To watch the horizon fall away and feel the mist of the clouds while ascending through limitless skies, there is no sensation more pure in the world. The dragons - once our sworn enemies, now our most faithful companions - are bonded to we who have the privilege of calling ourselves their riders, honouring the pact made by our ancestors long ago to safeguard their young in exchange for the strength of their wings.
However...
There are those who would abuse that privilege.
Having conquered the eastern half of the continent of Elbe, the human-ruled Empire of Kovos now turns it gaze westward and all that stands in their way is the Sunspire Mountains. From north to south, it stands as a bulwark in the centre of the land and though the three nations of the west are hardly united, all recognize the threat from the east, and so The Alliance is formed.
To resist the coming storm...
And fight back.
Overview
You are a dragon rider of The Alliance and you have been charged with the duty of defending the realms of the west from the forces of the Kovosian Empire in the east. Among the three nations there is:
Avalan Home of the elves, ruled for millenia by Empress Sifa. A realm of lush fields, winding rivers and ancient forests, Avalan lies to the westernmost regions of Elbe and serves as the breadbasket to the three nations. Rich in agriculture and medicine, it boasts some of the finest healers and mages in all the land.
Norsica Home of humans and dwarves, currently ruled by High King Alaric as decided by kingsmoot 20 years ago. Cold, vast and windy, this rugged nation lies to the north and claims much of the Sunspire Mountains as part of its territories. Though crops are difficult to grow, fishing and hunting has ever been bountiful, and there is never any lack of meat and mead. Furs, hide and metals are the nation's foremost experts, as well as some of the hardiest warriors in all the land.
Feros Home of orcs and beastkin, ruled by the Council of Elders. Hot and impossible to tame, Feros lies to the south and is known as a realm of contradictions with arid steppes to the north, vast deserts at its centre and dense jungles to the south. From exotic spices to expert gemcrafts and fine fabrics, its goods are as diverse as the dragons that live in this region, including the rare gold dragons.
Then there is the enemy...
The Empire of Kovos Having conquered all the land east of the Sunspire Mountains, the Empire seeks to claim the rest of Elbe. Dominated by humans, it has ever been known to possess the largest and most skilled army of dragon riders in the entire continent. All of Kovosian society revolves around it and the most elite are known as the Crimson Wings. A group of six dragon knights, solely devoted to and led by the Emperor himself...
For more information, see below.
No dragon will suffer any weaker than themselves to ride them, thus all dragon riders are capable of wielding 1 of 2 different types of magic: mana and prana.
Mana A power only available to mages, those born with a connection to the energy that flows through the world itself known simply as the 'Source'.
It allows for a wide variety of uses such as commanding the elements, healing sickness and injury, moving objects from afar, creating and controlling golems, and enchanting items of power.
Though incredibly versatile, one must use mana sparingly for it places a heavy toll on one's spirit and may result in a condition known as feedback. The effects of which may range in terms of severity from light-headedness to a deep coma or even death, depending on how far the mage overextends themselves.
Prana The power of the individual spirit inherent within all living things. When one becomes capable of transcending their physical limits, they are said to have become 'awakened' and this may either be triggered through intense training and discipline or a singular moment of extreme emotion.
However one becomes awakened, they are now capable of extraordinary feats such as running great distances in the blink of an eye, leaping as high as mountains, withstanding sword strikes without a scratch, shattering boulders with a single blow or even imbuing such strength into weapons and armour.
Like mages however, such power ought be used sparingly lest one burns through the entirety of their strength, both in spirit and body.
Humans - short lived compared to other races, average size, average physical strength, fewer mages and awakened, but those who do possess the ability to wield mana or prana are observed to be incredibly fast learners. Known as 'quickbloods' by the elves.
Elves - tall, mostly born as mages and practically immortal when living among other elves in sufficient number. Otherwise capable of living up to 300 years in 'the wild' (anywhere outside of Avalan). Prana users incredibly rare and often looked down upon as outcasts.
Dwarves - short of stature, twice the average lifespan of a human and resilient as bedrock. Average proportion of mages and awakened, tendency to be more skilled with enchantments and the use of enchanted items to augment skills in battle.
Orcs - big, physically powerful, highest proportion of awakened compared to other races, though also the fewest mages. Like the humans of Kovos, most orcs come from a martial culture that values honour and prowess in battle above all else.
Beastkin - the result of many centuries of animal hybridization experiments by an ancient civilization attempting to create the perfect slave race. Said civilization met its end at the hands, claws and fangs of the beastkin themselves, who now consist of hundreds of different tribes, but are all united by their shared past. Proportions of mages and awakened vary wildly depending on each tribe.
There are many different types of dragons, each one affected by the environment they were born in. For example, while most dragons typically breathe fire, some born in extremely cold climates may instead breathe ice and those born amidst the sky may possess only two legs instead of four, or no limbs at all except for a pair of wings.
Most rare are gold dragons, which tend to be the largest and capable of breathing flames hotter than any other. A close second would be black dragons, such as the one the Emperor of Kovos rides (itself rumoured to be an awakened beast).
While incapable of human speech, dragons are known to be able to share their emotions with the rider they have bonded to and vice versa. Bonding with a dragon itself can be risky as one must often prove themselves equal in terms of strength to be considered worthy of becoming a rider, though different dragons may possess a different criteria for choosing their riders.
Perhaps it is one's personality that a dragon may select for, or merely the look of one's face. Either way, dragons will not respect those they perceive as lesser to themselves.
If you wish to join the roleplay, please fill out the character sheet below and send me a pm.
Name:
Age:
Description:
Race: Human/Elf/Dwarf/Orc/Beastkin/Mixed
Nation: Norsinia/Avalan/Feros/Kovos
Magic type: Mana/Prana (CHOOSE ONLY 1)
Abilities:
Background:
Appearance: Insert picture here (Optional)
Dragon name:
Type:
Description:
Appearance: Insert picture here (Optional)
If you have any questions or just wanna chat, feel free to send me a pm or post anything ooc here.
@Zman I do indeed. Just updated the post to provide info on magic, races and dragons. Threw in a few tidbits of lore too while I was at it. Hope that's enough to help make your character sheet (which I'll be setting up next).
@Zman Character Sheet is up, but you're free to use your own so long as it has all the necessary info. Gonna work on setting up the main roleplay thread next.
Tentatively interested. Is there any information about how dragon riders are chosen/trained? Meeting and bonding with dragons how that works specifically?
@Byte it's up to you really. Different nations and states have different ways of going about it. The only nation with a formal standardized system would be the Kovosian Empire and it'd look something like this:
A whole bunch of kids from wealthy and noble families would get sent to an academy to start their training, start em young at say 12 years old. Those who can't awaken by the age of 18 get washed out. Mages get sent to a different academy, but it's the same kind of deal; only the top performers make it through.
Then they get taken to one of several dragon breeding sites and are given a year to successfully bond with one. These dragons would already be trained to a degree to respond to commands from an experienced rider, but novices will be outright ignored unless they do something to stand out. This could be anything from trying to ride a dragon when the opportunity presents itself, or picking a fight with one and winning, or simply putting on a display of magic.
Whichever way it happens, anyone who successfully bonds with a dragon without getting maimed or killed in the process then go on to learn how to fly, practice drills, tactics, formations, communication techniques such as hand signs or whistles, and of course fighting from dragonback. Learn all that and you're officially a dragon rider of the Empire.
Mind you this is the kind of enemy your character will be facing, so it's likely that each fighter of the Alliance could be stronger individually to make up for the difference in their quality of training as dragon riders. That is to say while the Empire might have better soldiers, the Alliance could have better warriors if that makes sense.
@EtherealThorn alrighty. Your character and @Synonym's will be the last ones to be reviewed before we begin. Apologies to anyone else who was interested in joining.
