Oh, got it. Well, that might change things a bit. Are there heirs? Maybe the infighting is among those?
A) there could be wars among the noble families that defacto rule, and mystery would be added by Justinian's non-intervention. B) there could be an uprising of people who want to return to the past before Justinian was a god-king (he's ruled several hundred years), so it could be a royal family who wants to topple to god and reclaim their rightful throne or something. Open to other options too.
I've had a couple ideas regarding the claim to the Justinian Imperium whose family lost a civil war...maybe there was a mating with the bloodline of the Dark Lord. I don't want to play that character, but I certainly want to play someone trying to manipulate the Empire's disarray to create the opportunity for that person.
Just to clarify: the Imperium is technically ruled by the god Justinian himself, who is like, an incarnate, real person who is tremendously powerful. A civil war against his rule is totally possible, so your idea is good to go, I just wanted to make that clearer in case the OP wasnt. Justinian doesnt go out much, and is mostly in his vast Temple-Palace and lets noble families and the Clerisy run the show.
Edit: second Q: does a Dark Artifact have to be an object? What if it was a concept, or a quality of a person? Specifically I'm asking if a character possessing the "blood of the Dark Lord" would work. I don't have a lot riding on this, just a curiosity.
That'd be fine. I'm pretty open to what people come up with.
I don't want to overstep my bounds with worldbuilding.
I'd really like everyone to help with the worldbuilding, so pls don't let that limit your plans.
So for my Children of Orc, my idea is that the non-human orcs are degenerated humans, corrupted by demons, inbreeding, and crossbreeding with beastmen. My tribe, while still not exactly humans, would be the last "pure" Orcish tribe, able to be generally seen as Men.
Centuries have passed since the Shadow was defeated, and little is it mentioned anymore, and then only in whispers. The Clerisy, those dutiful and punctilious protectors of piety and order, have ensured that only the most sanitized and pious accounts of the Great Battle circulate, in which Justinian, the incarnate god, met the Dark Lord Daigon on the ashen plains of Nagath and in single combat vanquished him. In the deserts far to the south, the arrogant wizard-lords scoff at such stories, and debate theories of their own about the fall of Daigon and the Empire of Nagath. Some question whether there ever was a Dark Lord, speculating that the Temple created an antagonist to justify its own pretenses to sanctity.
Whatever the truth, it is clear that Nagath was once the seat of a great dominion. The ruined fortresses of steel and black stone, the great earthworks channeling rivers of molten rock, the half-ruined machines still capable of great destruction, the shrines haunted still by demons and dark gods, these and more remain testimony to some former glory...or horror.
But now it is a wasteland, infested with warring tribes of beastkin and orcs and barbarous men, the haunt of trolls and ghouls and outcasts from every corner of the civilized world, acknowledged by the Imperium only when they send in expeditions to massacre its remaining inhabitants in an effort to prevent them from ever becoming too numerous.
It is here, in this gods-forsaken land of ash and fire, of ruins and warring tribes, it is here that you will forge a kingdom.
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Welcome!
In this RP, players will design and play as a characters within the vast wasteland of Nagath, a Mordor-like hellscape in the fantasy world of Geryon. There will be NPC nations around Nagath taking an interest in what goes on within it, most notably the theocratic Justinian Imperium and the Imperium's sworn vassal-princes known as the Marcher Lords, who hold the hill country between Nagath and the Imperium's eastern flank. These vassals, and the Imperium they answer to, will not tolerate a threat rising in the seat of the ancient Dark Lord Daigon.
You are...well, whomever you would like to be. An Inquisitor in the Justinian Imperium, hunting down the faithless and accursed? The third son of one of the poorer Marcher Kings? A wizard-lord from the southern deserts? An orc warlord? An outcast cultist of some dark faith? A slave girl?
Whatever your lot in life, you share something with the other characters here...you possess an artifact, a possession of the former Dark Lord Daigon. A dagger, the shard of a broken sword, a leaf or book of dark verse, a gauntlet, a... ring? It might be a family heirloom, something you found by the side of the road, or something you've spent your whole life seeking. You may know its origins or be completely ignorant of them. Your artifact might be an item of great power, or simply a totem you keep close by.
Regardless, circumstance(?) or perhaps some inner compulsion has led you to the pirate city of Ozgad's Folly, on the north coast of Nagath, where our story begins.
-I've left a lot of the map unfilled and the lore vague and underexplained, this is to allow people freedom to design the setting and their characters. As the setting gets fleshed out, the map will be updated and the lore filled in on the OP. -It is (grim)dark fantasy RP set in a harsh and unforgiving fantasy world. -I'd like this to be an exercise in collaborative world building. That means that we want characters that feel like they inhabit a shared world. Players should collaborate heavily on designing their characters and the setting. -It is mediumish fantasy: magic exists. It is powerful, dangerous, and definitely out-of-the ordinary.
A note on Magic: I am not a big fan on fixed magic rules or magic systems. The setting is what I call "High Fantasy OOC/Low Fantasy IC", meaning that the world would have as many fantastic elements as we like, but there would be limited magic "on camera" in the IC, as both an aesthetic choice to keep magic... magical and mysterious, as well as to put a limit on IC power levels while allowing for maximum creativity and freedom OOCly. There will be no magic system and no 'canon' cosmology for this RP, so competing and mutually incompatible understandings of the world, gods, and magic are fine.
That means no armies of reanimated dead or golems, no legions of fireball casters, balrogs, etc. We're going to err on the side of how the LotR handled magic rather than say, D&D. Meaning, it is present and powerful, but mysterious and often indirect.
Likewise, the RP will take the GRR Martin approach to history, myths and religion: there are as many religions/myths/understandings of world history as we can come up with here, but we will leave it an open question as to whether any of them are true. Conflicting mythos and cosmologies and visions of god(s) are encouraged.
-It is vaguely 1600 AD tech. Gunpowder, muskets, cannon, etc all exist. -ancient, mysterious technology and powerful demons and god-like beings exist, but should adhere to the guidelines for magic laid out above -original fantasy races are encouraged -Inspired by Tolkien, Shadow of Mordor, Warhammer fantasy and 40K, Lovecraft, Morrowind, &...looking forward to seeing what others bring to the table. - Advanced writing standards.
(Nagath is a big place, with lots of geographical diversity, and we will fill in the map and add to the section below with details you add as you create your characters and as the world is fleshed out ICly)
Justinian Imperium: A feudal theocracy that lies to the west of Nagath, the Imperium is the single most powerful nation on Geryon. Its vast lands are administered by powerful noble houses who all swear allegiance to the god-emperor Justinian, who has ruled his people for at least four centuries from his temple-palace in his distant capital of Sacrosanctum. Justinian is a mysterious figure who is rarely seen and who leaves the day to day administration of his empire to the Clerisy, a priestly caste that oversees religious and legal matters in the Imperium, such as keeping the nobles in check and weeding out heretics and cultists from the ranks of imperial society. Justinianism is a warlike and political religion, with strict codes of honor, justice and duty to Humanity. Veneration of ancestors and of great figures from Humanity's past is commonplace and encouraged by the Clerisy. Magic is generally despised, as are orcs and other non-human races.
The Marches: The mountainous uplands that run along the border between Nagath and the Imperium, the Marches are ruled by a collection of petty warlords and kings who all swear allegiance to the God-King Justinian. It is their charge to keep watch over the desolate wastelands of Nagath, and to make sure that no orcish tribe or barbarian clan becomes powerful enough to pose a threat to the Imperium's borders. The Marcher Lords frequently foray into Nagath to hunt beasts and cull the orc population.
Azoth Zul & Daigon Zul: Daigon Zul is the ruined capital of the Dark Lord, for centuries an empty jumble of leaning spires, broken walls and shattered domes, inhabited only by corpses and demons. The dead city lies in the lonely shadow Mt. Azoth, in which the Dark Lord's old citadel of Azoth Zul is carved into the living rock. It lay empty and in ruins for centuries after the Dark Lord's defeat; not even rashest orcish warlord was so foolish as to claim Azoth for his own. There have recently been reports of something stirring in the ancient fastness, and the monsters that inhabit the poisonous fens and ashen wastes around the mountain and the ruined city have become more aggressive in recent years.
The Claws: WIP
The Broken Coast & the Blackwater: WIP
Sour Fen: WIP
The Bay of Teeth: WIP
Name:
Race: [non-human races allowed, be sure to describe how your people fit into the setting. upfront warning: I will be persnickety about what nonhumans I allow]
Might try and throw my lot in, got two ideas although I have a question: Was gunpowder around when the Dark Lord was around or is it recent?
not something I considered. I would say the dark lord probably was the first to use that and other, more advanced, tech that has since disappeared from the world.
I am honestly not sure what I'd like to play in this setting. I just thought that it would make for an interesting overall plot to have that sequence of events set in motion if it were used as a hook. But I'll have a more coherent creative process later this week.
well such an idea could easily be woven in to the general setting i've outlined above.
