Welcome to Gaia! ::

((The original idea was to do it in Barton Town and taunt people with its not-open-ness. Stupid Matt and his good ideas!))

You stand before Archbishop Madius, of the Holy Order of P'tarch. He smiles down at you, patting your shoulder. You think to yourself 'This is the most powerful man in all of the world? The leader of the most powerful religion and God's own mouthpiece? This wrinkled, broken old man?'

He mutters to himself, blessing you. "Welcome," he says, "To the Holy Order of P'tarch. As you know, our religion, the one, true religion, has spread fast and wide. God's hand now blankets nearly all of the realm, and we are converting more every day. And who can blame the poor people? In these times of uncertainity, with plagues and maddness abound, who wouldn't want the safety and security of our Church? However, the common man has no idea of the plight or Order truely faces.

We fight for the souls of all mankind, against those who would seek to corrupt them and send our familes spiraling to the depths of Hell itself!" He stands, impassioned, and it is easy to see the man he once was, "Monsters! Witches and warlocks! Horrors that the mind of man was not meant to know! We fight them all, and still they come!"

He sits again, staring at you. "As you know, our Order is composed of three main fractions, in our fights against heresy and evil. What you might not know, is that they serve a second purpose. They do not just root out human evils, oh no. They seek out the vilest of the vile, the most disturbing and disgusting that the world has to offer. They are all that stand between us and all that goes against God and man. They alone protect us from the evils that have oozed up from the bowels of Hell.

"The Pilgrims are the holiest of the holy. They are our healers, our protectors, our wellwishers. You may have heard rumours that they are weak. Disregard them. The Pilgrims serve an important role in our order. They may not have the will to fight, but if not for them, than who would pick up the pieces afterwards?

"The Crusaders are our warriors. They have the spirit of God in them, and defend our homes and lives from those who seek to corrupt them. When people think of our Order, the Crusaders are often those that spring to mind. The power of God flows through them, providing them with the strength to smite those that profane His world. They protect our homes and also take the fight to the agents of the Fiend themselves.

"Finally, we have the Inquisitors. Inquisitors are people who have been called upon to preform many different tasks. There are those that seek out the truths that God has left for us to find. Some pass judgement and sentence on those that blasphamy. And then there are those that extract confessions from the guilty, and redeem them as necessary. Some think that the Inquisitors are devils, the Fiend himself in men's flesh, but this is simply not the case. The Inquisitors preform a very holy role in our Order. It is said that God Himself speaks through the Inquisitors, but I do not know if this is true. Perhaps one day we shall find out."

He stops, to take a few short breaths. The long speech has winded the old man. "Then...there are those that I take under my personal wing. Those that show such...promise, that I personally guide them in the ways of the Father. They preform many secret roles in our Order...roles that none save myself know of. Perhaps you will be one of these most holy priests? You have shown promise..." He smiles at you, chilling you slightly.

"Now...I will ask you to pick a role for our Holy Order, a way for you to serve Mother Church and Father God. You have been chosen for your...unique abilities and attunement to God. Choose, my child, and be reborn."

((Hello and welcome the the Dark Ages: The Order RP. As of now, this is a CLOSED RP, but, if this setting looks intriguing to you, don't worry. As soon as I get enough g for a guild, I will be expanding the world and opening it to the general public. Right now, it is still in a 'test drive' phase with me and my friends. So, take heart! Soon, a highly detailed and ever expanding RP world will be available on Gaia.

First, to clear up a few things and set down some ground rules.

What this is: Dark Ages is a midieval role play set against the backdrop of an intricate, evolving fantasy world. While this world may have its roots in our own Middle Ages history, it deviates severly from our traditional history. Hidden from the eye of the average person, mysterious events our occuring. Ancient, magickal races are stirring again, and the ruling church, and the mysterious order within, are engaging in a hidden war with them. In this RP, you will take the role of a newly initated member of the Holy Order of P'tarch.

What this is NOT: This is not the World of Darkness and, more imporantly, this isn't Hunter. There are many similarities, but also many differences. To say that I was not heavily influenced by White Wolf WoD would be a lie. However, this does not take place in the WoD proper. If you really need to relate it to the WoD, consider this an 'alternate' setting of some sort, with its own set of rules and regulations.

This is also not, in any way, historically accurate. I make no pretense of having any idea about what the hell I'm talking about. Some things may coincide with historical events, but, for the most part, don't look for any of this in the history books.

The Rules: As always, basic Gaia RP rules apply. If you don't know 'em, go look 'em up. Ignorence is no excuse.

As for RP specific rules...well, I'm making them a little more concrete than your usual forum RP. Characters have set limitations that they cannot excede. Your characters are mortal. Play them as such.

As for Gifts that the Order bestoys upon its acolates, there are rules that dictate them, as well. It's heavily based off of the Hunter rules, with a character Virtues/Vices pointing him or her (the Order does not discriminate when it comes to warm bodies to throw in harm's way) toward the Gifts he or She can take.

The Virtues/Vices are as such:

Pilgrims
-Mercy (Healers and guiders of the soul)
-Zeal (Defenders against evil)
-Godliness (Missionaries, spreading the word of God, even to people who don't wish to hear it)

Crusaders
-Zeal (Aggresive attackers)
-Mercy (Staunch defenders. Not that this does not mean they are necessarily nice.)
-Fervour (Nutcases. Angry, angry people who will not stop until all forms of evil are destroyed)

Inqusitiors
-Zeal (Judges)
-Fervour (Executioners)
-Godliness (Witnesses)

Zealots (the Archbishop's 'specials')
-Zeal (Like Crusader/Fervour, but less friendly)
-Fervour (INSANELY aggresive and dedicated to destroying all forms of unholiness, even where there isn't any)
-Heresy (Secret, secret, insane. This branch might not even exist.)

When you choose a role in the Order, you MUST choose a Virtue to go along with it. This dictates how your character acts and, also, what Gifts he or she will learn.

For now, instead of listing a concrete, solid list of Gifts to chose from, I'm letting you guys make up your own. If you need help, I'm always ready.

Now, send me you chara info with the following info:

Chara Name:
Appearence:
Role:
Virtue:
Starting Gift:
Bio:

Once everyone gets on, we'll get started! Thanks, everyone, and let's have a fun time and tell some good stories!))

((Update 15/3/05

Regarding Time-Stamping

'Time-Stamping' is used when something happens that your character might be involved in, but you were not able to attend. For example, if we happen to be in a battle and you're off at the dentist's, you could insert your action at a certain point. You would just put at the top of your post 'Time-Stamp: Before Nostrum is hit with a brick' or something similar. This gives you a chance to participate in the action even though you were unavailable to do anything at the time it happened.

However, please don't abuse this feature to god-mode your chara or anything like that. We all know that's wrong, so don't do it.))

Chara Name: Silver

Appearence: Short Purple hair, with Lavander colored eyes, she has a tattoo over her left eye, it looks like a dark blue curved dagger and above that, above her eyebrow is a twelve sided star.

Role: Pilgrim

Virtue: Zeal

Starting Gift: Water ((thnx!)) (Can be used as a healing and fighting gift.)

Bio: I came to serve the Gods and learn more from this holy place so as to better protect human kind........and whatever else needs protectin'

Prelude: Silver grew up in a respected family, she had only two siblings, both brothers, and they both wanted to be warriors, and protect human kind. Silver being the only daughter was expected to follow a different path, she was expected to become a lady and marry a noble, but she wanted to be just like her brothers and learn to fight and use magic just like them. Her and her parents would argue all the time, but normally it was her parents who won in the long run, but she found ways to get out of her parents pushy ways of making her wear dresses and learn to be proper. She was able to find someone who could teach her how to fight using different weapons, her favorite being the long bow. This teacher also taught her how to fight hand to hand, and with magic, he being a somewhat mage, was able to teach her how to harness elemental powers. Silver was able to use the element water for all sorts of uses, she became very skilled in being a Pilgrim, but at the same time in being a lady, although she hated the edicate(sp?) courses by day she found them useful, and her balance and posture benefitted from it. When she reached the age of sixteen, she decided she could take living under her parents house anymore, plus her training as a lady and a Pilgrim were coming to an end, she decided that she should get out while the going was good. So she left by means of night and a second story window, and was never seen again by anyone from her former home. She traveled for many years building her skills and gaining new weapons and armor, she found faith in God and had been working for the churches ever since.

((I hope this will work til' I get more descriptive lol!))

((I really don't want to screw this up sweatdrop ))

*A lone figure walks amongst the trees, her eyes shifting from side to side on the lookout for anything that may pose a threat. Just ahead The Holy Order of P'tarch stands before her. She feels releaved at its presence, but she still keeps her sword ready in her gauntlet grip. As she approaches the gates she lessens her grip on her sword, her bow across her chest, and her quiver full of arrows, some not the same as others. She had been replenishing her supply of arrows by stealing or releaving them from her enemies dead or dieing corpses. It had taken her almost four months to get here.*

*As she came up next to the gates she sheathed her sword and waited patiently for someone to notice her.*

((Hows that for a slice of fried gold?))

*Silver walks to him and bows before the man.*

"Forgive me Lord, I had hoped to be here sooner, but weather had delayed my journey."

*She remains bowing until she is told other wise.*

*Silver stands listening intently.*

"I did not see any lord, but then again I did not take the roads."

*She stood by his side curious as to what her future might hold for her here.*

*Silver bowed her head at Veldt and looked towards the cottage.*

"Thank you Lord."

*She went towards the little shack looking thing, opened the door and went inside.*

((Class time.))

Name: Father Sirius McConner
Appearance: He has shaggy graying black hair and a neatly cut beard and moustache. He wears a black cloak, priest's collar and a silver cross hung by a chain around his neck.
Role: Inqusitior
Virtue: Fervour
Gift: Wrath (can 'empower' his arrows so that they explode on impact.)
Bio: Father Sirius McConner was born and raised under the teachings of the Venderton church. Unfortunately, the church in which he is with is one that is still under heavy controversy about its 'unorthodox' way of handling things. Sinners of the church were commonly put to death. Sirius is one of the church's agents who 'take care' of the blasphemers that do not give themselves willingly. After hearing news of the Archbishop's 'proposal', Sirius was chosen to go directly and punish the wicked that threaten their beliefs. Father McConner is very good at what he does but unfortunately, the years of dealing with peasants and other low-level 'targets' has built up a rather formidable ego in Sirius. He has the tendency to actually think himself immortal and 'God's personal warrior'. The cold hard truth, however, is he is no more immortal than the peasants, or priests, or even the lowly rats.

Veldt nodded to him. "Ah! Father Sirus! You've finally arrived. I've been expecting you." He clasped his hand over his chest, making a 'clunk' sound as it hit his armour. "We're pleased that you've finally decided to join our little...Order, here."