Fantasy Roleplay

[Dasquian Belargic]

So I was just pondering over a potential new scenario for the General RPing forums, and I think I'm going to try and draft up some kind of 'original' fantasy setting... with elves and dragons and wizards and all that nonsense. Just thought I'd put some feelers out and see who might be interested in joining in :)

[Sanis Prent]

You know, I'd been thinking of something fantasy-esque for a while now.

Not really straight up fantasy, but almost an Age of Mythology / Avatar / Gladius / General Fantasy sort of thing, where we have this world that is divided among numerous nations, each representing very loosely a historic civilization so that the players have a reference.

Sort of like there's an Ancient China nation, Feudal Japan, Norse, Roman Empire, Egyptian, and whatever whoever wants to make, but we just don't call them by such names, and they technically exist on "not earth". They also have their own faith systems, practiced or not, that have differing deities and powers that certain people can invoke.

Put that in your hookah and blow me some rings at the casbah :cool

(PS This also lets me sort of keep RPing Rome stuff because I'm still sore that it never got off the ground. I've acknowledged it had way too steep a learning curve and this is an ideal method to rectify it)

[Aurelias Kazaar]

I call the Norse! ;)

[Zereth Lancer]

I've always loved Fantasy roleplaying, but every board I have ever joined dies within the first few months. People just disappear and the board dies. Tragic, really. But I would be all up for roleplaying something fantasy based here on SWF in the General Roleplaying section. I also like the idea of basing civilizations on existing civilizations, but modifying them into something that's similar, but different, and fits into whatever storyline this takes place in.

In which case, I call the Japanese. *sticks tongue out at Kazaar*

[Karl Valten]

Dibs on undead :p

[Hartus Kenobi]

Japan is probably gonna be the most fun to play :( Ninjas and samurai and stuff.

I don't necessarily claim leadership or anything, but I'd be interested in playing a character from an underwater civilization like Atlantis.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I wanna draw the map :D

[Zem-El Vymes]

So how about a list of kingdoms?

Roman/Greek
Japanese/Chinese
Norse/European Feudal
Arabian/Egyptian
Native American/Aboriginal

Does this work? Should make it sufficiently vague to let peoples imaginations run wild but still to have a rough archetype.

[Hartus Kenobi]

So how about a list of kingdoms?

Roman/Greek
Japanese/Chinese
Norse/European Feudal
Arabian/Egyptian
Native American/Aboriginal

Does this work? Should make it sufficiently vague to let peoples imaginations run wild but still to have a rough archetype.

Nah, I don't think those "combinations" work. Japanese culture and Chinese culture are more mutually exclusive than you may think, and same with all the other pairs you wrote. Like Ancient Egyptian and Arabic culture don't come close to meaning the same thing. I think people should be able to pick whatever they'd like, as long as the "civilization" they choose is distinguishable enough. No reason why we have to limit the number of "races"

[Zem-El Vymes]

That is kind of the point, Hart. We're not making them analogous, and only taking the broad impressions.

EDIT: I think it would be easier to see if you've played Gladius, where they do precisely this sort of thing. You basically pluck stylistic stuff and a few parts of the culture to make a blend of something else. So with Egyptian/Arabs you might have mummies, dervishes, scimitars, polytheism, martyrs as a part of this new civilization.

[Morgan Evanar]

Why not have everything, but everything is mostly confined to it's own region, beyond the travelers?

You could have the Celts too. In Europe, thar be dragons. In Japan and China, thar be different dragons. In Greece thar be Gorgons. In Rome thar be much of what thar be in Greece. In India it's... just weird.

If someone is introducing a new mythical creature/concept, just have it linked via wikipedia so everyone can follow along.

[Zem-El Vymes]

So maybe like Asialand, which comprises cultures that directly mimick chinese/japanese/tibet/india, etc then onwards to Europeland, Africaland, etc?

[Morgan Evanar]

No not exactly. Why not just have those cultures confined to their actual regions?

Maybe I'm not following, aren't we going to just use the actual map with general exaggerations regarding climate and maybe a little bit regarding geography? (Scandanavia's cold is BRUTAL) etc?

[Zem-El Vymes]

I guess, but I was also thinking of geo-political roleplay, and having far-flung groups still have the ability to interact and have at it on occasion.

[Danni Reyok]

*raises hand*

I like Egypt.
...
......and sand.


Seriously though, this sounds very interesting.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think Jen's idea was more fantasy based, less existing races/world. Sort of an original take on the elves and wizards thing. :)

Though the realms of men could be divided into similar distinctions. The Northmen, the Southerns, etc.

edit: and Jen already drafted up her basic idea, just hasn't refined it and released it yet because she went to bed hours ago. ;)

[Droo]

As interesting as it sounds, with there being so many different nations, each speaking their own tongue with their own believes and values in different parts of the world, how is roleplaying together going to really be possible? Noone would speak the same language, or agree with each other on anything, or live close enough to be in frequent contact with each other.

If there is a way around this so that we can implement the idea of different cultures along with the idea of traditional fantasy, ie. dragons, and elves, and wizards, then that would be grand.

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=Myth

That's what I have been dreaming up.

My idea is that everyone is on one giant continent pretty much. There is a common tongue, due to the fact that many of the races have shared heritage, though the individual races may have their own dialect.

As Holly and I have been discussing on the Wiki, I'm up for dividing the Men into different... ethnicities, I guess would be the word. I have been taking some influence from existing cultures and mythologies when thinking up these races - the Fian being like the Irish Fianna, kind of roaming bard/warriors; the Glauca are kind of like sea-faring elves - some of them are high and mighty and stick to living under the sea (maybe in some sort of Greco-Roman setting), whilst more modern Glauca are more like Carribean pirates; etc.

[Razielle Alastor]

I still have my Egytptian character and all my stuff I wrote up for her for the Rome thing that never flew. So if anyone wants to get with me on Egypt I'd be all excited! :D

Great idea guys!

[Miranda Tarkin]

Yeah good idea... I have my Rome character I can tweak out for this :)

[Tidus Marzullo]

Just to throw a new idea out there...

I know traditionally these kind of RPs are set at a time of basic technologies and swords and shiz like that. Perhaps it would be interesting to see an RP with races like elves, wizards etc. set in the current day or future. Basically what Jen had suggested, but maybe 5000 years forward in time.

You could still have wild environments like glaciers, mountain ranges deserts etc, but then have modern cities and such too. Maybe this is going too similar with WoD...

[Morgan Evanar]

I think it has too much overlap with WoD, but it's certainly not the worst idea ever :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Yeah, personally I'm more interested in sticking to Ye Olde Times.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think it is more original to create new countries, not to use existing ones.

Though if people want to do another one with Charleys idea that is certainly allowable. :p I just love what Dasq put into the wiki. We've been discussing it onthe Discussion page of the wiki that she posted.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Yes, by all means feel free to start your own RPing scenario, whatever it may be. That is what the General RPing forum is for :)

[Hartus Kenobi]

Jen's idea looks good to me. It's specific enough to give us an overarching theme, but still a loose enough guideline to allow us to incorporate some of our own elements to our individual characters. As long as certain things are taken as given, it'll be much easier to move from there, rather than endless debate on our starting points.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

These are my ideas on magic for our mythical kingdom.

I think the magic should be elemental in nature, none of this Force junk. So each wizard/other name would have skills in about three of the elements, but specialize in only one. Wood, Metal, Water, Fire, Air.

Wood - this specialty includes woodsmanship, tracking, influencing growth of plants and trees, strength, and archery
Metal - swordsmanship, forging, physical strength etc
Water - healing, swimming, fish/ing?, etc
Air - flight, birds, windstorms, thunderclaps, etc
Fire - calling up fire, putting fire out, directing it, influencing emotions of others

[Kale]

I've got some ideas for an Arab-inspired civilization - probably won't have much action there, but I was thinking of introducing a traveling warrior-scholar from a distant land.

Southeast of Dalriada is a vast stretch of desert known as the Hadar Wastelands. Many Dalriadans believe that all the country to the East is desert inhabited by nomadic traders. But beyond the Hadar is a region of lush jungles and verdant savannahs known as the Kingdom of Ankaa. The Ankaaric civlization has developed largely independent of western influence and in some ways has surpassed Dalriada - their cities boast great colleges and libraries, magic-powered street lamps, internal plumbing, public baths with hot and cool water, as well as beautiful temples, palaces, and gardens. Their feudal society is governed by a council of regional Sheiks and their deputy Sharifs, though all swear fealty to the Rajjah, who rules in the capital city of Ankaarizad and commands the majority of the army.

Aside from ethnic rivalries, the people of Ankaa live mostly in peace united under the banner of their Rajjah. This was not always so. The verdant lands were once contested by another nation, Nusakar. The Ankaarim and Nusakans fought bitterly for many years until a powerful Ankaaric wizard ended the war with one horrific spell. The Nusakan lands became desert and the people crumbled into dust, but a counterspell preserved the Nusakan armies as immortal undead warriors. They still lurk beneath the sands to attack travelers indiscriminately and occasionally still wage war on Ankaa's borders. Those who disturb Nusakan crypts and other ruins risk incurring their wrath and joining the armies of the dead.

[Sanis Prent]

So basically the gist now is the fantasy races and within those we could have whatever civilizations we want, or is this something else?

[Kale]

I think the idea was mainly to create a world for sword'n'sorcery-style adventuring. One idea that was mentioned was to restrict every participant to a single character and then focus the RP on a party of adventurers who set out on a Noble Quest. Text-based D&D without the annoying paperwork.

So, rather than trying to pull off yet another vast, unfolding epic with many locations and factions, this would be more of a single story along the journey motif. The civilizations are more the backdrop for the adventures while we'd focus on the personal interactions of an unlikely band of heroes.

If the political/civilization angle appeals to you more, you can probably do a different thread with the same setting but a different scale and focus, or even create your own setting, like that alternate-geography idea with Roman and Norse and Chinese and Egyptian civilizations thrown together on the same map.

[Sanis Prent]

No I am perfectly fine with character-driven quest stuff. I'm just wanting to be able to occasionally participate in the geo-political backstory.

Say my character was a "Roman" soldier who had a falling out, but still had the interests of his homeland in mind, and would seek to participate in events which connected that.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

except we won't have romans..?

[Sanis Prent]

except we won't have romans..?

Sorry I thought the quotations were enough of a hint.

Nevermind. You guys have fun.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Sorry, didn't mean to shoot you down like that. :( There could certainly be a roman-ish kingdom of men.

The only thing is that with starting a 'secondary' RP such as this, if everyone chips in a kingdom of men then the entire thing will collapse under its own weight very quickly.

Though on secondary continents there could be other civilizations, and we just RP on the one main continent in the main contingent of men, perhaps with people from other kingdoms across the sea?

Again, if people want to and start egypt-like and rome-like and greece-like and the american indians-like then the thing will collapse under its own weight before it even begins. You know? So there needs to be a balance of sorts.

edit: However, starting a character, and beginning to flesh out the history etc could work really well. If it takes off then we could introduce other 'continents/kingdoms' for RPing inside of?

edit edit: If we do heroic parties, we should limit the number of people in each party. So everyone plays one character to begin with, and each party is made up of five characters? Then each party could invent a quest to go on and have fun from there. :)

[Cailean MacGabhann]

Here's my character, reporting for duty. :)

[Blind Molly]

Molly here.

Am I really blind? Who knows. ;)'

edit: Human, water/air Seer from the palace.

[G'lyana]

I'm wishing to do this as well and will recycle this character into some sort of Elven something or another :)

Okies I'm a Fian after talking with Dasq! A wood Mage

[The Scribe of Ages]

Friendly neighourhood narrator, here.

[SunShin 李舜臣]

Okay, an Ankaaric prince/warrior, reporting for duty!

[Calleh]

Hmm, I guess the two of us will have to be comparing notes, then. :)

(Is Kale)

Calleh Ben-Sudr Al-Fard, warrior-scholar from the Arcane College of Ankaarizad. Though, actually, in the interest of diversity, I might be persuaded to switch to a different race.

[SunShin 李舜臣]

Hmm, I guess the two of us will have to be comparing notes, then. :)

(Is Kale)

Calleh Ben-Sudr Al-Fard, warrior-scholar from the Arcane College of Ankaarizad. Though, actually, in the interest of diversity, I might be persuaded to switch to a different race.

FOR ANKAA! OUR HOMELAND! LONG LIVE THE RAJJAH!

(Is Hart) :)

[Cailean MacGabhann]

Oh, Cailean is a Fian carpenter, with some skill Wood/Earth Magics.

[Calleh]

Decided, in the interest of party balance and storytelling, that it'd be better to pick a different role. So I'm now Bréga Greymord, Dalriadan warrior. So the party has a tank. :cool:

[SunShin 李舜臣]

Decided, in the interest of party balance and storytelling, that it'd be better to pick a different role. So I'm now Bréga Greymord, Dalriadan warrior. So the party has a tank. :cool:

Well, keep in mind that if enough people want to join in, there can be multiple missions to accomplish a common goal, and therefore multiple "fellowships." It would be ideal for each mission party to be diverse, so there can definitely be more than one or two from each "kingdom."

Also, since you're the one who came up with Ankaa in the first place, I'm perfectly willing to switch my guy to another allegience if you'd like. You probably have more ideas for the civilization than I do, especially because I haven't really put any thought into him yet. My guy can fit in any number of other "races."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

For the moment though we only have five, which is ideal for one 'fellowship'. :)

[Parsideon Denix]

Would we be able to add a kingdom that was a sort of confederation of Glauca and Men? Maybe called Necian League? Like an archipelago chain on the edge of the continent, similar to how Greece is shaped, with most on the mainland but also islands? I figure it would be another trade nation radiating out from Dalriada, maybe to the east of Bai-Ulgan.

My character Denix would have a backstory involving being a soldier of the Necian League. With a fire and metal affinity, his abilities would be more geared for practical, up front warfare, so he would be a bit of a brawler, but able to use his limited magics in smithing war weapons and the occasional blast of fire, etc.

[Calleh]

Also, since you're the one who came up with Ankaa in the first place, I'm perfectly willing to switch my guy to another allegience if you'd like. You probably have more ideas for the civilization than I do, especially because I haven't really put any thought into him yet. My guy can fit in any number of other "races."

PMed. I shall await your response before making a final decision - and thank you very much for your gracious offer!

[Zereth Lancer]

I'm gone for, like, a day, and now I'm completely lost. What seemed like a small little roleplaying idea has exploded into something huge. Too huge, perhaps. I just really cannot see how something this big, however big we make it it's still going to be big, is going to fit into the General Roleplaying section. This is the kind of gold that spawns entirely new roleplaying boards, but starting a fresh board just creates more problems, so ignore me.

Yeah, so as I said, I'm pretty lost now. We need to start something akin to a cast list of all the characters so far, what races those characters are and what civilizations/races they hail from. That might help out a bit.

Well, I really don't see a pseudo-Japanese civilization/race working with what we have so far, but I have the interest in Dwarves. I once roleplayed as a Dwarf Scholar (ironic I know) on a fantasy roleplaying board that went down the tubes. My character, Rhys Rhyson (How original) was incredibly fun to play because he was the complete opposite of the stereotypical dwarf.

I wrote a huge description of the dwarves on this other roleplaying board, which obviously won't all apply to our unique board, but I'm sure an adaption can be made to make it all fit. Dwarf Info (http://z8.invisionfree.com/Lightsedge/index.php?showtopic=17). As you can see, I am heavily influenced by the Dwarves created by Terry Pratchett.

Dwarves in those roleplay would be few, due to civil war. On the brink of extinction as they refuse to change, becoming adamant that change what was what had put them in danger in the first place. They seal themselves underground again and are never seen again, save for my Dwarven Character (any anyone else who wants to create a Dwarven Character). My character, who's name I would change to something more original. I think he would make a nice addition to any party group.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Zereth, did you read the Wiki page we did on what we have so far?

And Charley I think that will work just fine. :)

[Zereth Lancer]

Yes, I did read it.

[Parsideon Denix]

I figure whoever starts this, I will work myself into your storyline at some point:

Denix is a Captain of the Necian League, and is sent on a pursuit mission to reclaim the Golden Lantern of Osseri, which is one of the more magical artifacts in the Necian League. The Lantern has been stolen by a band of Glaucan pirates known as Fyren's Fold. Commanding a squadron of Necian triremes, Denix's ships are dashed apart in a storm, allowing the Fyren's Fold ship to flee.

Only himself and a handful of his Glaucan allies wash to shore alive, and wherever they are now, they are far from home.

[Blind Molly]

I am working on a post now :)

[Calder Aquasis]

Dunaah, a Glauca to throw in the mix. Calder Aquasis, a Glauca pirate with no magic abilities.


I figure whoever starts this, I will work myself into your storyline at some point:


Denix is a Captain of the Necian League, and is sent on a pursuit mission to reclaim the Golden Lantern of Osseri, which is one of the more magical artifacts in the Necian League. The Lantern has been stolen by a band of Glaucan pirates known as Fyren's Fold. Commanding a squadron of Necian triremes, Denix's ships are dashed apart in a storm, allowing the Fyren's Fold ship to flee.

Only himself and a handful of his Glaucan allies wash to shore alive, and wherever they are now, they are far from home.

I was thinking maybe Calder could a pirate be aboard the ship Parsideon is chasing down in the thread at the moment. I could have Calder try to infiltrate Pasideon's ship, only to be caught up in the storm and get washed up with him. Could lead to an unlikely alliance, no?

[Cailean MacGabhann]

Great posts so far. :)


This is the kind of gold that spawns entirely new roleplaying boards,
I'm glad you think so ;) ... but this is why I am reluctant to add in race after race, at least until we get the story off the ground, so to speak. As you say, it's pretty "big". Unlike the other two main Gen RPing scenarios, which both take place on familiar land and with character types that are common knowledge (vampires, werewolves, etc), this one is something we just made up. What we have already, in terms of geography and races and so forth, isn't vast. I am sure it will grow with time but we don't want to overload ourselves with too much from the outset.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I added an open User Group for this roleplaying setting, which you can now join through your User Control Panel :) Post icons are forthcoming.

[Blind Molly]

I'm getting a feel for Molly. :D

It'll be fun to play someone with a real disability when it comes to moving around and doing regular stuff like dressing herself. :p

[Parsideon Denix]

I was thinking maybe Calder could a pirate be aboard the ship Parsideon is chasing down in the thread at the moment. I could have Calder try to infiltrate Pasideon's ship, only to be caught up in the storm and get washed up with him. Could lead to an unlikely alliance, no?

I like this idea a lot. It will be especially interesting if there's more to the Lantern mission than was originally thought. Very cool idea.

[Sam]

I don't mean to step on S'il's toes, but I saw an opportunity to draw a map and I love drawing maps. I've attached a rough idea based on the clues from the wiki page.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I like it, but like we discussed in AIM I think it was a mistake to have Necia and Ankaa both to the East. One needs to be on the other side of the continent. ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Sam - that's surprisingly similar to the basic map I drew up for s'Il to improve upon :) Not exactly the same, but very close.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

With the Necian League being made up of seafaring folk, with them both on the East as it is in the wiki pages Necia would have discovered Ankaa several times over, as Sam put it. ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Maybe there's some gigantic sea-beasties stopping them from doing so? :mneh

I'm not sure where else they could go, unless they were in the south-west.

I was imagining Ankaa as being almost completely surrounded by the wastelands, with only a little of the south coast exposed to the sea. If that were the case, they might write the whole area off as being 'forsaken' (because of the Nusakar) and avoid further investigate.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

well if you imagine it on a huge scale, if Necia is in the SW and Ankaa is to the east...

Most fantasy maps center on the main country and then the rest is "heer be dragyns" and when one shows the entire coastline it give the illusion that we're dealing with an island. With them where they are on Sam's map its not so bad (he put reefs between Necia and Ankaa) if you imagine the scale being enormous.

[Dasquian Belargic]

We are kind of dealing with an island, though. They have no idea what lies beyond sea that surrounds Asga. They might not even know, themselves, the exact lay of the land on Asga. I imagine that there would be discrepancies, amongst the races, about various things.

When I drew up my very basic map, it was mostly with a mind of how to cater for an interesting journey. As I said to s'Il, I imagine that the continent will evolve and new towns will be mentioned as we roleplay. So long as we have a rough idea where everything is in relation to one another.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

All continents are technically 'islands' because they're surrounded by water on all sides. They're called continents because they're so big. Which is why Australia is a continent and England is an island. ;)

edit: And we know that the people who live on Asga don't know the exact lay of the land - in Dalriada the land of Ankaa is almost mythical. So perhaps we should have more than one map - one that shows the land as the Dalriadans see it, one as Ankaa percieves it, and another from the view of the Necian League (I imagine there will be mostly water and islands in that one).

[Sam]

I was imagining Ankaa as being almost completely surrounded by the wastelands, with only a little of the south coast exposed to the sea. If that were the case, they might write the whole area off as being 'forsaken' (because of the Nusakar) and avoid further investigate.

The problem I ran into was trying to reconcile the jungles and great river with many tributaries that Ankaa has with the dry wastelands that surrounds it. I can certainly extend those northern mountains down along the eastern and western borders of it though to make it more enclosed.

[Dasquian Belargic]

All continents are technically 'islands' because they're surrounded by water on all sides. They're called continents because they're so big. Which is why Australia is a continent and England is an island. ;)

Oh, well if you want to be pedantic Australia isn't a continent and England isn't an island :mneh Australasia is the continent of which Australia is a country, and England is just a country on the island of Great Britain :p


The problem I ran into was trying to reconcile the jungles and great river with many tributaries that Ankaa has with the dry wastelands that surrounds it. I can certainly extend those northern mountains down along the eastern and western borders of it though to make it more enclosed.

More mountains might help, I guess.

I'm not bothered if it's 100% accurate or believable, really. Like I said, I just want some vague impression of the world for people. I certainly wouldn't want people to go so far as to create multiple instances of the map (as cool as that would be). I'd rather people just got RPing in the world, instead of nitpicking over a mountain here and a river there :mneh

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I meant Great Britain :shakefist

:p

[Zem-El Vymes]

What if the seas around Ankaa are choked by sargassum (and sea monsters). That would certainly isolate them just fine, and allow Necia to remain rather seaworthy.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Would it be feasible to say that along with destroying Nusukar, the Ankaa wizard also brought forth and created great beasts of the sea to protect the country from those that would come from the waters?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Oh btw, I don't think we need to hold to a strict posting order in this thread. In my opinion at least. As long as the characters in the same 'place' interacting with each other keep to a posting order amongst themselves, Molly and Calleh (and soon Jen's character) for example. I dont' think we need to wait for Charley and Hart to post if we want to continue our glimpse of the story along more. Within reason of course.

[Sam]

I certainly wouldn't want people to go so far as to create multiple instances of the map (as cool as that would be).

What was that you said? You want multiple instances? Ok.

[Parsideon Denix]

Yay we get more islands =3

[Calleh]

Wow, I missed a bunch of cartographical deliberation. :)

Not to complicate things further, but I was actually imagining (building off of Sam's original interpretation) that there was more land to the East of Ankaa with more countries that are completely unknown to Dalriada. Think of Dalriada as Europe and Ankaa as the Indian subcontinent with the bulk of Asia still beyond. Most of those lands will likely not come into the picture at all, or at least, not for a very long time.

As for Ankaa's isolation, I'd say you've done a pretty good job with that in both cases. The Hadar Wasteland is actually larger than it used to be because the lands of Nusakar were absorbed following the Ankaaric mage's doom spell. The Eridan spills down from a nigh-impassable mountain range (the Arakkis Mountains) to the North. I was actually thinking the Arakkis mountains might be contiguous with the mountains where the Trow and their allies live; that could be a further barrier between Ankaa and any of the other civilized nations.

Just some thoughts - do with them as you will.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I love the second map.

And the first one, you're very good at maps, Sam. :dance

[Dasquian Belargic]

The new map looks good too :)


I was actually thinking the Arakkis mountains might be contiguous with the mountains where the Trow and their allies live; that could be a further barrier between Ankaa and any of the other civilized nations.

Pretty nifty idea.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm turning over the mapmaking to Sam :)

I'll keep on with the styleset though.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Awww, s'Il :(

Suppose I might as well post the hilariously basic outline I made.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/tehwofl/mapbasic.jpg

The rings around Bai-Ulgan aren't actually there, obviously. They're a rough indicator of how civilized the surrounding area is. Bai-Ulgan at the centre is obviously the most 'civilized'. Dunadd, in the outer ring, is in near-wild territory. Fortriu and Nifleim are still qualified as being in Dalriada, but as in territory that is nowhere near as heavily policied and therefore piracy and such is common. Halainn Inniu is also in "wild territory".

Ignore the fact that the Megingjord flows through the wastelands... it should dry up in southern Dalriada.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'll still draw the border birds and stuff, but Sam has a really good start and feel for drawing maps, so if he wants to take care of that aspect, he can tweak it out to your liking, then send it to me, and I'll 'here be dragons'-it-up ;)

edit - plus, I just installed all of my pending fonts, and can use the Soul Reaver one for the text if you want :D

[Dasquian Belargic]

Ooo, I'd like to see how that looks.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I've also got the Blood Omen font, so it'll be your discretion. I'll just make up different versions for you :)

[Sam]

Revised again to include more place names and to more closely match the original concept.

I extended the northern mountainous area to provide a place for some other race. Possibly some sort of ogre/troll/giant race.

[Daria Nytherciria]

I love it :) I was definintely thinking that there would be ogre-ish things lurking in the mountains, and that was part of the reason why the Rampart had been built - as well as blocking out the Ironwood.

[Calder Aquasis]

So, does that map show the whole world? Like, if someone set sail from Necia, they'd reach the west coast of Dalriada unobstructed? Or are there unknown continents that havn't been discovered by the people yet?

[Sam]

I would assume, from the conversations of the people taking part in this, that this is simply one continent. There are lands to the east known by the Necians.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Sam is right - Asga is just one continent. The sea that seperates it from any other landmasses on the world is so vast that it has never been fully explored. Though if someone did manage to sail far enough, they would find that the world is flat :)

[Calder Aquasis]

Ah okay. Thanks. I was just thinking it'd be cool, once Myth is more established, to have some kind of invasion of the continent by a civilisation from across the seas. But that's far, far into the future.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I expect that on our travels, to right the flow of Magic in the world, we will be forced to travel far beyond the relative safety of Asga :D

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

You gotta have dragonriders in there somewhere :D

[Kale]

Question: Dragons. Sapient or no?

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

You could go the McFarlane's Dragons route and divide them into clans with varying degrees of intelligence.

[Sam]

Are there centers of learning for the various schools of magic? Some temples or towers scattered about the map, perhaps?

While I don't think I'll be creating a character for this, I do love establishing settings and environments.

[Dasquian Belargic]

There are some schools, yes. I mentioned a couple of them in the Wiki.

The Order of Hephaes- Metal magicians, based in the outer-limits of Bai-Ulgan.
The Council of Ignati- Fire magicians, based... I don't know where!

As for dragons... I'm not hugely keen on having dragons that are sentient. Maybe one incredily ancient dragon somewhere that is world-wise, and then a couple of others here and there. Maybe they were once much more common, but have become close to extinction over time.

[Sam]

Slight update: I reshaped and extended the NW of the continent, moved Dunadd, and revised the location of Halainn Innui. If anyone sees more tweaks they want made or things added, feel free to let me know.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

To go with Kale's idea, perhaps extend the border of the continent until it goes off the page, so Ankaa extends to "unknown" regions?

Other than that I love it and think it's fantastic. I named a forest in one of my posts the Steelwood and a mountain range the Cos Briste (lit. Broken Leg in Irish) mountains. They're supposed to be 'magical' centers of Dalriada (you spelled it wrong oops) and are approximately the same distances from Bai-Ulgan but in different directions.

The Steelwood doesn't have to be big. :) Maybe nestle it against those mountains to the south east? and then the Cos Briste could be a range right where the mountains start to the north.

[Parsideon Denix]

Maybe add the Necian cities & landmarks. The only city I know of thusfar would be Demos, which would probably fit into the crook of that bay, just northwest of the N in Necia.

The Gatekeepers of the East are twin statues of a Man and a Glaucan, each with an accompanying fortress, guarding the main inlet into the archipelago. They should be on adjacent islands, etc.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

As for dragons... I'm not hugely keen on having dragons that are sentient. Maybe one incredily ancient dragon somewhere that is world-wise, and then a couple of others here and there. Maybe they were once much more common, but have become close to extinction over time.

What about something like The Great Owl, from Secret of Nymh? Considered a myth, but heavily believed in? That would really only allow for one dragon to be left, but you could always go - as you said - the extinction route, and now there is only the one left?

[Sam]

Revised again.

- Dalriada spelled correctly
- Cos Briste added
- Steelwood added
- Demos added
- Gatekeepers of the East added
- Dunadd moved *again*
- NW region changed slightly

I don't think I want to have Ankaa go off the page. The people of that region would have it all explored and mapped, and the people of Dolriada wouldn't have it there at all, having the Hadar Wastelands running off to the edges of the map.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I likey. :)

I like the idea of dragyns being scarce. :) Too many dragyns and the place gets crowded and very small, very fast. What with the flying around and all.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I likey. :)

I like the idea of dragyns being scarce. :) Too many dragyns and the place gets crowded and very small, very fast. What with the flying around and all.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Plus, I was hoping to go for birds as the revered creatures.

[Parsideon Denix]

I am taking a lot of liberties with the religion issue in the thread, so be on notice.

At least for Necia, I think the view holds for a liberalized polytheist type of thing to exist, very similar to Rome's Cultus Deorum. There is a great deal about what Gods/Goddesses control what, who outranks who, etc. Chief among Gods would be those controlling the elemental magics (Denetion - water, Igneon - fire, Hephos - metal, etc) Lesser Gods, such as Jeff the God of Biscuits would fall in line behind the bigger ones obviously.

One neat trick about Cultus Deorum is that deities tend to be added and subtracted from the religion more or less at the worshipper's fancy. If a religious person feels so inclined, they can worship any God or Goddess, even those that are usually celebrated beyond their own land or ethnicity. Obviously this could be prickly with the Ankaa (and other monotheists).

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Jeff the god of Biscuits :D

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'll have to write something up on the creation mythos and the religions of the other races.

[Terran Starek]

Can anyone get involved? I don't want to intrude or impose, but I would be interested. :)

[Calder Aquasis]

The more the merrier! :D

[Hallgeirr]

Hallgeirr (or Hal) here, resident bardic magician. :)

[Miranda Tarkin]

So the ship crashed... :) I suppose that my character can save you guys soon?

[Parsideon Denix]

Yes please do, I imagine we'll soon need it!

[Miache Fyrian]

If Parsideon doesn't mind, I would love to play Fyrian. I was thinking something like a Dread Pirate Roberts type of setup, where Miache isn't the original Fyrian, and neither was the Fyrian before. In fact, the real Fyrian is retired and living comfortably on a tropical island off the Necian coast :p

[Blind Molly]

I think that's a great idea, personally. :lol

[Parsideon Denix]

That's a cool idea. I'll need to huddle up with you and shoot some ideas about how I was thinking the Lantern story would progress in that instance.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Hey, just as long as you remember that drinking seawater will make you go crazy. ;) And thirsty, you crazy man you.

Calder had the right idea with oranges. ;)

[Parsideon Denix]

You march on your stomach, and porridge is calorie-dense and good filler. There is a reason the Legions ate it as a staple, because you can work for a long time with it in your system.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

But... seawater?

[Parsideon Denix]

It really isn't going to matter when used to moisten corn meal. Sea water only has the effect you mention if it's your sole source of hydration. You'd have to fill skins with the stuff in order to be in trouble.

[Miache Fyrian]

That's a cool idea. I'll need to huddle up with you and shoot some ideas about how I was thinking the Lantern story would progress in that instance.


Great. From what I'v read so far, Fyrian's Fold is your brainchild, so is there any loose guidelines you had about how it was set up? I'm glad you liked the Dread Pirate Roberts angle, but I don't want to step on any other plans you may have had.

[Parsideon Denix]

Well I really hadn't written anything into Fyrian's Fold, other than they'd stolen the Golden Lantern which was precious to Necia. I did like the allusion that Calder pointed to that it could have possibly been ordered by a Necian Chief as an inside job, possibly in a bid for that Chief to be elected Dictator.

[Sam]

Map's ready for letting and sea monsters and such. I have a tiff version I can send you, S'il.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Do you have it in a bigger size? like maybe 900xX PPI?

[Miache Fyrian]

That will work great.

I'll get together with Calder and we can organize the Fold :)

[Boreas]

This character is going to be one of the villains of the story :)

(This is Dasq, btw.)

[Calder Aquasis]

Whoo, I have a boss! Lol.

I just had a thought about magic. Could it be that everyone is born with the ability to manipulate one or two elements, however those that displease the Gods or whatever are stripped of this ability.

This idea came about when I was thinking about how Calder has no magic abilities. Being a pirate and all, that's sure not to impress the powers that be. However, that would mean none of Fyrian's Fold would have magic prowess. Perhaps there's like, a set list of laws, much like the 10 Commandments. Perhaps if someone were to break one of these laws, their magic ability would be taken from them?

[Miache Fyrian]

Interesting. I was hoping to have Fyrian know water magic; maybe through finding loopholes in these commandments.

Or what if the pirates had their own incarnations of gods that they follow?

[Calder Aquasis]

By all means, Fyrian could know magic. These commandments could be really, incredibly extreme crimes that Fyrian, and other pirates, simply havn't broken.

It would also explain why Calder spoke to Denetion to send the dead Glaucans' souls to the afterlife, as if he were trying to get on the right side of the Gods and so regain his magics.

[Miache Fyrian]

Sounds good to me :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Personally I'd like it so that powers can't be stripped by the gods, since after all, perhaps the gods don't really exist, y'see?

[Parsideon Denix]

Agreed. After all, not everybody has the same theological interpretations of the gifts.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Question - do you want me to narrate some chaos into Bai-Ulgan, like we were talking about, Kale? Get Molly, Calleh and Cailean chased out and all.

[Kale]

The chaos is on its way. Cf. the shadow that Calleh saw. :)

EDIT: But if you want something for Cailean to do - maybe he's heading up to the palace to deliver the walking stick and sees what looks like a shadow moving through the streets ahead of him?

[Karl Valten]

I was going to ask about creating an undead race, but I finally read the wiki. Is it ok to play as the Nusakar? It actually almost perfectly fits how I envisioned them comming to be.

I'm just looking for an A-O.K. before throwing out some other ideas I have about the Nusakans and their organization. (If it can be called that)

[Kale]

I'm willing to give the A-OK. Let's have those ideas. :)

PMed you with some relevant plot details, but you should have plenty of leeway.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Ooh, a Nusakar. Nice :)

[Parsideon Denix]

Okay, we are headed north from the east coast of Asga, so that will have us wandering toward the general direction of Necia and the Ironwood. Perfect time as any to rendezvous with somebody

[Tam Jeneel]

Hey you buttes, come on already!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Kale is on vacation for a week so Molly and Calleh are on hold until he comes back. :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'll get something up for Cailean soon.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

aaahhhh! I totally forgot about this and need to post >_<

Um .... I had an in before is it gone now?

[Daria Nytherciria]

I.. don't know. You could prob still come meet up with Denix and Calder, since they're just searching for civilization.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

For a dolt who hasn't had time to read the thread because of busy busy school, can you break down what is going on currently O_o

[Tam Jeneel]

With Calder and Denix?

In a nutshell, they washed ashore after a shipwreck dashed Denix's fleet on the eastern shore of Asga. They're considerably south of both the forest and Necia, and moving north along the shore in hopes of finding civilization, or a clue about the location of Fyrian's crew.

[Cailean MacGabhann]

Actually I take back my promise to post... there isn't much I can do until Calleh is back.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Waiting on Calleh as well. :)

[Sanis Prent]

Waiting Waiting Waiting!

[Calleh]

Posted Posted Posted!

Would you like some Pizza Pizza?

(Molly, go ahead and get us through the stables and out into the streets - as I said, Calleh will collect his own horse later.)

[Sanis Prent]

Please can we resume this? I was having so much fun here!!!!

:(

PLEASE!!!

[Cailean MacGabhann]

I has posted!

[Parsideon Denix]

Me too!!! :D

Oh man oh man I love this thread

[Blind Molly]

I has posted!Of note is the fact that I totally never saw this post until a few minutes ago... don't worry we won't leave you behind Cailean!

*tells Kale to edit* ;) j/k

[Calleh]

Gotcha covered. ;)

Since I missed the post, too, I decided to just quote it at the beginning of my post, and we'll pretend it just happened between Molly's post and mine.

[Moreth]

If it's all right, I will be visiting Denix and Calder soon. [/kale]

FORBOOOOODE :evil

[Parsideon Denix]

That works fine by me :)

[Calder Aquasis]

Woop! Evil is stirring... >.>

^.^

[Moreth]

Evil? Evil?

I'm just... misunderstood!

[Alana]

I'm switching my rome char over too! :D

After looking at the wiki, I'm a Fian. (big suprise, huh? :mneh)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Fian... good choice ;)

[Parsideon Denix]

Did we ever get a final version of the map? It would be awesome to have a "YOU ARE HERE" thing that we can paste at the beginning of each thread lol.

I did have a question - if Molly, Calleh, and Cailean are moving from Bai-Ulgan to Ankaa, where are Denix & Calder going to meet them?

[Dasquian Belargic]

Somewhere halfway? Calder and Denix are somewhere on the east/southeast coast right now, yes? Maybe Steelwood...

The version of the map I'm using is: http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=970&d=1181878454

[Parsideon Denix]

I could see that. Maybe a few days of hard riding would get us there.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I don't think we're going to Ankaa.

[Parsideon Denix]

Oh, I thought you were?

Did that change? Where are you headed? :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Our sacred points are here," she pointed out the Steelwood's Sacred Circle, "And here," a high point in the Cos Briste mountain range. Equidistant from Bai-Ulgan, where they now where, and in separate directions. "There are disturbances in both places, though nothing like what you describe with your river." Molly tapped her stick to the stones, "Though I will have to go there myself to get any confirmation."

We could go to either place. I don't think we've decided yet.

[Dasquian Belargic]

So we can still meet at Steelwood then, and have some fun in Verbannen maybes.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That sounds good to me. :)

[Calleh]

I think Ankaa will end up being a destination at some point, but that's probably far enough in the future we can't really plan for it yet. I think our first challenge will be at Steelwood as we're looking for whatever is draining the magical energy out of the world. That can be where our two parties meet.

Moreth will be interested in accompanying Denix and Calder, or following them from the shadows, depending on how their meeting goes. Here's what I'm thinking: when they get there, Moreth could do something nasty that will start draining the magic from the place, and we could all have a big throw-down with him and his shadowy cronies.

Unless someone else has an idea they would like to forward? :)

[Karl Valten]

I'm thinking of starting up with my Nusakar character in response to Moreth's appearance.

I spoke a bit with Kale we came up with a good arrangement.

Anywho, anyone know of a good photo I can use as an avatar. I have good pics for a sig, but I'm looking for more a close up. As kale and I see it, the Nusakar are an Eqyptian style of undead, I haven't been able to find anything.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

http://www.stargate-sgc.de/Systemlords.html Well, Stargate SG-1 Goa'uld System Lords usually look Egyptian. Can't find any great pictures of them though.

[Ngash Muharak]

BOO

Now I just need to the final picks for a sig. Would you mind making one LD?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Not at all, just drop the pictures and text you want into the thread in the art forum. :)

[Kale]

I think we're still waiting on Cailean?

On the Moreth front, I really can't do anything until Denix and Calder find me.

[Zem-El Vymes]

Well I just got me a slave!

Waiting on Calder so we can get this wagon train a'rollin!

[Zem-El Vymes]

While I wait for you guys to post, I'm filling up the wiki with tons of necia goodies.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think we're still waiting on Cailean?
:cry still waiting on jennay

[Dasquian Belargic]

:( I am sorry.

I'm going out for a family meal in a few minutes, but when I get back - and finish my reading for this week at school - I will be on this like... well, suffice to say I'll post.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

No worries, I understand school eating up time :)

[Cailean MacGabhann]

At last, I have posted.

[Moreth]

And a splendiferous post it is! :)

[Katarina Gordislava]

and, yer up again ;)

[Moreth]

And so is Calder. Post before I eat your soooooooouuuul.

[Parsideon Denix]

Well I've got more time to update the wiki then :)

[Zem-El Vymes]

Caaaalder :Poke

[Calder Aquasis]

Sorry! I am here, but work and college are running me ragged >.< Not enough to keep we away though.

[Calleh]

Jenny - whenever you get a chance to post, you can feel free to bring the three of us to a stream out in the woods somewhere outside Bai-Ulgan. Cailean's horse will probably just follow the other two. And then we can all have a great big "WTF just happened" moment. :)

[Cailean MacGabhann]

I posted :)

[Kale]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! :D

*Pokes the blind girl*

[Blind Molly]

*pokes back* :Poke

[Parsideon Denix]

okay you buttes, I'm not up and I want to post.

[Calder Aquasis]

I've been waiting around for Moreth to post >.>

[Kale]

And I've just posted.

[Eluna Thals]

Calder please post I miss doing this!

[Blind Molly]

Well, *I* posted. :)

[Eluna Thals]

Yay! I just enjoy reading the story :)

[Blind Molly]

Necromancy is appropriate in this setting, right?

[Dasquian Belargic]

Cailean ran off? :( Why would you say that?

[Blind Molly]

Well... because you said before that you weren't interested in RPing him anymore, but its easily changed. :) After all for a few years no ones been interested in this, not just you ...:ohno

sorry ^_^;

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I started a Myth thread just this last July, and last October was about the last time I was able to get Charley to actually post in earnest.

I think a lot of the inspiration for it comes in waves, tbh. Right now we're on a SW tear.

Ben Hur, Spartacus (the Kirk Douglass one), Rome, 300, Masada, LOTR, Troy, Willow, Conan, Red Sonja, and just about any fantasy and/or sword and sandal flick are great for getting the creative juices going again. If you're particularly masochistic, you can go watch the D&D movies and Eragon :)

[Barton Henning]

I've been playing Dragon Age, which has got me in the mood a bit :)

[Drin Kizael]

Now this is a non-SW setting I can probably get into. Anything I need to read about the setting I should read first?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'd just check the wiki, everything is up in there on the Myth page or in the myth category :)

[Drin Kizael]

Oh rock on. I need to polish my fantasy prose.

Read the Trow description and instantly thought of the perfect avatar. He'll be Fire/Earth. Very anti-Drin in nature. I need a change.

[D'eryiel Rey]

Gah! How did this infernal thing log me back in as Drin when I posted that?

Okay... lots to read now.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Hey, we haven't had a Trow char so far (I think?)

Cool :)

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Very awesome :)

Does anyone remember what happened to the dude that made the westward race? Were they Aurians or somesuch?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'm not sure but I think Jace did the archery guy who showed up right before Flight from the Forest broke :p

I dont' know who did the whiteskinned people from Hellboy2 lol

[D'eryiel Rey]

When I first read the short description of Trow in the general wiki page, before clicking on the link to the full Trow page, I figured it made sense that they'd be albino.

I could Photoshop the hair, or I can acknowledge the extreme color change in his intro and chalk it up to him being "special"... or say that there are two varieties due to mutation? If there's an albino race on the surface world, that will definitely be worth mentioning in my posts, too.

Primary will be Earth, secondary Fire.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Well you're the first Trow so you can have white hair if you like. But the Syldar (had to look it up) are albino, though totally insular and I don't think the characters know a lot about them.

Started a new thread for current OOC discussion of the setting. :)

[Captain Untouchable]

I'll have to set up a new account for my archery guy, because I misappropriated the other one as a Jedi. ^_^;

I don't think I mentioned his name in those posts, so I'll just set up a new account and pretend he's the same guy, if that's okay. :uhoh

[Blade Bacquin]

Necromancy is appropriate in this setting, right?

I was personally just wondering what was decided on that question? The dark magic's of Bone Magic (aka Necromancy) and Blood Magic (Aka summoning Demons.) both sound very interesting.

Also enjoyed reading the wiki Kudos to whom ever put that up. :)

Also wondering if there is a Desert Area/kingdom on Midgard? I have a character idea in mind if there is such an area/kingdom even if it's on another continent.

[Drin Kizael]

Well they fought undead at one point, so some form of black magic must exist.

In the Dresden Files, Butcher lays out 5 elements. The standard four, and spirit. It's a safe bet that both biomancy and necromancy derive power from this same "element".

Under the guidelines in Myth where power is a lot more limited, if you were to throw that in, I would say that it counts for 2 element slots and is opposed by 3 others; likely the "life" elements of water, air, and wood.

In theory magic schools would frown on it. It's not like anyone can just learn whatever element magic they want. People in this world are born with an affinity for one, and some grow into a second, but only if it's not opposed to your primary focus.

So first, you'd probably have to start as water or air or wood to have access to this concept of the spirit element. At first maybe you find out that it makes your healing or nature magic so much more potent. To stay on that track, you'd have to abandon the other aspects of your element, like a specialist.

Problem is, you've also discovered a bridge to necromancy. If the character is an evil bastard, maybe that was the point. But even for a character with good intentions, being able to manipulate life energy directly like that might make your mind spin off in directions that the laws of magic don't want you to go.

At least I assume there are laws of magic. I would think that a world like this where so much of daily life revolves around elemental magic -- which is dependent on a healthy, living environment to work right -- would be even more afraid of black magic than usual.

So I'd think it would be rare, and only something you'd encounter from the "big bad" of the story arc. Maybe a good plot device to discover the "forbidden 7th element".

[Lilaena De'Ville]

7th element is not spirit. There is no spirit element.

Spoiler alert: the big bad is/was intended to be a necromancer, and the 7th element Moreth mentions is DEATH

No black magic users as characters, please, unless vetted by me, Kale, or Jenny.

[Drin Kizael]

Semantics. ^_^;

[Blade Bacquin]

No black magic users as characters, please, unless vetted by me, Kale, or Jenny.

Wasn't planning on it was just curious as to weather it existed. Then again that answer pretty much answered any other questions I may have sorry for bothering you folks.

[Dasquian Belargic]

If it wasn't for the fact that the Big Bad is a necromancer, and that having other little necromancer running around would kind of detract from the uniqueness/severity, I'd say go for it.

[Blind Molly]

Plenty of ways to be evil and use the elemental magic if that's what one wants to do.

[Blade Bacquin]

I wasn't interested in playing any characters with dark magic I was just interested in weather or not it was around in this realm. I was sort of interested in the idea of blood magic (summoning) but not as character use, but for a storyline idea I was having.

In fact the two character idea's I did have had no ties to magic other then one of them was cursed by witch.

One idea I had was for a human ranger who held from a desert kingdom or some such thing (what ever I would have been allowed to use) who by choice forsakes his heritage (If there was allowed to be a desert kingdom he would have been the prince but forsakes it. Either that or someone of noble bloodline who said no thanks I will do my own thing.). He also would have been the one that was cursed by a witch at his birth. The curse left him blind because no one would follow a blind leader or so the witch thought. But his father and mother did everything in the power to remove the curse but the only thing they where able to do was have a pair of glass made out of some strange material bound with Magic to allow him to see (they look like sunglasses). He never used magic nor does he trust it other then the glasses he has to wear.

(In D&D where I first wrote up this character he was a ranger/rogue. (rogue is the nice way of saying thief.) His personality well he just sort of liked living life and being free of any restrictions his heritage would have put on him. He was easy going, some what of a practical joker at times, and yeah he always had this odd thing of hanging out with the honorable types like knights and paladins despite the fact he wasn't exactly honorable himself.)

That was one Idea I had nothing to do with magic other then the things that help him see.

Idea number two was to play a human spymaster sorry that's D&D for a thief/rogue who is a master of disguise. He often hang out amongst nobles passing himself off as one of them or as something important to them like the guy who does there book keeping. He would do this to gain there trust and then like any good thief rob them blind. He is from some rundown old thorp in the middle of no where that no one has ever heard off. He often claims to be the barren or duke or any title he so gives himself from that rundown old thorp because most don't ask questions or go looking for it themselves.

(His personality would have been often cocky and arrogant due to the fact he generally tries to place himself in the role of someone important. He is not the kind of guy who faces his enemies head on he either tries to play there friend and catch them when there guard is down or just stab them back when he know his usefulness is running out. He never talks about who he really is or his real past he speaks in constant lies and has grown very adept at the trade of lying. For his chosen profession though he has had tendencies where he has chosen to do the right thing. He is by no means an evil and cruel man, he is just out for himself for the most part.)

Those would have been my two concept characters because they are both concepts I have worked with and done well with playing in other mediums. Neither had anything to do with magic or it's dark side that was just a curious wonder of my own. There was a fleeting Idea to use blood magic as a back story to explain another character concept i had existences but it was only a passing idea. That was the only reason for my question other then general curiosity.

[Calleh]

The desert kingdom you're looking for is Ankaa (http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=Ankaa), a fairly liberal mishmash of Arabic, Persian, and Indian cultures.

It's in the southwest corner of the continent, largely cut off from the rest of the land by an arc of impassible mountains with a small gap leading into the fierce desert known as the Hadar Wastelands. There's much more to Ankaa than desert - to the Wast are fertile savannas, to the North are rain forests, and farther north than that are steppes and foothills at the base of the mountains. But east toward Talmeir there's plenty of arid land at the edge of habitability.

The other thing that makes Ankaa ideal for you is that it's a loose confederation of principalities united under the banner of the Rajjah in Ankaarizad. Your character could be from any number of sheikdoms in the eastern part of Ankaa and could have political allies and enemies throughout the kingdom.

There's also a nomadic tribe called the Shamassi that wander the desert itself - think Bedouins. Your character could have spent time with them to learn the ways of the wilderness.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I just noticed that Cailean mentioned Artume, goddess of the forest and the hunt. I guess she is a Fian deity!

[Blind Molly]

He also lived among Men most of his life, she could be a Dalriadan deity. :)

[Mandan the Archer]

Religion doesn't necessarily have to conform to religious boundaries, either. Artume and Hephaes seem to be based on Greek mythology, but that in no way restricts them to just that peninsula. They could have bled into Dalriada over the years; or perhaps they're the remnants of a common ancestor tribe of both Dalriada and Necia? The proto-caucasians, as opposed to the proto-asians of Ankaa.

These ruins at Nusakar... did anyone have a particular culture or civilization in mind when they cooked up those? Pointy, sandstone pyramids like Egypt? More Mesopotamian / Babylonian, as per an ancestor of Ankaa - step pyramids, ziggurats, etc? Something completely different?

[Blind Molly]

Probably a mix of the ones you mentioned.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

What if the undead, over the years, began to supplement their ruins with the bones of the unfortunate souls that got lost in their lands? Any once-living thing would do; like tigraphant backbones with ribs making halls, and other bone constructed architecture 'fix-ups'?

[Mandan the Archer]

Like the Elephant's Graveyard from the Lion King?

No evil hyenas, please. :(

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Evil undead hyenas, perhaps :D

[Dasquian Belargic]

^ Oh yes...

[Mandan the Archer]

The ruins are going to be filled with those things?

I'm gonna need more arrows. :ohno


Edit:

Question - how intelligent and active are the undead? Are they classic zombies? Are they more like I Am Legend / some other zombie film that I've probably not seen type critters, that are all jumping about all over the place and super-formidable? Are they magical Borg, where they'll ignore you until they consider you a threat, and then will just march towards you and "assimilate" you into their "collective"? Something else?

Also, are there any kind of material weaknesses, or materials that are naturally magical? Something I cooked up for a writing project ages ago (that used these elements) featured a lot of monsters / critters that had a natural, element alignment (based on the Chinese elemets). My vampires were metal for example... and because Chinese metal is weak to wood, that explained the stakes. I can't remember which one werewolves were, but it was the one weak to metal, hence the silver weakness... etc.

Something like that might be fun / cool, particularly if we're gonna make being magical so common.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The ruins are going to be filled with those things?

I'm gonna need more arrows. :ohno



Psh! Skags go down easy... just wait until they open their mouths and shoot!

:ohno wait... wrong universe.

[Drin Kizael]

Undead run the gamut on intelligence and such. Depends who is controlling them, and what kind they are. Silver is a fairly universal weakness for them across fantasy literature. Wood isn't so much a weakness for vampires as piercing anything through their heart is.

On the subject of metals, "cold iron" (which is just a poetic way of saying pure iron as opposed to steel) is the weakness for most other outsiders (faeries, demons, devils). In theory, metal magic can transmute a weapon into either of those elements.

[Captain Untouchable]

Wood isn't so much a weakness for vampires as piercing anything through their heart is.

That depends on your source material. Particularly in northern Europe, there is a lot of mysticism surrounding wood, especially when it comes to the slaying of mystical beings. Mistletoe, cypress, holly, alder... pretty much every wood from that part of europe is thought to have some sort of inherant magical power, and shows up a lot in the lore of slaying creatures.

Silver is commonly useful against monsters because it represents purity. However, I was more interested in Myth specifically, rather than "across fantasy literature". ;)

Any of the big-wigs know if there was a decision made one way or another with Undead earlier on? I seem to remember us using Fire a fair bit during the fight as well... though to be fair, enough fire will kill anything, eventually. Is there an "easy" way to kill them, or is it just down to brute force and perceverence?

[Dasquian Belargic]

Unless there is something on the wiki, I'd say that nothing 'official' was decided for Myth :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think it would be important not to call them zombies, because that brings to mind a thirst for human flesh and brains, which would not be accurate - at least not how I've pictured them. More like skeleton soldiers (or half rotted corpse soldiers)... maybe mindless in that they haven't risen up and taken over the world of the living YET but they protect the ruins of their cities from intruders.

Well, that's my thought on the matter anyway. :)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Necrids, Necrons, Skells, Necrims, Nusakari


Comedy option - Deadites :p

[Blind Molly]

As far as killing them, I'm going to go with you'd have to burn them to ash to fully destroy them. Anything less is just delaying the inevitable. ;)

Although a "silver kills them!" option might be nice. Not silver, persay, but something along those lines. But since this isn't anything our characters would know, it would have to be discovered by accident along the quest.