Happy New Year, New Game, New Players (Finished: Dojango/Mictlan Wins!)

[Excist]

Originally Posted by Iron Duke

If it is ok, I'd like to focus more on the nation and less on the pretender(just slightly less) for the backstory, and I intend to enrich it with more stories, or maybe AARs.. Not decided about that yet, though if I do write extra stories and you get bored, be sure to tell me.

Iron Duke, everybody has been bringing their own artistic take to this and most have fleshed out the nation a little as well as the Pretender.

As long as we can get a sense from your description of what to expect in dealing with you then it'll be fine. You can add additional writings later, and I was thinking that would come in the form of flashbacks after major battles/events or after globals are cast hinting at archaic prophecy etc.

I've actually been trying to set up a website to accommodate this sort of stuff better.

Right now we're just waiting on you to upload your pretender and description to get started.

[Iron Duke]

** A R C O S C E P H A L E **
N E W G E N E S I S

In the vicinity of Mount Cephalos, lived a race of human, proud and free, who named themselves after their splendid city, Arcoscephale. A few remembered the old city as it was in the reign of Pantokrator, known not to them by their rightful experience, for none remains in the city belonging to the ancient days, instead their tradition and history passed generation to generation, by the wise and elderly to the young and strong. They were a people of remarkable strength and tenacity, having achieved great knowledge, in both ways of life, for there were two known to the Arcoscephalian, the knowledge of mind and matter, and that of magic. Their craftsmen boasted the best of work, engineers marveled at their own creations, the magi walked firmly on the path to power, and with their soldiers, men of immense courage and talent, they united their known world under their banner.

The belief of the Old Pantokrator had been long gone, and people deified other people, men and women were worshipped as gods and demigods, temples and monuments were raised to honor them, festivals celebrated and sacrifices made. Their land was nothing short of utopia, a word they themselves invented. They enjoyed supernatural fertility, the wonders of their land awed even the most skeptical and worldly of their kind, crystal blue rivers, plains of infinity, mighty forests, fountains of honey, mounds of fruits, sustained by an almost divine force, for which they praised their mother nature, another creation of their own. Arcane energy was potent, the air sizzled with power, and the magically talented perfected their art. Their mother nature, already blessing them with her gifts, the people of Arcoscephale preferred to enjoy their freedom rather then working themselves to the death, often resting on the tree shades, or wandering aimlessly through the grass, tall as a soldier. They knew without toil the magnificence were not to be achieved though, so taking advantage of their fruitful minds, they invented machines and automatons to share their burden. Mills harnessed the power of winds and water, engineered automatons, empowered with magic filled the role of servants, for freedom of being was sacred in Arcoscephale, thus slavery was abhorred. They indeed entertained a central authority, lacking the power of deities, but for the better of nation, constituting laws carefully thought. The authority consisted of not a singular man, but a formed circle of elders instead, and as an unheard practition in the rest of the world(which they longed to discover), chosen by and from the people themselves. The city laws were flexible, almost to the point of lax, every Arcoscephalian citizen instead relied on conscience and honor to avoid falling into disarray and destructive chaos. Conscience and honor are never enough for the society though, and the lives of people were far from clockwork, unexpected occurences often intervened and changed their lives, however, owing to their endurance and optimism, they more often benefited from those surprises, (which often they brought upon themselves, for stagnation and dormancy were not to the taste of an Arcoscephalian) than to be ruined from them.

The thirst for knowledge and the lure of unknown were deep in the hearts of the people of Arcoscephale, and they were already leaving their cradle, expanding both their realm and their culture outward, it was a wonder why they seldom sought to uncover the secrets of Mount Cephalos, a mountain both sacred and forbidden, not by laws but by tradition(which the city folk revered more). As this expansion started to commence, a hero, strongest of the strong, bravest of the brave, conquering the barriers of his mind, and falling victim to his curiosity, and thirst of knowledge, dared to uncover the secrets of the mountain. after ninety nine days, he returned, changed, not in appearance, but in state of mind, he claimed himself prophet. He was to be laughed at first, until miracles began to happen, scores of winged horses, graceful and white as marble, began flying over the city, and none dared to harm them. Next appeared a divine being, a woman to the eye, a goddess to the heart, to the side of prophet, of blinding beauty so dazzling that people shielded their eyes with their hands, lest their eyes and minds be overwhelmed. She performed miracles(for a land of magic, miracles appeared as magic unseen and unheard of before) and prophet spoke, possessed by some unknown power, of realms beyond, of glory, of passion, of dangers, of wonders, of victory, of cataclysm, and the hearts of the people were captured. The power loved the people of Arcoscephale, not as subjects but as countless children, revealed them secrets, empowering their already mighty knowledge, and they in return, put the power even above the gods of their own creation, for gods were numerous and this being was singular and immensely more powerful and most of all, cared for them and loved them. Mountain spirits, manifesting themselves as women of blinding beauty, taught in the Mountain, willing virgins of the city the ways of forests, nature and herbs, of the animals, of healing, and those learned the ways of nature were established within the realm as priestesses, preaching the word of the mysterious power, tending to the sick and wounded, taming wild animals and blessing the worthy.

Arcoscephale, renewed in their existence, beauty and vigor, were ready to enlighten the darkest corners of the world and battle whom will stand in their way, for it was revealed to them, of other powers, some akin to theirs, some malicious, some dealt in death, others, (to their disgust and horror) in blood. The pegasi were tamed as mounts, the order of mystics began researching new spells and creations, philosophers, thinkers of great renown forced their minds to their extent, the strategos adopted new sophisticated battle tactics meanwhile the prophet revealed that in nine hundred ninety nine setting and passing of sun, the power would reveal itself, springing out from the roots of ground, and the old city, now considered itself ready, to show its shining might to the rest of the world...

[Iron Duke]

OOC: The background became a tad longer than I had anticipated, though I was in the mood and wrote some stuff. Now english is not my native and there may have been errors here and there, I think I did fairly well though
The scales and pretender choice are vaguely given in the story, to those who would take their time to read it, but I refrained from giving exacts, which would spoil the game. Now the alignment I chose for Arco(and I think they should be played more or less the same in every rp game) is chaotic(or maybe neutral) good. I tried to give that impression, hope I succeeded

[Immaculate]

Very good writing IronDuke

[Immaculate]

k- launch game?

[Iron Duke]

Originally Posted by Immaculate

Very good writing IronDuke

Thank you Immaculate

[TigerBlood]

It is said that worry often gives small things a big shadow. Yet for a brief moment, the entire nation of Pangaea was freed from the trivial concerns and anxieties of their daily lives. A frantic respite from their toil...

Panic! Run Wild! Darwin has been named Prophet of Natural Selection!

[Torgon]

Fomoria

A rare unclouded day in Fomoria greeted the crew of the ship sent to seek out the great power that had spoken to Balor of the renewal of the giants and the end of the curse. They were hand picked by the king for their loyalty, their bravery, and their belief that the fomorian people could overcome the curse with enough power. The ship was named Elanora, the same as the god who had revealed herself to the King. The Captain, Simragel, was a hand picked member of the King's Guard, a simple Firbolg who had proved his worth time and time again and had slowly moved up through the ranks of Army. Balor believed that Simragel and his small complement of men were the last, best hope of the Fomorian people.

Many of the druids and other Fomorian Kings believed it was a fool's dream. Better to trust is what had saved them time and time again: the dark magic of the underworld. Only time would show who was correct.

[Immaculate]

clever tiger...

[tigercub]

The True God of Niefelhien Von blood will return to lead his Niefelhien Giants to reclaim all that has been taken from them in the past..Be my friend and not my foe and gain in the power of the Niefelhien peoples or the hell will open before you and eat your warriors bones...and bring me more undead to clean the world...