A train sped along the rails, faster than one could call 'safe', through a sparsely wooded, but arid landscape.
No wonder, because closing in were a band of elves, on horseback, with rifles! Windows shattered as they fired through one of the cars, menacing the occupants as they were still urging the horses faster, toward the Engine!
Just as one of them gave a high pitched warcry, it blends with the scream of the wistle, and a billow of smoke suddenly obscures their view-
When it cleared, a bald and sooty dwarf was leaning out of the car! One hand held a rail, the other raising what looked like a rifle, but the wooden stock was black, and made with bronze instead of iron. Strangest of all, however, was the lack of a hammer or flintlock- in that place was a setting with a large piece of quartz crystal!
He sneered at the leader of the raiding party as he squeezed the trigger, closing a circuit- the crystal gave a pulse of light, and fired a bolt of lightning from the barrel!
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Inside a saloon, An orc is cleaning a glass while all the customers are focused on a quartet of tieflings performing the cancan, and a gnome fails to convince anyone that he's actually playing the piano so well.
The only people not watching the performance was a table hosting a tense game of cards- a bead of sweat runs across the humans' brow as he slides a pair of cards face down. A dwarf, a dragonborn, and another orc did the same.
The goblin dealer slid her own pair to the center, prompting them all to reveal the cards. The dwarf began swearing, the human stared with his jaw slack, the dragonborn just sulked and the orc gave a grunt as he struck the table with his fist.
The goblin grinned wide, her hands raised so her baggy sleeves drooped, showing nothing up them.
The smile vanished quickly as the dragonborn and the dwarf caught the human, mid air- he thrashed and screamed at the goblin dealer, who hopped down from her stool and ran away, crying past the batwing doors, as a figure slowly pace by in the middle of the street, outside.
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Out in the street, an orc in a wide rimmed hat with a handlebar moustache stopped, and muttered, "Ten..." He turned, to face his opponent- a well tanned elven woman, the hair kept out of her eyes in a thick braid, much of her form hidden under a denim-colored sarape.
The orc squinted, and called out, "This is the only chance I'm offerin', fer you ta turn tail, kid!"
She looked at him cockeyed, "Funny; you weren't so keen on conversation when you stole our mule... And killed my Pa! I suppose killin' is easier, though, when their back is turned, you no-good, back-stabbin', goat f-"
They drew at the same time; he thought he had the drop on her, but even in an instant of panic, she was faster, and the simultaneous shots rang out like thunder!
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The train pulled into the station at the end of town, the passengers a bit shaken, but uninjured, and none of them robbed, thanks to the engineer, now using his magic rifle as a crutch, his shirt now wrapped around his leg as a bandage.
The passengers dispersed, and were immediately lost among the crowds returning to the streets in the wake of the gunfight, as an orc tossed a well-beaten human out of his saloon.
And the young elven woman with the twin magic pistols was addressing the sheriff, trading a wanted poster for a small bag of silver before hopping onto the back of her mule, and trotting off into the sunset.
Well, this is my setting, in a nutshell! A dungeons and dragons kind of world, but advanced to a state quite similar to the American Wild West!
Some key details of the setting, and relevant for making characters:
"Cristols" are the hot new thing; literally magic firearms, loaded with spell infused crystals instead of shells or cartridges (each crystal round has a number of charges/"rounds" before it needs recharging. Anybody can use a cristol (single hand or rifle), but only those who know the ways of magic can create or recharge the crystals.
19th century firearms exist, and are more common than cristols.
The "New Frontier" is a continent where Elves were (until recently) the dominant group. Orcs are a distant second, only because they couldn't seem to get enough of a presence to brute force any conflict, so Orc culture there is a little different, and they venerate combat more than actual conquest.
Meanwhile, the Elves are a diverse bunch, with their own politics and rivalries, which the new comers (Humans, dwarves, and others from the "Old World") have managed to capitalize on, rather than warring directly for territory.
The dwarves are the ones who've ushered in the age of Steam, gnomes and goblins love to tinker and use alchemy, the tieflings and dragonborn... Exist, though the former live nomadically, traveling in caravans and presumed to be thieves, so they aren't always welcome(a prejudice that followed them to the new frontier, it seems).
This detail is a joke I felt like incorporating- Kobolds are technically a thing, but aren't a distinct race unto themselves; they're what you get when goblins and dragonborn marry.
No character sheet required for this one, just use a hider when submitting your character, and don't write a novel.
A format I can recommend though (if your uncomfortable without a template) is this:
Image
Name:
Age:
Sex: (Male or Female; gender is more complicated than I feel like working with)
Appearance:
Brief Background:
Strengths: (bullet points, at least 2, no more than 5)
Weaknesses: (bullet points, at least 2, no more than 5)
Once I've approved your character, feel free to jump into the story!
If you ask me questions that can be answered by actually reading all of this, then you've yee'd yer last haw (I will be cross and you won't get to play >:( )
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