[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/nvq63to.png[/img] [hr][i]You have died. Unfortunate as your passing may have been, it was not the end of your tale. No, your soul had been taken from its natural cycle. Rather than expire, reincarnate, or find peace in the afterlife, your consciousness returned in that abyss. Nothingness. At first, it was frightening. You were unable to find footing within that darkness. Not that you had feet, anyways. You could at least understand that you no longer had a body. Panic turned to contemplation as you slowly accepted your current state. Soon, the deprivation of everything but your thoughts left you numb, unable to think. Just as slowly as you accepted your new fate, it appeared. Even though you could see it, it took a considerable amount of time to even perceive what it was. Atop its indiscernible head was the skull of a deer. Its form was neither fully male nor female. Split down the middle, it remained betwixt. Numerous arms extended from its shoulders, each appearing and vanishing as needed. One arm reached across its torso, covering its sole breast. Another held the shaft of a spear against its neck, the tip already pierced through. Another held a stone lantern, illuminating it in a bath of crimson light. Another set of arms held the skull atop its head still. It sat across from you, still in the abyss. Then it spoke to you in tongues. This was not a language you had ever heard, yet you could still understand it. "The fracturing has begun," it stated, "become reborn and fix this cycle." Abruptly, it reached forwards and enveloped you inside a hand. Just as quickly as you were crushed, the hand opened. Bright blues and white hues had appeared. A sky? Your new body began to plummet towards a blooming meadow.[/i][hr][/center] [hider=Blessings]Being blessed by the gods is not an uncommon act. Through birthright, significant action, service, or sheer luck, one could become blessed by a god. While the majority of blessings take the form of minor blessings or items that merely increase one's strength, allow one to understand any language, and other simple things, there is no limits to what a blessing could give. For those who receive major blessings, they usually shape the annals of time. [/hider] [hider=Races][b]Humans[/b] are the most plentiful race across the main continent. Human culture and appearance is varied by the location in which their settlements form. Their capability of magic talent can range from nil to great. [b]Elves[/b] a race of tall persons not dissimilar to humans. Their most notable feature would be their pointed ears. While elves often intermingle with humans, the difference between a traditional elf and a half-elf is no longer based on one's parents. Instead, it refers to one's culture. Elves pursue the naturalistic lifestyle of their ancestors while half-elves live in settlements and participate in cultures formed by other races. There are often rifts caused between elves and half-elves as a result of elitism. By nature, elves are incredibly protective about their heritage. Because of this, no two elf tribes are allied with each others. [b]Dwarves[/b] are the descendants of giants, an ancient race that had gone extinct thousands of years before the current time. With short, lanky bodies full of muscle, they promote a culture of fraternity, honest work, and craftsmanship. Dwarven cities are among the most architecturally beautiful. Dwarven royalty is a strange exception to their traditional appearances. Holding more giant's blood than the commonfolk, they reach massive heights and power. Culturally, dwarves are insular and have a disdain for others. This stems from the fact that dwarves were treated as nothing more than a strategic resource to other nations. [b]Oni[/b] are a tribal people said to be the descendants of demons and man. Their culture promotes a great sense of freedom and worship of their deities. Their appearance has great variance within its own race. An oni's skin and eyes can be a range of colors. The easiest way to tell that one is an oni are the horns on their head. Because of their highly territorial culture and traditional way of life, oni are considered to be savages and brutes by the common races. Because of their persecution, Oni tribes ally themselves with other oni tribes. Though, this alliance is shaky. [b]Beastial Races[/b] come from an adjacent continent. Similar to Oni, they face discrimination from most of the other races because their nature as outsiders. There are many different beast races, each with their own culture and philosophies. Their appearances range from almost human with the exception of a few traits such as ears, horns, and eye-shape to practically bipedal animals. [b]No dragons or deity-like races[/b] will be playable, so don't worry about them.[/hider] [hider=Magic]Magic refers to the ways that humanity are able to defy the laws of nature. Various means exist to alter the world. The basis of most magic takes the form of mana; an invisible force that binds everything together. For those with great internal mana, they are booned with the ability to create. The many schools of mages create their magic using complex symbols and formulas that they have associated with chants. For mages, study is the way of acquiring power. Their magic is rigid, yet both the amount of spells they possess and inventive uses of magic allows them to become versatile scholars. Alternatively, sorcery is the path of emotion for those with internal mana. Rather than rely on rigid spells, sorcerers understand and alter mana with little more than their passion and vitality. Sorcerers embrace magical domains rather than rigid schools. Their magic is highly versatile due to their formless spells that can be changed at one's whim, but they are limited in which domains they may exist in. A sorcerer, unless highly gifted and favoured by the gods, are unable to exist between opposing domains. A pyromancer is almost never able to enter the domain of hydromancy. For those who are favoured by the gods, they may instead pray to a higher power to alter the world for them. The gods of the world are numerous, each with their own domain of faith. By becoming a cleric or priest of one, one may live in service to their deity. The rituals and prayers required by a god vary, as do their powers. Their methods in which they cast, could be considered as an intermediary between sorcery and magecraft. The rigidity of prayer, but the flexibility of outcome. Some are neither blessed by the gods in their capability or favour. These people often turn to darker, more nefarious means of magic. For some, they tap deep into the power of ancient creatures that once opposed the gods: demons. Warlocks, as they came to be known, harness the power of these ancients in order to cast devastating spells. Though, it is all borrowed power. Everything has a price. Dark Arts, as they came to be known, are similar to warlocks. The primary difference between the two being that rather than make a deal, the user simply subjugates the demon and takes the power for their own. Everything, of course, has mana weaved delicately into it. As a result, some magic remains nigh impossible. One can not crush the organs of another directly, nor can they alter another's mind unless the disparity in mana is enough to shatter the weave. Out of this, some methodologies have been born. Witchcraft is the means in which one can alter the weave held within another's body. Curses, possessions, crushing the organs of one's foe are merely a handful of possibilities for witches. The weave is ephemeral, however. To alter it requires great rituals. Druids, on the other hand, employ the same concept of altering the weave that witches do. Rather than forcibly change them with rituals, however, druids live harmoniously with the weave. Because of this, they may influence anything the weave touches. While their influence is only temporary, they can cause grass to turn into vine, transform into beast, or even polymorph others with enough power. Some magic, of course, defies all logic. Dragoncraft, the innate magic of dragons, has no rules to it. Dragons merely understand the weave and create, destroy, or alter as they please. Cliff-notes: Mages are the typical scholarly types. They have big lists of rigid spells and are nerds. Sorcerers are chad mages. Instead of needing to study, they just pick a domain and do things. Pyromancy? You can now do anything with fire, limited by your mana. Clerics pray to a god to get their power. They have to do rituals and prayer to keep their power and can't do anything their gods hate. Warlocks make a deal with a demon/devil/fiend/ancient to get them to cast the spells for them. Witches do highly complex rituals to make curses and do other things no other method (save for maybe warlocks) can do. Druids are very nice and use nature. Dragons are thads that literally do not give a shit about your rules of magic and will actively doodoo on any notions of what they can and can't do.[/hider] [hider=Deities][b]???[/b] - It that wears the skull and holds the spear. It appears to have the ability to rebirth souls in new forms, afflict one's mind, and give great blessings. It desires to prevent an event known as the fracturing, but is unable to directly influence the world.[/hider] [hider=Locations]None found so far.[/hider] [hr]If you have any questions you may need to ask, just ask. [code][center][img]APPEARANCE IMAGE YO[/img][/center] [b]Name:[/b] (Previous name, new name, whatever you want your character to be called) [b]Race:[/b] (You can be what you want. I might have to apply some big lore to it to make it fit in with the world) [b]Personality:[/b] [b]Appearance:[/b] (Even if you have an image, getting some ephemeral things like height, build, and how one is percepted by others makes for good interaction) [b]Blessings:[/b] (What you could have gained. Equipment, abilities, magic, any cheat-like abilitiy) [b]Abilities:[/b] (The physical side of one's capabilities) [b]Magic:[/b] (The magical side of one's capabilities [b]Equipment:[/b] (Everyone will spawn with appropriate gear)[/code]