Soviet Panda
Red Panda Commanda.
As the title says, I have three ideas but only enough time for one. A brief intro to the world will be in spoilers below, vote which one you'd like and at the end of the week I'll begin work on the winner.
You woke up in a strange place with a splitting headache, maybe your back hurt a bit, and legs, maybe even your tail. Wait, tail? Looking down, you see that you do indeed have a tail, and that you're legs were now those of a goat's. Reaching up to your head, you feel something growing out of them. Where those, horns? Looking around, you find out two things. Firstly, you seem to be in an office room of some sort. And secondly, you weren't alone. Standing by a set of doors stood three men that looked to have stepped out of an Old Western movie were it not for the pair of horns sprouting from their heads, and the blue fire that marked their bodies.
"Ah, looks like the greenhorn's up." Rasped the middle of the three, with a thin gash across his throat and largest horns of them all.
"Then don't just stand there, hand over that pamphlet." Said the smallest, with an intricate net of horns that covered almost the entirety of his head and a scattering of blue dots across his chest.
"Why do we even gotta give 'em the pamphlets, it only freaks 'em out some." Muttered the final, largest member whose horns were two small nubs that just poked out from beneath his hat, with a spiderweb of fire across the side of his head. But, with his head down and pamphlet in hand, he walked over to you. And, as shocked and confused as you were, you silently took the pamphlet and began to read it.
You are dead! And what's more, you got your vengeance on those that did you in! And all it cost you was to sign over your soul to your new boss, Lucius! That's right! You're are in "Hell", though to you it's now called "Home". Let me be the first to welcome you!
You had a strange feeling that the pamphlet was sentient and slightly condesending, but continued to read.
Here you will work until your contractor you expires whereupon you will be given a guaranteed pass through those pearly gates! All you have to do, is go out on selected bounties and harvest the target souls. Simple! Of course, not all souls will go easily, take the mighty Hydra for example, damn thing just won't go down. But the resulting soul is usually worth the trouble!
And that was it, there was nothing else on the pamphlet. No explanation on how you were supposed to do any of that. But the three demons (you supposed) seemed to be reading your mind.
"Right this way, your highness," the one with the largest horns said sarcastically, opening the door with one hand as he did so. "We're about to give you the full tour of Hell and how to not die on your first Harvest. Now pay attention, I'm not going to repeat myself."
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The strength of a demon's power, and the finesse at which they can use it with, is represented by their horns. The larger one's horns, the more raw power they can wield, while the more intricate the horns the more control over said power they have. Some of the most well respected users of the infernal powers have very great control over their meager power.
The tools of the trade are simple. A demon must carry a weapon of some sort to dispose of the mortal vessel that holds the soul, and a harvesting tool (ie a scythe or sickle) in which to harvest it. These two tools vary greatly from demon to demon, some even using their harvesting tool as their weapon.
"Ah, looks like the greenhorn's up." Rasped the middle of the three, with a thin gash across his throat and largest horns of them all.
"Then don't just stand there, hand over that pamphlet." Said the smallest, with an intricate net of horns that covered almost the entirety of his head and a scattering of blue dots across his chest.
"Why do we even gotta give 'em the pamphlets, it only freaks 'em out some." Muttered the final, largest member whose horns were two small nubs that just poked out from beneath his hat, with a spiderweb of fire across the side of his head. But, with his head down and pamphlet in hand, he walked over to you. And, as shocked and confused as you were, you silently took the pamphlet and began to read it.
You are dead! And what's more, you got your vengeance on those that did you in! And all it cost you was to sign over your soul to your new boss, Lucius! That's right! You're are in "Hell", though to you it's now called "Home". Let me be the first to welcome you!
You had a strange feeling that the pamphlet was sentient and slightly condesending, but continued to read.
Here you will work until your contract
And that was it, there was nothing else on the pamphlet. No explanation on how you were supposed to do any of that. But the three demons (you supposed) seemed to be reading your mind.
"Right this way, your highness," the one with the largest horns said sarcastically, opening the door with one hand as he did so. "We're about to give you the full tour of Hell and how to not die on your first Harvest. Now pay attention, I'm not going to repeat myself."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The strength of a demon's power, and the finesse at which they can use it with, is represented by their horns. The larger one's horns, the more raw power they can wield, while the more intricate the horns the more control over said power they have. Some of the most well respected users of the infernal powers have very great control over their meager power.
The tools of the trade are simple. A demon must carry a weapon of some sort to dispose of the mortal vessel that holds the soul, and a harvesting tool (ie a scythe or sickle) in which to harvest it. These two tools vary greatly from demon to demon, some even using their harvesting tool as their weapon.
The rule of mankind has been brought to it's knees. A plague so virulent and infectious that it corrupted and killed all it touched. Whole kingdoms slowly and painfully withered away because of this fell disease. A disease of magical origins, that much was clear. Yet no mage could cleanse it, such was the power of this shadowed caster. Soon, only pockets of humanity clung to life. These pockets were those the cloistered themselves away from the rest of the world. And most of those groups were the knightly orders of the land. From the Order of the Maple, who zealously protected their forest from invaders, to the Isern Weard, whose mountain home was simply to arduous to reach for most.
Now, these knightly orders are all that remain. The kingdoms that once were have crumpled to dust, leaving their prestige and hordes of materials behind. Castle walls untouched by war, treasuries filled with gold unspent. A taunting lure for all of the orders. And they would have been quickly snatched up, had the plague not still lurked around every corner.
Twisted beasts stalk the world, infecting all they touch and twisting the land they tread upon. It is all the orders can do simply to survive unless this curse was lifted from the world. But, as luck would have it, a diviner with his phoenix companion have managed to find the source of this plague, though not cleanse it. Now, he beseeches the knightly orders to send him their strongest to rid the world of this evil. And while the leaders are all to glad to be rid of the plague, they plot behind closed doors. For allies may soon become enemies in their bid for a kingdom.
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Misc information.
Knightly orders have begun making pacts with supernatural beings commonly referred to as demons. Not all are demons, it's just a net term.
These demons hold a large portion of whatever magic the knight uses, though their magic levels can vary from creature to creature, and some forgo magic capabilities in exchange for more physical strength. On a list of rarity, powerful creatures such as dragons, large elemental, and greater demons are at the top. These creatures, if deciding to answer the powerful magical call, can resist the ritual completely if they do not like what they see, possibly even going on a rampage. Making the arduous ritual a giant waste of time and energy as well as dangerous. Almost everything else is commonly seen. Demons are relatively easy to gain if one does not care what they get. Specific companions are harder to get for the ritual takes longer to prepare, the required materials needing to be gathered and added.
Mundane magic. Mundane magic is the magic that humans can naturally wield. Anyone can wield this kind of magic, and it can be as powerful as a Demon's magic. The draw back is mundane magic always requires a tedious ritual. Drawings on the ground, burning incense, etc. Large groups of people can make this faster, but as the old saying goes, to many cooks spoil the broth.
Now, these knightly orders are all that remain. The kingdoms that once were have crumpled to dust, leaving their prestige and hordes of materials behind. Castle walls untouched by war, treasuries filled with gold unspent. A taunting lure for all of the orders. And they would have been quickly snatched up, had the plague not still lurked around every corner.
Twisted beasts stalk the world, infecting all they touch and twisting the land they tread upon. It is all the orders can do simply to survive unless this curse was lifted from the world. But, as luck would have it, a diviner with his phoenix companion have managed to find the source of this plague, though not cleanse it. Now, he beseeches the knightly orders to send him their strongest to rid the world of this evil. And while the leaders are all to glad to be rid of the plague, they plot behind closed doors. For allies may soon become enemies in their bid for a kingdom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Misc information.
Knightly orders have begun making pacts with supernatural beings commonly referred to as demons. Not all are demons, it's just a net term.
These demons hold a large portion of whatever magic the knight uses, though their magic levels can vary from creature to creature, and some forgo magic capabilities in exchange for more physical strength. On a list of rarity, powerful creatures such as dragons, large elemental, and greater demons are at the top. These creatures, if deciding to answer the powerful magical call, can resist the ritual completely if they do not like what they see, possibly even going on a rampage. Making the arduous ritual a giant waste of time and energy as well as dangerous. Almost everything else is commonly seen. Demons are relatively easy to gain if one does not care what they get. Specific companions are harder to get for the ritual takes longer to prepare, the required materials needing to be gathered and added.
Mundane magic. Mundane magic is the magic that humans can naturally wield. Anyone can wield this kind of magic, and it can be as powerful as a Demon's magic. The draw back is mundane magic always requires a tedious ritual. Drawings on the ground, burning incense, etc. Large groups of people can make this faster, but as the old saying goes, to many cooks spoil the broth.
The entire world of Estridus has fallen. The never ending, undead hordes of the Lich King Necme assault our mountain home. And from deep within the bowels of our world, Dolometh, the most powerful of his demonic brethren, has claimed the heart of our mountain and slain our King. We resist, bitterly and with no quarters given. But we cannot survive, not like this, not forever. We must strike out at our enemies, crush one before turning our attention to the next. But if we did that, we would be spread to thin to fight off the other. There is no winning for us. All we can do is fight, and go defiantly into the darkness to be greeted by our fallen family. But perhaps if we send out a small strike squad into the depths. I must give this some thought, perhaps there is a way out of this after all.
Lich King Necme has conquered all of Estridus, and the demonic armies of Dolometh wish to snuff out mortal life entirely. And the last vestige of resistance to either of these two forces is a small group of survivors, holed up within the remnants of a Dwarven stronghold. The future is bleak for these survivors, but there is one hope. A small group of heroes will be chosen to strike out and assault one of these two foul forces.
Lich King Necme has conquered all of Estridus, and the demonic armies of Dolometh wish to snuff out mortal life entirely. And the last vestige of resistance to either of these two forces is a small group of survivors, holed up within the remnants of a Dwarven stronghold. The future is bleak for these survivors, but there is one hope. A small group of heroes will be chosen to strike out and assault one of these two foul forces.
