A Black Legacy

O Lords, o Kings and Heroes, let me sing of the Winter Marshal, Destroyer, Breaker of Kingdoms, Bane of the World. Let me sing of his brother's death, and his unquenchable rage. His unyielding storm raged on, spreading to the corners of the world. His creeping death, born of ice and frost.

Let me sing of the demons that lived in these dark days. The fangs in the night, the terrors in the dark. The Goblin Hordes from the deeps, the Undead Draugr rising from the battlefields. A world without hope, without light, falling prey to monsters.

...And of Heroes. Of warriors, cut from humble or noble cloth. Of their indomitable will, of their fabled might. They arrived, challenging the night, battling the monsters... vanquishing the dark. Day by day, they pushed back, defeating evil wherever it dared to raise its ugly face. Day by day, they earned victory after victory... until the day they amassed before the Winter Marshal.

They won. They saved the world, vanquished all evil. The Heroes came back home, ushering us into an unprecedented Golden Age.

...But I wonder. Oh Kings, does Evil truly end, or does it merely lurk beneath, biding its time? What became of the sons and daughters of those fallen demons and tyrants?

A thousand years ago, the Winter Marshal, he who calls the frost, fell to rage and threatened to destroy the world, Essearnis. The Gods, intervened, empowering humanity in its darkest days with hope, with Heroes. They saved the world from the Marshal's fury, and then, with their divinely gifted might, turned to vanquish all evil, all those that would threaten the safety of mortals.

That was then. Today is yet another day in this world of peace. You live, perhaps in a city, perhaps in a village, or far away from human contact. But, unknown to those around you, perhaps even to yourself, an ancient blood flows through your veins. You are heir to tyrants and demons, to the monsters that once plagued the world before being slain.

The time is now. It will not be denied. After a thousand years, reclaim your Black Legacy.

The long and short of this RP is such: The Heroes won. Their victory was so absolute, they have ushered in a fairy tale ending, one where all evil is gone. You are the descendant of one such evil, be it an archlord of hell or orc warlord, eking out a living. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to reclaim what was once yours, and to wreak your vengeance...

...Or not. Depends on what kind of person you are. Are you driven by the history behind your Legacy?

Here is a map and a character sheet. You might be asking, 'what do I put down under Legacy? Why is this map so shit and useless?' Here are the answers. Legacy refers to what your ancestor was, their stomping grounds, why they were so feared as a villain... so on.

The map is sparse because it's to be filled out as we put our histories together, see how these great monsters shaped the world first, before the RP begins properly. Just note up in the NW corner, was the Winter Marshal's home.

• Name:
• Species:
• Appearance:
• Age:
• Gender:
• Legacy:
• Bio:
• Powers/Abilities:
• Sweg and Items:

—-

Accepted:

Elaine Tosbin

Anastasia 'Annie' Fortier

Tanith Lucia Alastorides Seilson

Vance Serket

Acland Tomsich

Natali

Trania 'Mitha' Cavell

Velnae

Maria Hopkins

Therin Vonquist

edited 3rd Oct '15 5:05:41 PM by HazzyHaz

(Removed, will change the character into something more serious then.)

edited 26th Sep '15 12:10:03 AM by Victor_Skye

I'm interested, assuming that's not the sort of character that would be approved. From the intro I got the impression that this would be dark fantasy.

edited 25th Sep '15 12:08:44 PM by StygianEmperor

Potential interest. Might make a character depending on how many others show interest along with other factors.

Yeah, there's no reason for a laser rifle in a fantasy themed rp. I'm sorry if I didn't convey that properly. Moreover, is this improv weapons thing a talent or a power? Where did he get such a talent? Similarly, how does swearing buff his stamina? I dont get it. Also, what does this demonic transformation exactly entail? Why is Rian's refusal to tranaform an important point? Your bio and legacy can stand to be improved, hopefully to answer my questions and then some more.

Interest.

Meh, I'll think of something up. Since I did sign up early there's a lot of time for it to be fixed anyway.

Since my starting character is still unskilled and weak, can I have a few travelling companions? They'll be less powerful, but they're skilled enough to teach him a thing or two.

edited 25th Sep '15 5:26:17 PM by Victor_Skye

Maybe you could clarify the tone of this game, HazzyHaz. Is it supposed to be that goofy?

edited 25th Sep '15 6:38:03 PM by StygianEmperor

I intend it to be serious. What gave it a comedic tone?

Also nixing the npc idea - rather people play with each other.

Your response to Victor_Skye's character didn't seem to acknoledge how comical he is/was. I wasn't sure whether that was because he was tonally appropriate or if you just didn't realize what he was trying to do.

Anyway, that being the case, I might make something.

edited 25th Sep '15 11:30:32 PM by StygianEmperor

So, like, is there magic or a magic equivalent in this world? Could some random person become a wizard if they studied hard enough? If so, how does it work?

Also, if NPC companions are disallowed, what about small mooks? Like if my dude is the descendant of some kinda goblin king, would it be okay for him to have a small squad of relatively weak goblins as minions? Or if my dude was related to an arch fiend, would it be okay for him to be able to bring back corpses as undead?

Finally, how much leeway do players get as far as world holding goes? Would it be acceptable for me to say, for example, that orcs breed giant dogs to serve as mounts, or that goblins are innately skilled at pyromancy, or that one in a thousand dark elves has the ability to shapeshift into a terrifying man-eating scorpion monster, or that kobolds have discovered steam power?

edited 25th Sep '15 11:58:44 PM by HeroicSociopath

Highly interested, will try evil side for once, even if not a monster.

edited 25th Sep '15 11:58:28 PM by daltar

Magic is what you make of it. Did you harness elemental forces? Make deals with devils? Just have a high innate mana?

Well, if your power is basically minion master, then that could work.

Try to keep it thematic. But otherwise you could do a lot if you explain it. Do the orcs breed angry rabid prairie dogs? Did the night elves make a deal with a scorpion god?

Here's my character, let me know if she needs nerfing.

• Name: Elaine Tosbin
• Species: Human (mostly)
• Appearance: Huh, wonder what's in here.
• Age: 17
• Gender: Female
• Legacy: Far back during the early campaign against the Winter Marshal there was a mad alchemist living on the edge of the north-eastern forest of the Kingdom. He preformed several horrifying experiments the details of which shall not be disclosed here. When the heroes surrounded his layer and trapped him he attempted to turn himself into a chimera of different monsters to destroy the heroes. The formula did not quite work and in his haste to find something else to salvage his attempt, knocked over a volatile mixture, apparently killing him. Unbeknownst to the Heroes he survived and escaped, burned and disfigured but alive. In time he settled down and had a family
• Bio: In modern times Elaine's family has fallen into disgrace. Where once the work of their noble healer ancestor had made them an important part of the town infrastructure, they have had no one with a talent for the medicinal arts in three generations. This has left the teen with a chip on her shoulder for the town people not stepping up to aid her family as they once aided the town. However one day while looking around the basement of her family's home she found a secret room with a cauldron in the center that contained some sort of potion. When she touched it, eager to see what effect it might have, it awoken the power of the alchemist's serum that had been passed down the family line. It was diluted and thus did not give her the full intended power but still gave her the ability to change into several forms. Elaine is still confused by all this, and the scrolls that might explain what is going on to her are written in code. So at the moment she has power but is at a loss for what to do with it.
• Powers/Abilities: Shapeshifting: The potion has given Elaine the ability to shift into different forms based on different monsters. At the moment she only has access to two of the monster ingredients and can only access these forms for five minutes at a time. Also while she retains some of her mind she is affected by the psyche of the monster (i.e. The predatory nature of a werewolf, the blood thirst of a vampire)
  • Werewolf: This form turns her into a Lon Chaney Jr. style werewolf, She has increased strength, agility and healing in this form but none of them as powerful as an actual werewolf would. She is also obviously vulnerable to silver in this shape.
  • Vampire: This refines her features into a more elegant look and gives her several vampiric abilities-the ability to summon fog, controlling small scavenger animals and to sustain herself off of blood. In addition she is vulnerable to all traditional vampire weaknesses.
• Sweg and Items: The scrolls she can't read and a vial of the potion she found.

edited 30th Sep '15 11:31:06 AM by guyshane

Where are the characters starting? What is the inciting event?

Tentatively, I'm thinking you all wake in a jail, followed by assassins. Or some rich guy calls you together to inform you of your task. And then assassins. I'm hoping to solidify our world before firmly deciding.

So would you say the elder Tosbin would be a early/mid boss if this were a game? Also does the vampire form have the traditional weakness to daylight?

edited 26th Sep '15 11:13:02 PM by HazzyHaz

Yes and Yes

• Name: Anastasia 'Annie' Fortier
• Species: human
• Appearance: 5'6" tall with an ottermode build. She originally has blond hair but she dyed it to black, you can still see the blond roots on her hair if you ask her nicely to pull her hood down. She also has blue eyes. She usually wears a black cloak with a leather armor beneath it when she's at 'work'.
• Age: 17
• Gender: female
• Legacy:
  • She is a great great great grand daughter of the most infamous spy named Valerie. She was the inspiration of the nursery rhyme that told of a story that if you don't lock your door, windows and your daddy's super secret stash, your shit will get stolen and your secret will leak. No one even knows what she looks like, not even that few times that someone did catch her but with her slipperiness, she was impossible to apprehend.
  • Valerie was once a spoiled bratty child of a rich merchant family who only concerned about being the most popular girl at the most prestigious school. One day she was super pissed at this rival girl with reasons that Valerie had long forgotten. She went to the nearby tavern in hopes of having fun. She got more than she bargained for when she met an orcish agent who promised her great future and power if she joins his group of mercenary spies called 'Shadow Toms'. Contrary to popular belief, these organizations are actually neutral, they'll just lend their service to those that pay the most but since the goodie goodie kingdom never believe in mercenaries anyway...
  • Well, turns out, over the course of 6 months under secret training with the orcish agent at the forest at the edge of town, Valerie excelled rather well. When she finally got deployed to destroy the rival, she did it in under a month. The rival's family killed themselves with poison the day after they declare bankruptcy with the debt collectors breathing down their neck. No known status of the rival though.
  • In reward of a job well done, she gets to keep 50% of the money she stole but that's not the most significant part of the 'loot'. Valerie found out that she has the talent and the love for stealth and espionage. And that money she stole was the thing that she realized she loved earning the money rather than relying on someone else's bank account. So, she left her own family and join the 'Shadow Toms', and took it one step above by betraying the boss. Soon afterwards, she quickly marry a noble fuccboi picked randomly from a ball and convinced him to set up some false front business and direct investment into her spying company. Over the generations she replaced the other agents with her own children, either when the agents did not come back from an impossible mission or just have them assassinated, especially when they accused Valerie of nepotism or complained of the harder mission ever since Valerie forcibly took over. Her children work on either the store front of their underground business or doing the wet work. And they are pretty damn good at keeping the kingdom paranoid while still stealing their stuff, particularly their heists against the kingdom officials and the cream of the crop nobles, the family took pride from stealing the very best valuables protected by what the nobles claimed to be the best security measures ever created. The family never sells it, however, it's too risky to be selling it in the black market, no matter how much laundering and fencing you put into the equation. Instead they have a secret vault under their mansion where they keep those sorts of treasures solely to display their achievements to themselves and as a reminder of their high standards of thievery and espionage. It included, but not limited to: the king's grand crown, the high princess silver spider necklace that goes from the neck down to the cleavage, the general's pink heart badge, the prince's weed stash, the chief's secret purple drank recipe...
  • But at the fifth generation, the network of spies are slowly being torn down one by one and the family aren't really sure why. However, one of them, Jennifer, knows. She had slept with this young blond chap from a ball lately and he has been pretty nice but one morning, he left first thing in the morning with a note left behind on her bed. It read "Jennifer, I love you, so I suggest exiling yourself from the kingdom when me and my comrades chop down your evil organization." In a combination of fear of getting the blame, the pressure of being the youngest, and most incompetent, member of the generation, and fear, she grabbed her stuff and fled to the forest where she build a small cottage. With a small problem: she's pregnant.
• Bio:
  • At first, the pregnancy and birth was a bit of a bother to Jennifer, especially during the early days when she have to build a cottage by herself going by nothing but a stolen architecture guide to building cottages, not to mention it delayed her plan for a comeback in thievery. But as Anastasia grew up to around 8, Jennifer soon found out that she had a ton of fun bonding with her, like teaching her how to use a bow and arrow for hunting, how to sneak, etc.
  • Anastasia herself was a bit of a wild, rowdy girl, often with a dumb smile on her face even if she got hurt or scolded. She always likes to play rough-housing with her mother, which her mum don't mind as much since she reckoned she could use some exercise now that she's old and relegated herself to cooking and house cleaning as Anastasia go and hunt. Annie also likes to hear the numerous tales of her family's exploits of their thieving/spying days, that always delighted her with suspense and thrill.
  • Then Anastasia's teenage years comes about and she dream big of building her own thieving empire and set up her own network of spies to sell to the overlords, which her mum just think of it as just teenage girl's puberty, to which it annoyed Anastasia to no end, at one point calling her mum a traitor to the family name...until the next morning afterwards when she profusely apologized to her mum.
• Powers/Abilities:
  • Stealth
  • Archery
  • Infiltration
• Sweg and Items:
  • Bow and arrow
  • dagger

edited 28th Sep '15 7:12:39 PM by sgtpendulum

Ah right, I forgot to ask, but does the transformation change Elaine's mentality? Like, we associate werewolves with a bestial rage and hunger, but does Elaine too enter such a state?

I like it. Unfortunately, though, when I was thinking a legacy worthy of inheriting, I was thinking something more grand and lasting than one generation, something for her to eventually inherit. Like, for example, her great-greatx-grandmother being a member of some assassin order, and she kept Sithis's old bones or something. Something like that.

I mean I hadn't really considered that and I would like her to retain at least some of her mental faculties while transformed but it does make sense for her mental state to be affected. Would you like me to edit that in?

Sure, retaining some measure of her mental facilities works - I'm assuming a hunger for blood would exist in the vampiric state as well, then.

Okay, edited in.

Welp, lets see if this application will work for a heir of demonic power.

• Name: Tanith Lucia Alastorides Seilson "Heir of the Fellblood Demons"
• Species: Demon Blooded "Human"
• Appearance: What she is, what she aspires to, how she plans to get there. Basically a young human lady for most of her life, remarkable only by small, bony growth on the back sides of her head which were hidden by her hair anyway. Measuring 1,68 meters of height and weighting 54 kilograms, with a slender, healthy build, beauty and grace she was a lovely young woman with a secret passed down the generations. The blood of a slain and sealed Demon Lord which when awakened will bring her great power... turning her blue eyes red and granting her a chance to change the world.
• Age: 23
• Gender: Female
• Legacy: Tanith is none other than the Heir of the Fellblood Demons, the Alastorides Family and its last great ruler, Malstor Alastorides. Malstor was a powerful Demon Lord who besides ruling an aspect of the lower planes managed to get a foothold on the Mortal Realm... holding onto a small realm of his own for decades before being slain. The Fellblood clan was renowned besides for their power by the potency of their blood and pacts... their corrupting presence and way of rulership making it hard for the heroes of justice to completely wipe out their presence where they took root. Malstor himself had quite a number of human hybrid heirs before he was brought down... which is why, beyond just destroying him the mighty Clerics and Paladins of Good Sealed the power of the the Alastorides, vanishing away their presence and corruption from the land. The followers of demonkind were chased and purged... however, the taint was cast wide. And now, so long ago since the death of Malstor the seal placed upon his blood has finally vanished... His tainted blood and power searching far and wide for the most direct inheritor to his power. This, just happens to be Tanith Lucia Seilson... his human descendant who by the power of the Fellblood magic has been marked as Heir of the Alastorides.
• Bio: Tanith Lucia Seilson was born to humble beginnings, mother and father living in a small village by the hills, a quiet community of farmers and shepherds away from most problems in the world. A clever and gifted girl, born of great health she had a completely normal childhood except for a tradition carried on by her mother's family since a few generations... that of religiously tending and studying a black, leather bound tome... memorizing every line and speaking out every verse... despite it being written in a language none of them understand. Regardless this tradition carried on and every member of the bloodline did it without complaining or questioning it. Tanith was a clever and kind hearted girl... one that came to love her village and the life she was given... and eventually, as she grew, the whole world on which she lived. Studying as a herbalist in her village she eventually learned all she could of the plants and knowldge of the hills and bid her family goodbye to travel the land and expand her knowledge... getting accepted by herbalists out there to study with them and act as apprentice for a few seasons. In this way, Tanith came to know the world and expand her knowledge... however, as she did something about the way society works seemed iffy to the young woman. She met so many people seemingly content to sacrifice her dreams to society... to their station. Peasants with hardly a chance to be more in life... Some haughty nobles that had hardly deserved the riches and fortune trust upon them and which took them for granted. These facts made her iffy despite she being born in such societies... it should be elemental... and yet, seeing such weak rulers always gave her a bad feeling. That is however... until so very recently, when the seal on the Alastorides family was finally broken by time. The powerful demonic magic was finally torn free, flowing through the ancient bloodline... through the binding will of Malstor and his dominion, awakening the sleeping blood of the Alastorides in his heirs... and foremost in Tanith... the youngest of his most direct bloodline. Tanith was changed by this awakening... as her very essence, soul and blood were dyed in the colors of her demonic ancestry... the very magic giving her the ability to speak, write and understand the Dark Tongue... and suddenly, her mind was flooded with the knowledge contained in her tome... her grimoire. So much knowledge committed to memory by the command spell of Malstor upon his descendants, suddenly made fully clear. She learned her true history... the truth of her bloodline, the nature of demons, the realm of her ancestor and her possible abilities... as well as martial and magical knowledge. Tanith was reborn... much more powerful than the simple herbalist she was before... though still but a demon blooded human. To recover the lost power of Malstor she'll need to prove herself... and slowly grow into the promised power of the Fellblood Demons. Only then can she truly be called the heir of the Alastorides. Her worldview was tainted... her love of the world and everything within it was shifted into a desire to own and rule over. Her empathy and mercy were to be selectively applied... and she was granted a thirst for power... a new worldview where she should have no limits. Where she is free to carve a path for herself... and those who come to her side. Thankfully, her demonic nature was also tainted by her human experiences... for she wishes to rule, and rule well... to own but not destroy and make miserable those underneath her. Now... Tanith must work hard to live up to the Legacy thrust to her shoulders.
• Powers/Abilities:
  • Herbalism and a life as a normal human: Before her awakening, Tanith was a clever young herbalist, with a keen understanding and knowledge of most plant life and their applications in medicine or other means. She also traveled for a fair bit of the human realm on which she resided, developing some domestic skills.
  • The Corrupting Fellblood: The trait of her family of demons, their specialty and signature ability. A trait manifesting in the potency of their blood and spirit, causing demonic corruption to linger longer and be stronger in effects. Firstly, it is by it that even after being sealed for so long and over many generations Malstor's descendants were able to awaken to their demonic heritage. As Tanith increases in power however, she'll be able to bring it to bear... increasing her magical power, calling upon power from the Lower Realms and more importantly... exerting her corrupting influence. By making blood pacts, she'll be able to empower and bind those who pledge themselves to her cause with demonic power... however, even without a blood pact if she becomes strong enough she'll be able to exert her corrupting, demonic power over others... people, animals, monsters, beasts and the very environment and things. Bonding them to become a separate part of her increasingly powerful being, part of her household... materials being touched and enhanced lightly be demonic power, moving by her very will and convenience, creatures made darker and subservient to her whims, her own familiars... and people having it harder to disobey her as they become part are tainted by her power. Of course, Holy Power and the stronger or greater the entity to take over the harder it would be for her to affect it. Beings stronger than her are right out unless they are beaten down fully. Additionally, this power will grow with Tanith, as she is, she can't completely control the Fellblood in herself, being unable to affect anyone else. Most she can do when she becomes a bit stronger will be creating small animal familiars by affecting rats, cats and bird and perhaps making a blood pact with one who wishes it.
  • Demonic Might and Power: As a demon seeking dominion and power, Tanith exercises both might and magic... thus not specializing in one but instead becoming adept in both and complementing her power with applications of each. Tanith's body by being flooded with her demonic magic became stronger than the baseline human, more resilient and quicker to heal. Additionally, by making use of her reserves of magic and spirit she can further empower her body becoming an adept athlete and warrior by her combination of equipment, enhanced physical attributes and the combat knowledge inside of the grimoire she studied all of her life. The more she tests herself and she grows in power, the more she can enhance herself... and the more she dabbles in becoming a true demon the more her physical abilities will increase. She may one day grow her proper horns, tail and be able to bring out wings at will.
  • Fiendish Cunning and Magic: As a demon seeking dominion and power, Tanith exercises both might and magic... thus not specializing in one but instead becoming adept in both and complementing her power with applications of each. Tanith's mind became enhanced, making her more cunning and quick of wit than she was before, capable of memorizing great amounts of information. Additionally... with the awakening of her demonic blood she gained access to magic... both with her blood bond to her ancestor's realm and dominion as well as a wellspring of power on her very soul... fueled by both her demonic nature and her sense of self and ego, the source of wickedness and demonic power, selfishness her very strength of character. With this power she can enhance her physical attributes... or make use of the spells in her grimoire, a lot of knowledge and theory of magic, both arcane and demonic housed in her mind from her previous studies. She knows a few spells but it's up to her to increase her repertoire and grow in arcane might by drawing power from pacts, from increasing her own personality and ego, acquiring artifacts and new spells from her studies and the like.
• Items:
  • Dark Blade - Eleriantes: A weapon Tanith never realized was just within her grasp all of her life, right inside of her body. A piece of Malstor's magnificent weapon, also destroyed with its owner, Elerian. The Eleriantes are inferior copies made by fragments of the original power... given to his heirs and lieutenants. The weapon true form is that of a shifting spell of great power, feeding and manifesting through the Fellblood. When given the piece of the spell, the weapon manifests through the users' blood and magic, appearing as a mark somewhere in their body before being called forth... on which moment the spell takes the shape of whichever weapon the user requires it to be. The strength of the blade depends on the demonic energy and development of the user... once destroyed it simply returns to them until it is called forth again by expending more power. Tanith's blade mark appears on the back of her right hand shaped like three sharp angles originating around a point.
  • Dark Grimoire - Golgar: Tanith's trusty book of demonic knowledge, the tome she studied all of her life by the will of an ancestor she never knew... the origin of all the experience she'll need in order to bring forth her fantasies. Upon being fed by the awakening power of a heir, the dark grimoire passes from being a mere vulnerable book into a magical item. It has enough space to record as many information as Tanith wishes it to, writing upon its pages on its own by her will or words, wildly useful as a spellbook for one starting to dabble in the magic arts. It also serves as a nice focus for magical energy and adquires a property like that of Eleriantes, able to meld into Tanith's flesh in the form of a square mark on the back of her left hand. It also contains information of the Fellblood demons and rituals... so that if she ever becomes stronger than those bound by ancient rites in the demonic realms she may become capable of summoning her own minions from it. Finally, the grimoire has a small extra dimensional space within it, where Tanith may store for now up to a closet full of items to pull right from the book.
  • Heritage of the Herbalist: By the time Tanith turned she had to her name a white herbalist cloak, some savings and money for travel, a full kit of herbalism, some books, her identification, a memento from home, writing utensils, a journal, a traveling kit, cauldron, bedroll and some changes of clothes.

edited 28th Sep '15 1:01:09 AM by daltar

How would you envision Tanith reclaiming more and more of her power, by finding ancient Alastorides artifacts? Further, where were the Alastorides' holdings and lands located?

Updated my profile.

So Tanith wants to be flat-chested?