This is an Original Story Role Playing Guild, without any basis in any current cannon. I have tried to design an easy and involving combat system that can be picked up and used with very little trouble. This allows for an environment without god modding, but also doesn't bog you down too much with a hard to learn system. I hope you will all have fun designing unique and interesting characters in this world!
Rules
I know, everyone hates this part, but bear with me. I don't strap down my RPs with too many rules. So just give a read through real quick so you can tell right away if you feel like you will jive with us in this environment.
1 ) Gaia ToS. Follow it, of course. It is a simple thing to ask.
2 ) No One Liners. Period. I am sorry guys, but it isn't too hard to get down at least 5 sentences right? I am not saying everyone has to write enormous, detailed posts, but I just want to see you guys trying! Push yourself to be better writers, always! =]
When you are requesting to join this guild, please include a brief example of your roleplay. I don't mind if you've copy-pasted it from a current RP, just show me a bit of what you can do! =]
2b ) Similar to the no one liner problem, I also wanted to take special note of people who might also try to drone on for thousands of words a post, writing about their childhood birthday party when you are sixteen years in the future, fighting for your life. Everyone wants to enjoy the stat system and also enjoy RPing together without needing to read endless posts that don't have anything to do with what's happening.
If I notice a massive amount of fluff in posts, or it is being complained about, I will warn you and try to help you cut back the unnecessary stuff. But, if it doesn't eventually end, it can end in banning. Similar to the one liners. Not saying RP can't be extraordinarily lengthy, and some people love that, but I'm looking for moderation here, so everyone finds enjoyment in their groups, and nobody feels like they can't keep up with the word counts, or simply don't want to trudge through them.
The system is here to have fun with, but lets not abuse it just because we can! Thanks all!!
3 ) No godmodding! This RP will have a small stat-based system to create an environment where godmodding is impossible, but you can also decide to fight in a non-stat RP fight where lives aren't on the line. Nobody is forced to use the combat system if they do not wish to. But, when clear discrepancies arise, or someone feels godmodding is taking place, then it will be addressed severely.
4 ) Cussing is fine, real people cuss sometimes, for the most part, but try not to make every other word some sort of swear. Keep it to an embellishment, not a staple. There might be kids around or whatnot, so let's try our best not to be too too crude.
5 ) When using images for your characters, try not to use the same images that are used in every RP and you have already seen a hundred thousand times. Try digging up some stuff you haven't seen before, and you might just find yourself creating a much more fun and original character just based off the new character look. Pinterest and Deviantart are always good places to look! If I receive a profile with a picture I have seen a hundred times, I will cry. I won't make you re-do your profile, but you will have broken my heart a little.
6 ) I would like for this to live on for a considerable time, if possible. But to do so, we need to remain active to a certain extent. I'm not asking for a post every single day. I get that is crazy. But at least a post a week. Nobody likes waiting for any longer than that, and taking decades to move their stories and characters. If you don't post for longer than that, and you're in a group RP, your character may be passed / moved into their own personal RP until you can rejoin your group actively.
7 ) There will be no posting in this RP until your profile has been accepted, so please don't join up and just start posting. Except for the OOC, that is a different story. Post away on the OOC any time you like! =]
8 ) When you send your join request for the guild, please include the word 'Snicklefritz' so I know you read the rules. Why that word? Science.
9 ) When you join up, please try to familiarize yourself with the others who you are roleplaying with. I don't expect you to commit every back story to memory, but at least give a look, so you understand a little bit about them or are a bit informed.
10 )Blank came up with the entire concept of this RP, and his word is law. Thank you.
World and Story
It has been three hundred forty eight years, five months, and sixteen days since magic arrived in the Gantian atmosphere.
Before this event, Ganti was barely an iron age world. The more advanced civilizations had begun to craft some remarkable tools and basic mechanical systems, but nothing that was usable without manpower. Several tribes and young nations regularly contested for control of the resources, and the land itself. It was in a rut that many civilizations across many worlds find themselves facing at one time or another. The resources were plentiful, however--the gold and silver being abundant enough to sustain an economy based on their trade. There is a set, universal weight-to-value trade system in place. This means that any trader, exchanging goods for a cost, will carry a simple tool made up of a small plate dangled from one's finger, and a small gauge attached to the fastenings that reads the downward pull, and thus the weight of the substance placed within it. As such, no currency exists beyond the actual raw material.
The High Elves, Humans, and Felis--a breed of humanoid bipedal felines with heightened senses, reflexes, and lifespans--find themselves in comfortable positions in the global caste, though the Geld are at the top of the societal pecking order--a race of half-giants who stand an imposing average of eight feet tall. They have a certain vitality that can almost be viewed by the naked eye, coming across as a translucent shimmer around their person. Their reflexes are as striking as their features, and their second pair of arms (sprouting just below the armpit location of a normal human) can be concealed and summoned forth from their bodies at will, making them dangerous foes. At the bottom of the societal standing, you'd find the Kobold (bipedal humanoid looking dragon-spawn with the bodies of men and the features of their draconic ancestors) and the Dark Elves, or Drow.
Ganti is a Polar planet. Two large masses of land surrounding the top and bottom of the spherical world. The entire central band was one massive ocean separating the two sides in a full ring around the world. The northern pole was the continent of Bast and the southern pole was the continent of Vayle. Both places shared similar climates. The closer you went toward the pole, the colder and more inhospitable the weather would become. The coast of each continent, being around 60% of the way to the equator, was warm, but not extraordinarily hot. Though, islands throughout the ocean are said to have incredibly tropical climates.
Bast is home to the High Elves, Humans, Felis, and Geld. These four races are often in contention for power and control of more resources. As such there are often small wars and skirmishes that shake the continent. Travel to the southern continent is rare, as it is known as a savage land of murderers and monsters. The general knowledge of Vayle, in Bast, is that the Kobold and Drow come from there, and that they are violent, uncivilized people who live by survival of the fittest, and fight every day to see their next. This, of course, is a skewed history deployed by the noble houses of Bast to deter their subjects from seeking lands in the South. If they thought the land savage and inhospitable, they would not attempt to leave and establish their own separate houses. This history and ideology ran deep through Bast for centuries. As such, the few people who managed to ship themselves across the ocean to attempt to find a life in Bast, from Vayle, end up in chains, as slaves, or worse.
Vayle was the homeland of the Kobold people, as well as the Drow. Though you can find other races here, it is rare for those from Bast to travel down to Vayle, and as such, the racial diversity is quite low. Those who have migrated will find themselves subject to both adoration and hatred. Some see the Bastian people as dignified and noble, regardless of the actual position in society they held. Some think automatically that they will look down upon them. This is, of course, due to the reports of their people being slaves to them. This way of life over centuries even instilled the idea of inferiority into many of the Kobold or Drow people. They, however, have an incredibly vibrant crafting industry, and it is here that the world's turn would begin, though nobody would see the gears grind. The Kobold people ran an expansive mining operation, and were extremely good at unearthing rare minerals, gems, and up until the time of magic, they were finding more and more artifacts of an old world, buried within the earth, swallowed by the ground itself. It was a Drow nobleman by the name of Kanus Graytide that stumbled upon a village of Kobold studying these strange artifacts. Magic had once lived deep inside this world, but no man, woman, or child had seen it in ages. The ebony skinned elf who looked upon the ramshackle pile of oddities, and twisted his features into a smirk, however, knew there was something more to these things. Something more, that would one day make him King Kanus, the Graytide of War.
When magic came to our shores--the change was not apparent right away. A shimmer in the sky could be seen--similar to the phenomena viewed around a Geld's body. However, this shimmer was dressed in every color of the rainbow. On occasion it would seem to snow light--little pieces of illumination falling through the sky and vanishing when it hit the ground. These things were seen as omens and signs, but nobody knew the nature of the energy that had once more washed over their world. Magic was so foreign to the Gantian people, now, that they could no longer recognize its presence. After several years, however, the world took a sudden and abrupt turn. Earthquakes became common-place, and the currents in the ocean seemed to thrash and throw themselves wildly. The Bastian people thought judgement had been thrown upon them, and perhaps the end of times had begun. However, in Vayle, they had a much clearer view of the situation.
Within a year of the initial illuminated rains, the Vaylian people had seen a massive increase in activity within their mines. They were not only experiencing seismic activity, but there were mineral deposits that were beginning to come to life. Previous areas where they had begun unearthing the strange artifacts were experiencing chunks of strange minerals compounding themselves and forming into constructs. These were soon referred to as Golems. The Golems moved swiftly, and with absolutely no remorse. Surely, by the time that the Golems had fully awoken, the relics that the Kobold and Drow had amassed had already reacted to the magic in the air and earth around them, and King Kanus has quickly thrown every resource into discovering their uses. By the end of the first year of illuminated rains, King Kanus had an army of relic-armed soldiers. They had prepped stepping stones--magical rocks that once broken in two, could be set leagues apart. With a magic relic's touch, and a specified word to insight the effect, one would be transported from one stone to the next instantaneously. He loaded his soldiers, leaving many stepping stones on his own land's shore with him, and instructing every boat to carry at least five of the opposite halves. This way, if anything happened, most of the soldiers should have the ability to join hands and transport back home before the ship sinks. If any boats made it to the opposite shore, they would plant their stones, and the entire army would have a seamless transport to their new lands--ripe for conquest. The Drow Republic waged a bloody campaign across the Bastian coast. They cook many lives, and stole many lands. King Kanus, the Graytide of War was born on these bloody nights.
This war raged for over two hundred years--the Drow and Kobold gaining forces from Bast, and Bast gaining Vaylian forces as well. Bast would push the Vaylians back to their own shores, and then they would push right back, only to claim new lands. This all changed when the Golems came to full awakening. The golems, while the Vaylians and Bastians fought, were busy digging deeper into the Kobold mines. Deep down into the pits of Ganti. It was there they found their God. This massive source of Golem minerals was their master. The Alpha and Omega. It called itself Icarus, for it had flown too close to the sun, and been buried inside its own world for centuries. It took only six days for the golems to crush the entire Drow Republic, pinning them from behind and destroying them from the inside. They had successfully gathered while the Drow and Kobold were either distracted, or on enemy territory. The war was ended so quickly that no race knew what to do with themselves. The new threat appeared so fast, and with such decisive force, that the Drow and Kobold had no choice but to throw down their arms and claim refugee status in the Bastian lands. They have bot been forgiven for their actions, and the two races face heavy social persecution and unfair judgement--even those who were not involved in the war.
The Bast continent has even steadily increased the knowledge and production of usable artifacts under the tutelage of some of the Drow artificers, and their infrastructure and crafting skills have also wildly increased with the Kobold's instruction. It took a long time--over a century, before things started to become more and more amicable. The races slowly bound themselves closer and closer together as they safeguarded Bastian borders and ensured that they were not breached by the Golem threat. In the most recent years, they have even erected an organization that is dedicated to the use of relics in the hands of specialized soldiers called the KinsGuard. This organization faces the threat of intercepting the more and more frequent Golem skirmishes across the Bastian borders, and also to infiltrate the Vaylian continent and observe and obtain any sort of information regarding the Golem's actions or preparation.
Will you rise up as a KinsGuard, and reclaim the lost continent? Will you rake in a fortune as a King's bodyguard? Will you join the Golems in exchange for power and relics beyond your wildest dreams? Only time shall tell.
wheninvegas