The Magic Lands Reclaimed! (Interest Check)

Discussion. Roleplay.

Once, long ago, it is said the known world was called Eun. But the mortals destroyed one another, and without believers the gods vanished from the Old World. All the gods but one. For while the others lost the faith of the people, the being known as the Shattered God, the Twisted God, the Fool God, the Mad God, played a trick. It saw mortals torn apart, and mimicked them, breaking itself. It's pieces seeped into the roots of the world and slept while the other gods died.

Now, however, the world has regrown. The Old World and the thing beneath it forgotten, the people of Urth build and prosper. Like all intelligent beings, they have their differences, their disagreements. They argue over land and natural resources, fight and scream and die for transient causes. But they also live. They live for queen, king, and country, for love, for beauty, for kindness, for strength, conviction and courage.

For friendship.

Unlikely allies must band together - a group forged from one member of each nation, to save Urth. For the Mad God has returned. His twisted power turns mortals against one another, inspires hate and bigotry. It permeates nearly everything. But this group defeated it. So they travel, moving from country to country, to aid the peoples there, and in return obtain from each ruler, oligarch, council or chancellor a small gift, which when united will united as well the peoples of Urth, and destroy the Mad God forever.

Sort of a reboot of The Magic Lands Are Ours which was a bit more political.

You make a country and an adventurer (or two, haven't decided on a hard limit). Then we go from country to country and do shit. The kicker? When we're in your country, you are the de facto GM. I'll still settle disputes and whatnot, but you have authority over the plot. A big responsibility, I know, but we can all worldbuild together, so even if you can't think of a major plot, don't sweat.

NATIONS OF URTH:

• The Alliance of Saudor AKA The Empire of the Red Desert - Firock Finion
• The Wardu Junta - kagescorpionakki
• The Land of Light - Sanojutsu
• The Magical Kingdom of Stalli - Cathari Sarad
• The Principality of Rana - darkdestinysoul
• The United Land of Arvana - darkdestinysoul
• The Rikitas Dominion - Firock Finion

ADVENTURERS:

• Saudor: Kothar
• Wardu: Sunvadhara/"Sunny"
• Land of Light: Sovelkin Celaria Imvat
• Stalli: Dora D. Explora
• Rana: Prince Sarlus Stormcaller
• Arvana: Scarlette, the Wandering Tome
• Rikitas: (Baroness) Inkerna

edited 1st Jun '15 12:28:43 PM by kagescorpionakki

Interesting...I kinda have this idea of a Wu Tang Country stirring in my head, might as well try to get it out.

This is pretty intriguing. I may be interested.

Color me interested.

Hmm... I'll try it out

Here's the sign-up sheet that I shamelessly copied from the previous game. Note that your nation's technology level should not be past very early gunpowder (so fireworks, but no guns).

• Name: (What is your nation called?)
• Government: (How is your nation governed? Is it a kingdom? A republic? Maybe something democratic?)
• Capital: (What is the name of the capital, if any, and how big is it?)
• Ruler: (Who currently rules your nation? What are they like?)
• People: (Who are the people that live in your nation? Are they human? If not, what are they?)
• History: (When were your nation founded and what has happened to it until now?)
• Infrastructure: (How well-developed is your nation and how many lives there? Do they excel in producing a certain kind of good? How advanced is their technology?)
• Geography: (How does your nation look like? Mountainous or forested or something else? How many cities are there and how big are they? Is it land-locked or does it border the ocean? Is it an island chain?)
• Culture: (How does the nation’s culture look like? What do they place value in? How do they dress? And so on.)
• Military: (How powerful is the military and how does it work?)

Ooh, color me interested. I'm thinking of a sort of Venice-type city, with a suitably Guile Hero-esque protagonist.

Interest. Was thinking of basically a ghost city surrounded by nomads.

Seems interesting. I don't have a good idea right now but if I get one I may just put it up.

Question though: What sort of posting rate are you hoping to go for? I'm pretty busy as of late and might not be able to manage more than one post a day.

One a day is fine by me. Though it all depends on how many players we get, who's nation we're in, what the scene is (fights might be faster paced, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it), etc. I'm used to slow R Ps though so it's all cool.

Ah, so someone's doing this thingie again, count me in!

I can't say for sure whether I'll join this, but I'm interested. Already got an idea for a nation, which is basically a MLP themed, Brave New World-esque dystopian state. Not sure if it'll be too technologically advanced or not.

Thinking of a Clock Punk/Magitek type constitutional monarchy.

edited 22nd Apr '15 5:36:14 AM by tricksterson

Can over time our nations get better weapons?

The RP takes place in a short enough timeframe that you won't really get any opportunity for technological advancement. The characters might get new abilities, but you won't get nations suddenly building guns.

I would assume any major changes to our actual nations, like revolutions or cultural shifts, would be happening while our characters are there; such as to provide a story arc while our characters are there, or at least some brain food for them to discuss with each other.

Anyway, got a nation idea; gonna recycle something I used for a dead RP and mush it together with something I made for my friend's homebrew setting. I'll try working on it tonight but it may or may not get posted by tonight.

Quick version: A desert nation with (mostly) friendly monster races.

edited 22nd Apr '15 9:09:35 PM by FirockFinion

Well, I've been brain storming and I think I'll be doing another elf variation for this one, however this time they are in a theocracy with Temple-Citadels for castles. In short the Air Nomads from Avatar mashed with the Protoss.

Possible interest.

Wait, is this actually going to be the signup thread or is that going to be a different thread?

Because I have my nation finished, but I just realized that maybe we won't be posting them here.

Yes this is the signup thread. Feel free to post your nations here.

Alright then.

• Name: The Alliance of Saudor, (Or just Saudor for short.) AKA the Empire of the Red Desert.

• Government: Imperial monarchy with traditionalist chieftains.

• Capital: The city of Serana, with a population of fourteen thousand and technically holding the surrounding area of nearly one hundred square miles.

• Ruler: Emperor Kororin, a Male Desert Lizardfolk, 47 years of age, just over 7 feet tall, and very strong. Protective of his nation, he is a loyal ally, and a ruthless enemy.

• People: The primary population of Saudor is the native Desert Lizardfolk, a Humanoid, reptilian race acclimated to the harsh, dry conditions, that stand about six feet tall on average; they also sometimes just call themselves Saudorians. They're known for their hard, red-orange scales that blend into the sand of their home desert, their great strength, and their endurance.

The second most populous race is the Skaven, a Humanoid, rat-like race native to a forest region adjacent to the desert, that stand about five feet tall on average. They're known for being mischievous, running fast, and reproducing quickly.

Then, by technicality, there's the Driders, a race with the top half of a gray-skinned Human connected by the waist to the body of a massive spider; the Males' Human-like torso and arms are the same size as that of a Human, putting them at a six foot average height, but the Females are much larger despite having the same body proportions, standing anywhere between nine and twelve feet tall. The Males are known to be fast, while the Females are known to be incredibly fast, incredibly strong, and have a ravenous appetite, making them practically monsters.

(There is presumably small percentages of other races as well due to immigrants, such as Humans.)

• History: About two hundred years ago, the Red Desert was not the claim of any nation, but instead just a harsh land owned by disjointed tribes of the native Desert Lizardfolk, who competed and fought with each other, as well as with the Driders who also called the desert home. Chieftain Saudor of the Serano tribe had dreams of something greater though, and through a combination of rewards in wealth and power for those he could convince to join him, and brutally eliminating those he couldn't, Saudor eventually saw almost all the tribes of Desert Lizardfolk in the Red Desert united under the alliance in his name.

Seeking to then stop the fighting between his people and the Driders, Saudor tried to get them to accept the alliance as well. He was able to, but only under the condition that the Driders be allowed to remain independent of the Desert Lizardfolk tribes. This made the Driders part of the alliance and subject to their laws by technicality, but in practice it mostly means they just don't fight each other anymore. With the desert now mostly in peace, Saudor was content, not willing to risk the empire he had created by attempting to expand outward into the territory of others. And so the alliance has stayed since.

About twenty three years ago, Kororin became emperor after the untimely death of his father. His ability was quickly put to the test when the Skaven of an adjacent forest region suddenly migrated into the Red Desert in droves, fleeing from some supposed, "massive snake-demon". Kororin welcomed the Skaven so long as they obeyed Saudorian law, though cultural clashes have made their integration into the empire a less-than-smooth process that is still struggling to obtain an equilibrium to this day; that the Skaven have had a difficult time adjusting to the climate of the desert has not helped either.

• Infrastructure: Most tribes of Saudor are small settlements built around what wells and oases are present in the Red Desert, with only four that could in any capacity be called a "city"; but with many of these small tribes, the overall population of Saudor comes out to nearly fifty thousand.

Saudor's primary exports are spices that grow in the desert and, when they can be convinced to contribute them, Drider-silk threads. Their sea ports also provide fish, which is a major local industry, but does not get exported as much.

Technologically, Saudor is smack in the medieval age style. Probably their two most impressive technological feats are first their light signals: a set of focusing mirrors combined with a flame of some sort, set up in a tower to shine light towards a specific direction, typically another signal tower, that can be clearly seen across several miles of open terrain. The second, and probably more important technological feat, is the pumps that their larger cities use to draw water from the underground spring wells in greater quantities, combined with a more rudimentary aqueduct and irrigation system, to ensure that even in their dry desert, their cities would not go thirsty.

• Geography: The Alliance of Saudor holds the Red Desert, a large, red-sanded open desert (clever naming, I know) that borders the sea along its North side and part of the West side. On the South side borders the forest region that was home to the Skaven. The rest I'll leave up to what makes sense based on other players' placements. There is four full on cities, landlocked Serana in the South and Borecta in the East, plus sea-side Oscaran in the North and Albedin in the North-West; in addition to those is at least fifty smaller towns and settlements speckled around randomly across the desert.

• Culture: The Desert Lizardfolk value strength and honor, and look down on magic, as they see it as a crutch; to them, using anything besides your own strength and merit is dishonorable, as such magic is seen as a tool for the weak to gain an unfair and dishonorable advantage. They worship a formless god they call Aei, (pronounced like "aye") whom according to their legends is a former mortal that ascended to godhood through some unspecified, divine accident. The teachings of Aei is that of humble living, and acceptance and tolerance of others' beliefs. They also believe that Aei can possess the body of anyone faithful to Aei that allows Aei to, but according to their legends this hasn't happened for at least a hundred years.

The Skaven meanwhile, value material wealth and lavish living, and fight with whatever advantage they can get, when they bother fighting at all; this often puts them at odds with the Desert Lizardfolk culturally. They also worship their own goddess, the Skaven Broodmother, whom according to their legends is an exiled castaway from the original pantheon. There isn't really any teachings of the Skaven Broodmother; she's just supposedly the mother of all Skaven souls.

The Driders value their independence, but otherwise their values differ too much to generalize. Unlike the Desert Lizardfolk and the Skaven, the Driders are strictly atheistic, choosing not to worship any god, as in their view placing their faith in a god would be diminishing their own independence. This puts them in a cultural clash with both the other races, as the Driders see their religions as inherently foolish.

Despite these cultural clashes, the empire remains solid as all three races, for their own reasons, would rather not devolve into a civil war, and put aside their differences because the desert is harsh enough.

• Military: Being native to an open landscape, and not having mounts to ride into battle, the Desert Lizardfolk have a great emphasis on ranged combat. Their traditional weapons are bows or crossbows, depending on preference and circumstances; when forced to do melee combat, most Desert Lizardfolk will simply go hand to hand, as their scales, claws, teeth, and natural strength are usually enough. (in their opinion) As the Desert Lizardfolk are the most numerous of the empire and the ones comprising the most of the military, this is what is most predominantly used by the empire, but the other two races have brought along their own influences, especially whenever any of their number happen to join the military.

The Skaven brought a different mindset, as their predominant tactic in their native forest is ambush and swarming tactics. The specific weapons matter little to them as a whole, but a usual choice is the spear, as it is easy to produce in great numbers, relatively easy to use, and lets the user stay back a bit from their target.

Living in caves under the desert surface and having the kind of speed of mounted combat inherently, Driders prefer rushing their target and getting up close and personal. Thus the most popular choice among them is swords, though occasionally there will also be a drider wielding a long lance, to use just like a Human horseman would.

As a whole, the empire's military and its guards are synonymous; to them, there is no difference between a soldier and a town guard. Thus any guard of any tiny village is expected to abide the orders of an officer, and are expected to be willing to go to any post, whether it's another village or a war front. Other than this idea of guards = soldiers and all soldiers following the orders of officers superior to themselves, the military of Saudor is somewhat disjointed; each village chieftain assigns their own town guards based on their own criteria and judgement, or calls upon another village (usually one of the cities) to lend extra guards if they cannot obtain enough to their own satisfaction. In the event of a full scale war, the empire's law states that the Emperor will have absolute authority in military matters, and so it will be up to him to either personally lead as general, or assign someone else to do it for him.

And here I thought with my speed lately I'd be one of the last people posting a nation.

edited 26th Apr '15 10:12:13 PM by FirockFinion

Accepted!

Also a reminder that this exists and that I will be posting my own nation soon. Hopefully that will get the creative juices flowing.

I almost completely forgot about this, sorry. Here's my sheet! Very much a WIP, for now.

• Name: The Alliance of the Green Sun.

• Government: Democratic, with a counsel of four "Semidëu" (transliterally, "demigods") being elected based on their piety (one from each city). The candidates from one island can only be voted for by the residents of their island, and each Semidëu represents the interests of their citizens. Each counsel is always made up of two males and two females, and to accommodate this, each island has two final candidates, one of each gender, with the one not used acting as a backup should the current Semidëu die or be forced to leave office prematurely, as well as the next Semidëu once the current one's four years are up.

• Capital: Currently, Venetsiya, also the capital of the Republic of Venetsiya, since it's where all four Semidëu meet. However, the city changes every four years.

• Ruler: The current counsel is Detar Hapësirë, Ajër Shërohem, Tokë Zjarr, and Frymë Hollësi. (Pronunciation guide: ë is pronounced like a short u, and j is pronounced like a y.) They're all well-liked by most everyone, and have enacted some very forward-thinking (for the Alliance) policies.

• People:

• History:

• Infrastructure: There are exactly four cities in the Alliance, one on each island. All are quite well-off

• Geography:

• Culture:

• Military:

Cool.