Aegis
Dreamer
The night forest is layered in darkness under a sunless sky and a hidden moon. Crickets and other creatures of the night sing their lullaby as a cloaked stranger sits atop a log by a hastily erected fire. The dull orange glow dances across the tattered fabric that shrouds their face; a sharp, humanoid jawline turns to acknowledge your coming with a smirk equal parts amusement and cynicism.
“Welcome to my camp…”
The man gestures to a rock across the fading flames from him but makes no effort to announce his invitation.
“Come a long way,” He seems to be traveling light, nothing at all except the clothes on his back; perhaps he used a spell to light the fire that now gnaws at the cracking wood, “Care for a story, an inspirational tale to get the spirits up? You look like you could use one, traveler.”
Though the dying light makes it hard to perceive the smaller details of his face, his eyes, glowing with the captured embers of the fire between you, fix upon your figure.
“Everywhere across the known continents, people long for a sense of adventure. Stories tell of great evils felled in other planes, climbers ascending distant mountain ranges, hunts buried deep in the forests, water trickling from the most unlikely of places in the desert. All of these things have long captured the eyes and hearts of adventurers who have sought them out, but you are no common adventurer. You’re an outcast—a nobody with a sense of purpose that you’ve abandoned or been forced away from. But there IS still hope. There is still the greatest legend of them all: The Cradle, and the power that lies within it—a wish…”
You might have heard his tale before—a bedtime story perhaps, or from a drunken bard in some tavern long ago. His words resonate deep within you. Hope, maybe. A second chance. Redemption. Revenge. “Well, how does that sound? Don’t you want your life back?”
“Don’t you,” The Man’s teeth lock together as his lips pull into a wider grin, “at least have something you want?”
What is A Ballad of Renegades?
Hello! Thanks for taking the time to look into our RP and showing an interest in the world of Kirlia! It’s been a very collaborative effort from our community as we shape the world and the stories we want to tell, and we are interested in gathering a few more players before we officially kick off this RP on Friday the 19th! We’re a community that has adapted another RP’s concepts for our own use (as the GM disappeared before it ever took off), so thank you for your patience as we compile the information from other threads for ease of access. We have three GMs ( myself,
Goonfire
, and
Corn Orc Vandal
) who are meant to be flexible storytellers overseeing what we hope to be a collective of 12-ish player characters (currently, we have 8) divided among three groups for a freeform and player-driven story while adhering to the overarching plot of The Cradle.A Ballad of Renegades is a high fantasy setting in which the players take the roles of outcasts: criminals, banished folk, and the missing, all thrust from their previous lives. Though, some may try and find a way to regain some semblance of what they’ve lost– in most cases they will never be accepted again. That’s where the search for The Cradle comes into play.
The Cradle is the legendary place from which all life originated, but its location has been lost. It has faded into such obscurity beyond ancient myth, one must question whether or not such a place ever truly existed. However, one key detail attracts the hungry and ambitious adventurers—the desperate, the hopeless: a wish. The legend suggests whoever rediscovers The Cradle is capable of having any wish granted.
Lore
In Ballad of Renegades, lore is a community effort that allows players to invite pieces of themselves onto the continent of Kirlia and help tailor a story experience in which they feel excited to participate. The process of creating lore is left up to the players, but the GMs may lend their input as needed; the final say always goes to the GMs in regards to what lore is accepted as official in order to maintain quality and balance.
The WIP map is located at the end of this post, and we will soon have a google doc available as a compendium of all approved lore. Any named location on the map already has a description of its culture, environment, politics, and other such unique qualities.
Expectations
That is to say there aren’t a ton of them. We want this to be fun—not to feel like work, but in order to provide a great experience, we think it would benefit our community to establish some mild minimum writing requirements:
- Multiple paragraphs per post
- A post frequency of once per every few days (barring extenuating circumstances and forward notice)
- Let everyone have their moment under the spotlight
- Join the community Discord for lore discussion and OOC shenanigans!
GM’s Notes:
So, with that out of the way, I look forward to experiencing this with everyone! If you’re interested, please reach out to me expressing as much and with a rough character concept! Thanks, see you in Kirlia!
Last edited:
