Galavani

Heirs of the Dark Lord

@Flagg If i want to add areas to the map for my faction how do I go about that? or do I provide you with details and you edit the map for us?

Heirs of the Dark Lord

@Ashgan I'm currently finishing up my CS, can I include that the Flotilla and my faction (The Kellerach Clan) have been in minor conflict over the last 15 years or so? Mainly at sea.

C.O.P.S. 2031 (Reboot)

@Dynamo Frokane You want us to post them on the CS tab, or do we wait until later?

@Valor

Yeah post them in the tab, they are good to go.

The 'Explain The Appeal Of......' Thread

Jesus, that was stupid, who the hell is going to intelligently defend something as negative and broad as 'being a proud asshole'? I think the point of the thread is ask the appeal of things that you think people might actually be a fan of, instead of just trying to indirectly virtue signal that you 'dont understand bad people' smh.

I've got one, can someone explain the appeal of the DCEU? I know there are a few things about it I dont mind, but what are the factors that make it a worthwhile film franchise to you?

Heirs of the Dark Lord

@Ashgan Also what is the name of your faction? I saw some refrences to areas in your fluff, but I wasnt sure what to call them by (just for the sake of my CS).

C.O.P.S. 2031 (Reboot)

@Evil Snowman very good, approved.

@Valor Also approved

Heirs of the Dark Lord

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>

T'was just a suggestion, of course. You can locate yourself wherever you prefer, bearing in mind that naval factions are more fluid in their positioning than land-based ones anyway.

@Ashgan

No its fine, I like where you have me located, and its seems the broken coast is wanted by other players so I will claim the north east of the map where youve put me. My faction will be hybrid land and naval, but I assume most of our faction's skirmishes will take place at sea.

Heirs of the Dark Lord

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>
If you want that, sure. I'd like to stay within the Sea of Curses to the north because I like the name and cannot get enough of describing cold-ass waters and how shit it is for the people sailing on it. Not sure if this really is a 60/40 split as you suggest, but I made a cursory edit of the map to put some perspective on our potential region of influence, with friction happening along the shared borders. My region is filled in purple, yours orange.

Hider

@Ashgan

Okay well I originally wanted to be near the broken coast in bottom left of the map, but I'm happy to put my faction where youve highlighted orange. I'll work on my nation sheet now.

Collection Of Champions and Concepts

Faction Name: The Kellerach Clan Union
Alias: Boatbreakers, Coastdogs.
Government Type: Allied War Clans + Local Village Cheifs
Faction Specie(s): Humans, Goblins and Orcs
Species Descriptions: As described in OP.



Territory Details: The north east of the map of Nagath lies the Cursed Sea which is bordered by the Icy Kellarach Mountains and the fields of the Oni Hollow The Kellerach Mountains are homes to large and powerful frost Orcs, who have been tempered by the harsh enviroments and bitter blizzards. And the mountain gatherers, a very proud clan of human hunters who manage to forage and store food in one of the most difficult places to survive. In the brisk feilds of the Oni Hollow is home to the Ichii clan, a shadowy people who operate as assasins, ronin, warlords and religous figures. Finally near the coasts of the Hollow lies the black banks which is home to a clan of pirate goblins who constantly raid cargo boats and pillage islands to survive, they very rarely leave the northeast.

Faction Religion/Ideology: As a unified clan their religion is very diverse, the Frost Orcs pray to the goat spirits of the mountain which is known as that Krash Faith. The Gatherers also worship the Goat Spirit but have devotion to other spirit animals not recognised by the Orcs such as the Wild Boars and the Owl this is known as the New Krash Reform. The Ichii clan worship the Holy Shadow Dragon named Izaoyi. The Black Bank Goblins have no religon.

Faction Description: The Kellerach Union is made up of 4 Clans that have banded together to form a quasi-nation.

The Frost Orcs who live deep in the Kellrach Mountains

The Gatherers who live near the outer edge of the same Kellerach Mountains.

The Ichii Clan who live in the Oni Plains

The Black Bank Pirates who live on the coasts of the Oni Plains.

As very diverse and fairly recently unified faction, the Kellerach Union is an effective but shaky one. Thier government is actually comprised of 4 warlords which each represent their own Clan. Then there is a further Village chief for each settlement but since the union the cheifs dont always match the clan of the village which has mixed results. But their balance of skills and resources works extremely well. The Gatherers excel in food and construction. The Frost Orcs excel at Mining and raw military might. The Ichii clan lead in technology and information. And the Black Bank Pirates excel in seafaring and obtaining treasures. This productivity is what holds these very different clans together.

Faction History: The history of this faction is somewhat fragmented. The Union of the clans which now form the Kellerach Nation were previously quite indipendent of each other. The Ichii clan would occasionally hunt and kill rouge goblins from the black banks but only in response to a direct robbery. And the Frost Orcs historically bullied the Gatherer Men out of the mountains so they could keep the precious natural mines to themselves, but after this they generally left each other alone. All 4 factions managed to live as neighbours with icy but independent relations.

Ironically, it was outside conflict which brought them together.

For as long as anyone cared to remember the Black Bank Goblins had been running amok through the seas, mainly robbing cargo ships from Daigon Zul and the Bay of Teeth and exploring treasure coves along the northen coast of the cursed sea. This was not to last however one early morning a large fleet which would late be identified as the Regal Flotilla managed to disrupt one of the pirate raids of the goblins and very quickly and effectively destroy the unorganised pirate ships. In embarassment and fury the Black Bank Goblins sent a larger war focused fleet to not only retaliate against the flotilla but to try and regain some of the losses from their ships, only to be decimated in a more lengthy and violent naval battle.

The goblin pirates were now cowering, how could they return to the sea after two humilating defeats in the span of of 72 hours? (this would be known as the Blackest Weekend). Desperate the goblin clans approached the only other capable fighters they had contact with, the notorious Ichii clan who lived in the Oni plains. At this time the Ichii clan were not the only Ronin clan in the plains, they were at war with the equally dangerous Kagemura Clan who had been slowly whittling the Ichii numbers down and stifling their influence.

In a very shaky meeting of mutual interest, the Ichii clan told the Black Bank Goblins that they would only help their naval campain if they could provide support on the ground against their bloody turf war against the Kagemura, so they could finally rule the Oni plains as the sole clan. Now the goblins were skilled pirates but far from soldiers and knew they would stand no chance providing support against a highly skilled clan of human ronin, even with greater numbers, so they went elsewhere for help. Luckily a few goblins lived near the mountains and were able to provide a link of communication with the Frost Orcs in the heart of the Kellerach. The Frost Orcs were very skilled military fighters and had the numbers and the natural physical advantages to help the Ichii clan wipe out thier rivals. But they were isolationist and untrustworthy of pirate goblins, let alone humans. But luckily the diplomacy of the newly formed Ichii alliance proved helpful. With their moderate diplomacy skills they were able to promise more precious stones from across the sea in pirate raids and a promised increase in resources from a campaign against the regal flotilla. In exchange for these rewards the frost orcs not only joined the fight against the Kagemura but also re-opened mining trade routes to the previously exiled Gatherer clan who in turn offered to feed all other 3 clans with their massive food stockpile during the war effort.

With that battle all 4 clans became the Kellerach Clan Union and destoyed the Kagemura clan in mere weeks of battle. Now the Ichii (although still not fully recovered from the ronin war) was able to train and upgrade the Goblin's naval warfare with their highly advanced technology. Which allowed them to raid more often and successfully, and even ocassionally fight off the regal flotilla where they would encounter them. The gatherers and frost orcs continue to exchange trade routes for mining and food but all 4 clans are still somewhate shaky about their new alliance, which is held together by the Four Lords of Kellerach .

Important Characters:

The Current Four Lords Of Kellerach

Natsuki Daimo

Age: 22
Race: Human

Bio: Natsuki Daimo is the 5th Master of the Ichii clan and one of the Four Lords of Kellerach. She became Master when the previous one (Kaigo Daimo) was killed in the Ronin War. Although young, Natsuki commands the respect of her clan as she proved her worth on the battlefield and surprisingly good diplomacy skills with the Black Bank Goblins. She is seen as cold, powerful, and somewhat cruel by the other 3 clans, but they recognise her influence of fear and respect across the oni plains and her usefulness in the Union.

'Cap'n' Clipper Gashbone

Age: 38
Race: Goblin

Gashbone was many pirate captains in what was known as the 'Black Guild' before the Kellerach Union. These were the most powerful and rich pirates who made decisions for the Black Bank community. Clipper was neither a skilled pirate or even a good politician, but he proved very rare goblin bravery as the first skipper to down a Regal Flotilla vessel, and was made a sort of semi legend across the Kellerach which made him the best choice to represent the Goblins as one of the Four Lords Of Kellerach. Though it should be noted that many other high ranking goblins resent him as the flotilla vessel he downed was actually a scouting ship, but he exeggerated the story before it could be debunked.

Cheif Hiruk Malach-Orm

Age: 30
Race: Half-Orc

Seemingly abandoned as a child, the Half Orc, Half Human was found near a mining site as an infant. Adopted by the mining company he was raised in tough conditions, smashing rocks for a living and essentially becoming a loner for his mixed blood. It was only when the war started did a teenage Hiruk take up arms and proved very effective not only on the battlefield but when it came to communicatiing and working with the other clans, especially the gatherer clan. Although the Frost Orcs resented his mixed blood, they recognised his natural leadership and made him a village chief when the union was first formed. After the mysterious assination of the Warlord Frost Orc; Kaimar Ramak (who was the orignal Orc Lord of the Union) the majoirty of frost Orcs chose the young Hiruk to take his place.

Dane Snowborn

Age: 46
Race: Human

Bio: Before the war that formed the Kellerach Union, Village Leader Dane Snowborn was already a diplomat, one of the few gatherers who would attempt negotiations with the frost orcs, and try to establish truces along disputed territory lines. Dane is a rare soul in Nagath, he is a good and caring person who is concerend for the survival of his people. He is skeptical of the Kellerach Union as a concept but knows its better be with them then against them. He was made as the on of the four Lords of Kellerach upon its inception vowing to not let the reckless war campaigns destory what order and civilastion they still have.

Relations to other Factions:

Kagemura Clan
A now defunct ronin clan that was wiped out by the Ichii clan along with the help of the other 3 clans which lead to the Kellerach Union. History about them is very scarce and hard to verify as the information from the is almost entirely from their enemies. But they are rumored to been the indigenous people of the Oni plains and the Ichii were originally immigrants from the Daigon Zul area.

The Regal Flotilla
Despite skirmishing with the flotilla for a decade and a half, the Kellerach Union knows very little about them beyond their effective naval warfare and ability to occasionally disrupt a pirate raid. The Black Bank Goblins most want to see the flotilla completely wiped out. While calmer voices in the lords such as the Gatherers think that fighting such a powerful enemy so far out of their own territory is stupid.

Justinian Empire
Unlike most factions in Nagath, the Kellerach is almost completely removed from the dealings of the empire. Since all four clans have essentially been kept into the mostly frozen wasteland corner of the world they resent the 'kingland' and want nothing to do with it. They only want free reign of the sea, but the Ichii clan are aware as they grow in influence they may have to confront the empire sooner or later....

WIP

Heirs of the Dark Lord

Not quite sure yet. Would depend a bit on what your dudes are like I think. One of the big things about my faction is that they care a huge lot about the purity of blood, both in an ethnical sense as well as noble lineages. If your faction can somehow impress them with high borne individuals, chances are they would be open to peaceful contacts, but if they only see mixed trash, probably less inclined. Last night I wrote some (admittedly not very well refined) piece of flavor fluff to get a feel for my faction. I'll just put it in a hider here, and you can give it a look-over to get a rough idea of what I'm gunning for here.

Hider

Dark waves, whipped by the biting wind, trembled in terror at the vibrating, guttural, but somehow songlike growl that rolled over the ocean surface. It was late evening and the twilight sun was more than halfway drowned in the churning horizon beyond which only deathly ice and fathomless depths existed. The Sea of Curses was a place few ships sailed; its waters and winds were too bitter, too laden with frost from the lifeless north, and no healthy lands shared a coast with those profaned waters. Every port was like a tumor upon the lands from which they sprung, a pestilent boil that gathered all the pus and the filth from far and wide, concentrating it in one vile bubble of violence, greed and madness. Although this sea was contained in the north, certain passages and openings existed, linking it to other oceans in the world, letting the accursed northern waters spill southwards, infecting cleaner seas like a plague. Woe unto ships that stray off course and find themselves in these haunted currents. Woe unto them when they hear the feasting chime.

The Regal Flotilla cut a path through the ice floes like daggers would carve a path through naked flesh. Trails of broken and wounded crystal marked their passing while virgin ice, not yet violated by steel-plated bows, quivered ahead. The fleet was an irregular collection of great ships and smaller escorts, varying wildly in their appearance. Some vessels appeared imperial in origin; massive and tall ships of the line, bristling with cannons and decked in powerful masts but recently retrofitted with dark iron plating along the outer hull. The great sails were often colorful and emblazoned with the proud crests of decadent noblehouses that have long since sworn fealty to the Pureblood Empress. Then there were ships of a clearly more primitive make, driven by oars and sails, their flanks lined with round shields, their holds brimming with loot. The open deck revealed a complement of grim seamen, skins rough and hard from a life of exposure to the salt-filled northern winds. Their ships too showed a recent infestation of iron growing out of the hull like patches of diseased skin. Rarer in the mix but conspicuous by their mere existence were singular, elegant vessels of elongated, rounded shapes and beautiful, cruel figureheads displayed at the front. No sails marred these southern vessels; instead, rows upon rows of oars, each shackled to three or four beaten and bloodied slaves drove these ships mercilessly through the snow-covered ice shelf while dark-skinned task masters whipped the horde into a frenzy as they spewed blasphemies in a tongue no civilized man knows to speak. Yet even these brutally elegant ships could not inoculate themselves against the iron pandemic. Every major vessel was a feudal realm in itself, each ruled by a despot of noble blood, each bound by oath to the great empress aboard her impregnable, iron monstrosity. A nomadic empire adrift at sea, bound to no terrestrial borders. The isolation gave safety, forbade escape, and bred stagnation.

“My seventh son died this morning,” a raspy voice lamented in the dark. Unsteady light flickered sometimes bright, sometimes dimly from the swinging candelabra above, while grasping shadows seemed to just barely stop short of devouring the little flames dancing atop wax candles impaled on metal spikes jutting out of the round table’s center.

“We cannot unmake his demise.” An androgynous voice from underneath a black hood. Dark robes swaddled six figures of indeterminable shape, age, color and sex.

“I have been a loyal vassal. You know of my victories. You know of my tributes. I have fed this… machine more than most.” He leaned forward, into the uncertain light. Haggard features, a dark gray beard. Regal, military clothing befitting of an admiral.

“T’is never enough,” mused a different speaker, running a brittle, pale finger over a scarlet line of the great, occult pattern spanning the entire table cloth. The admiral eyed each of the robed figures in turn, uncertain whom to plead to and who would answer.

“Then my service is never complete!” His fist slammed onto the table; flesh battered impotently against iron. “I only ask that my legacy endures. Look at my flesh, I could fall apart any day now. Can’t even shit without help.”

Silence. The dark council eyed one another, then hushed whispers filled the air. Exhausted by his outburst, the admiral slumped back on his seat. He waited and waited and impatience began to well up in his chest, a bubble waiting to burst. Just when he was about to blurt out once more, one of the figures – he could not tell which – spoke with a clear, neutered voice.

“King Edmund Aran the Fourth, sovereign of the Stormbringer and liege lord of Victorious, the Wailer, the Virtuous, the Honorbound and the Insidious. Son of king Albert Aran the Eight, who famously earned the empress’s attention by singlehandedly overwhelming the Iaera and its escort, and thus delivering a sum of four hundred and thirty eight slaves to the flotilla. Notable among the captives: the Hadeshian envoys, as well as a well bred princess.”

Meat for a bargain that was never made. These genderless councilors bored him; he knew his legacy already, no need in retelling it. What he needed was a cure to its extinction which he felt welling up in his stomach. Death grew inside his bowels like moss in a dank cave.
“The line is worth saving,” he stated grimly, eying the faceless ones fiercely.
“You decide nothing, king.”

“There will be a mutiny should my line go extinct.”

“Then they would feed the machine… but fear not, good king. Although you have ruled in peaceful times, the empress believes your line worth blessing with child. She sees potential in your blood, in spite of its impurity. Or maybe because of it.”

“Its what?” Anger contorted his face.

“Impurity, king. Traces of Hadesh. Surely you knew.”

Inaudible mutterings beneath his beard. He hated these all-knowing eunuchs more than his impotence and blossoming demise.

“So she will see me?”

“And you, her.”

***

The enigmatic council led him through the depths of the Tiamath, descending narrow staircases and passing through low corridors of metal that no human hands have forged. They looked too organic, like tunnels naturally forming through molten iron. The deeper they went, the more twisted and alien the environment became. Curved spines, twisted around their own axis, grew from the walls. Here and there, a subtle orange glow emanated from smoking exhaust slits in the metalwork. Pipes crisscrossed above and below like the veins of a great behemoth. Rising heat challenged the admiral to hold fast onto his consciousness. It was like descending into the bowels of hell.

At the end of their harrowing journey, the group of seven emerged into a massive hall inside the ship’s underbelly: the machine room. Rising towards the opposite end of the great hollow, a colossal construct of furnaces, pipes and chimneys. The very ground shook perpetually from the rumbling inferno contained within occult steel. The rhythmic thumping of pistons, the hissing of steam, the creaking of metal plating. And the accursed heat; worse than the Hadeshian dry season. Here the machinists toiled, more wizards than engineers. As oft as they might manipulate a valve or reinforce a leaky pipe, they might be seen scrawling forbidden runes onto unspeakable machinery. Blood and oil dripped from their hands in equal measure. They bowed in reverence as the hooded council and their honorary guest passed by, ascending the hot staircase towards the throne.

Few ever lay eyes upon the empress, and none that do ever speak of their encounter. The admiral now understood why as he stood there, frozen and almost manic with disbelief at the marvels and horrors he has beheld, and is beholding. The council withdrew, closing the searing hot doors to the narrow, vibrating chamber. He knows not what to say; he’s never been known to be coy or poor of speech. But what does one say unto a sight like this?

“Death eats at your insides like a clot of maggots. Your time is running out, Edmund. Why waste it?” Her voice contrasted her appearance as sharply like a broken piece of glass; it was heavenly.

“I- forgive me, your highness. I was not prepared,” he manages to stammer.

“None of them ever are.” Crimson eyes avert their gaze, stare into the darkness beyond her consort. “Go on. Unclothe.”

Shaky, age-withered hands fumbled to free the admiral’s ravaged body from its stifling uniform. The fabric stuck to his sweat-soaked skin, as if unwilling to let their wearer commit this ultimate sin. Maybe it was a mistake. All of it. He began regretting every decision he’d ever made in his life.

His naked feet, touching the hot floor, shrieked in pain as they approached the empress in uncertain strides. Only, the closer he went, the less pain he felt. The less profusely he began to sweat. The sounds of pistons and hellfire and steam all became distant and muffled. Her very presence promised salvation and spurred him onwards to her seat and prison. Now next to her, he put a gnarly old hand on the elevated leg to his right, pristine and soft and wrapped in constricting, thorned vines of iron. The scent of morning dew, spring leaves and female pheromones filled his nostrils. Birds twittered in the green boughs above, wet grass comforted his weary feet. He could feel his control over his body slipping. Control over the mind too.

***

Judgmental, scarlet eyes gazed dispassionately at the slavering husk of a man that was violating her, every thrust causing a thousand different thorns to pierce her cosmic flesh and provoked almost inhuman screams of pain. There was no resistance against his abuse – not on account of its futility, but on account of its necessity. This was her destiny. This was her gift. This was the will of the strange stars above that she was born under and whose terrible stare could see her even here in the dark depths of the Tiamath. Her womb received the seed of man, but it would birth end of a great age.

@Ashgan

Ahh well I hadnt thought too hard about blood lineage but I suppose they would be filthy mongrels in that sense. Basically glorified pirates with a thirst for conquest. I feel that our factions would be in direct conflict. How about we have them as warring factions in the same area of the map? I'd be happy to occupy 40% of the land with your nation controlling the majority.