Fantasy ~ Ⱳƴℓɖ ~ Interest check

[SilverFlight]

From the very beginning we are told this: Magic is a living thing, and it wants to kill you...

Characters
Main

​

To be a mage is to be a harnesser of this force. To have a will and mind strong enough to bend it, without it drowning you in itself; consuming you, body, and mind. It is wild and terrible and dangerous.
Everything has magic, but not everyone has the ability to control it. William the Starteller once wrote:

“When you take hold of it, it takes hold of you too, the searing chaos of it folds into you like a torrent and your will is the only lifeline you have to the harbour of your sanity…”

When you learn to bend it however, it becomes a part of you. It is your magic, but only as much as a wild animal is yours. You can own it, harness it, lead it, but will always be wild, always looking for a chance to beat you. Magic is undefinable in its raw form, and unusable. To use it, to bend it, you must first give it form and we do this through the magical tracks:
Naturally, we have strict rules when dealing with magic.

Rule 1. All mages shall practice one and only one school or “track” of magic. By nature, the magics are unique each one, and no master has ever controlled more.

Rule 2. All those with The Potential must attend the Institution’s academy for the magical arts. Each child is tested at the age of 10 and if they pass, they are taken away for eight years and taught to develop their control to become proper mages. They pick their magic track in the first year and they are bound to it for life.

Rule 3. No untrained person is permitted to use magic. Failure to adhere to this rule is a death sentence, that is…if the attempt at magic does not kill you first.

Rule 4. No one, absolutely no one is ever permitted to engage Wyld Magic. This is a magic of a dark nature, untamed and unpurified. It is chaos incarnate, sprung from the soul of the planet and it will never fail not just to consume the user, but take the surrounding area up to a mile and turn it into chaos too. The Wyld Wood is a product of this magic, its depths sinister and seeking. It spawns dark creatures, and creates sickness in the mind. No one uses Wyld magic, no one ever goes into the Wyld Wood.

This day, the world of Akonis is awash with problems: The Wyld Wood is creeping across the islands of the archipelago, slowly consuming them one by one. Wyld mages have begun to appear, mages no one has heard of, their minds intact, their power just as strong as academy mages, but different, they cannot use the magics proper mages use. In hand with that, the mage gift unearthed in towns and villages is beginning to fade, fewer and fewer children passing the test. Looking at our capital, Krowne, you may not see the problems. It is a glittering walled city filled with magic, and the technology that magic has brought, but everyone knows the secret: It sits in the back room of every mind like an unwanted guest. The magic…is dying.

It is not a peaceful, fading death, not graceful or poetic like a king in his shroud. This death is violent, and angry. This death is wounded, and savage. The magic is thrashing, at one point too weak, another, too strong. Several of the best have already died in casting for the sheer unpredictability of it. The only thing that seems to make a casting more stable is for two or more mages to combine their casting. A process called Weaving.

The call has been made, the eight High Mages of Krowne have summoned their best and brightest from the Institution to work together, go into the Wyld Wood and uncover what is happening to the magic, and, if they can, to restore it. The trek will be fraught with danger, and the mages involved will be tested to their direst limits. On this journey they will learn about each other, about their abilities, and just perhaps, they will learn the true nature of magic…

• The Roleplay Specs
• Magic
• The World

• 
  
  This is a high-fantasy adventure that takes inspiration from rpg games like Dungeons and Dragons, but the story concept and lore are all original. I hope to build the thread on character development with added main plot elements I will drop as we play.
  
  This is an advanced roleplay for more experienced writers who are 18+, not for the content, but for the creativity and maturity I am looking for to help build the world and story.
  All of RPN rules apply. I am looking for a handful of consistent, dedicated writers who will stick with the thread for a long time. I am looking for at LEAST 1 post per week, but I would like the pacing to be a little faster than that. Posts will be at least one paragraph in length and be well-written with only minor typos and grammatical errors. Grace will be given to those who do not have English as their first language.
  
  I want to be very clear about this: if you are not 100% sure you can commit to a once-a-week post in your most busy times, do not apply to this thread. My goal is to keep it alive. If your inspiration is flagging, I expect you to talk about it and see if the other players can’t help you get it back, either by changing the dynamics or story etc. I am not looking for people who dip as soon as they lose their initial interest. I am looking for people who work together to make the rp fun and interesting for everyone involved.
  The OOC will be on discord, with a channel for side-interactions to accommodate more active players who want to develop their characters, or for interpersonal plot advancement etc. The discord will be under the same rules as RPN.
  
  All players will be expected to fill out a character sheet that will be provided with the posting of the thread. You can add more to the categories but cannot take any away. You can code it however you like, but if I can’t read it, I will not accept it. All characters must be approved before you may post.
  If your character hails from an island you can write the lore for that island if you like. I will be writing lore for the capital and for several other islands besides, for story purposes. I can add the lore of your character’s island to the lore page when it is done.
  
  Because the Wyld magic will essentially be more powerful, I am limiting the number of Wyld mages to three, and the applicants must provide a writing sample with their character sheets. The Wyld mages will be key to the plot, so these players must be the most consistent and the most creative. These players will be given lore that I will not give to the others players, so it will be their responsibility to introduce it to the players in interesting ways.
  
  Character limits
  
  The characters here will be fully-trained mages out of school, so at least 18, but if you want an experienced character, they’ll need to be mid-to-late twenties at least. There are certainly spells to make you stay physically young however, so appearance can be variable, but these spells are only accessible after graduation. Basically, there are no characters who look or are under 18 here. None.
  
  The power limits for a character casting alone are comparable to being able to set a small house on fire, or transforming into a beast three times your size for an hour. Casting with one other mage doubles that power, three mages triple it etc. So, it is in your character’s best interests to be accessible for Weaving.
  
  Personality-wise, you character is expected to mesh at least in part with at least one or two other characters. Loners who don’t get along well with others or who don’t play as a team at least in part will be instantly rejected. This thread is about cooperation and playing off of one another to create a better story.
  
  Players will be allowed 1 character to start and I am looking for about 8 dedicated players.
  
  Play style
  
  This thread will be written in third person past tense, and will be a freely-written adventure with only one mechanic that uses a die: When casting a spell alone in combat, a d6 is rolled: anything between 2-5 and the spell works exactly as planned. A 6 gives you too much power and something goes wrong, a 1 gives you no power and the spell fails. This is only in combat, and casting outside of a fight scene is up to the choice of the player casting. Weaving, generally always works, unless the characters are out of sync, but I’ll let you roleplay that.
• 
  
  
  Magic in its rawest element is simply energy, a power that is volatile and formless. The schools or “tracks” of “True” magic taught by the academy (The Magus Academia) are used to give magic form. These tracks will define your own magics, and become a part of you. Each person’s magic feels differently, when casting alone or Weaving, it can feel rigid and mechanical, like clockwork, or free and flowing like water. Some magic brings with it a scent, or sound or sensation, each feel of a magic is unique to the caster, and not the magic itself and it is a testament to who they are as a person.
  
  True magic – the magical tracks taught by the academia
  
  Energy (fire, lightning)
  Weather (water, air, ice)
  Nature (plants, earth *nature touched by Wyld magic cannot be controlled)
  Druidic (beast-master, shifting *beasts tainted by Wyld magic cannot be controlled)
  Oracle (dreammaster, foresight)
  Blood (healing, physical damage)
  Necromancy (speaking with or animating the dead)
  Alchemy (transmuting elements, creating golems)
  
  Of all the schools of magics, two are considered viler than the others: necromancy and blood magic. All magic can be used for great good or evil, but the stigma on those two schools colours people's perspectives on the nature of the people who practice them.
  
  The restoration spell
  
  The only exception to the “one track” rule: a spell that is designed to clear the Wyld corruption from land. Some mages have been dedicated to the sole purpose of trying to claim islands back from the Wyld Wood, though this has had varying success. The only thing that can restore the wood is this spell Woven by at least two mages together. The mages can be of any track, and the spell is rehearsed from Year 4 at the academy. All academy mages know how to cast it. Casting it alone has worked in the past, but with the magic dying, it is very dangerous and unpredictable.
  
  Wyld magic (forbidden magic)
  
  No one from the Academy is permitted to try and use Wyld Magic. It is dangerous, volatile and corrupts minds, but for those raised close to it, for those who live within it, the magic can be harnessed. It can be taught to those with the gift, just like the schools can. For those that know its secrets the Wyld Wood is a manifestation of magic as it was meant to be, only reacting to the control forced upon it by the Sages’ practice. It is angry but not unknowable. As a Wyld mage you may have different feelings about the Academia, and the Krowne high mages and what they are doing to the Wyld Wood.
  
  Wyldfire (a type of energy magic that can be more powerful in unique ways: a fire that cannot be put out by water, ice that is warm to the touch, or so cold it kills instantly
  
  Transformation (mages can change their shape or the shape of other things, make themselves more powerful, or disguise themselves etc. When “shifting” is limited to normal animals, Transformation can create monsters)
  
  Wyld Wood (power over the unnatural plants and earth created by Wyld magic. This also allows a caster to know about some of the beneficial and healing elements of the Wyld Wood.
  
  Dreamwalker (This magic has the power not just to see the dreams of others, but change them and occasionally, to give an element of a dream a physical form. This works like summoning, calling a creature, or, it can also give form to an event in someone’s past or a deep fear, to let the other party members assist in overcoming it)
  
  Weaving
  
  To Weave with another mage is not simple. It requires the wills of each caster to be perfectly in sync in their intent. They cast on level ground, as equals, to succeed or fail as one. Weaving can never be forced, it must be done willingly by all involved. Naturally, the process works better if the mages are friends or more. One’s own magic is a personal thing, sharing it with another mage requires trust and courage. It allows another caster to know something of you that no one else does.
  
  Weaving can be used to combine magics and make a different, more powerful spell. For example: combining Necromancy and Blood magic to save a dying man, or combining Energy and weather magic to create thunderstorms. The combinations are limited only by imagination, will, and the limits of the mages casting.
  
  Weaving can also be used to power up a single track of magic, with the second caster acting as a “battery” of sorts. This requires the same level of consent and focus from both parties. The wills of both casters must also be in tight sync. The casting is described as reaching for the formless source of magic and providing it into the will and track of another mage, using your own will to guide but not to give form.
• 
  
  
  Era
  The era is medieval like, though augmented by the many wonders created by magic. The city of Krowne is by far the most advanced, with an earth magic-born rail system that shunts people and cargo from one end to the other. Otherwise people find horses and other beasts of burden just fine to use. The buildings are all heated in winter and cooled in summer and magic is used to keep the weather controlled, and the crops growing well. Krowne has become a paradise under the strict control of magic. As far as weapon technology, gunpowder has been invented, but was never widely distributed because magic was always more efficient. A few alchemist enthusiasts continue to develop the tech however. Most wars between islands are fought with swords and shields, and mages, if they have a personal stake in it.
  
  Races
  
  There is every race imaginable in Akonis, though the more dominant, and prolific are humans. Most races hail from one or a group of islands in the Archipelago, where their race is more dominant, but all live in a hard-worked peace in the capital city of Krowne. There are the more common humanoid races: elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, halflings, but there are others: Faeries, minotaurs, centaurs, selkies and even some sapient animals. (If the race you want is not listed, we can discuss it)
  
  History
  
  Not much is known before the time when magic was "tamed" by the great sages. Finding its own channels in its rawest form magic is volatile, unpredictable...Wyld. The sages developed 8 schools to focus and channel it, bending it to conscious will. Those who studied and perfected a school would earn the title of "master", however only one school or “track” was permitted to be learned, and those who submitted to training would never know more than one.
  
  There are numerous ruins scattered about the archipelago, many hidden deep in the wildest parts of the islands, protected by the sheer amount of Wyld magic there. The origins appear to be of many unique peoples, though there are some parallels in the symbolism and subjects of the scripts and depictions. Those ruins that are accessible are guarded very strictly by the governing body for magical control, and entering without expressed permission could lead to a penalty of death.
  
  Most written records begin 800 years previously, when the great sages tamed magic. They created the Magus Academia, the only place in the archipelago where magic is
  taught. From that point magic was harnessed and used to improve health and society: weather wizards were sent to relieve droughts or stop floods, nature wizards to create finer crops and fibers. Beastmasters would tame creatures to take the yolk. Alchemists would create new and better alloys, oracles would offer guidance, energy wizards would provide heat and light to cities, blood mages became healers, and served to augment the other magics, and necromancers would provide soulless workers for the more mundane tasks.
  
  Occasionally there was a revolt from one island or a war between two or even three. Those tensions may shape the relations of the characters in play, but they are not written here. The players may write the lore of the islands from which their character hails, and name it too. I will post island lore in the lore tab when it is written and approved. The only island you cannot write lore for is the capital Krowne. I will add islands and lore relevant to the story as we go, and it will hopefully interplay with the lore you, the players, have created.
  
  The Archipelago: Akonis
  
  A series of islands scattered about the Separian Sea. The largest of the islands is on the left side of the map, and holds the capital city of Krowne. There is no one leader, rather the lands of Akonis is governed by the 8 High Mages. Ancient masters who pass their power down to their best apprentices. This Oligarchy rules Akonis in a surprisingly fair way, distributing magic and offering relief from the Wyld encroachment as much as they can, while also controlling the country’s most powerful aristocrats to make sure they do not gain too much power.
  
  Geography
  
  Despite being a series of islands, the climate in Akonis can vary greatly. The capital island usually enjoys fine weather, with only a mild cooling in winter, and moderate, warm summers. This is mostly thanks to the weather wizards, however they only prod the natural climate. Summers are warm enough to grow peaches and cherries, with sweet apples and the growing season is long enough to get the most delicate of vegetables to grow large and healthy. Most of the food used is grown on the capital and surrounding islands, but the islands to the East and South also grow more tropical foods. Islands to the North provide ore and timber and fish, though, with the encroaching Wyld Wood, more mines have been abandoned, creating shortages in the capital.
  Each island has a different signature product or supply provided to the capital, and it usually constitutes most of their economy. There are exceptions where very talented mages have chosen to settle.
  
  The Wyld Wood
  
  A mysterious and dangerous place. Most people are forbidden from going near it, as it can cause unnatural changes in the mind. If the Wyld Magic infects a mage, it can do terrible things through them.
  Inside the wood it can be quite beautiful. Vibrant yet unnatural colours, exotic creatures, not all violent, mysterious plants, fruits and stone. The trees are bent and warped in their growing, some made giant, others tangled so closely they form a labyrinth of branches to catch people up and lose them in the depths. Even the water holds Wyld magic. For those unused to the wood, it carries a harrying sense of unease, as if the very forest was watching you, as if it wants to consume you.
  
  Attacking the forest with the spell designed to burn it back makes the Wyld Wood very angry, and it often retaliates by sending its most aggressive monsters at you.
  The use of Wyld Magic seems to calm it however, and the mages that use Wyld Magic can abate the anger if they choose.

Zazz

 

[Circe]

So obsessed with Baldur’s Gate 3 right now, I love this idea.

 

[SilverFlight]

So obsessed with Baldur’s Gate 3 right now, I love this idea.

I just started XD the details of the world are open for people to create and add to, so pick what you like from BG3 and add it in.

 

[Zazz]

WEEEEEE

 

[Zazz]

Am do a excite

 

[Goonfire]

ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!

 

[SilverFlight]

ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!

Lol, that's what I'd hoped, but perhaps I set the bar too high...

 

[Goonfire]

Lol, that's what I'd hoped, but perhaps I set the bar too high...

If I'm reading this correctly, all you're asking for is dedication, maturity, consistency, and legibility. I don't think this is reaching for the stars.

 

[SilverFlight]

If I'm reading this correctly, all you're asking for is dedication, maturity, consistency, and legibility. I don't think this is reaching for the stars.

It certainly wasn't before.

 

[SilverFlight]

Bump

 

[LadyOfStars]

I'm interested in joining, if you're still recruiting!

 

[SilverFlight]

I'm interested in joining, if you're still recruiting!

Oh yes. It might take a while to recruit the needed party, I know I'm asking a lot with the posting requirements and quality, but if you're willing to hang about, I want to try and get this off the ground.

 

[LadyOfStars]

Absolutely!

Oh yes. It might take a while to recruit the needed party, I know I'm asking a lot with the posting requirements and quality, but if you're willing to hang about, I want to try and get this off the ground.

 

[Dest]

I'd be interested in hopping in.

 

[SilverFlight]

I'd be interested in hopping in.

Fantastic!

 

[LadyOfStars]

SilverFlight Would a kitsune character be acceptable?

 

[SilverFlight]

SilverFlight Would a kitsune character be acceptable?

Yes, as long as thier magic follows the rules. I can add a category for illusion magic if you like.

 

[LadyOfStars]

Yes, as long as thier magic follows the rules. I can add a category for illusion magic if you like.

Thank you! I'm actually going to go with the Fire Track for my character.

 

[Aravini]

I’m interested.

 

[SilverFlight]

I’m interested.

Wonderful!

 

[SilverFlight]

Bump

 

[SilverFlight]

bump

 

[Zazz]

LORJ BUMP

 

[RikuXIII]

Considering something in the vein of Karlach for this. Perhaps a mage quietly pulled from the academy to work for someone in need of off the books "fire power".
Wyld magic could be an interesting fit for this concept, as it would also add an extra layer why the character's former "employer" might want to make sure she is recaptured. Could also be funny seeing her try to not use the power or pass it off as something else.
Blood magic is another good option. Further character development could see her exploring the beneficial side of blood magic more.
Then finally, Energy has an appeal as while I don't have as many story hooks for it as the other two, there is something deeply satisfying about playing around with a fire and/or lightning mage playing the blaster.

 

[SilverFlight]

Considering something in the vein of Karlach for this. Perhaps a mage quietly pulled from the academy to work for someone in need of off the books "fire power".
Wyld magic could be an interesting fit for this concept, as it would also add an extra layer why the character's former "employer" might want to make sure she is recaptured. Could also be funny seeing her try to not use the power or pass it off as something else.
Blood magic is another good option. Further character development could see her exploring the beneficial side of blood magic more.
Then finally, Energy has an appeal as while I don't have as many story hooks for it as the other two, there is something deeply satisfying about playing around with a fire and/or lightning mage playing the blaster.

That sounds like an interesting idea, we'll have to find a way to convince the academy mages in our party not to turn her in on sight as a Wyld mage, but there are many ways around that.

My character shall be a blood mage I think.