The White Inferno had swept across the continent of Strahn centuries ago, dragging everyone within into fire and brimstone as the great city of Velchi had once attempted to harness the power of the Four Protectors to bring its neighbors to its knees. The long-since destroyed ruins left to rot in the sands that consumed the city and the lands around it were left without life were a testament to their folly, and it was said that the nation fell in but a day, leaving those left unscathed to remember them as but a cautionary tale. Of course, with the Protectors having returned to the lands that they held dear, those same people were left to grow prosperous in the wake of that very destruction. Though the people of each nation may have held ambitions of their own, the existence of 'a line that should not be crossed' was firmly etched into their minds.

Of course, with the rise of a nation comes its inevitable decline. The kingdom of Iltana, once reputed for their strength of heart, has grown fat in indulgence, and unrest within its borders only seemed to grow as the years went on. It is at one of the towns near the outskirts of Iltana that the heroes of this journey meet; where it will take them, of course, is yet to be seen...

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This RP is intended to accommodate for a small group (~4-5 players, maximum) and intends to pursue a more classic JRPG vibe in terms of both worldview and execution. There are no 'game elements' and no isekai shenanigans to be found here, so if you've come here seeking that... Well, I'd advise you to look elsewhere.

The framework of the world itself is mostly in place, but to try and mimic the feel of exploration, I'm not going to be putting detailed information about the continent up front. As I have said, though, this is a [i]framework[/i], which means that you have some room to go creative with things. As GM, though, I will have the right to veto if I so choose.

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The world is inhabited by a great many races, but for the sake of convenience, I'll list the playable ones thus.

[list][*]Humans: Standard fare. They inhabit much of the world, and are about as diverse as they come.
[*]Elves: With their lithe bodies and sharp ears, elves seem to be the epitome of alert—and for good reason. Rather than living in the forests or fields, the elves of Strahn instead took to the wintry tundras of the north and, surprisingly enough, the desert sands left in the wake of the White Inferno. Hunters at heart, the elves value skill and talent more than any sort of heritage. This is not to say that they are stuck in their old ways, of course; adopting the recent trend of magitech advancement, however slow, has allowed them to both upgrade their old weaponry and take up new arms entirely.
[*]Dwarves: The stout and sturdy dwarves are just as apt to be found dotting the world as humans, though many in Strahn have taken to the coasts and, more recently, the floating island above the western half of the continent. Not content to simply mill about upon the land, dwarves have actually taken to the seas and skies to eke out their own homes on uncharted lands.
[*]Dreil/Risho: Fundamentally draconic races, both the Dreihn and the Risho have lizardlike tails, horns, and scales that cover their body. Though the two do share fundamentally similar roots (if taken from a geneological perspective), mistaking one for the other would be rather difficult. On average, the Dreil seem to lean more 'lizard' than 'man', with sharper horns, slit pupils, and more scales to on average when compared to their Risho counterparts; the Risho, in turn, often have deerlike antlers in lieu of the sharper horns that the Dreil grow.
The Dreil occupy the lands to the northwest of Strahn, making plentiful use of the stone and metals abundant within the land to build themselves up; the Risho, on the other hand, hail from another land entirely, and have only begun to move to Strahn in the last few centuries. There is animosity between the two, of course, but that much is only to be expected.
[*]Suryana: A race of giant six-armed humanoids, the Suryana have a reputation for being warlike and savage. Of course, that only really stems from their enemies, who have had the misfortune of drawing their ire in the first place. Though their homeland is firmly situated in the forests of eastern Strahn, the Suryana do often travel the world, be it for pilgrimages or simple adventure. Their six arms obviously make them a force to be reckoned with in physical combat, but having four more arms than most other (sapient) beings makes them surprisingly well suited for more than simply swinging multiple weapons at someone's face.
[*]Lucani: With wolflike ears, tails, and defined canines, the Lucani are fierce hunters that have since grown accustomed to (and even thrived in) the tundras to the north of Strahn. Their senses are sharp—strikingly so, in fact—which makes them difficult to evade out in the field. More than a few leave their homelands to stake out their lives elsewhere, be it as mercenaries or otherwise, which in turn leads to their somewhat ruthless and unflattering reputation at times.
[*]Jihu: Compared to the similarly-canid Lucani, the Jihu, with their more vulpine ears and tail, look far less rugged and wild. Hailing from the western forests of the continent, the Jihu are seemingly more proficient with the manipulation of mana, be it for actual magic or the usage of delicate tools that require said mana. They are somewhat reclusive compared to the other races on the continent, but the quality of some of the works of craftsmanship they create means that those who succeed in gaining their favor often have a striking amount of sway elsewhere.
[*]Automata: The sole remnant of the Velchi (bar the ruins of the city), automata had, at one point in time, looked more like mechanical robots than the more humanoid form they have taken on thus. The fall of Velchi had brought with it the necessity to coexist with those of other races, and with their former masters wiped from existence, the automata had, slowly but surely, grown to slowly replace their weary old parts with those less 'inhuman' to the eyes of others. Of course, these automata slowly began to propagate as well, building new ones to replace those lost to time or injury. Nowadays, they seem somewhere between man and machine, and with no 'masters' to drive them, they have taken to finding their own ways in the world.[/list]

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Questions? Concerns? Anything else? Feel free to ask. In any case, the form is down below; use it as you see fit.

[hider=Form]
[code][list][*][u]Name[/u]:
[*][u]Age[/u]:
[*][u]Race[/u]:
[*][u]Appearance[/u]: (Feel free to use an image or a text description, as you please).
[*][u]Personality[/u]:
[*][u]History[/u]:
[*][u]Abilities/Skills[/u]:
[*][u]Other[/u]:[/list][/code][/hider]

Additionally, here's a [url=https://discord.gg/txJkXTjGJ3]Discord[/url] link.