[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XPVjaYm.jpg[/img][/center]

Long ago, there was a prosperous nation. A land filled with light and magic. Wonderment and enlightenment. An nation that stretched over a vast land, with a diverse group of people. At it's heart, a bustling city ruled by a heavenly king who had one desire: for the sun to never set on his kingdom. In these ancient times this land was a paradise, and it knew no hardships. It knew no struggles. It brook no intolerance, ignorance, or suffering. And any evidence to the contrary... Was wiped out. All things must come to an end. But the king of these lands did not wish to see his golden age pass, or even for his rule to pass. He wanted nothing but peace for his people, for and glory for himself. And, as often these tales go, the lengths he went to achieve this would ensure that he would lose everything.

The king sent out his royal knights, his strongest mages, and his wisest priests to find a way to preserve his nation's glory. To hide away the dark truths in life, to ensure that his people never knew what hardships were. The lengths he would go to to ensure this prosperity came at the cost of his own people, and soon his own sanity. Even his most loyal of followers began to doubt him. When the king sensed this, in his madness he cast away his people and began to surround himself with fanatical followers who were more than willing to feed the king's ego. Time after time they would commit atrocities for the greater good, seeking out dissenters and critics to silence any whispers of rebellion. And worse of all, the king succeeded.

Though his actions and the sacrifices he made, he struck a deal with a divine being, a creature who promised that despite his faults, the king will be remembered for the great things he had accomplished. All he had to do... Was accept the god's blessing. And naturally he did. And in doing so, the nation he worked so hard to build and preserve would last through the ages, and be remembered as the [b]BRIGHT LANDS[/b].

A twisted world of light. A place where the sun truly never sets. A place that burned away honor and kindness, revealing the monsters within us all. The great works of man torn down or worse, twisted into a parody of itself. The influence of this eldritch being stretched far beyond the kingdom, and would soon engulf the entire land. Nations fell as it tried to resist not only the influence of this divine monster, but it's armies as well. For thousands of years the many races that populated the world would rise and fall pushing back against this menace, some days winning, and many days losing. People began to become desperate to find their own solution against this creature of light, and turned to dark powers.

Eventually there came a stalemate. This bright creature became contained onto a single continent, after acts of divine powers forcefully split the rest of the world away from it. Many homes were lost, much history forgotten, and more than millions of lives taken in the chaos. In the end the most people could do was simply escape and move on with their lives, hoping that one day this monstrosity will one day be gone.

And that day is coming. In the ruins of a coastal village, a young girl awakens, along with the spirits that would guide her...

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Welcome to Burning Bright, my quasi Elder Lilies D&D 5e game. Most of you should know the details of this game, but here's a refresher:

You play as a spirit who is currently inhabiting a young woman. You are bound to this woman, and it is your duty to keep her alive. Fortunately for you she's not completely defenseless: by inhabiting her body your own essence shields her in a sense, meaning that any harm that would normally come to her would instead go into you and the other spirits inside of her body. In turn, in your spirit form you able to manipulate the world around her. Be it attacks with your weapon or magic from your spells, you can still interact with the world in your own limited ways. However at the moment, you exist tightly bound to this woman: you can never be far from her, and despite your ability to affect the world, it cannot affect you. But it can affect her. The enemies you face will attack her with all their might, fury, and cunning, and so it is the duty of all the spirits in her to protect her and guide her through these Brighted Lands.

Rules:
1. My rule is law. I'm pretty open to a lot of interpretations but when it comes down to it how I handle things will be how this game operates.
2. Follow the site rules. If you don't know them, read them.
3. Follow the rules of D&D 5e. Some of you may know older or other editions. We aren't playing those, so don't expect 5e to operate the same. I may do things differently however, so if you're ever concerned about how something is done and you don't know or only have some tidbit of an idea, do let me know.
4. This is a team game, so I encourage everyone to work together. Your characters may have their own reasons why they do what they do or form their own opinions and relationships, but regardless of what they do I expect all of you to treat each other with respect and fairness. I [i]will[/i] pick sides, so don't cause any drama unless you're ready for me to drop the hammer hard.
5. Related to the above, I also expect the same level of respect towards me as well. I'll essentially be playing a rather weak character, but despite that I'll do my best to provide a fun experience for everyone, myself included. Please don't force me to do something unfair due to power or metagaming.
6. I'll be pretty lax about posting. I expect at least 1 post a week, but if you're really struggling I don't mind if you just post something short as well, or even just tell me in the OOC and I'll act accordingly. During combat I expect things to go a bit faster but at the same time, I will also accept shorter and simpler posts during combat as well.
7. Speaking of combat, I will endeavor to try and make maps whenever they come up. Occasionally however i may not be able to create a map for whatever reason, so we'll be doing a mix of maps and theater of the mind. If you have any questions about things like distance, location, or even just what the area looks like, by all means ask me.
8. Not really a rule but more of a piece of advice: Due to the nature of your characters pretty much playing a super Gestalt, expect combat to be hard. While I'll try my best to be balanced, all of your strengths are being combined into a single character who can pretty much act multiple times within a turn, and most of your enemies are fairly generic. Thus I'll compensate with better tactics, stronger foes, or straight up homebrewed monsters. Thus I encourage you all to get stronger as well. And most of all, have fun.
9. More rules will be made as I see fit.

Character creation Rules:
1. Feel free to use any official books, though UA needs to be discussed with me first if you want to use it. Also please use only the latest edition when it comes to spells, feats, abilities, races, etc, not any older editions that was once official but now has been replaced by something more modern.
2. Stats will be 27 point buy.
3. Items will be determined by your class and background, which I will provide below.
4. Everyone will be using a custom background, Bright Stricken.
[hider=Bright Stricken]
[b]Skill Proficiency[/b]: Any two of your choice.
[b]Tool Proficiency[/b]: Any Artisan Tool, Gaming Set, Musical Instrument, Tool, or Vehicle of your choice. 
[b]Language[/b]: Any of your choice.
[b]Equipment[/b]: A set of Traveler's Clothes, a belt pouch, a trinket (You can roll for one [url=https://5e.tools/items.html#trinket_phb]here[/url] or make it up yourself), one tool/gaming set/instrument of your choice, one mundane adventuring gear worth 10 GP or less.

Feature: Memories of Life.
You were struck down in these cursed lands, yet despite your fate you still remember vestiges of your past. Some of your memories are faded, gone even, but what you do remember stand out strongly. You have vivid memories of a location, organization, or a type of creature. Your ability to recall this information and make use of it can help the Gestalt through these cursed lands, whether it be identifying safe passage, discerning messages, or even discovering weaknesses.

Suggested Characteristics
These are literally just optional, but just to give you an idea of the type of people who would come and eventually die here, do consult this list so you can get into the general theme of things.

Personality Traits
1. I'm haunted by the memories of my final moments. I can't stop thinking about them.
2. I am cautious around strangers, and still careful around people I know.
3. I've come here to punish the evil here and death will not stop me.
4. The only thing that matters now is survival.
5. There is death and adventure here, and I'm looking for both.
6. I've already lost my life before, what's there left to lose now?
7. This is my second chance to fix a mistake I've made.
8. Even in this bleak existence, I know there is good in this world.

Ideal
1. Redemption. I've failed before but I will do everything in my power to right the wrongs. (Good)
2. Duty. Even in death I must fulfill the oaths I took when I had lived. (Lawful)
3. Liberation. Now shed of my mortal coil I can do things that I could have never done before. (Chaotic)
4. Opportunity. Though I should be dead, now I can escape my fate and perhaps even fulfill some goals I had in life. (Any)
5. Acceptance. My time has passed, but I shall use what little time I have to the best of my ability. (Neutral)
6. Conquest. My death was only the beginning to something grander I could achieve in these blighted lands. (Evil)

Bond
1. I still remember the family I had. I hope they had managed to escape this chaos.
2. This is my homeland, and I will do everything I can to restore it to it's former glory.
3. I remember the men and women who served alongside me. I will always honor their memory.
4. I gave my life to save someone's life, and I know they're still out there, somewhere.
5. Even if I don't remember all the details, the Gestalt is someone important to me.
6. I came here as an agent for my nation, and that has not changed even now.

Flaw
1. Violence is my only answer to problems in this cursed land.
2. You can't trust anyone here, dead or alive.
3. I resent this duty and I will find some way to escape it.
4. I miss the pleasures in life, and I would do anything to feel alive again.
5. Because I've died once already, does safety really matter anymore?
6. I dislike sharing this body with the others. The Gestalt will be mines alone.
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5. For your character sheet, I would recommend either Mythweavers or Google Doc. You may also use Dice Cloud or D&Dbeyond if you wish as well.
6. Feel free to multiclass however you like, though I ask that you still meet minimum stat requirements for doing so.
7. Link your character sheet to the CS below. Once your done, post the CS to the CS tab.
8. Another thing I just remembered I'm going to do, [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffoEWvFqHOP7-YEHBIbQzqT18n3uC99GM9zPwxx1ckI/edit?usp=sharing]here is a link[/url] to an alternative weapons table. They're basically my take on the Simple/Martial weapons to reduce redundancy, making each weapon more unique, improving ones I felt could use something to stand out, and providing new weapons to give a bit more variety. 

[hider=Character Sheet]
Name: The Brighted Lands encompasses a wide variety of people and cultures in it's ruins, so your name could be anything as simple as Joe to as exotic as Δ, so go nuts.
Appearance: Post a picture of your character here, or add a description, or both.
Race: Again the Brighted Lands covered a vast amounts of people and nations, so all sorts of races have lived and died there.
Occupation: What did you do for a living when you were living? Generally would reflect your class, or many becoming a spirit has made you stronger than what your previous job would imply.
Memories: The most important part of this character sheet. Your memories is basically your history, but it also ties into your Background feature and what knowledge your character may have that could be useful to the Gestalt. It doesn't have to be everything about your character, in fact it shouldn't because all the spirits have lost a lot of memories due to their deaths, but what you do remember should be something considered very important to your character, and it'll tie into how you get stronger in the plot as well.
Other: Whatever other information you feel like adding. Maybe their favorite song, random trivia, or whatever else you think would be nice to note.

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