Hidden 7 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Grijs
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UPDATE: Still recruiting! We're particularly in need of more Justinian factions in the West and Red Pantheonist factions (perhaps loyalist to the Old Pantheon) in the north! More Yuwanists also welcome. everyone welcome!

Note: This is Sacrilege War III, names and themes that appear to be the same as ones created by Flagg, are actually from Sacrilege War II(GMed by Flagg) and Sacrilege War I (GMed by Serpentine88) and as such it was Serp who created the names and themes originally.

    • (Grim)dark fantasy setting, high-magic (lots of magic, creatures, etc).

    • Gods actually exist and actively intervene in the setting.

    • Everyone is involved in a global proxy war between gods. Factions are determined by religion, which is pre-set because the religions gods are actually real and controlled by the GM (or in the case of the Red-Pantheon, semi-controlled by the players with restrictions).

    • World is a single earth-sized pangaea, logistical issues are solved by magical portal gates and air-transportation. The world is also literally flat (well, technically a convex bowl shape).

    • The world has a material and a celestial plane, though the latter has never been successfully entered while still alive.

    • All magic comes from gods, the vast majority of it distributed by existing gods to their servants and followers. There is some leftover magic in the material plane distributed long ago by dead gods but is a finite (and running low) supply.

    • In general, technology should be 15th-16th century for all factions

    • Most magic is gained from gods giving magic in return for the sacrifice of souls. In this setting, a soul is a non-physical element of the mind which accounts for ‘consciousness’. As such, any intelligent being as well as any conscious animal has a soul.

    • Each Celestial Entity is represented by a star in the sky, a god’s mirror reflection from the Celestial Plane, with Red Gods having smaller and more faint Red Stars (where their name originally came from). Justinian’s star is known as the Pale Star of the West, and is by far the largest, enough so that Justinians call it the New Sun. Yuwan is represented by a smaller yet brilliant Green Star in the East. Which has long since been called the Celestial Emerald.

    • Genuine possibility this world will end in an apocalypse. RP will increasingly become more like a horror story as events unfold.




CONCEPT INTRODUCTION:


The world, known as Materia is a world of divine cycles. An imperfectly designed world created by very real yet equally imperfect gods. Doomed to die. Since time immemorial, pantheons of gods have risen, ruled, and changed the world, though each as incapable of fixing the world as the last and so are then inevitably destroyed as they were replaced by new gods. Each cycle the world has decayed further… ever onwards, ever downwards… in entropy towards a final darkness.

It has been exactly 300 years since the fall of the ‘Old Pantheon’ of gods, beginning an age of global warfare and strife. This time however, the conflict has reached unprecedented levels as this time the cycle has failed, occurring in a broken half-finished state, perhaps indicating that the entropy of the world is approaching its final end. Rather than forming a new pantheon to rule over the world, the gods remain divided, no unifying force ruling the heavens. Rogue angels have assumed the role of fake gods, one of the Old Pantheons gods still somehow lives... Furthermore, rather than a new pantheon of gods, only one new god was formed. Justinian, a god that declares itself of mortal origins and which intends to end this world, replacing it with a new, perfect utopia.

Justinian slaughtered most of the Old Pantheon in a great heavenly deicide known as the War In Heaven, but because it failed to kill all the other gods, the world has been plunged into 300 years of holy war as the remaining gods turn to their mortal instruments to destroy each other. This mortal proxy war is known as the Sacrilege War, and so 300 years ago, the three-way global war begun, the mortal races by divine providence commanded to annihilate the faithful of other gods.

So as they fought and continue to fight, the world is drenched in magic; powers in exchange for sacrifices handed to mortals to bolster the war effort. Divine miracles are a daily affair, the existence of gods an almost universal truth - even as the gods declare each other false and themselves as the only true gods.

This is the story of a doomed world… and the near endless numbers of mortal sacrifices that will be consumed in the name of its last ruler. Yet salvaging Materia is never out of reach for those that dare.

FACTION GAMEPLAY:

There are three supranational factions that each player-nation belongs to, these factions divided by religion - that is service to a very real god or goddess. Gods are the source of all magic in this world and regularly perform miracles. Some gods such as Justinian are so interventionist that they are essentially the religious leader of their own religion. It is expected that players will all have common histories and cultural elements due to the world's history and faction system (though the third faction, the Red Pantheon, are the most customisable - including the ability to make your own custom national deity, though in exchange are also the least united and objectively the weakest faction)

APOCALYPTIC THEMES:

The world is also filled with secrets and hidden lore that players will gradually discover over time. The world also has a number of preset methods to which an apocalyptic event may be triggered by either players or by world events. As the story goes on and the likelihood of an apocalyptic event increases, the genre of the RP will gradually shift from grimdark military high fantasy to something more along the lines of a cosmic horror story.

SETTING:

This setting is also a very deep, complex one with a great deal of world-building, particularly since Sac War has been built up in previous versions over the years, hosted by both Serpentine88 and Flagg. Of note is a detailed cosmology concerning the gods and the ‘heavenly’ cycles as well as the detailed magical system this world abides by. Players are expected to take some effort to read through or at least skim through this information so they understand the kind of world they are RPing in. It is also suggested that they at least read the mythos and mechanics of the faction they join, as each god and their associated faith have unique attributes and ideals which you should consider when joining that faction.

SPECIES:

This is still essentially a high magic setting and allows most of the traditional ‘races’, elves, dwarves, centaurs, giants, etc. It is suggested to stick to the more typical fictional species if you don’t want your species to be criticised and judged by the GM (searching for min-maxing nonsense). Note that some species such as dragons and elves have a significant presence in the world-building lore so you need to take previous history into account when adding your own. It should also be noted that some species are banned. This includes;
-Undead (Necromancy does not function the way most fantasy settings do because no god will give the magic needed to perform necromancy. You can animate corpses in the same way you could animate a fork or chair, but you cannot return a soul to the living world after it has died. An attempt at doing so without a god will result in you being hunted down and ‘lightning’d’ by one or all gods, even if they are fighting each other).

-Angels/demons/djinns etc (You can use angel and demon looking people, particularly Justinians who may have individuals that are magically altered by their god to make them appear like angels with wings and so on. However, actual angels/demons are restricted due to cosmology issues).

-Ectoplasmic entities (An ectoplasmic entity would require enormous amounts of magic at a constant rate to exist, which is highly impractical. Thus a whole species of them is pretty much impossible. Ectoplasmic entities as such do however technically exist though)

-Animated inanimate people (While golems and animated objects exist, they are not sentient and cannot be made sentient, as such you cannot play as elementals, golem-people and so on)

MAP OF MATERIA
(with established nations at present)


The centre east and west of the world, those lands without names attributed to them, are place-holder NPC nations. New players can choose to hijack/take over or replace an NPC region if they so wish.
The majority of the arctic far-north of Materia is still empty space, and those regions are still up for grabs to whoever is crazy or desperate enough to claim them.

THE FACTIONS:

There are 3 factions to choose from, all (mostly) fighting in a 3-way conflict. Factions are determined by religion, which is extremely important in this setting since the gods are not only very real, but very active (some more so than others). Two of these factions are focused around holy cities located to the far west and far east, both of which emanates out a sphere of influence from these nexus points, however they also have influence over any region with sufficient amounts of their followers or magic is distributed. The third faction (the Red Pantheon) are far more decentralised, acting as smaller localised spheres of influence, mostly in areas where the two greater factions have little control.

Each faction is at war with all others in this global conflict known as the Sacrilege War, a 300-year long holy war directed by the gods themselves, the gods ordering their mortal followers to desecrate and/or destroy the religious icons,constructs and holy sites as well as convert or kill other gods followers.

The three groups each have their own ideologies, histories, beliefs and powers as explained below, but in summary the three factions are:

-Justinianism: Followers of the God Justinian (Also known as Justinius or Justice or a thousand other local cultural names), based in the West, where its holy city sits. Emphasis on holy paladins; witch hunters, possessed hosts acting as demi-avatars of their god (represented by individual dead historic heroes), blatant orders from their god, monolithic clerical bureaucracy and religious military orders. Rejects the material world for an ideal spiritual one and wish to remake the world with a “Great Reconvergence”, creating a perfect utopia. Infamous for totalitarianism, mass surveillance and occasionally committing genocide.

-Yuwanism: Followers of the Goddess Yuwan, based in the East, where her holy city sits. Emphasis on magi, vague visions and dreams from their distant secretive godess, ancient schools of collected knowledge and excessive use of magic. Fights for the status quo and stability, balance between the celestial/spiritual and material world… even if it means sacrificing millions to maintain it. Infamous for mass slavery and mass unwilling sacrifice.

-Red Pantheonism: Followers of the Red Gods, rogue ex-celestial servants of previous pantheons based in their own respective locations. Emphasis on witches, monsters, curses, corrupting existing institutions, selfish whimsical deities, demi-god bastards and a lot of blood sacrifice. Many care little for the spiritual world and care for personal pursuits in the material one. Infamous for corrupting civilisations and treating mortals as expendable playthings and tools, and generally advocating nihilism and social darwinism.

As can be seen, it should be said that each god is not particularly likable. The gods of this universe are not pure benevolence and sunshine. The factions are grim and commit heinous crimes regularly… that said, each faction does have their positive sides. Justinian is genuinely fighting for the creation of a utopia via the Great Reconvergence, and tries to create a high standard of living for its followers. Yuwan believes in positive liberty, so while she allows her followers to enslave each other, she usually likes giving her followers free will and the choice to decide how to live and make decisions rather than forcing ‘enlightenment’ on them. She also indirectly assists in improving the livelihood of her peoples’ societies and often acts as a teacher of sorts, attempting to allow her followers to reach enlightenment themselves. Red Gods are capable of personal relationships, differing from Justinian who is too impersonal and Yuwan who is too distant… and as such they can actually feel respect, friendship or even love for mortals. While each faction views the Sacrilege War as a white and black morality conflict (particularly the Justinians), its actual morality is determined by the players.











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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Archetype Zero
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Archetype Zero 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝕺𝖓𝖊

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PRAISE
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Publius
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Publius First Consul / 245 - 2529 a. u. c.

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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Sigma
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May take a while, but my sheet is in progress.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Grijs
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Also, for the sake of your own health and time-schedules, all your IC posts don't actually have to be as long as the intro-post. Because that one was pretty ridiculous in length imho.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Serpentine88
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Serpentine88 Writer of Overly Long Character Sheets

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Good to see the OOC up. I put a lot of work into that IC post xD, so it may take a bit to get my sheet up.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Klomster
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Question.

While reading this i came up with an idea, basically a horde of minotaurs and whatnot who generally make peoples days worse.
But reading the god concepts, heroes and souls i wondered.

Could i create a character that was a servant of a red god or Yuwan. But has decided to exalt himself into godhood by any means necessary?
He would do this by mass sacrifice.
Or it could be a futile goal, working towards becoming a god when it is impossible, meaning i wouldn't even have a red god. Just a hero.

Thoughts?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Serpentine88
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@Klomster

#1: Minotaurs are fine.

#2: players are allowed 'celestial entities' to be their countries patrons. Justinians get a demi-avatar (an aspect of the god Justinian), Yuwanists get a celestial servant (basically an angel of Yuwan), while Red Pantheonists get Red Gods (rogue ex-celestial servants). That is to say, if you play Red Pantheonist you can create your own custom Red God for your nation.

#3: A mortal can become a god, but it isn't a simple process. Essentially a mortal hero (patron'd by an existing god) needs to die. After dying that hero ascends and becomes a celestial entity. Once a celestial entity, they can essentially become a god either by killing their patron (which is extremely hard to do and usually depends on outside forces) or their patron god died from other means, in which case your celestial entity goes rogue and becomes a Red God by default.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Grijs
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@Klomster
There is a leeway. If your character were to acquire an artifact that belonged to a dead god (probably one slain by Justinian) and that artifact contains the dead god's magic, your mortal could inherit that magic. After this, he would have to perform a ritual of self-sacrifice. (To become a god, he will have to die by default.) And once dead, if his soul is bound to the artifact he could become a Red God. Not a powerful one, though. He'd have to play it safe all the way, because Justinian is a tremendous and very active foe.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Klomster
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Ok @Serpentine88 @Grijs it seems this idea could work.
I just need to fit it into the rules of the world.

The plan was that my dude (with help) slew his old master. A red god.
Basic plan was that the gods entire souped up army hated the god but liked their lieutenant. (My character.)
Massive battle, thousands dead, probably some outside freak event and/or loads of backstabbing.
Yoink red gods stuff, ey presto.
My idea was that the red god had some cool gauntlets that helped in sacrificing people. The idea was that it has rune circles so one doesn't have to write them every time one wants to sacrifice people to the wearer.

So, to become a god, my character must have an artifact. Bind himself to it and then kill himself?
I guess it helps if one does a massive ritual while killing himself? Preferably while killing lots of Justinianists/Yuwanists/randoms?

Plan was to be a red god with a strong army, but no lands. Being a roving warband needing to pillage stuff or extort people to get supplies.
My char would then work to become the most powerful god in history, mostly by punching people in the face.
I'd probably fail miserably along the way, but it's the journey that is interesting :)
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Grijs
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@Klomster
That's not possible. You cannot usurp red gods since Redgods don't actually have a 'seat' to usurp -- they are categorized as seatless deities. And Red Gods don't have celestial servants of their own, only mortal ones. But mortal ones can't interact directly with Redgods seeing those are in the Celestial Plane, and mortals in the Material Plane. At best your mortal could have lured the Redgod to enter Materia in an avatar form, and then kill the Avatar. But that doesn't guarantee a god's death. Perhaps the Avatar was lured to the world to BE the Sacrifice? Because if that's the case, there'd be some possibility for your mortal to being a Redgod himself.

Also I do insist you do take a spot on the map as to where your army is currently settled. It doesn't have to be a nation but merely a geographic region, only home to nomads.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Klomster
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Right, luring the god down and then sacrificing him is cool.
And my character was a mortal servant, if it wasn't obvious.

So, if the army set up a trap, told the red god to come -"enjoy the victory party and sacrifice." And then backstab him by sacrificing him to fuel my characters godhood?
That's actually cool, if it's fine?

As for map.
Dead centre there's a tiny river above the grey-blue area. I'll start there if that's fine.
Don't have much to go on in terms of neighbours. If you think there would be a place where a red god who liked creating blood magic boosted armies to smash enemies feel free to move my starting place.
I don't know what area would fit the power vacuum. I guess someone else took any area the red god owned. While my guy just cared about the army.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Goldeagle1221
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#1: Minotaurs are fine.


OH!
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Archetype Zero
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Archetype Zero 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝕺𝖓𝖊

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Good to see another person joining!
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Wernher
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.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Brithwyr
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Brithwyr Primus inter Pares

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Joiningness confirmed
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by CaptainBritton
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Confirmation of interest. Working on my NS as I post this.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Klomster
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Draft.

Also a note, i make boring character sheets. I tend to make more engaging writing and action in my IC posts.

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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Sigma
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@Klomster Mind if I borrow your minotaurs? Not from your group specifically, but if I could use members of the race in my lands, they'd be perfect bruisers for the red pantheonist rebels in my nation.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Goldeagle1221
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@Klomster Mind if I borrow your minotaurs? Not from your group specifically, but if I could use members of the race in my lands, they'd be perfect bruisers for the red pantheonist rebels in my nation.


...Minotaurs...
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