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noil

cursed with ideas
Roleplay Availability
Roleplay Type(s)
A/N: this is a reboot with a bit of a different start since the other one died :c
Like the Stars Chase the Sun
(title from )​

In our history, Cantawar was a land of peace and prosperity. The mundane and the magical lived together in harmony and cooperation, and our land flourished for it. But nothing that good is ever meant to last.

The beginning of the century found our kingdom ruled over by a benevolent king, Maeleg Tirron, his queen Corethia, and their recent addition of a princess who they named Brígh. It was our unanimous opinion that our new princess was a startling beauty of a child, only surpassed by the beauty of the queen, aglow and joyous in her motherhood.

Dark clouds seemed to cover the kingdom when the word went out. The queen was dead. Murdered, they said. The means of it were obscured by word of mouth as the news passed through the people, each messenger telling a different story. One told of an assassin in the night, with an enchanted arrow. Another, an abomination controlled by a beastmaster in the shadows. Yet another told of a family-held curse that a witch had placed upon the kin of the queen in ages long passed. Only one element held constant in all the tales: Magic had been involved.

And so we were left to mourn our fair ruler in mystery. Life quickly settled back in for us common folk, for what impact did the far-off happenings of the lives of royals ultimately count for to the common man anyway?

By that year’s harvest, the king’s grief had twisted into a burning hatred. He blamed magic in all its forms for the death of his beloved, neglecting his infant daughter to initiate a bloody crusade to free his land from the unholy corruption of magic.

Our neighbors the fae were forcibly driven from their homes within the year. Those that remained within the king’s land were hunted like mere beasts. Those purveyors of magic among humanity met their end at the edge of a sword. It's amazing how quickly people can turn on each other in the face of hurt and violence.

A branch of the king’s guard was formed. Initially composed of mercenaries and sell-swords bought to hunt down mages, they came to be known as the Kestrels, and came to work with an ultimate authority over the peoples of the land, second only to the word of the King.

Ten years’ time has passed since the beginning of what the nobles came to call the Cleansing, and as violence eased the kingdom returned to some sense of normalcy. Instead of immediate slaughter, those mages who stubbornly remain in the kingdom instead face a front of perceived justice, thrown in dank dungeons to await sure execution. Torches now burn in the place of enchanted lanterns, and crops are a bit harder to grow, it is true, but we will heal stronger for our struggles.

Word from within the castle is that the king never roams the halls of his home these days, content to confine his ravings to within the walls of his heavily tapestried chambers. The princess Brígh is all but forgotten, only kept in our memories, and in hushed stories of faint hope that when she come of age she might rule with more love than her father had shown the land.

In our history, Cantawar was a land of peace and prosperity. The mundane and the magical lived together in harmony and cooperation, and our land flourished for it. But nothing that good is ever meant to last.

The beginning of the century found our kingdom ruled over by a benevolent king, Maeleg Tirron, his queen Corethia, and their recent addition of a princess who they named Brígh. It was our unanimous opinion that our new princess was a startling beauty of a child, only surpassed by the beauty of the queen, aglow and joyous in her motherhood.

Dark clouds seemed to cover the kingdom when the word went out. The queen was dead. Murdered, they said. The means of it were obscured by word of mouth as the news passed through the people, each messenger telling a different story. One told of an assassin in the night, with an enchanted arrow. Another, an abomination controlled by a beastmaster in the shadows. Yet another told of a family-held curse that a witch had placed upon the kin of the queen in ages long passed. Only one element held constant in all the tales: Magic had been involved.

And so we were left to mourn our fair ruler in mystery. Life quickly settled back in for us common folk, for what impact did the far-off happenings of the lives of royals ultimately count for to the common man anyway?

By that year’s harvest, the king’s grief had twisted into a burning hatred. He blamed magic in all its forms for the death of his beloved, neglecting his infant daughter to initiate a bloody crusade to free his land from the unholy corruption of magic.

Our neighbors the fae were forcibly driven from their homes within the year. Those that remained within the king’s land were hunted like mere beasts. Those purveyors of magic among humanity met their end at the edge of a sword. It's amazing how quickly people can turn on each other in the face of hurt and violence.

A branch of the king’s guard was formed. Initially composed of mercenaries and sell-swords bought to hunt down mages, they came to be known as the Kestrels, and came to work with an ultimate authority over the peoples of the land, second only to the word of the King.

Ten years’ time has passed since the beginning of what the nobles came to call the Cleansing, and as violence eased the kingdom returned to some sense of normalcy. Instead of immediate slaughter, those mages who stubbornly remain in the kingdom instead face a front of perceived justice, thrown in dank dungeons to await sure execution. Torches now burn in the place of enchanted lanterns, and crops are a bit harder to grow, it is true, but we will heal stronger for our struggles.

Word from within the castle is that the king never roams the halls of his home these days, content to confine his ravings to within the walls of his heavily tapestried chambers. The princess Brígh is all but forgotten, only kept in our memories, and in hushed stories of faint hope that when she come of age she might rule with more love than her father had shown the land.

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The king is dead. Sometime before the sun had risen, the dawn was shattered into chaos as a massive beast appeared within the castle. Taking the form of a monstrous white bear, it rapidly tore its way through the interior of the structure, leaving destruction and death in its wake. The king's men had only barely begun to gather in the courtyard when it burst out. They could not stand against its fury, their attacks seemingly having no effect on its oversized form, and their numbers were quickly overwhelmed by the sudden unexpected threat. It tore through the heavy courtyard gates as though they were matchsticks and made off into the countryside.

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Unable to face the beast, what remained of the Kestrels instead turned their attentions to the inside of their ruler's ravaged home. The first thing they discovered was that the king was no longer among the living. His cold body lay in a pool of blood within the halls of the royal chambers. The second thing they discovered sent dread through them all. The princess was gone.

The assassin's beast had eliminated the king, but faced with royal blood in the form of the child, its nerve must have wavered. The princess had instead been taken. For what end, it was yet to be seen. They could only hope she remained unharmed as they regathered what remained of their forces and their wits to pursue the beast and its yet-unseen summoner.

We begin our story with a group of Kestrels making their way back to the capital with a freshly captured group of mages to throw in the dungeons, only to be met with the news of what has happened. It didn't take much calculation to know they were up against more than they could handle. It had been some time since the Kestrels had faced any fully powered magical threat, and even in the early days when magic still ran rampant in the land they hadn't faced something with this much raw power raging out of it. They rapidly came to the conclusion that they were out of their depth. They'd have to seek help from a despised source.


To summarize: We are set in a land where magic has been outlawed under penalty of death for over a decade. The king that put this decree in place has been killed and his daughter kidnapped by a giant beast sent from an unknown magical force. What is left of the king's forces is being forced to team up with mages they had captured to stage a rescue.

You can join as one of the king's men or a captured mage/fae.
Note: I’m using the word “fae” here to mean any humanoid fantasy race, not just the Fair Folk or fairy type. Typical high fantasy races are all game - orcs, elves, dwarves, nymphs, etc. Not sure? Just ask


Rules:
  • if you are going to play a mage character, do not go OP. You don't need to have every possible move planned out, but run the gist of the powerset by me and be okay with reworking if I say it's not going to fit
  • please please please, if it is at all possible, interact with the other characters in your posts. I have seen too many rps die with a bunch of cool people standing around in a room refusing to talk to each other or engage with the plot. There are of course times when characters get separated or it's too out of character to talk to someone, but best effort is expected
  • let me know if you’re dropping out, you don’t need to give a reason, no hard feelings (although if there is something about the rp that’s driving you out that could be fixed, do let me know and I’ll see if I can rework. I’d hate to lose someone to something fixable)
  • I'm limiting players to max two characters each to start. This is subject to change if we need more characters running around. I’m also going to limit us to four players to start
  • I'd call this rp semi-lit. At least a couple paragraphs per post please
  • Everyone needs to try to post at least once a week. It's too easy to lose momentum otherwise
  • I'm going to have us have a pseudo-post-order, where you can post once, then need to wait for me to post again before your next post. I'm hoping this will give everyone a fair chance to get a word in, and will keep the story from getting away from me. This could change if people split off, etc


Notes for Building Characters
If you are wanting to play a mage or fae - life would be very hard and dangerous within the kingdom, especially for those fae who would need to disguise their appearance. You'll need to be thinking about why it is that they haven't moved to friendlier lands. Maybe they have family here? They’re here on some kind of mission? Or maybe there is something on the outside that they are avoiding? You also need to think on why they would agree to this deal, I'd like to waste as little time as possible on the initial sorting out of the situation and move right into the rest of the story

If you want to play one of the Kestrels, they hate mages and anything at all inhuman. If they've been in this for very long, they have likely lost comrades to the fight, and since your character has stuck around through it, they believe in the cause. You should think about motivation for joining the organization - money, power, prejudice, family pressure, etc

Finally, we don't need to have even numbers of these groups. Everyone wants to play the magic people, I get it, it's perfectly fine! I actually originally wrote this to have everyone join as mages but thought that was a bit restrictive so opened it up. Write what makes you happy


More Info About the World
Cantawar is the main human kingdom in this world. In the past, the human lands were divided between three kingdoms: Cantawar, Vaill, and Sentia. Due to Cantawar's central positioning and location controlling the main resources of the human lands, it rapidly gained power and absorbed Vaill and Sentia as vassal states under itself. They maintain some autonomy and retain their own ruling class, but ultimately answer to the king in Cantawar's capital city of Danach. Other surrounding kingdoms are the forested Lúth-glad to the west, Dór o Aglar the elvish desert kingdom to the north-east, and south of that lie the plains of Anhaga. Humans find themselves in the minority in these neighboring kingdoms, most notably in Dór o Aglar which has become increasingly hostile toward their kind since the so-called "Cleansing." All that to say, your character doesn't necessarily have to be from any of those places, they can be from as far away as you like.
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Cantawar is largely inspired in looks by medieval Europe like typical high fantasy settings, but since it was a flourishing and central location it saw major trade in and out of its borders, bringing culture from far and wide into the land. It is not unusual to see fashion and practices that have their origins distant to Cantawar melding in with the local fare. The main source being the large port city of Brimwylm, which while still being under Cantawar’s rule, experiences a bit more freedom than other human areas. Its value in trade and power in its fleet lead to Cantawar turning a blind eye to some of its subtler shady dealings.
Vaill’s land is made up of rough, mountainous terrain. It is mostly at a higher elevation than the other human lands, making it colder and generally harder to carve out a life there. Accordingly, Vaill’s people are a tough and proud lot, by and large very loyal to their own. Vaill relies on Cantawar since its own land cannot produce much to sustain them. All they really have to offer is their people, making up the bulk of the human forces guarding the border shared with Lúth-glad. Much of Cantawar’s fighting force is also made up of conscripts from Vaill.
Sentia is an agriculturally focused land. They have some travel in and out due to their proximity to Brimwylm, but their natives have deep roots. Sentia places great value on family and traditions, and while they have obediently gone along with Cantawar’s changes of late, they do not forget so easily.
Lúth-glad’s main population is made up of wood elves. It is also home to many humanoid races including Fauns, Sprites, Nymphs, and Centaurs. If you picture a typical fantasy forest setting, you’re pretty close. Like a mix of Tolkien’s Mirkwood elves with a Narnian setting.
Dór o Aglar is a very old and very powerful elvish empire inspired by ancient Egypt. Most other elvish civilizations recognize them as an authority both due to the size and might of the nation, as well as the large amount of inherent magical power their people possess. This power manifests both in longevity of the people, as well as outright magical skills, typically related to the sun or fire. Most natives of Dór o Aglar have some level of a superiority complex, looking down on the rest of the world. Though the empire does have regular trade and dealings with both Lúth-glad and Anhaga.
Anhaga took the bulk of refugees fleeing Cantawar at the start of the Cleansing. A generally good-natured and varied people, their culture is nomadic and revolves around caring for large herds of horses, placing great value on the animals and their aid in hunting and fighting.
Alaan Maac is an abandoned stronghold past the Gammalig mountains. Legend tells of another kingdom it belonged to located in the south west, but there has been no activity from that way for as far back as anyone can remember, with expeditions out that way returning empty handed and mystified.
Ghagai is the name of a large volcanic formation to the south east of Cantawar. It is mainly inhabited by orcish natives, who enjoy a prosperous life on the rich volcanic soil. Its rough and unpredictable coastline makes trade and travel to and from the area difficult.
The lands to the north are largely unknown to the people of Cantawar. Its shore is made of massive, deadly cliff faces, posing a severe risk to any ships that happen to venture too close, as well as an impossible task to attempt to scale them. There are tales of people showing up claiming to be from the north, spouting stories of dragons and technological marvels, but they are largely held to be nothing but myth.

Magic in this world is divided between dark and light, though the distinction is not always obvious. For example, many elemental magics do not have an inherent dark/light lean to them, rather it is their application to help or cause harm that causes magic users to draw the line between what is "good" and what is "bad" magic. Dark magic, that which causes harm to others or to the world itself, is seen as a vile, corruptive force. Light magic users often refuse to associate with or may even attack those who practice dark magic, and while they are right to some degree - much dark magic relies heavily on emotional unrest and thus perhaps more readily affects its users - it is more true to say that all power has the ability to corrupt, even the non-magical kind.

The laymen are also very anti-magic, but they also aren't so pleased with the current power dynamic. They certainly are no fans of the king, and see the Kestrels as kind of necessary antagonists, but at the same time blame mages and fae for all the ill that has befallen their lands of late. Still, if they are of an older generation, they definitely remember the before times and perhaps think things should go back to the way they used to be. People from the vassal states of Vaill and Sentia that may have been visiting the capital when this happened are varied on how they feel about the whole Cleansing situation and Cantawar in general, feel free to throw different worldviews around.


To Join:
Post here with interest, and when you’ve got one, pitch your character idea(s) here or in DMs or on our Discord. When I approve it, you’re officially on our list of 4 players and can write up your CS(s). Doing this so people don’t waste time writing a CS only for the concept to not fit
Filled player slots: 4/4

Other:
  • We’ll have OOC and lore on Discord unless a bunch of you can’t use that. It makes it easier for me to answer questions and interact with you guys on the fly
  • I write having my IC posts and admin posts combined into one narration, rather than having a dedicated GM type post. So if that's annoying to you... sorry.
  • I also apologise for this being so long >__>;
 
Last edited:
CS is up!
 
Main thread is up!

my intro got very long please don't feel like you need to match that length
 

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