[center][img]https://spacenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/australiaspace.jpg[/img]
[i]Standing at the limit of an endless ocean
Stranded like a runaway, lost at sea
City on a rainy day down in the harbour
Watching as the grey clouds shadow the bay
Looking everywhere 'cause I had to find you
This is not the way that I remember it here
Anyone will tell you its a prisoner island
Hidden in the summer for a million years[/i]

[b][h1][color=0000FF]GREAT SOUTHERN LAND[/color][/h1][/b][/center]

The Southern Continent is in flames.

Generations have passed since the Commonwealth, that mythical union of the Australians, was destroyed in the Great Deluge. In its place have risen hundreds upon hundreds of independent tribes and entities which masquerade as the successors to this Crown, each vying for control of their slice of the Continent. All men dream of a day when the Australian Race is reunified under the Southern Cross, when the Commonwealth is restored. Prophecies speak of the day when one man will arise from the Outback and, with sword in hand, reunify his people.

But life goes on uninterrupted by these fantasies. In the once-great cities of Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Sydney, and countless others a perpetual war of survival is fought by the twisted and corrupted inhabitants, who have long ceased to be recognizably human and have become primal beings all together. Elsewhere along the coasts, men try to eek out what little existence they can under constant threat from raiders and war spill-overs from the urban centers. In the outback, however, Bushrangers continue as they so often did centuries ago - struggling against the elements more than they ever struggled against each other. The Order of the Southern Cross, as the Bushrangers are known officially, is perhaps the only vestige of old-world chivalry and valor left in the Australian country. Savage and barbarous as they are, they remain Australia's greatest and best hope for the fulfillment of the Prophecy.

Our story begins at Kelly Station, one of the Bushranger fortifications that dot the Queensland outback, where a Bushranger is confronted by a strange Aboriginal, instructing him to retrieve the Twelve Talismans in order to restore the Commonwealth and bring peace back to the Great Southern Land once more and forever. Will he and the Bushrangers be able to succeed, or will the treacherous and burned-black Continent claim him like so many others?

[center][b][h2][color=0000FF]Lore[/color][/h2][/b]
[img]https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/200204124342-australia-fires-canberra-horse-exlarge-tease.jpg[/img]
[i]So you look into the land and it will tell you a story
Story 'bout a journey ended long ago
Listen to the motion of the wind in the mountains
Maybe you can hear them talking like I do
"They're gonna betray you, they're gonna forget you!
Are you gonna let them take you over that way?"
[/i][/center]

In the following hiders, I've taken the liberty of drawing up some rough sketches of the world that we exist in. Nothing in here will be key plot points, but rather are the foundation on which we will build the plot off of.

[hider=Australia]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/aBWn45d.png[/img]
[i]There is a land where summer skies
Are gleaming with a thousand eyes,
Blending in witching harmonies ;
And grassy knoll and forest height,
Are flushing in the rosy light,
And all above is azure bright — Australia![/i][/center]

The Great Southern Land, Australia, was once the jewel in the Ocean. Myths from before the Great Deluge speak of a Continent-spanning Empire of Australians united in language, blood, and common destiny. Old wives and priests speak about the Commonwealth, which had crumbled into Anarchy in the aftermath of the Deluge. The Commonwealth was a time of peace, of bounty, and of unity. Men and women toiled for the greatness of Australia, and children played happily under the Southern Cross.

But the Anarchy changed all that.

Chaos spread from the coastal cities outward into the deepest parts of the interior, ripping the Commonwealth apart from the ground up. In the three-hundred years since the demise of the Commonwealth, there has been no successful attempt in ever reunifying the Australian Race, though many warlords have tried. The Order of the Southern Cross - the Bushrangers, came the closest by uniting the various towns in the outback of Queensland, but were thwarted by the ravaging gangs of Brisbane and ultimately their campaign of reunification ground to a halt.

Along the coastal cities of the East, such as Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, and everything in between, total anarchy still rages. Drug-addled gangs roam the wild streets in search of traders who must pass through the urban centers on their way to the towns on the Gold Coast. Communities of non-Australians, driven mad by their isolation from their homelands, wreak havoc upon all who come across them. The urban communities are nothing more than a perpetual battleground.

In the jungles of the Far North, strange communities of tree-worshiping Pagans worship their wooden idols in relative peace, only occasionally fighting the Aborginal tribesmen and the spillovers from the chaos that is Darwin. Similar communities have sprung up in New South Wales and Victoria, but instead they offer their obedience to the Unconquerable Sun. The Cult of the Unconquerable Sun has taken Australia by storm, falling in even with the Christian Order of the Southern Cross.

Across the vast stretch of the uninhabited Interior Desert, the Western Coast was ravaged by the Great Deluge. Rumors of horrifically demented tribes of men from what used to be Western Australia filter towards the East, telling of the tribes who worship the Holy Atom and seek to find the last of the Australian nuclear weapons in order to purify the Continent. Towards the South, the only thing is known is that the last vestige of the Commonwealth, the shining jewel of Adelaide, stands as a beacon of civilization in the darkness of the world. But the aloofness of the city's inhabitants to the struggles of Australia could soon spell their doom.

One thing is certain: Australia is a war zone. And nothing seems to be able to end it.[/hider]

[hider=The Order of the Southern Cross]
[center][img]https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/7319546-3x2-700x467.jpg[/img]
[i]We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other, and fight to defend our rights and liberties.[/i][/center]

The foundation of the Order of the Southern Cross is lost in the mists of time. The Order itself holds that it was formed during the Golden Age of the Commonwealth, as the last bulwark of the Australian Race of enemies both foreign and domestic. Some, however, believe that they are merely pretenders, formed from lawless gangs in the direct aftermath of the Deluge. Whatever the truth is, which surely lies somewhere in between the two stories, the Order represents the last and best hope of Australia to return to peace and unity.

The Order is a loose confederation of aligned shires, the name given to the local branches of the Order, centered mainly around Queensland. It is organized through a series of Order-Masters, leading all the way to the Grand Master of the Southern Cross, who is based in the Bauhinia Shire and from where he directs the Order. Most of the shires act independently from the Grand Master, not directly fighting each other but not always united. Exceptions are when the Grand Master calls a Crusade, the last of which was during the Grand Crusade of Brisbane, which ended in defeat for the Order.

Ever since the defeat of the Grand Crusade, the Order has fallen on hard times. In their consolidated territories, the people under their protection are safe and can conduct business, but when the Bushrangers venture out of their safe-zones, they are frequently driven back by ever-emboldened foes along the Sunshine Coast. It remains to be seen whether the Order will survive this downturn, or whether or not they will rise from the ashes.[/hider]

[hider=The Cult of the Unconquerable Sun]
[center][img]https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/pagancalendar/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/12/1-sol-invictus-mysteries-of-the-christos-daniel-gautier.jpg[/img]
[i]Mithras, lord of the Midnight - here where the great bull dies
Look on Thy children in darkness, oh take our sacrifice
Many roads Thou hast fashioned, all of them lead to the light
Mithras, also a soldier, teach us to die aright![/i][/center]

Originating in Wagga Wagga, the Cult of the Unconquerable Sun has taken the Continent by storm. Sweeping away the old traditions of Christianity which had been decaying since the Deluge, most Australians are adherents of either outright Solar Worship, or a syncretic mix of the Sun-Cult and Christianity. It is unknown exactly how or when the Cult began, as most of it is shrouded in the myths of the Cult, but it cannot be debated that it is now the primary religion of the Australian Race.

The Cult of the Unconquerable Sun holds that the material Sun is the physical manifestation of the Godhead, the One, the Absolute, and thus is the primary object of worship and reverence for Man. It also believes in the Gods, as most Australians do, but it believes them to be subservient to the One who shines above the Universe. Traditions vary region to region, but all adherents make it a point to greet the Sun in the morning, meditate under it in the noontide, and to see it off in the evening in the knowledge that it will come again.

The birth and rebirth cycle parallels that of the Reunification Prophecy, which is another central point of the Cult. The Reunification Prophecy, given by elders shortly after the Deluge and passed down to all Australians, is the belief that one man will arise from the outback with a flaming sword in hand and reunify the Commonwealth and the Australian Race, leading them to stand atop the ruins of the World and reclaim civilization.[/hider]

[hider=The Forest Cults]
[center][img]https://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/media_kunst/img/50/g/50_6824~franz-von-stuck_wilde-jagd.jpg[/img]
[i]When night falls
She cloaks the world
In impenetrable darkness
A chill rises from the soil
And contaminates the air
Suddenly life has new meaning[/i][/center]

The other belief system of the Australians which has usurped the old ways are the disparate cults which have come to be known as 'the Forest Cults' even if many of its adherents no longer dwell in the Northern Forests. While their traditions and beliefs are all slightly different, they all believe in a world ruled by angry Gods and spirits, with whom Man lives in a complicated relationship. Sometimes, Man and the Gods are at war, but other times Man aligns with certain Gods in their war against each other.

This religion of total violence has led to brutal religious wars between the Foresters, as they are known, and the Solar Cult. The Foresters are believed to be responsible for the utter destruction of the Romanists, who held dear to the old Catholic traditions long after the Deluge. Many of the tribes which adhere to this cult practice human sacrifice to their Gods, offering up the corpses of their enemies for favors in the perpetual war.

Little is known about the Forest Cults, as they live in total seclusion from the rest of Australia. The only interaction that they have with the Order, and with the cities, are raids and constant war.[/hider]

[hider=Adelaide]
[center][img]https://1v1d1e1lmiki1lgcvx32p49h8fe-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1575777812-Adelaide_Church-960x540.jpg[/img]
[i]Here in this God given land of ours, Australia
This proud possession, our own piece of earth
That was built by our fathers, who pioneered our heritage,
Here in Australia, the land of our birth.[/i][/center]

The last bastion of civilization, the City of Adelaide represents the final vestige of the Commonwealth which one stretched across the Continent. It is an oasis of peace and tranquility in a continent of war and strife. Outside its walls, the whole Continent is ablaze with chaos, but inside its mighty defenses, its citizens live safe in the knowledge that the terribleness that surrounds them will never break in.

It is unknown how Adelaide was spared the chaos that was unleashed upon every other major city in Australia, but it is known that it is the only place that still pretends as though the Commonwealth still remains. Ruled by a City Council with an appointed Royal Commissioner, the City of Adelaide is an aristocratic oligarchy controlled by the Lords of the South, who control vast tracts of arable land in South Australia. They possess the only organized military, still named the Australian Defence Force after the ancient organization, which calls upon every able-bodied citizen to serve in.

The City, unique to the Continent, still has factories and power plants able to churn out goods of all sorts - from firearms to couches. It is believed that most of the weaponry utilized in eastern Australia is produced in the Adelaide factories, sold to whoever can pay the City Council the highest money. It doesn't matter whether or not the arms go to the Bushrangers, or to deranged drug gangs of Melbourne. Just as long as they aren't aimed towards the city. Its position as the only manufacturer on the Continent has perhaps saved it from open invasion by any hostile force.

Adelaide has managed to withstand the aching pains of the aftermath of the Deluge, but has a precarious future ahead. The Order of the Southern Cross has stolen from it many of the profitable cattle stations in the far north of its territorial limits, encroaching that the ADF is unable to stop on account of the lack of resources. Only time will tell if it can survive into the New Age of Australia.
[/hider]

[center][b][h2][color=0000FF]Requirements[/color][/h2][/b]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/cHyMDwV.jpg[/img]
[i]I think I hear the sounds of then,
And people talking,
The scenes recalled, by minute movement,
And songs they fall, from the backing tape.
That certain texture, that certain smell...[/i][/center]

This roleplay will follow our characters, Bushrangers operating out of Kelly Station, one of the Order's fortifications just outside of the town of Longreach in Queensland, as they seek out the Twelve Talismans in order to reunify Australia. Think about this roleplay as being a modern, post-apocalyptic retelling of the Knights of the Round Table, as Parsifal searches for the Holy Grail. I think that's the best way to think about this, since a lot of this roleplay will be extremely "mythological" if that makes sense.

My ideal writing standards for this roleplay will be what could be called High Casual, with the understanding that the poster will provide at least a paragraph or two of good detailed posts that we can all work upon. I'm not concerned with the length so much as the content, so if you can only give me a paragraph I don't really mind as long as it can be worked upon and we can move the story along. I have a definite beginning, middle, and end in mind with this RP so I don't want it to get bogged down.

Another big thing is that I would not want Mary Sues or anything of the sort in this roleplay. Give me flawed characters, cynical characters, outright bastards. Make them real people. We may be writing through what could be called a myth, but that doesn't mean our characters have to be total myths either. Do your best to avoid these pitfalls.

I am also not opposed to character death, if you feel your character has run its course and you'd wish to make a new one. So long as you can write it in a plausible manner, I am totally game for it. I suppose that could be my one big rule here. If it works, it works and use it. If it doesn't work, then don't use it!

Any questions regarding elaboration on any of this, I can answer below! A template for the Character Sheet will be provided for in the OP of the Characters tab.