The Oracle Series of Legend of Zelda was hella dope (personally I've always preferred Ages over Seasons, but as far as Zelda roleplays go it's not used as a setting very often. That's most likely because the lore and plot of the game wasn't really in the forefront all that much in either installment. However I think there's a lot of potential there, and because the games themselves are rich in locations and monsters and races to use but the bits of backstory regarding them are scarce, fleshing out of what is present gives us a lot of wiggle room in interpreting certain plot points and setting up our own stuff nicely.
~Setting~
The roleplay will take place primarily in Labrynna for a good long while at the start, but there certainly exists potential to move into Holodrum as time goes on. For the sake of us having enough content to work with, we will take artistic license and assume that the settlements that are featured in Oracle of Ages are only the most major ones, and that there are other towns scattered across the map. For one, you can't walk from one end of the country to the other in ten minutes; the in-game map can be used as a reference to where things are in relation to each other, but I'll work out the actual scale of things at my own discretion. To give you a sense of where this all fits into the geography of the great Zelda universe, let's say Labrynna and Holodrum are two neighboring continents separated by the Sea of Time, a lesser ocean. The journey from one continent to the other is about two weeks by boat so the trip isn't impossible to make but it's certainly not trivial. Both continents are far to the south of Hyrule proper, and to cross the Great Ocean to Hyrule takes several months and is a notoriously treacherous journey for all but the largest of ships and the most daring crews. The people of Labrynna and Holodrum (in story, we'll call this part of the world "The Land of Ages and Seasons", or just TLAS if you're lazy like me) know of Hyrule and vice versa, but aren't really concerned with them all that much and contact is scarce. Since Zelda and Impa traveled over very few have made the trip otherwise.
~Backstory~
Our story will take place roughly 70 years after the end of the events of Oracle of Ages (in the linked game timeline, where he already saved Holodrum, then came to Labrynna and defeated Veran and then the resurrected Ganon). Link set off on a sea voyage after saving both lands and hasn't been heard from at all since. The people of TLAS still revere Link for his deeds and worship the Oracles; Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and Nayru, the Oracle of Ages. The incarnations of the Oracles seen in the games lived for some time and watched over their respective lands, but they've been dead for quite a while now and the new incarnations have yet to reveal themselves (if they even exist, some aren't sure!). The two neighboring continents maintain peace, and various things have changed in the intervening years. I'll elaborate more on the developments in Labrynna if this goes beyond the int check phase, but most importantly the Labrynnan Royal Family returned to power following Link's departure, with Ralph crowned as King and the Oracle Nayru serving as his adviser in the newly rebuilt Labrynna Palace, just north of the now large and bustling Lynna City. Queen Ambi's Black Tower, once viewed as a symbol of oppression and might by the people of Labrynna, was remodeled into the Tower of Ages, a temple dedicated to study and worship of the Essences of Time, as well as a massive library and the refuge of the clergy of Labrynna, the Covenant of Ages.
Ralph never married (some say because he only ever loved Nayru, who as far as the public was aware didn't return his affections), but chose as his successor one of the finest knights in his service, Sir Richard of Kanalet, known in song and legend as the Swordsman of Seashells. King Richard has ruled for roughly ten years now, and has done a great job by all accounts both in terms of keeping Labrynna safe and maintaining good relations between its many political factions and the neighboring continent of Holodrum. As things in Labrynna had become far more safe and stable than in Ralph's time, King Richard disbanded the standing army of Labrynna in favor of the Seashell Knights, a sect of holy knights who served as his palace guard but also patrolled the land, primarily as justiciars and peacekeepers rather than soldiers or slayers of mighty beasts. Known to his subjects as King Richard the Kind for his sense of justice and fondness for peaceful resolution, Labrynna under his rule has been more peaceful and prosperous than ever.
~Main Premise~
A month before the events of the RP, a beautiful and otherworldly woman with striking blue hair and an amazing singing voice appeared atop the Tower of Ages in a massive column of light that could be seen all across the continent. The mysterious songstress introduced herself as Nayru, the next Oracle of Ages. Revealing herself to be the illegitimate daughter of King Ralph and the previous Nayru, this new Nayru claimed to have returned from the future after being sent there by her mother as a young girl. Most alarmingly, she warned of a dark but rapidly approaching future in which Labrynna was ravaged by war and monsters. Savage beasts of the dark world would reappear in the Land of Ages and Seasons once again, but without no chosen hero would appear to vanquish them. Holodrum would first be conquered by a powerful King of Evil and raise an army against the Labrynnans. Due to King Richard's lax ways and the continent's lack of military might, the whole continent would be decimated in the ensuing conflict, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds and the destruction of the Royal Family and all that they had built.
Richard was immediately skeptical of the girl's true identity and outright denied her claims. Holodrum and Labrynna had never turned against each other before, and they had no reason to start doing so now. Raising an army against their long-time allies would be absurd, especially with no assurance that Nayru was even telling the truth in the first place. Further, her backstory didn't seem to check out; Richard had served Ralph and Nayru for their entire reign and not once did he or any other people in the castle notice that she was with child. Just to be sure, Richard dispatched a detachment of Seashell Knights to sail to Holodrum immediately and verify her claims. They vanished without a trace, and several of the rescue parties sent after them either disappeared as well or could find absolutely no sign of the other ships. For the first time in centuries, no word came from their neighbors to the West.
The general public have fallen into unrest at all of this news. Some side with Nayru, believing her to be the next coming of the Oracle. Fearing death at the hands of an army of darkness, they believe Richard should vacate the throne or else start listening to Nayru and building up an army to prevent her prophecy from coming true. Others remain skeptical of the new Oracle, like Richard; would a true Oracle really advise going to war with your peaceful neighbors? Holodrumites who remain stranded on Labrynna now that it appears impossible to cross the ocean are especially averse to war. Nevertheless, rumors begin to circulate of small militias and bands of freedom fighters rising up to support the cause of the Oracle, even if Richard stands in their way. Further, increasingly common reports of more monsters and wild beasts roaming the wilds of Labrynna have begun to worry Richard's and Nayru's supporters alike; could darkness truly be returning to their land?
~Characters and Application Format~
Our group will come together after a small monster crisis event sort of thing and come to a natural decision on which side we support as things move forward and we become more caught up in such matters. The title may be misleading; this Nayru could very well be the true Oracle of Ages and her prophecy could be true. I'm leaving it open ended because it's more interesting that way. Keeping the group small will hopefully give everyone plenty of time to struggle with these issues along with the regular classic Zelda adventuring and dungeoneering that's standard with this sort of thing. Expect political intrigue, twists and turns, and a lot of appropriated lore from other Zelda games to spice things up. I'll link ZeldaWiki when I can if you're not super big on the backstory just to help out, but Zelda's pretty much down the middle as far as fantasy goes so don't let the underused setting throw you off.
As far as the types of characters that will be allowed, I don't want anyone from Hyrule proper to be part of the player cast; you should all be local. As such, races that are only associated with particular regions outside of the Land of Ages and Seasons won't be allowed; this includes Sheikah and Gerudo, so you needn't ask about them. Just for starters, you have humans (not Hylians, they're different!), Zoras, Gorons, Deku Scrubs, Tokay, and Subrosians. If you want to be a unique snowflake and go for an enemy race, I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but it should be humanoid enough to reasonably work in an adventuring party; for instance, it would be hard for me to justify why two dudes and a zora would choose to hang out with a rotating pillar of flame that shoots lightning and fireballs or a ravenous wolf or some crazy ass shit like that. If there's something you want to include that isn't on any of my lists, I might allow it. Just ask and I'll try to work with you the best I can.
I only want like four people, so that the group stays small and the posting rotation doesn't get out of hand. With the limited spots, I've decided not to do first come first serve but rather do it audition-style and collect and comment on all the applications beforehand and then decide who I want my cast to be.
Hopefully that all makes sense. Feel free to ask any questions or express your interest.
~Setting~
The roleplay will take place primarily in Labrynna for a good long while at the start, but there certainly exists potential to move into Holodrum as time goes on. For the sake of us having enough content to work with, we will take artistic license and assume that the settlements that are featured in Oracle of Ages are only the most major ones, and that there are other towns scattered across the map. For one, you can't walk from one end of the country to the other in ten minutes; the in-game map can be used as a reference to where things are in relation to each other, but I'll work out the actual scale of things at my own discretion. To give you a sense of where this all fits into the geography of the great Zelda universe, let's say Labrynna and Holodrum are two neighboring continents separated by the Sea of Time, a lesser ocean. The journey from one continent to the other is about two weeks by boat so the trip isn't impossible to make but it's certainly not trivial. Both continents are far to the south of Hyrule proper, and to cross the Great Ocean to Hyrule takes several months and is a notoriously treacherous journey for all but the largest of ships and the most daring crews. The people of Labrynna and Holodrum (in story, we'll call this part of the world "The Land of Ages and Seasons", or just TLAS if you're lazy like me) know of Hyrule and vice versa, but aren't really concerned with them all that much and contact is scarce. Since Zelda and Impa traveled over very few have made the trip otherwise.
~Backstory~
Our story will take place roughly 70 years after the end of the events of Oracle of Ages (in the linked game timeline, where he already saved Holodrum, then came to Labrynna and defeated Veran and then the resurrected Ganon). Link set off on a sea voyage after saving both lands and hasn't been heard from at all since. The people of TLAS still revere Link for his deeds and worship the Oracles; Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and Nayru, the Oracle of Ages. The incarnations of the Oracles seen in the games lived for some time and watched over their respective lands, but they've been dead for quite a while now and the new incarnations have yet to reveal themselves (if they even exist, some aren't sure!). The two neighboring continents maintain peace, and various things have changed in the intervening years. I'll elaborate more on the developments in Labrynna if this goes beyond the int check phase, but most importantly the Labrynnan Royal Family returned to power following Link's departure, with Ralph crowned as King and the Oracle Nayru serving as his adviser in the newly rebuilt Labrynna Palace, just north of the now large and bustling Lynna City. Queen Ambi's Black Tower, once viewed as a symbol of oppression and might by the people of Labrynna, was remodeled into the Tower of Ages, a temple dedicated to study and worship of the Essences of Time, as well as a massive library and the refuge of the clergy of Labrynna, the Covenant of Ages.
Ralph never married (some say because he only ever loved Nayru, who as far as the public was aware didn't return his affections), but chose as his successor one of the finest knights in his service, Sir Richard of Kanalet, known in song and legend as the Swordsman of Seashells. King Richard has ruled for roughly ten years now, and has done a great job by all accounts both in terms of keeping Labrynna safe and maintaining good relations between its many political factions and the neighboring continent of Holodrum. As things in Labrynna had become far more safe and stable than in Ralph's time, King Richard disbanded the standing army of Labrynna in favor of the Seashell Knights, a sect of holy knights who served as his palace guard but also patrolled the land, primarily as justiciars and peacekeepers rather than soldiers or slayers of mighty beasts. Known to his subjects as King Richard the Kind for his sense of justice and fondness for peaceful resolution, Labrynna under his rule has been more peaceful and prosperous than ever.
~Main Premise~
A month before the events of the RP, a beautiful and otherworldly woman with striking blue hair and an amazing singing voice appeared atop the Tower of Ages in a massive column of light that could be seen all across the continent. The mysterious songstress introduced herself as Nayru, the next Oracle of Ages. Revealing herself to be the illegitimate daughter of King Ralph and the previous Nayru, this new Nayru claimed to have returned from the future after being sent there by her mother as a young girl. Most alarmingly, she warned of a dark but rapidly approaching future in which Labrynna was ravaged by war and monsters. Savage beasts of the dark world would reappear in the Land of Ages and Seasons once again, but without no chosen hero would appear to vanquish them. Holodrum would first be conquered by a powerful King of Evil and raise an army against the Labrynnans. Due to King Richard's lax ways and the continent's lack of military might, the whole continent would be decimated in the ensuing conflict, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds and the destruction of the Royal Family and all that they had built.
Richard was immediately skeptical of the girl's true identity and outright denied her claims. Holodrum and Labrynna had never turned against each other before, and they had no reason to start doing so now. Raising an army against their long-time allies would be absurd, especially with no assurance that Nayru was even telling the truth in the first place. Further, her backstory didn't seem to check out; Richard had served Ralph and Nayru for their entire reign and not once did he or any other people in the castle notice that she was with child. Just to be sure, Richard dispatched a detachment of Seashell Knights to sail to Holodrum immediately and verify her claims. They vanished without a trace, and several of the rescue parties sent after them either disappeared as well or could find absolutely no sign of the other ships. For the first time in centuries, no word came from their neighbors to the West.
The general public have fallen into unrest at all of this news. Some side with Nayru, believing her to be the next coming of the Oracle. Fearing death at the hands of an army of darkness, they believe Richard should vacate the throne or else start listening to Nayru and building up an army to prevent her prophecy from coming true. Others remain skeptical of the new Oracle, like Richard; would a true Oracle really advise going to war with your peaceful neighbors? Holodrumites who remain stranded on Labrynna now that it appears impossible to cross the ocean are especially averse to war. Nevertheless, rumors begin to circulate of small militias and bands of freedom fighters rising up to support the cause of the Oracle, even if Richard stands in their way. Further, increasingly common reports of more monsters and wild beasts roaming the wilds of Labrynna have begun to worry Richard's and Nayru's supporters alike; could darkness truly be returning to their land?
~Characters and Application Format~
Our group will come together after a small monster crisis event sort of thing and come to a natural decision on which side we support as things move forward and we become more caught up in such matters. The title may be misleading; this Nayru could very well be the true Oracle of Ages and her prophecy could be true. I'm leaving it open ended because it's more interesting that way. Keeping the group small will hopefully give everyone plenty of time to struggle with these issues along with the regular classic Zelda adventuring and dungeoneering that's standard with this sort of thing. Expect political intrigue, twists and turns, and a lot of appropriated lore from other Zelda games to spice things up. I'll link ZeldaWiki when I can if you're not super big on the backstory just to help out, but Zelda's pretty much down the middle as far as fantasy goes so don't let the underused setting throw you off.
As far as the types of characters that will be allowed, I don't want anyone from Hyrule proper to be part of the player cast; you should all be local. As such, races that are only associated with particular regions outside of the Land of Ages and Seasons won't be allowed; this includes Sheikah and Gerudo, so you needn't ask about them. Just for starters, you have humans (not Hylians, they're different!), Zoras, Gorons, Deku Scrubs, Tokay, and Subrosians. If you want to be a unique snowflake and go for an enemy race, I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but it should be humanoid enough to reasonably work in an adventuring party; for instance, it would be hard for me to justify why two dudes and a zora would choose to hang out with a rotating pillar of flame that shoots lightning and fireballs or a ravenous wolf or some crazy ass shit like that. If there's something you want to include that isn't on any of my lists, I might allow it. Just ask and I'll try to work with you the best I can.
I only want like four people, so that the group stays small and the posting rotation doesn't get out of hand. With the limited spots, I've decided not to do first come first serve but rather do it audition-style and collect and comment on all the applications beforehand and then decide who I want my cast to be.
Hopefully that all makes sense. Feel free to ask any questions or express your interest.
