[center] [h1]The Crowning Mechanism[/h1] [u]An Adventure to claim the Lands of Cortan[/u][/center] [h3]The Kingdom of Arx[/h3] Founded in a lush countryside, the City-Kingdom of Arx is three thousand strong. An older city boasting three walls as signs of gradual expansion over the years, the city founded two centuries ago was once prosperous. A small but constant stream runs through the middle, providing water for those within. In the center is a small stone castle dedicated to the king, with four small manors and a monetary occupying the most internal ring. The fortunate few who helped found this place and those within the king's favor find themselves within, along with the prized slaves to help take care of them. The tightly packed but decently well off craftsmen, warriors, and merchants find space within the next wall, a middle class living within apartments with thick wood walls and decent amenities within. The king has the right to let anyone live here however, usually in return for loyalty. The outer wall has been built the thickest, but those between it and the middle wall are the least prosperous and the first to face danger in the case of an invasion by a beast from outside. Shacks and slums built from spare wood and straw from wheat pop up within, the farmers of Arx living the shortest and most depressing lives. Out of all the groups that have suffered from overpopulation, this section has seen the worst of its effects. Disease is rampant, life is generally short and miserable. [hider=Society] Slavery: Like most city-states, the heterochromatic slaves are a show piece of the upper class. With males and bastard 'normal' eyed females killed at birth, these women take care of the king and the nobility, taking care of the households and their personal desires. Aside from those horrors, most of them live materially better lives than the absolute poorest. Warriors: Typically orphan boys within the slums, these few are chosen to be trained to fill the holes within the warrior class. If they live decently long as guards, it is expected for them to pick women from the outermost wall as wives. Even fewer are sworn into celibacy and sent eventually to take a mechanism from a tower in the name of Arx, or to kill a dragon for fuel. In return for their service and loyalty, both these groups are granted lives within the middle wall. The Nobility: In the center of the city are the children of those who successfully took over a tower, heading to this location and founding a new town. Those who found themselves arriving from overpopulated areas were initially glad for the extra room and served those in the middle joyfully, but as this city suffers from the same issues there has been a growing resentment towards those in the center. There are four noble families and the king's family, totaling about twenty people in the highest class of society. [i]Arx Dynasty[/i] [i]House Vicariis[/i] [i]3 Other Noble Houses (You Can Claim One)[/i] Economics: The King has full command over the economy, allowing him to attempt and keep it stable in the situation that things go wrong. Serfs are expected to meet quotas in the fields or mines, or get kicked out. [/hider] [hider=Technology] Aside from a few advances from loot gathered from great beasts and towers, most of the technology found in Arx is very primitive. Metals: For the most part, metals are rare within Arx. When a dragon is slain however, their burning hearts can be used to power forges that refine stone into steel. Aside from these opportunities, advancement in metallurgy has been slow and the majority of tools and weapons are copper. Armor: Chain mail is state of the art technology, protecting those wearing it from slashing shots. The absolute richest can afford plate found within the towers, but that is something only the nobility normally can possess. Dragon scale is popular armor for those going out on quests, marveled at for it's light weight and strong resistance to most forms of damage. Weapons: The walls house ballistae, and smaller versions (crossbows) have recently found themselves under development. Two handed weapons and lances are preffered because single handed weapons have difficulty piercing the hides and scales of the largest beasts, and shields are no use against their massive attacks. This isn't to say they don't exist, but outside dynastic weapons most warriors prefer a two handed weapon as their primary means of attack. Bows are also a popular choice for a ranged weapon, but lose their effectiveness against medium ranged targets.[/hider] [h3]The Outside World & The Roleplay[/h3] The lands of Cortan beyond the walls of a city can be described with a few words: The Wildlife is large, tough, and usually wants you dead. Dragons of many sizes, beasts great and small can seek to kill you, and life tends to be short and brutal. Partially due to issues with overpopulation, partially out of hope to expand and maintain their territory, and partially out of the need to prove to the world that humanity can tame it, various kingdoms have sent out warriors to claim the treasure towers erected long ago. The city of Arx with population expanding beyond it's borders is one of the cities that has done so. You are part of the team that has been sent out to claim a mechanism from a tower, and are not allowed back until your quest is accomplished. With success comes the right to stake your own claim in the wild, becoming the king or nobility of new estates. Failure means death. [h3]The Timeline[/h3] [hider=The First Age: Watcher's Time (W.T.)]Strange towers dot the landscape from an older age, ruins looking over the world from their dominating position. No one really knows why they were there, and can only guess at who was watching the world from their comfy lofts. The local tribes could not breach the towers, and they were abandoned three hundred years before the next era. No one understands why. For a typical tribesman, life was short, quick, and brutal. Society was egalitarian, but only in the fact that running from the dragons and mythical beasts that dominated the landscape could be considered a priority.[/hider] [hider=The Second Age: Dragon's Fall (D.F.)]A tribesman was lucky and managed to find a leftover sword lying in the wilderness from the watchers. Eventually the man's tribe was cornered by a High Dragon and forced to fight back. After much loss, he eventually managed to slay the beast, strangely becoming more powerful in the process. Any time a dragon would approach, he would defeat it. The tribe found itself able to settle down in that area, an ample supply of amour, food, and heat constantly arriving at their doorstep. After successfully breaching one of the towers and the defenses within, he successfully brought back a device which rendered the area unnoticeable to beasts of great size. Time passed, the sword was lost, and a city grew in it's place with the man's dynasty as the kings. A group of heterochromatic people were enslaved, and remain as a supply of labor to this day.[/hider] [hider=The Third Age: King's Age (K.A.)(Also where we are)] After a few hundred years, the area set up by the original mechanism was finding itself filled. Groups are sent out to the towers with gear, wished luck, and not allowed to return until they find a mechanism (For founding a new city or replacing a failing one). Upon succeeding, those successful get to found their own city some distance away. Small single city kingdoms are gradually expanding across the landscape, conquering the wilderness.[/hider] [h3]Divinity[/h3] Instead, warriors of renown and the items they possess start to become filled with the presence of the universe. This divinity most of the time acts as a sixth sense, making warriors more mighty and difficult to defeat than they should be. A sword that kills a dragon will find itself far more capable in that aspect. The children of rulers are usually strangely talented, having inherited the abilities of their fathers to an extent. A peasant who was lucky enough to slay a great beast will find themselves suddenly mighty. In strange circumstances it can lead to other powers, like a sword that can swing fire or an amulet that protects against the weather. [h3]The Character Sheet[/h3] [code] [center] [img]Picture here[/img] [b]Name:[/b] Residents of Arx would have Latin Names Slaves would have Middle Eastern Names Tribesmen would have Eastern European Names [b]Age:[/b] Your adventurer should be young, pre-30 years old, probably younger than 21. [b]Gender:[/b] Self Explanatory [b]Class:[/b] Noble (And What House?) Warrior Quester (Most Likely Male, but there are exceptions) Serf Slave (Female Required) Tribal (You run into our party and join it for some reason) [b]Appearance:[/b] Paragraph of description please. [b]Personality:[/b] a paragraph at least, if you don't mind. [b]Backstory:[/b] How your character grew up, how they got into going on this little venture, etc. [b]Skills and Divine Abilities:[/b] Should state how skilled you are with a certain weapon, and if certain weapons or items give you access to Divine abilities. Remember, Divinity is gained by items and/or people from doing certain things. A sword that killed a dragon would likely have an easier time piercing armored foes while a bow that was used to hunt a Roc might be able to give the wielder inhuman accuracy and other abilities. [b]Equipment:[/b] Any items here. Armor, weapons, misc. Equipment. [/center] [/code] [h3]Rules[/h3] [u]Characters[/u] I intend on starting this roleplay with 3-5 players, and I accept the characters and players that I feel would be best for the roleplay. Try to be at least somewhat different from the next person. If you have an idea that you think is unconventional, don't be afraid to PM me. If your public history and your 'true' backstory are significantly different, PM me and I'll keep quiet about it. Also, I'd like to know their favorite food as part of their CS. Just curious. [u]Activity[/u] I like to keep things on the move. I expect one good post at least every two days. If you are going to be absent, inform me. If you don't tell me and are holding things up, I will advance things as the GM. If you are quitting, please say so. It won't be every day, but I run collabs around 7-10PM central time (USA GMT -6) to get through dialogue/combat thick portions quickly. I usually use [s]devilpad[/s] titanpad for this purpose. [u]The Usual[/u] You know the gist. No godmodding. No stupidity. Don't be an ass.