[center]____________________________________________________ [h1][b]Children of Aton[/b][/h1] [url=http://children-of-aton.wikia.com/wiki/Children_of_Aton_Wikia]Wiki[/url] ____________________________________________________ [img]http://i.imgur.com/hRS5ZGf.jpg[/img][/center] ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “There are countless legends. They speak of valiant knights and paladins, great kings and mischievous tricksters, but also witches, dragons, bear-men, and darker beasts still. And these same mythical figures do seem to come up in many different tales, yes? A giant serpent is valiantly slain, or a paragon dies defending innocents, and yet they are alive in well in other tales. Perhaps these tales are all simply lies, told to entertain and frighten children, and that looking for continuity in folk legends is a fool’s errand. Or perhaps some of the old tales may be truthful. Perhaps… they are all truthful. You and I, were are mere mortals, and when we die, we’re gone for good. The thought that there are monsters out there that will keep coming back, no matter how many times they’re put down, back to reave more innocents- that’s a terrifying thought. Oh, there would be the benevolent ones as well, but that’s scant consolation to the rest of us, isn’t it? When the gods play, men die. It’s a good thing that’s not true, right, friend? I mean, the land’s been at peace for two hundred years now, how could that be true? And there hasn’t been any kind of reliable sighting of any “monster” for well over a thousand years. It’s just harmless stories. Except if they were kept locked away, of course. If they were, then it’d explain why they haven’t popped up since then. So, no problem either way. But if they were to escape… Well, that would be terrible. [right]Your friend, Tendred. Get the hint already.[/right] [i]Heretical filth. To be kept as evidence in the trials of Senator Gaenus and Pit Guardian Tendred P. Lucianos. [right]Faemun Berunii, First Censor of the Republic and the Godmother”[/right][/i] ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [center] [hider=Idea]Have you ever played Zelda, or Dark Souls, or any other dungeon crawl, and felt awe at whatever boss you have to slay? Have you wondered what these mythical creatures are, where they come from, and what they're motivation for smashing you into bits is? Then this RP should be of some interest to you. The idea is simple: We play as these things of legend. Now, the RP won't be combat exclusive (though I imagine some of you might enjoy smashing mortals to bits). Instead, it will be focused on rivals between the demigods you will be playing as, and your actions as you emerge from The Pit, the prison where the Children were kept locked away. Sort of apocalyptic, in that I don't imagine most of the Children will be very happy with humanity or civilization.[/hider] [hider=Lore] At the dawn of time, Aton existed, omnipotent and omnipresent. Seeing the empty world, only ocean in every direction, it created land, valleys, and mountains. It created flora and fauna to fill this new landmass. Still not satisfied, it created mankind to populate its world. But humans were not mere animals; the souls they required demanded sacrifice, and so Aton made them from itself, each human carrying a part of its consciousness. Perhaps it did not know the consequences of such an act, or perhaps it did, but went ahead anyway. But the fissure created by the departure of a part of its own life force grew. Aton was not a single individual mind, being the agglomeration of an infinite number of individual consciousnesses. It was ripped apart, its very existence erased from the world, replaced instead by a handful of beings… the [b]Children of Aton[/b]. These will be your characters. [h3]But what’s a Child of Aton?[/h3] Essentially, the supernatural. They can range from man-eating witches, to valiant knights, to Cthulu. They range in power from that of a mere mortal to... Cthulu. The only things they all have in common are that a)they share a common "life" with humanity, and so more humans = weaker children and less humans = stronger children, and that b)they can't ever die for good, always coming back to life centuries after being "slain" by valiant heroes. Some are good, some are evil, and some are just plain crazy. The Children possess resurrective immortality. When they are slain, their corpses crumble to dust, and their souls are forced to roam the world, unable to influence the world, save by appearing in dreams of mortals. To return in physical form, they must find and embed themselves in a mortal close to themselves in soul, though the mortal need not be willing. The time this takes can vary greatly: some Children have re-awakened after only a few short years, while others have gone half a millenium before returning. In any case, once a mortal is possessed in such a way, they are in the course of a month slowly twisted into the shape of the Child, their free will sapping as their consciousness gradually melds into that of the demigod. [h3]The story continues[/h3] For centuries, the Children played their games and bickered in century-long feuds, using mortals as pawns. The world was devastated again and again by the Wars of the Children. The main conflict, which divided the immortals into two warring factions, was the question of what to do with mortals: whether to dominate, exterminate, or liberate them. The camps that arose were the Demons, a grim alliance of those who sought to enslave or wipe out mankind, and the Angels, those who fought to give humanity its own future. There were Children who refused to take a side, of course, but they quickly found themselves targeted by both sides as a foe, and eventually leaned one way or the other. A thousand years this war raged, neither side giving ground or mercy. Countless mortals died, and great cities of antiquity burned, but the slain Children always just rose again, returning into the fray with renewed vigor. Eventually, however, the tide turned in favor of the Angels, led by Eyra the Seer. A cunning sorceress, she devised a prison, The Pit, in which the demons could be locked away; thus left alive, they would be unable to resurrect and cause further mischief. The Pit was built into the primordial caverns from which the Children first emerged from the earth, and was imbued magically by the granted life force of the Angels. One by one, the Demons were vanquished and locked away deep beneath the earth. The Angels had won. Seeing the need to assure they would not molest the mortals any further, The Seer gathered her comrades to their siblings' dungeon. She presented them with a bowl. If they pooled their blood in it, she claimed, it would form a binding pact, that they would seek no conflict with each other, nor inflict suffering on mankind. The Angels did as they were bid, having no reason to doubt her wisdom. Thus, the trap was sprung. In reality, the ritual forced them to surrender their power to The Pit. They were defenseless as she turned against them, her mortal followers locking them in the same prison as the Demons, imprisoned by their own life-force. Eyra appointed her most loyal human followers as the Pit Guard, founding the ancient order which was given the solemn duty of keeping vigil over The Pit and the imprisoned immortals within. Needless to say, the fall of both the Angels and the Demons turned the world upside down. The tribes, which had previously been controlled and kept unified each by a Child, turned on each other in an orgy of chaos. What was left of civilization collapsed as petty warlords took advantage of the power vacuum and founded their own personal kingdoms. After several centuries, the world began to consolidate once again under a number of growing local powers. Notable among these was the Etruscan Republic, a deceptively-named powerhouse ruled by none other than the Seer herself, who was revered as a living goddess by the people. Supreme power was firmly in her hands, the Senate being a mere figurehead. Her immortal patience and gift of prophecy enabled her to grow what was originally a backwater farming town into the greatest city in the world. Time not being an object for her, she was able methodically annex land over centuries, piece by piece. Two hundred years ago, in year 912 after the fall of the Children, Takako, the last independent stronghold in the world, fell to her legions, its walls smashed to pieces by Etruscan cannons. For two hundred years, The Seer has ruled unchallenged over all of mankind, revered by the church as a goddess, the mother of humanity. The official doctrine is that the Angels and Demons are all dead, slain long ago by the Godmother. She keeps herself confined to her palace in the golden city of Analos, capital of the Republic, from where she rules over some 40 million subjects. The world was at peace. Little did the people suspect that, deep in the bowels of The Pit, chains snapped and bars broke, power flooding back into Angels and Demons alike. After a thousand years of solitude in the bleakest dungeon in existence, they were free. [/hider] [hider=The World] Given that your characters were born pretty much at the dawn of time, the world as it is at the start of the RP shouldn’t affect character creation too much. The big thing you should take away from it is that the original tribes, of which there were one per Child, have since been combined into a single Republic. Some tribes, such as the Xochimilco or the Qayu, have their own respective provinces, but most were assimilated into other peoples, displaced, or exterminated. [hider=Topographic Map] [img]http://i.imgur.com/FuzkkMu.png[/img] [/hider] [hider=Political Map] [img]http://i.imgur.com/KyVdFao.png[/img] [b][h3]Provinces of the Republic[/h3][/b] [color=yellow]Yellow:[/color] Etruscia, the core territories of the Republic. It is in this land that the capital, Analos, is located. It is known for its flat, fertile land, and its prosperity. In ancient days, many different peoples lived on the territory, but they have long since been assimilated into proper Etruscans. They pride themselves in piety, good government, and their republican traditions, though these traits are dubious. [color=gray]Gray:[/color] The Qayu province. This isolated people live in the vast northern mountains, culturally distinct from the other peoples of the world. In older days, each secluded valley was home to its own citadel, a temple-fortress from which the local daimyo ruled. Hidden by thick mists that hover over the valleys, these settlements have an almost mythical quality to them, as if one is stepping into another world. By and large, the Qaylu lived isolated from the rest of the world, herding sheep. There are many Qaylu merchants, however, as young ones are encouraged to leave their valley upon coming into age and to explore the world. The territory proved to be quite difficult for the Republic to crack in its drive towards world conquest; each citadel had to be sieged individually. The Qaylu were not fully conquered until 839, or truly integrated as a province until 881. [color=brown]Brown:[/color] Omnia. It is a rough and hot province, bordering on desert-like. A highly cultured and literate society, it was one of the first great civilizations to rise from the ashes of the fall of the Children. A first empire was built by the Kubra Dynasty, which was the most populated and advanced realm in the world at the time. This empire collapsed in the early 400s; The Omnids, a nomadic tribe subject to the Shah, revolted, and officially took power via a palace coup in 439, though by then they had been the true rulers of the empire for years. The new Omnid dynasty sought to out-strip their predecessors; its Shahs expanded rapidly northwards, dragging the Dynasty into the Etruscan-Timerian conflict. At first, the Shahs supported the Timerians, before betraying them in favor of the Etruscans. But as soon as the Timerians were annexed, the Republic turned its hungry eye towards the Dynasty. A mere century later, the Omnids were utterly crushed, and incorporated as a province. [color=red]Red:[/color] Menosia. It was once the heartland of the Timeran Empire, a civilization which englobed the Menosian Sea, and contested Etruscan supremacy bitterly. Over a period of five hundred years, the Timerians and Etruscans fought almost non-stop, their wars growing ever more bloody and bitter. Their rivalry ended only in 710, when Timeria was finally conquered. Its buildings were razed, and its soil salted. Their legacy remains in this proud, if slightly backwater, province. [color=Darkseagreen]Bluish-grey:[/color] Koyatia. To call this barren desert a province is probably overstating things; the local Koyat tribes pay yearly tributes to the Etruscan governor, and that’s enough for the Etruscans to consider it conquered territory. Year after year, however, the Legio VI Koyatia must launch punitive raids against restless “subject” tribes. [color=purple]Purple:[/color] Xochimilia. This steamy and exotic province is sparsely populated, its thick junglers and vicious diseases proving to be a nigh-insurmountable obstacle to civilization. Nevertheless, primitive tribes make a living in its dark recesses, while the cooler strip of land along the coast is home to some of the world’s oldest cities. These city states have never known unification before their subjugation into the Republic, having waged the same inter-city wars since the Children walked the earth. The interior has never truly been subjugated, contrary to what a map might lead you to believe, and there are still small cities within that defy the rule of the Godmother. Being posted in the province is regarded as a punishment for a legion, reserved for those whose corruption, incompetence, or cowardice has insulted the Republic. [color=green]Green:[/color] The Hamrock Isles. A forgettable archipelago, it is known for its dreariness (raining as it does two hundred days a year) and its unwelcoming natives, who regard mainlanders with cold disdain. The locals make a meager living fishing the waters, but despite this, they rarely take up the mercantile profession, hating the very idea of leaving their islands. A tiny, destitute territory barely worthy of the name of province, its only notable feature is its religion: having never truly been touched by the Children of Aton, the Hamish people cling to pagan gods of sea and sky, their dogged stubbornness the distress of countless Republican Censors. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Character Sheet] Note that the following is only the bare minimum, you can put in more information if it'll help flesh out your character. Please post your application in the OOC for approval before you put it in the character tab. [b]Name:[/b] [b]Description:[/b] Physical and psychological. At least two paragraphs please. [b]Powers:[/b] What makes your Child supernatural? It doesn't have to be as flashy as throwing fireballs, it could be as simple as a giant minotaur being very strong, or a warrior knowing neither fear nor pain. Remember that you won't be at full strength, your power being inversely proportional to the number of humans alive. [b]Original tribe:[/b] Every Child had their own, thematically aligned tribe in antiquity. Write a short paragraph describing their traditions, exploits, relationship with your child, and/or ultimate fate. [b]Faction:[/b] In the Age of Dawn, which side did your character fight on, the Angels or the Demons? It essentially affects whether they were defeated and locked away, in the case of a demon, or betrayed and magically confined to the Pit, as for the Angels. Keep in mind, morality is variable across both sides; Children had all sorts of selfish reasons to chose one side or the other. Also, your character's morality might have changed over the millenia, a demon seeking redemption or an angel becoming evil. [b]Anecdotes:[/b] If your character had interesting adventures in the Dawn, or if you feel as if there's something about it's past you need to share, put it here. You should indicate which side your Child fought on in the war between the Angels and the Demons. You're not locked into those views either; a former Angel could have turned against humanity after being locked away, while a Demon could be repentful and seek redemption. [b]Opinions:[/b] As other people submit characters, fill this section with what your character thinks of theirs- are they friends, foes, or indifferent? I highly recommend getting into contact with the other players and fleshing out historical interactions between them. [hider=Example, Eyra the Seer] [b][h3]Eyra the Seer / Eyra the Godmother[/h3][/b] [img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6a/f8/d2/6af8d275d38f92b9e01234d7aa458b08.jpg[/img] ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Description[/b] Cunning as a fox and slippery as a weasel; this can safely be said of the Godmother. Lacking as she does the powers of her siblings, she instead plots, spinning webs of intrigue. Patient as only an immortal can be, she enjoys laying down traps that will only be sprung centuries later. She is cautious: brashness annoys her. Most things annoy her, truth be told, and she prefers to be kept away from other, brooding by herself. Solitude fortifies the mind, she claims, but it has also aggravated her prickly nature, and she has gone slightly mad over the millennia, though this might simply be observers not comprehending actions that only bear fruit long after they're dead. Once a renown beauty, she has become a withered husk in the last thousand years, her hair bleached and unkempt, her flesh sagging. Where once she commanded respect and authority by her simple presence, now she relies on her reputation and position for reverence. The Godmother holds ostentatiousness in disdain. She wears the same simple garments as she did in the age of Dawn, a stark contrast with the ever more contrived fashion of the senatorial class, or it would be if they were ever found in the same room. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Powers[/b] The godmother is certainly one of the weaker Children. She is in physical aspects as frail as a mortal, an old mortal in her current state even. Her strength lies in the mind: she has the gift of prophecy, hence her title of "Seer", and can see the future, in a muddled and inexact way. In older days, she was also known to weave magic and witchcraft, though these talents have waned greatly since then. Who knows if she's any more than a human now. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Original tribe[/b] The modern Etruscans are the direct descendents of the tribe that followed Eyra a thousand years ago. She lead them more directly than most Children, even in those days a kind of queen; Indeed, the Etruscans were a deeply superstitious people, and they believed that the Seer was the representative of the gods on the mortal world. This belief was warped into the later monotheistic worship of her, incidentally. They did not live in large cities at the time, living as small-scale landholders, their land dotted by the occasional hill fort. They were deeply involved in the Wars of the Children and the conflict between the Angels and the Demons, Eyra being foremost among the former. An adaptable culture, they often absorbed the tribes of imprisoned demons, in such a way that they were the largest tribe when the Angels had achieved victory. The Betrayal saw them turn on their east-while allies, massacring tribes or incorporating them into the Etruscan whole. Still, as the largest and most hated tribe in the world, they were a prime target for everyone else, and during the first century afterwards their territory shrunk rapidly as they were beset on all sides. However, still lead by the Seer, they slowly built back up their strength. They conquered and assimilated their way into world domination; in the process, much of the old tribal ways were lost as new tribes were incorporated, making the modern Etruscan seem quite different to their ancestor of antiquity. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Faction[/b] Angel. Eyra was foremost among them, directing their battles and focusing her comrades. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Anecdotes[/b] During the Dawn, and the never-ending clash between the Angels and the Demons, Eyra the Seer was chief among those Children who desired to protect and nurture humanity, arrayed against those that sought to enslave it. She did not often appear on battlefields, being barely more useful than the common foot soldier in such a physical confrontation. Instead, she acted as her faction's tactician, planning battles and keeping her siblings focused on the cause. It was she who, in her wisdom, saw the need to erect The Pit to house the malignant Children, so as to spare the world of their violence. Somewhere along the way, however, she decided that she could not trust her fellow Angels to leave humanity alone either, and in the Betrayal she tricked them into imprisonment as well. She kept herself at a distance from humanity for a hundred years, during the dark age that followed the Betrayal. Her tribe suffered greatly at the hands of vengeful enemies, and she eventually was moved by pity into retaking control of them. For a thousand years, she has ruled from the golden palace of Analos, as her republic has become the sole power of the world. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [b]Opinions[/b] N/A [/hider] [/hider] [/center] If you have questions, commentaries, or suggestions, feel free to voice them. You may have noticed I left a lot of the world's details, such as cities, empty. I highly encourage world-building in my RPs; your contributions to the lore are just as important as my own (Well, not quite, I have the veto, but you know what I mean). If someone wants to Co-GM, in case I get run over by a bus or something, we might need one of those too.