VarionusNW — Roleplayer Guild

Celestial Bonds

Introduction

The Continent of Salfare
It is the year 1327, 32nd year of the reign of Vanel Adondum Galias VII, 16th Emperor of Grenheim.

The Empire of Grenheim has been caught by threats of war from all sides for several years. A neighbor to it's south, the republic of Halidar, has begun to force nearby nations into alliances under the guise of protection. The kingdom of Lyngald has begun to incite border disputes on the eastern border, encouraging it's neighbors to do the same. The Skauls have continued to threaten Grenheim's northeastern border with raids across the Adelanian sea. There is no edge of the empire not under threat of war.

This constant threat has seemed to stoke the fires of innovation, leading Grenheim to a sudden industrial revolution. The people have yearned to move beyond the bounds of magic, which is cumbersome and takes dedicating most of your life to learning just the basics. The invention of the gun, mass production, and various gadgets and tools have made life very different from what it had been only a decade ago. 

In this age of technological evolution, though, the most significant discovery has been one of a magical nature. Two years ago, mages working under the emperor, studying the Adondum, the holy text of the empire's official religion, discovered a ritual that could convert the emotional bond between two individuals into power. Specifically, the ritual gave one member of the pair immediate magical potential and basic knowledge of their abilities. The other member gained the ability to summon a magical artifact, referred to as a Gear. The bonded pair would also gain a sort of enhanced awareness of each other, knowing the other's general location, being able to sense their emotions, as well as some telepathic communication.

Naturally, this ritual immediately became one of Grenheim's most closely guarded secrets, as well as the obvious solution to all of the problems plaguing its borders. Usable bonds, though, weren't exactly easy to find, so conscription was relatively indiscriminate, with the ritual being conducted across the empire to gather as many usable pairs as possible.

Whilst this collection was occurring, more research was still being done on the ritual, with a second breakthrough occurring recently when the Emperor's mages found a way to track the location of certain bonds, though there were only nine of these bonds that they could track down. This is where you come in. You have been tracked down by one of the Emperor's personal mages and various high ranking members of the church of Adondeus. You and someone you've known for a quite a while have been brought an order straight from the emperor himself. 

You are immediately put through the ritual, gaining power derived simply from your emotional bond, as well as a mark that seemed to burn itself into your flesh as the ritual ended, with your partner having an identical one. This symbol is identified as some sort of message from the gods, identifying your bond as one blessed by an ancient prophecy. You aren't given time to test the powers you have gained, though, as the two of you are transported to a location seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

You find yourselves taken to the lands of an old general by the name of Dalgen Carridan. You are told that you will stay there for a temporary period, whilst you undergo training, along with 8 other pairs, all of them seeming to have a destiny set for them by the gods. A mark identifying each of them as holders of Celestial Bonds.

Important Information

Any sort of deep bond between two people can be one functional for the ritual, as long as the bond is deep enough that it wouldn't break in most simple circumstances. A petty squabble shouldn't be enough to split a bond, for example. Though, a celestial bond can still be strained and weakened in the right circumstances. Any type of connection will do, be it lovers, rivals, or just really really good friends.

This ritual takes two individuals with a strong, virtually unbreakable bond and converts their relationship into power. The exact process of the ritual is hidden even from the pairs undergoing it, as they are kept blindfolded during the rite.

Magic is generally based around a focus, a single idea around which the mage shapes their abilities. Without a bond, magic may take decades to develop, most of that spent searching for the concept that sits at the center of one's magical ability, with further years to figure out what can be done with that concept. Rituals tend to be slightly more universal, though finding usable rituals requires trained Mages and an absurd amount of trial and error. Technically, all people have the ability to learn magic.

Bonds that have undergone the bonding ritual. The Empowered bond imbues the pair with some abilities beyond those given by their status as a mage or knight:
Telepathy: The pair can communicate with thought. This ability is not always active, though one can tune out of their partner's telepathy if they so choose.
Empathy/Emotion Reading: Each member of a pair can choose to peek in on their partner's emotional state at any time, understanding the vague emotions they're dealing with. They won't know if their partner is mad at them for murdering a hamster, but they will know that their partner is mad. One cannot prevent their emotions from being broadcast to their partner, but one can choose not to receive.
Locational Sensing: Each member of a pair has a vague idea of their partner's location, mostly in terms of distance.

The 9 empowered bonds marked with the sigils of gods. These 18 individuals apparently are important in prophecies brought up in the Adondum. A celestial bond begins much more powerful than an empowered one, but the potential for the bond to become more power is also present.

Those gifted with the Grand or Celestial Potential by an Empowered/Celestial Bond.

The power granted to the mage of a bond, giving them instant knowledge of the concept their magic focuses on, as well as some basic knowledge of how to use it. Effectively, the mage is given what normally take 30+ years to grasp the basics of.

Those gifted with a Gear or Celestial Gear by an Empowered/Celestial Bond.

The magical artifact granted to the Knight of a bond. The Gear can be summoned at will, and disappears when dropped unless the Knight concentrates on keeping it present. The Gear cannot be wielded by others, disappearing/returning to the Knight on contact. Each gear generally has some sort of magical ability/power to it.

Grenheim, and most of the rest of Salfare is experiencing an industrial revolution. Early muskets have been invented, though the battlefield has yet to entirely adapt to gun-based warfare. Mass production and specialization are elements that have begun to permeate Grenheim's more industrial regions, likely spurred on by the slow switch to a more capitalistic system.

Grenheim as an empire has generally left it's various regions mostly autonomous, though recently there has been a heavier hand moving to centralize the military and move away from the feudalistic structure that has held Grenheim for most of it's past. In terms of governmental structure, the Emperor has nearly unlimited power, with only an advisory council with a heavily restricted veto power. The church also has some heavy amount of power, mostly thanks to their influence over the emperor. The nobles governing Grenheim's various regions could manage their lands as they see fit, as long as they followed the will of the emperor and gave their troops when necessary. Of course, now the will of the emperor includes more rights and opportunities for land ownership for the lower classes.

The official church of Grenheim, following the religion of Adondeism, named after the prophet and second emperor, Adondeus Grenwel. Adondeism speaks of the tragedy that was Adondeus' murder, and how that tragedy created the Adondum, a series of 7 tomes that make up the holy texts of the Church. Adondeism purports that even though there are likely two pantheons of gods, the new usurper gods have born themselves from the will of the wicked and are not true deities. Absolute faith in the church and the gods is necessary in order to prevent the end times and assure yourself a place among the gods in the heavens.

Adondeus Grenwel, 2nd emperor of Grenheim was not a perfect leader. He attempted to keep his people happy, but the council that sat under him, appointed by his father near the end of his reign saw the new emperor as a joke, and aimed to undermine him. A coup was planned, led a by a man who's name sits forever in infamy. Valus Nel's coup was more of a ritual sacrifice than anything, using the emperor's own throne as an altar and writing new decrees in his blood.

When the scene was found by guards, there were no living men in the room, but several tomes written in blood sat at the feet of the now dead Adondeus. The runic writing scratched into the covers read "Adondum." Though the covers were similar, each book contained various accounts that claimed to be of the future, and various other tellings of what was occurring in the realm of the gods. There were 7 volumes of Adondum in total. Though, there was an 8th book present, it's cover reading "Ad Nominem, Valus Nel" the accounts in this 8th volume contradict many of the Adondum's, even claiming that Valus Nel managed to ascend to godhood, if only for a moment. The contradictions between these volumes led the 3rd Emperor, who was married to Nel's daughter, to ignore the books and lock them away. Over the years, scholars had found the tomes locked deep in the archives of the Emperor's keep, and copied large portions of it in secret. The 6th Emperor brought the tomes to light an legitimized the opinions of those scholars, who had begun to form the Church of Adondeus.

The Church does not distribute full copies of the texts, and few know how to read anyway, so most only know a few common excerpts. No excerpts from the 8th tome are known to be distributed.
This book dictates the formation of the heavens and the birth of the gods, primarily focusing on the center of the heavens and the birthplace of the gods, Primordium. One popular excerpt tallks about Aurdin, king of the gods, lord of light, and weaver of fates pulling himself out of a sun that sat at the center of Primordium, realizing he was the first god to be born before moving the sun far above Primordium to slow the formation of his brother Harbingald, god of flame, war, and vengeance.

A long series of descriptions and individual stories about several of the gods.

This book speaks mostly of the history of the realm of men, focusing on the first Emperor of Grenheim's grand conquest for an extensive portion.

The most important section to the Church of Adondeus, and the most often studied books. These tomes list a plethora of confusing, complicated prophecies and strange clues as to when they will occur.

This book claims of a nearing war between the gods, as more have begun to sprout from Primordium. This event seems to mirror the popularization of a new pantheon, a sort of Church of the New Lords forming in other nations that has only now begun to spread to Grenheim. This Tome claims that as the war between the gods begins, a war of men will begin as well, swallowing both realms into the void. The book continues by reiterating several portions of Prophecies, specifically sections that claim
"The heavens will fall not with the end of all things,
But with the war cry of the lords of Primordium.
From thus will lie in mortal hands,
The fate of all things."

Forbidden.

I'm actually not going to split up the regions of the empire myself, instead leaving this to the players to do some worldbuilding. Of course, any region will have to go through me first. I'll ask that all regions be sent to me through PM with an edit of the following map with the region colored in. Doesn't have to be perfect, we have Banjo for that.
Note: whilst there isn't currently a region map here, there will be one in the coming days. I don't personally have any way to do mapmaking digitally, so I have to pile the work on Banjo.

What became Grenheim was originally a small nation called Felmyra. Cindeus was part of a coup that overthrew the king, eventually leading to him crowning himself emperor and beginning a long, arduous conquest against the new empire's neighbors. Cindeus renamed the empire to Grenheim in his own honor, though he made the capital's name Felmyra. By the time of his death, the empire was still roughly 1/8th of it's current size.

Cindeus' younger brother. Despite his calm demeanor and general amicable nature, Cindeus' advisors that had stayed after the first Emperor's death were not fond of Adondeus. Eventually, they went to murder and overthrow the emperor, succeeding but losing their lives in the process. Found among their bodies was the Adondum.

Adondeus' first son. Prior to his father's death, he had married the daughter of Valus Nel, the adviser who had led the coup against Adondeus. Under his wife's advising, he locked the Adondum away as he could not bring himself to trust them or burn them. Nomin's rule was spent as one of Grenheim's greatest conquerors, with Nomin himself being a military genius who surrounded himself with generals of equal calibur. Over his life, he increased the empire to over half its current size, more than any emperor to follow him.

Gonvald married Nomin's daughter, and as Nomin himself had no other heirs, inherited the throne. Gonvald spent most of his reign making sure the empire that his predecessors had built would last, pandering to the regional governments underneath him, and making travel and communication through the empire more efficient. Where Nomin increased Grenheim's size, Gonvald increased Grenheim's efficiency.

Gonvald's grandson. Arinadeus had a larger head than most, and was generally disliked. As he started to run the empire in the ground, he was forced to abdicate the throne to his sister's husband.

Married Gonvald's sister, gained the throne when Gonvald abdicated. Cindeus continued expansion and improvement of the empire, but his most important contribution was legitimizing the views of the Church of Adondeus, or rather turning the scholars who studied the once-forbidden Adondum into the Church of Adondeus. The Church did not have much influence at first, but by the end of Cindeus' reign, the Church had major political power and influence.

Cindeus' Brother's son.

Neoladeus was not known to have any children, but Cingald claimed to be his long lost son, with Neoladeus even seeming to prove that fact. After five years of Cingald's reign, he was forced off the throne by advisers who both didn't believe his identity, and found him to be an incompetent leader.

Vanel Galias I was the son of Neoladeus' brother. Vanel I did not want to take the throne, which led to Cingald's short reign. Vanel's son, Vanel Adondum Galias II rose up when his father wouldn't. Vanel II was the last true conqueror, with later emperors not aiming to take any more land.

Son of Vanel II.

Son of Vanel III.

Son of Talendeus.

Grandson of Talendeus. The youngest emperor, beginning his reign at 17.

Son of Haeris. At this point, Grenheim was still mostly feudal, though some regions did give the peasantry more rights than others. Vanel V began centralizing Grenheim's military, and encouraged more rights for the lower classes from regional governments rather than instating such things himself.

Son of Vanel V. Continued with his father's policies, preparing the empire against various moves from surrounding nations to encroach on 
Grenheim's borders.

Son of Vanel VI. Made more moves for centralization than his predecessors, making actual mandates out of the encouragement for lower class rights. Vanel VII has been rather quick thinking with policy in regards to Grenheim's sudden industrialization. Allowed for anyone found with an Empowered Bond to be conscripted.

The first nine gods to rise into Primordium, the birthplace of the gods. There are countless lesser gods, but these nine are those that are told to have created humanity, and guided it's rise.
God of Fate, Order, and the Sun.

Goddess of Love, Emotions, and Machinations.

God of Knowledge, Cunning, and the Unknown.

Goddess of Nature, Beasts, and Instinct.

God of Performance, Artistry, and Creativity.

Goddess of Death, Mourning, and the Afterlife.

Goddess of Honor, and Glory, and the Hunt.

God of the Sea, Storms, and Weather.

God of Fire, War, and Vengeance.

A force that rose into the heavens, and so the belief in their will spread across the lands. The mere fact that these gods apposed to the olden lords are treated as actually existing in the heavens by the Adondum is part of why the book was originally seen as false.
God of Truth and Power. Bringer of Day.

God of Fate and Endings. Bringer of Night.

Goddes of the Sea and Winds. Bringer of Change.

God of Nature and Beasts. Bringer of Life.

God of Ideas and the Unknown. Bringer of Enlightenment.

God of Judgement and Order. Bringer of Justice.

Goddess of Love and Creativity. Bringer of Inspiration.

Goddess of Trickery and Schemes. Bringer of Vengeance.

Goddess of Consumption and Destruction. Bringer of War.

All Credit to @Banjoanjo and @PapiTan for making my shitty map less shitty-looking.
The largest empire on the continent of Salfare, and the place where our story begins. This empire has historically allowed it's various regions to function in relative autonomy, though it has more recently begun to centralize the military and exert more control.

Less a state itself, than a collection of clans and tribes. The Skauld closest to the  Adelanian Sea are known to form raid vessels that travel into the sea, as well as Grenheim's north-east coast.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

"The Free People's State of Doddum" is a small country that broke off from Grenheim some years ago. It's the only region to break off from Grenheim and not be reabsorbed, and few have broke of in Grenheim's history. Doddum is mostly ignored for it's poor resources and generally low population. It completely relies of Grenheim for survival still, so it's effectively a part of Grenheim in all but name.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

One the nations under the "protection" of Halidar.

Republic of Halidar. South-westmost country. The men of Halidar are known for having skin like stone. Though, contrary to what one would think, for most of it's history, Halidar was relatively peaceful, and refrained from warfare. Only recently has this "republic" made reaches into other territories, using its power to convince other nations into an alliance of sorts. They pay money to Halidar, and Halidar protects them, and has some control over their laws but that's besides the point.

Koell is, to some extent, what would happen if Skauldjer had a central government, and was slightly less focused on raiding and piracy.

An ally of Lyngald.

An ally of Lyngald.

The first country after Grenheim to begin mass-scale industrialization.

The Kingdom of Lyngald, a nation trying to extend it's hand of influence along the border of Grenheim, mostly due to Grenheim's increased military presence on it's north eastern border, as well as it's problems with Halidar's meddling. Lyngald is, in essence, taking advantage of Grenheim's other difficulties to spread fear and influence among other nations.

An ally of Lyngald.

Rules

Follow all RPG rules, of course.
This RP will require long-term commitment, as dropping from the RP affects your partner as well as you. If you think you might drop at some point, do not join. Don't be that guy who joins an RP and never posts, no one likes that guy.
Metagaming and Godmodding will not be tolerated to any extent. Autohitting/Autokilling will only be allowed when cleared by me or a Co-GM ( @banjoanjo and @january )
Romance is fine as long as your posts don't turn into smut, let's not get in trouble with the mods. Remember to fade to black.
I won't enforce a post order, or a post limit, but please refrain from speedposting. Posts should be at least a paragraph in length, no one-liners and whatnot.
I will usually expect one post a week. This will be kept track of with a timer, in order to make it clear how much time is left. If you are incapable of posting due to extenuating circumstances, just contact me or a CoGM to let us know. On occasion, the timer will be increased or decreased for certain situations, for example combat might have a shorter timer in order to get things done faster, as posts would be expected to be shorter.
Keep petty squabbling out of the OOC. If you want to be angry at each other, PMs exist.
Maximum of 1 character per person for the time being, meaning that you will have to find someone to partner with. If we don't fill all 18 character slots after a week or so somehow, I'll bump things to 2 characters per person. I will not be increasing the character slots above 18, however.
Make an attempt to read every post. If you're the type who skims, I wish you the best of luck with character interaction.
Considering the fact that this is a pair RP, communication is rather important. I will be making a Discord chat for the members of this RP, and will PM a link to all players once the slots are filled.
This is probably obvious, but try to pair yourself with someone you think you can work with for an extended period. Don't ask to pair up with someone you generally dislike. Issues with pairings might come up, so try to figure out if you and your partner can actually work together as early as possible, preferably before the RP begins.
Please color code your character's dialogue in order to easily differentiate them from everyone else.

Questions and Answers

More questions and answers will be added here as they are asked.
Decide for yourselves. Try to find someone you think you'll probably be able to work with. As long as you end up with one mage and one knight, you should be good. I do suggest working on your character sheets together to come up with a more cohesive pair that actually work off of one another.

Generally, your characters wont actually be all that powerful to start with, unless they already have some sort of combat training or something. In terms of their actual powers, go with what you think will be reasonable, and the GMs will adjust as needed once you submit your magic and Gear for review.

I want to encourage you all to be as creative as possible. There are no limits, as long as you aren't making something unreasonably overpowered or underpowered. If the GMs do have problems, we will of course inform you when you submit your magic and Gear.

The default is regular old humans, and I'd like to stick to that. I did consider allowing other races for player characters, but it felt like most of those would add more restrictions to what I could do with the cast. There will be other humanoid races in the world to some extent, but they will be mostly left as NPCs. If you really do want an inhuman character for some reason, PM with your ideas. If you can convince me that it won't be a hassle and will contribute something interesting, I'll probably allow it.

Character Sheet

Personal Information
Full Name:
Gender:
Age: I suggest staying between the mid-teens and the late twenties.
Appearance: An image or description is fine, though a combination of the two is recommended.
Height:
Weight:

Background Information
History: Tell me a bit about your character's past. You don't have to tell me everything.
Brief Personality: I don't want to know everything about your character, save it for IC, but at least give me something.
Emotional Bond: Describe the bond between your character and their partner.
Partner: Who is your character bonded with?

Combat Information
Fighting Style: How does your character fight, generally. If your character has not fought before the RP, or is generally non-combative, feel free to leave this blank for the time being. 
Equipment: What has your character brought with them? While I suggest you don't go overboard, you're character would probably bring some amount of luggage with them, considering they're leaving home for something between "a long while" and "forever." You can leave out clothes and other basic stuff, and leave this section for the more important and noticeable things that they've got on hand. Whilst this is in the combat section, feel free to include non-combat items.
Weaknesses:This will be optional, but I suggest at least one.

Celestial Gear Information
(Knight only)
make sure to submit both your gear, and your partner's magic to the GMs over PM, or at least the rough ideas you have for them, before you make your CS. If you were to build your character around it and then have that one element rejected, that would probably not be great.
Name: Your weapon's name, it's that simple.
Type: Is it a sword, a dagger, a musket? I'd like to keep types different from player to player, to avoid having a bunch of people with swords
Appearance: What does the weapon look like? a picture or description is fine.
Function: The weapon's primary ability. This shouldn't be too powerful, as it will be upgraded in the future. Do attempt to have it synergise with your corresponding mage.

Celestial Potential Information
(Mages only)
make sure to submit both your magic, and your partner's gear to the GMs over PM, or at least the rough ideas you have for them, before you make your CS. If you were to build your character around it and then have that one element rejected, that would probably not be great.
Focus concept: The idea that encompasses your character's magic.
Spells: You will start with three spells, of a reasonably low to middling power, and will gain more powerful ones over time. Each spell should correspond to your focus in some way. Keep your corresponding knight in mind for synergy.
Name: What you call this spell (honestly, this is optional, but spell names are cool)
Function: The effect of the spell. Please include all costs incurred from the spell's use.
Name: 
Function: 
Name: 
Function: 

Miscellaneous Information
(optional)
Likes:
Dislikes:
Hobbies:
Character Theme:
Other:

There are currently 2 unfilled character slot (one pair). We are still accepting.
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