It is the year 1865 and the United States government is seeking to establish and tame the western frontier. Manifest Destiny is in full swing and the era of American Imperialism is about to begin. In [i]Legends of the West[/i] however, fantasy meets history. Americans just have ended the Civil War to free slave orcs from their Confederate secessionist dark elf masters. While technology and modernization is booming with the invention of the steam locomotive, the Gatling gun, and better farming and catting tools, the old practices of magic are being used to blend in with these technological advancements as well. The Era of the mythical cowboy is about to begin!

[b]Rules:[/b]

1.This will be a roleplay open to all, as such I'm playing this in the Free Roleplay section, but you need not have to limit your writing post if you're a Casual player or Advanced. While I would like a paragraph for each post, you can have more than that and perhaps up to six paragraphs per-post. 

2. A recent change would be that this doesn't just take place in Texas, but all over the western frontier. I may make a simple hub town to start out with for everyone though. 

3.Magic is considered something older and archaic, technology is considered newer and more efficient. Yes, you can blend your magic into technology in this roleplay. However you're basically taking old practices and blending them in with the latest in technological advances so not everyone would be capable of doing such.

4.There will be races in this.However, they will be modified to meet history. The races are as followed:

[color=f6989d]Humans:[/color] The US government and it's citizens.

[color=0072bc]Dwarfs:[/color] Irish/ Scottish Immigrants looking to make a name for themselves and a life in the wild west. They're great blacksmiths, engineers, and have monopolies in the trans continental railroad. They also sell and manufacture firearms.

[color=8dc73f]Orcs:[/color] The "African Americans" of the story. The civil war for their rights and independence has led to the orc American to gain his freedom, but persecution and discrimination  are still rampant. 

[color=ed1c24]
Vampires and Undead:[/color] Former soldiers who have died on the battlefield but rose again. Great generals are most likely to have became vampires. They can have fought for either side or just in the previous wars such as in 1812. 

[color=ed1c24]
Dragon Men/ Dragon Women:[/color] Chinese immigrants, they're natural fire elementals and hardy workers. However, many do not trust them as they're foreigners from the east and untrusted. They're often found working and California and around the west coast. (OOC Note: They are not actual dragons, in fact they're more akin to eastern lizard-men who naturally can spew flame and are just reptilian humanoids as opposed to actual gigantic flying dragons. Most of the Dragon people do not have wings, but they can use fire magic very well.)

[color=662d91]Dark Elves:[/color] Confederates, were a part of the US until they suceeded over their slaves and economical issues. The US government had just finished the civil war and freed the Orcs of their chains. Confederate characters need not be villains in this, in fact a lot of them looked west to stake their claim and settle out in the west just as humans have.

[color=f26522]Los Gatos:[/color] Hispanic and Mexican characters shall be anthropomorphic cats, Jaguars, panthers, and all manner of feline. They also currently have a massive army and are south of the border. 

[color=1a7b30]Wood Elves:[/color] Native Americans.

[color=00aeef][b]Giants:[/b][/color] Canadian or Paul Bunyon like settlers, they have legal issues but for the most part they'll settle around up north and not in the west. They still may contract to the US government however. 

5.While this can be comical at points, I would like this idea to be taken rather seriously. Remember, although this is fantasy it's inspired by real world events and many people fought and died during this time in real life. 

6. Magic will be balanced, magic is great for augmenting technology that's been made or having certain things done. In this setting it's also been around for centuries. However, it's not as efficient as modern day technology and it also has practical use in powering up America, being used in steam technology, curing diseases found in the Wild West, and warfare.  Magic [b]complements [/b]science in this story, it doesn't make itself as the end all solution.

7. People have mistaken this roleplay for my actual beliefs. [color=fff200][b]I would never condone slavery in any way, shape, or form in real life.[/b][/color]  I believe slavery is intrinsically wrong, that freedom is a fundamental human right and while slavery here has happened, it's up to the players to do something about it. You have the choice to make a character of the race that were formerly slaves or not. Also, you can also choose to be any race that's not been under slavery. The story was meant to portray real life historical events of the lives after the slaves were freed in real life. This is a historical theme and I shall heavily show the enslaved race in a positive manner. I do not condone slavery in real in a single instant. However, history is history and you cannot rewrite it to never have happened. I will leave it up to the player to roleplay whether or not they can personally deal with a character who have faced these issues or not. It's up to the player to realize this is [color=fff200][b]fantasy[/b][/color] and thus to play with this theme with historical authenticity or not. I am merely trying to make a historical fantasy roleplay that everyone can enjoy.