POOHEAD189

Is forum Roleplaying beginning to slow down?

but that's probably because they're becoming less available.

@metanoia

They are but I don't know how. They're stuck in their homes, and less people have children and jobs. There's gotta be some X factor. Probably stress

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

@Fetzen you should likely go first. Im swamped with stuff at the current moment bud.

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

@Fetzen Sure, we could have it so Edgar managed to sit right in front of Mael

Decided to steal something from Poohead

@Moth What rare commodities are in your world? Where does magic come from? What's the technological level of your story?

Decided to try something

Is interplanetary travel a thing between the different populations or has it been such in the past, given there are ruins strewn around half the system?

If the answer is yes: Was/is it implemented by magic, rocket science or even some weird, ancient, alien-looking devices nobody has the faintest clue about but could use anyway? Or neither of these three things?

@Fetzen

Interplanetary travel was possible and used around 8,000 years ago, some scholars believe. There were eldtrich gateways made by unknown beings among the worlds. Some believe it was the Luminar themselves, and others think the eponymous 'builders' created them. They were either destroyed or they lost their power many thousands of years ago now, save for perhaps one or two hidden from the world at large.

You mentioned addiction to magic. Explain more, cause that's cool.

@Lemons

Thanks!
Well magic in my world is a very contentious subject, and the world's religions don't really know what to make of it. It is the very stuff of creation and so in a sense, it is holy. However, magic is often too powerful for mortals to handle and the great prophet did warn about extensive usage of said power. When human bodies, or particularly magical beings like elves, draw in magic, it becomes a part of their form. Much like if someone was used to a lot of sugar in their diet so it was in their blood stream constantly, and suddenly quit cold turkey for a month. Except far far worse. Our very bodies reside in creation and are fueled by it, and so when a mage draws in large quantities of the magic around him, even if it is filtered in through a source such as the realm of shadow, they becomes drunk on the power and the 'nervous system of their soul' becomes reliant on it, so to speak.

Dogs of War: Old World Mercenaries

"Albion?..." Amal echoed, clearly at a loss as to what land that was. Never having formal education would do that to someone. Luckily for the moment the rain had subsided, but Amal had a feeling it would come back momentarily. Hopefully the Giant didn't follow in its wake. That thing had been as large as the statues overlooking the Pyramid of Settra the Imperishable. Amal had seen an Ogre once or twice on the market-coasts of Araby, not to mention the one they had stumbled upon when he had first met Emmaline, and those brutes likely reached only that thing's knee!

"It's an island," Emmaline explained once she regained her composure. The confirmation of where they were had shocked her for a brief moment. "Large enough to be a small country, off the coast of the Empire. I think it's below Norsca though?"

"Close enough, my lady." Sir Brenly said, stalking over to them. He stepped lightly for one so stout and old. Satisfied the giant wouldn't return, he seemed now afraid of ghosts or an imagined threat looming all around them. "Tis a land of savage men and Orcs, and a haunt of...well giants. There might be more giants here than even the Drakwald, I dare say!"

"The what?" Amal asked incredulously. "I am sorry, but your northern lands are very strange and foreign to me. Lustria was more homey than here."

"The Drakwald is a big forest. I had the privilege of escorting the Queen to Middenhiem on a diplomatic mission in my youth." He explained, blushing slightly at what must have been a good memory. Their small reverie was interrupted by a sound of stamping hooves not a dozen meters away, the sound having been muted from the boggy, moist earth. A horse whinnied loudly and four horsemen made it over a crest of land past the nearest copse of trees.

The men looked savage, but there was intelligence in their eyes. Despite the cold they had bare torsos save for wolfskin pelts that clung to their heads and backs. Odd tattoos in blue marked their face, arms, and chest, and the tattoos danced rhythmically as the horses trotted. They each bore spears and shields, with leaf shaped broadswords sheathed at their sides. One of the men cried "Airm réidh!" and the spears were leveled at the three foreigners. Luckily the carpet had rolled itself up onto the ground.

"Och! Who the bloody 'ell are you and wha' are ye doin' 'ere?"
@Penny

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

I didn't know eye protection was preferable for Covid-19.

The Sunday Group - Bumps in the Night

@Penny We're glad you tested negative!

Dogs of War: Old World Mercenaries

Sir Brenly could not help but hold on tight to the mast when Emmaline had worked her magic to save from the Dark Elves, but with the carpet? The old man refused to get on it outright and it only took a minute in the cold rain to get him to lose some of his stubbornness and reluctantly hop on to what he considered possibly chaos magic. The carpet went somewhat slow at Amal's insistence, though there was still a need to get out of the rain. Luckily they had cut a bit of the sail they had taken and rolled it up to possibly be used later. Unfortunately, a dense fog had risen up to block their sight as if the land wished to protect itself from prying eyes.

"Can you see anything!?" Amal called to Emmaline, squinting to get a better look.

Even through the fog, the rain splattered on their faces enough to keep their gazes downcast. Brenly held on to the carpet for dear life, not daring to look around at all.

"No, nothing yet!" She replied, holding her golden hair and keeping it out of her field of view.

The carpet rode the wind as steadily as it could, floating past the strange, sparse trees and rising up until suddenly they flew past the fog and drank in the land that lay before them. As far as the eye could see, the country was filled with bogs and fens and scattered woodlands that stubbornly clung to the land. Mountains rose in the distance, but they were nothing that could rival the range that protected Araby from the great southern desert, or any large mountains Emmaline had seen. Gripping the lower slopes were highlands and foothills of dark green and grey as boulders stood here or there like unwanted guests.

In the sunlight that poked out of a small fold the clouds, the land had a ghastly beauty about it. Small landlocked lakes within the foothills of the mountains stood calm just as small rivers below connected the marshes and bogs. Somewhere to the east, Amal spotted smoke wafting into the clouds. He followed its origin and saw a village or primitive town made of timber among the lowland woods not a dozen miles away.

"There's a village, I think we can-"

Brrrrrruuuuuuuuuuugh

The air thickened and sudden heat accompanied by a dank stench hammered them from below. Amal leaned over the side to look below them as the other two did, and they all began to cry out in alarm and fear when they saw the cause of the noise was a titanic, grotesque being clad in only a loincloth large enough to be a ship's sail itself!

"A Giant!?" Emmaline screeched as Sir Brenly yelled an oath. The thing was perhaps fifty feet in height with its arms adding another twenty, nearly catching hold of the carpet in its massive fingers. The trees it stood among only reached its swollen paunch of a waist. Amal almost laughed at the sudden turn of events before he quickly grew somber and took hold of the situation. He felt Emmaline wrapped around his waist like a vice, which he found worked.

"Hold on!" He cried, directing the carpet to fire forward like an Imperial rocket battery. A giant arm swung to block them, but the carpet was far too nimble. It twirled around the arm with ease and zipped away down below into one of the many bogs that lay stretched over the land. The giant might have a long stride but the carpet flew faster than a horse could gallop on its best day, zipping around trees and over fallen logs at just the last moment.

"Down sir Brenly!" Amal yelled as Emmaline tried to poke her head back up just as a branch flew into their way. Amal grabbed her head and pushed her back down, her face shoved into his groin and his torso over her to protect her from the leaves and twigs that scythed bits of his skin across his bare arms and neck. What seemed an eternity only lasted a few seconds before the carpet flew free of this set of trees and they found themselves within the rolling hills.

"Lad...were the Elves truly so bad?" Sir Brenly complained.
@Penny

Decided to try something

Are the men swole?

@metanoia

Most of the heroes are because the old adage "write what you know" ;)

Is the world embedded in some kind of solar system and if so, how does it look like ?

Are the inhabitants of the world aware of celestial mechanics ?

@Fetzen

There are 7 planets, with an 8th one that was shattered. The Luminar gave the Dragons their own planet in the days of yore, which would be my version of Mars. The Dragons had a massive civil war after they conquered and butchered other worlds and lost the favor of the Gods, shattering their world and traveling to the main planet since it was next door. That began to war of the Dragons and the Dwarves, though the giants were in on it too.

There are around 4 planets that are barren save for some ruins. One planet is the main one, Maroleth, and two others havew inhabitants. One is unexplored but strange activity is noted by astronomers, and the other is teeming with endless hordes of Gundarogs.

The inhabitants do know of celestial mechanics, yes. At least most learned ones.