Flagg

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Posted. Sortve a weird one. Mentioned the Sefts, figured the Kesselbroods may have wanted to marry into the Trust before the Emperor died and the galaxy, one assumes, erupted into flames.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Xaxus Prime, the Grand Ducal Palace, Several Months Before the Death of the Emperor

"Move deliberately but do not tarry," said the Grand Duke conversationally- to his soup. "Anomalies abound. Here, there, everywhere, anomalies abound. Move deliberately but do not tarry."

"Now now, your Magnificence," cooed Richmul, a smiling little man in servant's attire, patting the frail Ducal arm, "Don't fuss, just eat your soup."

"Anomalies," said the Duke, blinking, "moving deliberately in the dark."

"I'm sure they are," said Richmul, holding the soup spoon up to the old Duke's spittle-flecked lips, "Now have something to eat."

The Countess and the sorcerer were not paying His Magnificence the Grand Duke of Far Valyrius (nor Richmul the attendant) any attention, though they were seated just to his right along the long and otherwise empty dining table.

The Countess was in the habit of taking dinner with her uncle weekly, out of respect and love, but was not in the habit of giving any acknowledgement to his increasing derangement. He had been a great man, had done much to improve the fortunes of their House and bring prosperity to the Valyrian System, and she felt it would dishonor him, in some way, were she to concede the reality of his diminished mind and spirit.

"Has there been any word," she asked the sorcerer seated next to her, "in our matter regarding the Sefts?"

"No," he replied, folding be-ringed fingers beneath his many chins. Enormously fat and deathly pale, enrobed in fabulous vermillion silks, with lips stained blue from petrichor, Vermiculo Nox looked like something out of a bizarre dream, "I took the augurs this morning and no message has come through. Perhaps they are sending a courier ship."

The Countess sipped her wine. She was dressed in a white military tunic lacking any medals or indication of rank.

"I do have news, however," said Nox, "from our associates in the Scarlet Reach. Apparently a cartel based on the Bureaucracy world of Essos is peddling a substance they're calling Synthetic Petrichor and are planning on going into mass-production within the Annum."

"You tell me this now? Here? This is extremely serious," snapped the Countess, "You magi have always said fabricating it was impossible!"

"Your Excellency," said Nox, chuckling slightly, "Do not be perturbed. I have dealt with many pretender-substances, none of them act as promised...how could they? Without the insect and the fungus, there is no...well the details do not matter. It is impossible to recreate. The Subtle Voice, believe me, has tried for centuries. This is certainly an attempt by the Bureaucracy and their criminal pawns to goad us."

"Still," said the Countess, her eyes narrowing, "This cannot be tolerated."

"Of course not," said Nox, "Fortunately our friends in the Reach have as much interest in preserving our monopoly as we do, and they have assured me the Cartel's days are numbered- Bureaucracy support or no."

"Bureaucracy! Ha!" shouted the Grand Duke. Nox smiled indulgently while the Countess took another gulp of wine.

"Bureaucracy's days are numbered, they tried to strangle me, strangle my house and my rights for centuries they've been doing it! But soon they'll be strangled NO! torn to pieces in the coming storm torn to pieces by their own ambitions. Will not survive the crucible." The Duke was half-standing now, his eyes fixed on his niece. He swatted Richmul away and pointed a crooked finger at the Countess, "Move deliberately but do not tarry. There are anomalies here. Anomalies abound."

Richmul gently slid a syringe into the Ducal neck and the old man relaxed backwards into his chair.

"Apologies, Excellency," muttered Richmul to the Countess, bowing.

"Anomalies abound," murmured the Grand Duke, "monsters abound."

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

So I've been really uncertain about exactly what I wanted to add to this world. I love the dark fantasy aspects, the gritty, unforgiving setting, but at first ideas eluded me. This is the concept I finally came up with:

The Priestess

The Priestess character concept is of a female shaman or magic-wielding spiritual leader of one of the Clans of the Broken Lands. She is young for her position, but devout and incredibly charismatic in her worship of her clan's god (who I will be inventing if you like this concept). After her people are raided by a Dratha war party (slaves or mercenaries) they are all killed or scattered. From this tragedy, the Priestess enters a sort of insanity fueled by intelligence and religious fervor and fronted by her skills as a speaker and leader. She sets off to gather her people, unite as many of the Clans of the Broken Lands as possible as well as any other men or creatures that she can convince to join her cause. The ultimate goal of this long campaign: war against the Dratha.

Please excuse any typos. I'm working from my phone because the idea hit me while away from my computer.

@Nieszka

Love the idea! Can't wait to see more!

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Wanted to run a cult/god/race past you before I make a char for/involving them

The Lawbringers

Name: The Lawbringers
Race: Various, Blood Hunters
Location: The Claws
Description: A cult of bounty hunters the Lawbringers are one of the the only sources of justice to be found in the Red Desert. Residing in the High Court, an ancient crumbling gothic citadel found in the Claws, its members take on contracts to hunt down the unrighteous for sacrifice to their god Iustitia.

Name: Iustitia

Type: Red God
Faction: The Lawbringers
Description: The patron of the bringers of justice, be they law enforcement, vigilantes or those out for revenge. In return for the blood of criminals she will grant her follower a sip of her power, and a hunger for the blood of the corrupt and villainous, slowly transforming them into bloodhunter. The goddess herself is a drake of vast size that lives at the heart of the high court, where she acts as judge, jury and executioner of the accused brought before her, draining the sinner of their life essence using her many tendriled maw. (pronunciation: you-stih-tea-ah)

Name: Blood Hunters

Type: Race/Mutation/Blessing
Faction/Unit: The Lawbringers
Description: Those who pledge themselves to Iustitia are blessed (or cursed) with vampirism. Their bodies becomes stronger, their senses(particularly smell) become sharper and they thirst for the blood of criminals. Those who sate the thirst begin to undergo a transformation into blood hunters. Initially their teeth, particularly their canines, lengthen and sharpen while their arms begin to transform into 3 jointed, bat/dragon like wings. Most that suffer these effects journey to the High Court before they begin to mutate furthur, transforming into a bestial creature capable of true flight. The monstrous Bloodhunters retain their intellect, however their minds are consumed by their bloodlust and as a result they obsessively hunt those that need to be brought to justice. The cap on these creatures growth that they might have had as their former species is lifted and the bloodhunters can grow to immeasurable size and age, making some suggest that their patron may simply be the oldest of the Blood Hunters, rather than the original source of their thirst.

tl:dr vampire cops

@DracoLunaris

I like the idea- pretty strange. Can we keep the vampire dragon and the huge vampire bat monsters 'off-screen' though? We're going for a lowish fantasy vibe in a highish fantasy setting, so these things will have more of an impact if they're like, frightening things in the background rather than front-line and center.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Threw an edit down on Glory. Let me know if anything needs to be changed more/again.

@Valor

Accepted. Im not in love with the pic- it gets the arm thing across, but let's go for a little less cartoon fantasy bikini warriors vibe.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Changed it. Anything else?

@ShwiggityShwah

Nope, accepted!

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Daigon Shadow-Caller, "The Coward"

Description: Leader of the Coward's Men. Exiled Jarl of Gravemire in the Broken Lands, where he earned his nickname after fleeing battle after a failed coup against the High King. Has spent decades as a sellsword in the Ashlands and the Red Desert, leading his company of reavers and cutthroats in the endless petty wars between Drathan cities and in skirmishes with Salished forces. He now works exclusively for the Athalus Venym, the Dictator of Zar Dratha. A skilled and seasoned commander, Daigon is rumored to have a knack for spellcasting and the dark arts.
Race: Human, norse
Faction/Unit: Coward's Men, in the service of the Drathan Union.
Location: Red Desert

Athalo daz Velym, Archmagister of the Congress of Masters

Description:
Race: Drathan
Faction/Unit: Leader of the Drathan Union
Location: Zar Dratha

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Name: Preach, Chosen of the Red Sun
Race: Aelg
Faction/Unit: Cowards Men
Location: The Ashlands
Synopsis of Role:
Preach is in fact a self proclaimed priest of the Red Pantheon, specifically that of the Gore Lord.
He leads his followers in the rites of honor, glory, and vicious blood shed so that they may be strengthened by the red and assure they and their victims are devoured by the Red Lord, and stripped of their pain and flesh, only the purest of warriors remain to do battle with him unto the end times.

Preach leads by example, and fights like a true monster before his war host, screaming and chanting, so that the worthy may be heightened to greater and greater heights of strength and prowess. Off the battlefield, he can act as a confidant and chaplain, seeing to this his comrades are always following the path of warriors. To him, all creatures can get strong and he is there to see that they do. The Gore Lord will not suffer weaklings in his grand armies.

@ShwiggityShwah

Love the character, not the pic tho, which is a little cartoon high fantasy for the vibe we're going for.

I don't really know what you mean by "Synopsis of Role" do you just mean stuff like personal history? Also I'm noticing that the CS overall seems to be biased more towards nation creation than individual characters. Do you have another CS that you'll put up later?

@Valor

I sortve hate/dont care about CSes that much. You can use it as a description section and flesh out her personal details and skills. Feel free to give as much or as little detail as you like- I really care about the IC as a place for chars to develop histories, etc.

I’m thinking of a city state, would that be okay?

@The Wyrm

Designing a city state and then playing character(s) in it or the ruler of it, yes. This is a hybrid character and faction RP, so the focus is going to be at the level of the individual, but you're welcome & encouraged to design factions!

Azoth: the Red Desert (Fantasy War/Character/Faction RP, Mercenaries)

OOC up with WIP map: roleplayerguild.com/topics/171263-blo…

Azoth: the Red Desert (Fantasy War/Character/Faction RP, Mercenaries)

OOC up with WIP map: roleplayerguild.com/topics/171263-blo…