic and savage incursions, who better to send?

Appearance:

Spoiler

Show

Of modest eight and somewhat wiry build, Tor is not an imposing figure. His worn green cloak helps him fade into the wild, his stern reservation helps him fade into a room. He carries a thickly built bow, decorated with fine elven carvings of leaves and vines. Kirik's symbol hangs from his neck, rough hewn from a small flat stone.

Steady grey hunter's eyes take in all around him, weighing matter carefully before acting. His skin is tanned from long days outdoors, already taking on a rough, leathery quality. his beard is coarse and uneven from being tended only with a hunting knife.

Personality:

Spoiler

Show

Tor is grim by disposition, having faced more malevolent spirits in his short service than most ever hear of. He is devoted to the empire, seeing it as the hope of order and peace in a land that could tear itself apart the moment vigilance slips. He accepts that heretics and the monstrous races must be destroyed to maintain this peace, though he takes no pleasure in the task.

He maintains the standard gripes of all enlisted men throughout history, though he harbors little interest in returning to the family farm. His letters home are infrequent; he neither wants to worry them nor encourage his nephews to follow him into military service and is uncomfortable with the loss and regret that accompany the writing.

he tells no one of the spirit wolf that visits him, stalking the back of his mind, for fear of straying outside official dogma and regulations.

[Necrovosh]

Escorth will speak in Dark Green and think in Italicized Dark Green. I like how the party shaped up, these are all the more interesting characters. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the pyromancer class in action.

[TheStillWind]

Avis will speak in Dark Orchid.

[AeonsShadow]

Then as the PYROMANCER, I believe RED is a proper color for Pax. Italicized RED will be his thinking.

Also, those are the three laws of AI robotics~
You are awesome just for that.

[darklink_shadow]

Yes this is the OOC. I'm just an idiot. Oops!

And yes, I stole the laws of robotics and repurposed them into the laws of the Magi.

I'll get to all of your PMs here in a little while. I need to go pay my rent and talk to my landlord about my contract. (It expires soon, and I need to renew it)

Also, I agree that these are the most interesting people. That's why I picked them. Although the ones I didn't pick were also interesting...

[stack]

Need to ask a mod to move the thread to the OOC board.

[darklink_shadow]

Oh geez. I'm not very clever lately. I posted this up right before bed when I was super tired. I have no idea why I was being so dumb. I was just excited to pick my players.

[stack]

Its alright, shouldn't be a big deal to fix.

[Shyftir]

Hey all. Sorry I ended up here so late. I think simple Blue ought to do with Italicized Blue for thinking.

[TheStillWind]

We should work on a more recent background together.

Short background

Spoiler

Show

Son of a prostitute in a brothel of no consequence. Avis was raised, by the women in the brothel, in a village on the plains that happened to be a stop on a major trade route between elf and human lands. The brothel was run by an older woman who took a kind of grandmotherly role for Avis. She taught him to respect the gods and made him enjoy study. He was given a lot of freedom then and would spend his days wandering the land around the village. As he grew older he began to show signs of the spark. He had a pet raven (Hugn) that he would talk to in chatters. The other villagers sent word to the Tenebrous Dawn after the raven spoke back.

Avis was taken from the life he knew to be placed in some dark cell for training. He was angry but soon came to realize the rumors of the Tenebrous Dawn were largely hyperbole. During his training he saw how unstable some students powers were and realized the damage they could cause. By his maturity he had become a hardline Tenebrous Dawn inquisitor, hunting down rogue casters that were a danger to others. His powers lend well to this function as he commands a mix of close up combat prowess and information gathering abilities

Personality

Spoiler

Show

When focused on a task he is dour, serious and focused. He wholly supports the Tenebrous Dawn's goals, mission and purpose. He has less faith in people though and has been known to question orders that he does not think support the TD's purpose. His natural suspicion leads him to spy of those close to him. He sees it as a uncommon virtue that he keeps his promises (by the letter not the intent).

Appearance

Spoiler

Show

Avis is large but lean -Tall, broad shouldered and sinewy. His face is tight with hollow cheeks and a thin short cropped beard. His eyes are grey normally but when he channels his powers they change into a familiar radiant indigo that is common with all he spells.

Avis' dress is simple and conforms to the Tenebrous Dawn standard except for a heavy cloak that he uses to cover his allegiance and an enchanted chain shirt between the layers of wool. He is meticulous about his equipment and constantly makes sure nothing is loose or unbalanced. Hugn (the raven is usually in his place on Avis' right shoulder.

An unfamiliar observer would consider Avis almost unarmed with only a folded net strapped to his side, but anyone who have seen him in combat would know about the imposing spectral claws he creates and the murder of crows that seem to burst forth from his cloak when he needs them.

[darklink_shadow]

I am working with everyone to build the backgrounds. Everyone who is replying to my messages at least.

[TheStillWind]

Did you send one to me? If so, I have not received it yet.

[darklink_shadow]

If you sent me your background for me to reread, I replied with questions about your character. Send me your current background info, and we can start over.

[stack]

I'll try to work out chapter 3 today.

[stack]

Oh, to get the thread moved, you just have to report your own original post (using the /!\ button) and request it be moved.

[darklink_shadow]

Nerco and stack have finished their background intro things... nobody else has replied to my messages. Whats up? Have you lost interest? Am I asking for too much?

[TheStillWind]

Hey sorry that I am taking so long. I am still very interested. I just had a very very busy weekend and week and haveen't gotten to answering the last few questions you asked. I have the other question done in a text document. I was going to send them all at once. Because of the length of the text it is not convienent to send from my phone.

[darklink_shadow]

Well, that's fine. I am just checking, because if people aren't interested I can replace them, probably.

[AeonsShadow]

I never got a reply to my question about my background. Nothing ever showed up in my inbox....

[Shyftir]

To be honest with you I'm just not sure what you are looking for on a "sense of scale" level. You said "impress someone in power" but I'm not sure how you want a 3rd level character to do bigger things than what I sent you.

I can make up something grand and epic and all that but he's not actually capable of all that much. He's intelligent enough to learn magic and come up with a good plan of action and he's talented enough at combat to carry out his plans. He did the kind of thing that singles one out as an up-and-comer. Level 3 is still firmly in the gritty play part of 3.5.

[darklink_shadow]

I never got a reply to my question about my background. Nothing ever showed up in my inbox....

I'm not sure what happened then. I have no unreplied to messages in my inbox, I double checked and cleaned out my inbox this Monday. So I don't have it anymore. What was your question?

To be honest with you I'm just not sure what you are looking for on a "sense of scale" level. You said "impress someone in power" but I'm not sure how you want a 3rd level character to do bigger things than what I sent you.

I can make up something grand and epic and all that but he's not actually capable of all that much. He's intelligent enough to learn magic and come up with a good plan of action and he's talented enough at combat to carry out his plans. He did the kind of thing that singles one out as an up-and-comer. Level 3 is still firmly in the gritty play part of 3.5.

It doesn't have to be epic. But you are level 3. The world is mostly level 1, a few level 2s. You can do something. Leading a mercenary team that, with your tactics, stopped a huge orc raid. Or you single handed rallied a village to hold off a raiding party.

Or you could organize the city guard to train better, or anything really.

[TheStillWind]

Just sent my answers to your questions. Sorry it took so long. I will be much more timely in the future.

[darklink_shadow]

I'd rather have you take your time and do quality work than rush, or miss out on real life things you need to do.

[AeonsShadow]

I'm sorry, but as much as I would LOVE to continue with you, I must step out. Personal issues hitting me right now.