The long version *takes a deep breath*:
Quote:
A long time ago, somewhere between 2 or 3 thousand years ago, there was an ancient civilization. We call these people 'the Ancients'. They're worth talking about in the beginning because they started everything. They created a form of technology far advanced than our own, using magic as a key element. This Mystic Technology made them incredibly powerful. But all that power did not stop their own apocalypse - a massive explosion melted the norther ice cap and flooded the world. All sources of magic, the Ley Lines, vanished, and thus there was no way to regain mana (magic energy). After dealing with a flooded world, the surviving Ancients began a hundred year long war over what magic was left. This became known as the Mana Wars.
From what was left of those survivors became the ancestors of the various races: the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the orcs, the beastmen, and some of the other odds and ends.
While no one know exactly when the Ley Lines returned, or when the water level dropped enough that the world was more than a bunch of islands, records do show that magic returned to civilization about a thousand years ago. And the ancient technology began to surface from the ruins about 200 years ago. People have been fighting over these Artifacts for years...
Let us fast foward to more recent times. About 5 years ago, there was a change of Emperors - Jacob III took the throne of Tannesh. It was only a matter of months before he declared war upon the Elven Kingdom of Altza. Meanwhile, the Dwarven Merchant Guilds began to sell to both sides, providing weapons, firearms, Steam Knights (steampunk power armor), etc. And everyone else tried to stay out of the way.
But what's going on right now? Well, I, Isaac Forland, a traveling archeologist and alchemist has been hired to help transport a particular individual to some ruins in Elven territory, along with a team of odd-ball soldiers from the Empire. I have no bloody idea why yet, but I have a hunch it has to do with the Artifacts. It always has something to do with those things...
From what was left of those survivors became the ancestors of the various races: the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the orcs, the beastmen, and some of the other odds and ends.
While no one know exactly when the Ley Lines returned, or when the water level dropped enough that the world was more than a bunch of islands, records do show that magic returned to civilization about a thousand years ago. And the ancient technology began to surface from the ruins about 200 years ago. People have been fighting over these Artifacts for years...
Let us fast foward to more recent times. About 5 years ago, there was a change of Emperors - Jacob III took the throne of Tannesh. It was only a matter of months before he declared war upon the Elven Kingdom of Altza. Meanwhile, the Dwarven Merchant Guilds began to sell to both sides, providing weapons, firearms, Steam Knights (steampunk power armor), etc. And everyone else tried to stay out of the way.
But what's going on right now? Well, I, Isaac Forland, a traveling archeologist and alchemist has been hired to help transport a particular individual to some ruins in Elven territory, along with a team of odd-ball soldiers from the Empire. I have no bloody idea why yet, but I have a hunch it has to do with the Artifacts. It always has something to do with those things...
A little backstory behind this RP idea: this is my personal brain child of a campaign setting that I've been wanting to run for the past 2 years. Sadly, because of work, school, and everything else, I have not been able to. So, I shall share it with you folks. 'Cause you're awesome like that.
I plan on having this be a rather open-ended story, so that all RP'ers involved can affect the story. I'm hoping for a decent sized group for this RP...
So, thoughts, questions, comments, smart-a** remarks? Anyone interested?
-Yamazaki
