Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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Dead Cruiser Dishonour Before Death / Better You Than Me

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S C I O N



Photep, the City of Light


Photep is the greatest city in the entire world. Possibly the only city, but the greatest all the same. It stands as a shining pinnacle of civilization. A monument to science, art, philosophy, and law. It is little wonder that it is known as the City of Light. Photep is your home. It has raised you as one of its own, regardless of whether you or those of your blood were born there. It has protected you, nurtured your talents, and now it will make you part of its legacy. For you are a Sorcerer, or at least, you soon will be.

Magic is a fairly common thing on the world of Ea. It suffuses the earth, the air, the seas, and every living thing that walks, swims, or flies. For this, Ea is both wondrous and dangerous. Strange beasts prowl the wastes outside the city walls, the weather is most vicious and unpredictable, and even the earth itself is known to upheave violently. It is little wonder then, why Photep may be the only city in all of Ea, and why it has become so great. Most people can, with practice, perform simple feats of magic. Before the founding of Photep, this was all people were ever capable of: petty witchcraft and parlor tricks. The Sorcerers of Photep are different; they cleave to the true magic, that which binds reality together, and decides the fate of men and gods. And in time, so shall you.

Today is the day of your commencement from the Pesedjet, the most prestigious learning institution in all of Photep. On this day, you ascend from your adolescence and begin your path toward maturity and mastery over magic. You and your fellow initiates will be inducted today into the Cults of Heka, the fellowships of Sorcerers that lawfully pursue the deepest mysteries of magic within Photep. You will be selected by a Sorcerer-Magus to begin your apprenticeship under their tutelage as Sorcerer-Novitiate, and be formally inducted into their Cult. From that point on, the Cult will be your home, your academy, your workplace, your family.

All stand ready. It is time for the commencement to begin. The five pyramids of the Heka provide no shade from Ea's harsh noonday sun, and a distant glimmer catches your eye. Standing high above all else, every tower and every pyramid, there it is: the Silver Tower. The symbol of he who has made all of this possible. The ruler and master of all of Photep since the day he founded it.

The Crimson King.





So this is a weird thing I've wanted to do for a while, and tried to do in 1x1s to little effect. The idea here is that your characters are sorcerers-in-training studying under the master sorcerers of the city of Photep. We're leaning heavily into a sort of magic-future version of Egypt/Persia, very Crystal Spires and Togas in terms of aesthetic. It's a utopia of learning and progress, an oasis in a harsh and dangerous world. Or at least, you believe it is.

I will consider the possibility of players getting to play as the Magus sorcerers, but that will depend on how well I know you, your work, and if I think you understand the feel and flavor of the world.

The extent of relevant worldbuilding I've done can be found here, but let me know if you have any other questions.





Here is a sample CS, I may or may not actually play this character, but still feel free to use it as a reference point for what I generally want to see.



And yes, before anyone points it out, I know that this looks a lot like a particular thing from a particular game. Just consider this a "school AU" version of that, and we'll leave it at that.

If anyone has any questions, comments, or interest, please let me know.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Scribe of Thoth
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Scribe of Thoth It's Pronounced "Thot"

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I am a simple man. I see Egypt, I click.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Scallop
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Definitely interested, right up my alley lmao
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Valentine
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Very, very interested.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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Dead Cruiser Dishonour Before Death / Better You Than Me

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Happy to see this much interest so quickly. If you have questions or character ideas feel free to ask here or over PM. If the group becomes large enough I may consider opening a discord.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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ShwiggityShwah Good Diet, Sleep, Excercise, and Leeches

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I could be into this. Maybe a geomancer considering the almost magical architecture.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by blackdragon
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blackdragon An Ass Wiser than Yoda

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I'll join.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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@ShwiggityShwah Geomancy is indeed a thing, though it is considered a "minor" school of magic. Here is my blurb on it from my worldbuilding document:

Geomancy: a discipline that manipulates Ea itself, in the form of its stone, sand, soil, and magma. Practitioners can induce earthquakes, create sandstorms, or blast their enemies with rock and lava.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by canaryrose
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This sounds pretty cool! I'm interested.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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Does anyone have any character plans or ideas they want to run by me, or setting information they'd like? I'd prefer to dole it out more piecemeal so it's not overwhelming, and provide what is most relevant as needed. If enough people have what I feel like is a solid start, I can put together an early-draft CS template.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ShepherdOfHope
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Definitely interested.

Is there any sort of “supportive” or defensive style of magic?
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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considering we're following set rules.

How's alchemy these days.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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@ShepherdOfHope Just about any permutation of magic could be used in a "supportive" manner. Though magic for Sorcerers is an art, their own craft, not merely something for battle, which something to keep in mind. In fact, some Sorcerers consider the use of magic for violence to be utterly vulgar.

@ShwiggityShwah Alchemy would be more akin to actual chemistry in this setting; the Photepi people have a strong grasp on natural science as well as magic. Depending on what you actually wanted to do, you could pursue any number of disciplines: Telekinesis, Biomancy, Technomancy... Just feel free to hit me with some more specifics.

I suppose I've been remiss in not outlining how magic works on a personal level. It would probably help to a certain extent to think of them like psychic powers; they're an innate power/force/energy that your character has access to, and with practice, study, focus, and discipline they can access them more reliably and achieve more profound effects with them. Sorcerers engage in such advanced work that requires incantations and other physical demonstrations, ritual sites and reagents, or even the cooperation of other Sorcerers. It's very possible and even common for Sorcerers to branch out into many different magical disciplines but most tend to focus on one or another for the majority of their work to avoid being jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. It's actually a requirement to ascend in rank within the Cults; kind of like how you can't graduate college without a major.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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Well I guess how magic works would develop my character concept.

I kind of viewed geomancy as a type of, 'the art of placing or arranging buildings or other sites auspiciously.' basically I would describe it as 'magical architecture' considering the temples and pyramids and other building wonders. it would be the study of shapes, mathematical geometry, symbols and angles in order to tune and channel magic. Practically, it would be the use of runes to simulate magic, maybe partially through divine forces, or channeling ones own ability into things or objects. Creating symbols for health on pots of healing draughts. It would be a more scholarly type of character.

If alchemy is more about it, I guess it would be magic through chemistry. Mixing natural and mineral agreements to create, draughts potions salves, poisons, and oils as conduits for spells. Maybe with more work, transmutation from one substance to another and forging materials and reagents for other purposes. Purifying water, removing pests. This character would be probably medical in origin, a type of doctor, or even a healer priest if medicines could be combined with prayers.

I also had a concept of a golem mancer, creating living sculptures but I dont know if that's a discipline. I might be confusing high with low fantasy.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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@ShwiggityShwah Well you're going in a few different directions here so let me try and work it out.

Runes, wards, sigils, and seals are all sort of generalized magical knowledge. They're your sorcerous equivalents of GenEds. You mention "divine forces," and I would lean away from that for now. The nature/existence of gods is a very hotly debated subject among Sorcerers, and the nature of aetheric consciousnesses further complicates the matter.

Medicine would probably fall under Biomancy, though transmutation could be a subset of of Telekinesis. Again, be aware that your characters are basically high school graduates, not really qualified to practice medicine right off the bad, and as far as their professions go, they're Sorcerers first.

Creating a golem would be a complicated subject. If you're just trying to make some kind of automata, Technomancy is probably up your alley. If you're trying to infuse living essence into something, you're probably veering into Demonology (remember those aetheric consciousnesses I mentioned earlier?) which is a restricted discipline.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Le Fay
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Interested in playing an acolyte focused on healing magic.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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Thanks but,

I'm not seeing the connections between the cause > affect. Telekinesis (movement of matter with mind) = Transmutation (changing matter)? Im used to those names/words used in other settings and Im having trouble kind of connecting them.

I can come up with ideas all day but nothing seems to be quite right with what I wanted, nor fits the kind of 'eyptian/arabian' aesthetics I originally had in mind for this.

I wont be able to come up with a solid concept until the lore is explained clearly. Thank you for the attempt. I'll come up with a solid concept when I have the foundation.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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@Le Fay You'll probably want Biomancy, then. The Cult of the Serpent will be happy to have you.

@ShwiggityShwah I'm mostly trying to adapt what you're describing into what I have currently. Your sort of geometrics/transmutation stuff isn't anything I even considered previously.

Telekinesis is a catchall term for a major magical discipline. It broadly refers to the power of "mind over matter." Here is my lore doc outline for it:

Telekinesis: the power of the mind over matter. Practitioners of Telekinesis can lift enormous weights with a thought, crush their enemies with the sheer force of their will, or shield themselves from harm. Masters of Telekinesis are said to be able to tear holes in reality to teleport great distances, or to unleash energy-storms from the aether. Specialty of the Cult of the Scarab.

The reason your hermetic alchemy kind of stuff probably isn't vibing aesthetically is because it's Greek in foundation, and about a thousand years newer than the aesthetics I'm working with currently.

Keep trying, let me know what information I can provide to help you along, and get back to me.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Haydrian Cindel
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@Dead Cruiser I'd be pretty interested! Ima PM you a character idea.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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I can see that I've caused some struggles/difficulty by being a bit too tight-fisted with lore, so I've transcribed my lore doc into something that's hopefully digestible and easy to access for reference purposes. I'll post this in the OP as well. If people feel like this gives them enough to work with, I can post a preliminary CS.



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