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The Holy Shriah, Maithanet, has declared a Holy War on the heaten nations of the Fanim. All the great and lesser names of the Three Seas have gathered together, for glory, honor, and to reclaim the sacred city Shimeh, birthplace of the latter prophet Inri Sejenus. Rumor even has it that Maithanet has convinced one of the blashpemous schools of sorcery to march with the Holy War. However, all is not as it seems. Various factions, are working to bend the Holy War towards their own ends.
Welcome to the land of the Three Seas. This RPG is based around the events of the Prince of Nothing trilogy, written by R. Scott Bakker. While forknowledge of the setting is not necessary, I highly recommend you go out and read these books anyway, as they are really quite outstanding. As with the books, this RPG will focus on the events of the holy war. While I intend to follow the progression of the original story as much as possible, if events in the RPG diverge enough from the original storyline, I will of course allow the divergence to continue; after all, that's what makes this sort of thing interesting.
Here's a brief overview of the factions involved in the storyline:
--The Thousand Temples: Led by the Holy Shriah Maithanet, the Thousand Temples follow the teachings of the Sacred Tusk, and the Latter Prophet, Inri Sejenus. The God of the Thousand Temples has many aspects, and while it is considered to be a single entity, the various aspects are usually worshipped individually. The Thousand Temples maintains a large preisthood, as well as a standing army known as the Shrial Knights.
--The Great and Lesser Names: The nobility of the Three Seas, by right of blood. Most of the Great Names are kings or princes of their respective lands, and the bulk of the holy war is made up of their Armsmen. The Lesser Names are still nobility, but often hold little more than their titles. While many of the Names have come to the Holy War out of Piety, many have come for other, less noble reasons. Players will not be allowed to play as Great Names, though they may play as their vassals or as Lesser Names. Should the RPG be approved, I will make more complete descriptions of the various countries these people come from.
--The Nansur Empire: Led by Emperor Ikurei Xerius III, the Empire has a well deserved reputation for greed. They openly wish to use the Holy War as a means to regain lands held by the heathens for centuries.
--The Sorcerous Schools: The various Schools are an interesting lot. While a sorceror of rank could decimate an army single-handedly, they have a curious weakness- the Chorae, or Tears of God. Any person who casts practical magic will slowly and painfully turn to salt if even brushed by a Chorae. Additionally, any person or object in physical contact with a Chorae becomes immune to the direct effects of sorcery, though they can still be affected indirectly, such as by having a ceiling pulled down onto them. Fortunately for the schools, the Chorae are extremely rare and considered hugely valuable. If this vulnerability weren't enough, the Sacred Tusk decries all sorcerors as blasphemers and damned. While the majority of Inrithi tolerate the presence of sorcerors, it is often with fear and distrust. As with the Names, I'll go into more detail on the various schools should the RPG be approved.
--The Fanim: Followers of the Prophet Fane, they believe in a single deity; they think the god-aspects of the Inrithi to be demons, and repudiate the teachings of Inri and The Tusk. Led by the Padirajah and his Grandees, the Fanim currently occupy most of the south-eastern Three Seas.
--The Scylvendi: Amazingly violent and unpredictable, the Scylendi Tribes are nomadic and live on the vast Northern Steppe. They treat outsiders as little more than potential slaves or tributes to their dead deity, and will defend their territory against any incursion swiftly and violently. In fact, the few times the Scylendi Tribes have wholly banded together, their prowess and might on the field of battle have been unmatched.
--The Consult: Descendants of a race known as the Inchiroi, most people of the Three Seas know of the Consult but believe them to be merely legend as they haven't operated openly in more than three centuries. Over two thousand years ago, the Consult brought about the creation of the No-God, Mog Pharau, and began what evetually came to be known as The First Apocalypse. Though eventually destroyed, the No-God and the armies of the Inchiroi almost completely wiped out humanity and left the north a desolate waste where very few dare to live. Now the Consult work in secret, creating various fell creatures. Their Sranc, vicious lizard-like humanoids, freely roam the wastes of the north. More frightningly, perhaps, are the recently discovered skin-spies: creatures that look human, but their faces are actually fists that can be reshaped into the almost perfect likeness of anybody. While I will allow players to play this faction, they will be made privy to many spoilers for the novels so it may be best for a person who has yet to read the trilogy to avoid making a Consult character.
--The Dunyain: While a person who has read the trilogy would know that the Dunyain are at the very center of the story, I will not go into them here, beyond saying that this faction is not allowed to players for storyline reasons and due the absurd power level of these characters.
Should this RPG be accepted, character submissions will be done both publically and via PM. The reason for this is to allow for information that is not public knowledge to be factored in. For instance, any character that is a consult skin spy will be able to act much more convincingly without the other players having metagame knowledge of the fact.
One final note is that this RPG will be handled very seriously. A war is not a laughing matter, and characters *can* die, though of course I will try to avoid this as long as players aren't doing anything exceptionally risky or stupid. Player killing that is done without a good reason will result in various repercussions depending on the situation. Don't expect to get away with murder here.
This isn't to say that characters can't crack the occassional joke; people in stressful situations often resort to humor as a way to relieve anxiety. Just use common sense on when it would and would not be appropriate.
...Okay, this submission has gone on waaaaay too long but lemme know what you guys think.
If you're okay with me starting it up, I'll gladly chip in the money to buy the suboforum for it. Honestly, I feel kinda weird being part of the crew without having a RPG to mod. Heh.
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