elanara
Junior Member
MANβO'βWAR.
a regency era action adventure
sky pirates n shit
PREFACE.
The year is 1805, and the world is a very thunderous place.
Napoleon threatens to conquer all of Europe. French privateers scour the Atlantic for British ships to plunder and sink. Young men from all walks of life continue to sacrifice themselves in the name of freedom and glory.
Everywhere you turn, there is chaos and there is death.
But their story isn't what concerns us now, because somewhere out there, thousands miles from home in the Bermuda Triangle, a British naval ship known as The Intrepid has just been stove by a creature no man has ever witnessed before.
The crew β what's left of them, anyway β has just been rescued by The Maelstrom, but instead of being given passage home to where they belong, they find themselves being whisked away to somewhere else entirely.
A world of magic, a world of dreams.
A world of the complete unknown.
THE STORY.
The map rolls open across an old, worn desk smothered in books and scientific instruments and scrolls, revealing a stark, blank page.
"Hmmm," the Old Man buzzes with curiosity. Bony fingers adjust crooked, wire-rimmed glasses atop the bridge of his nose. He picks up a pipette and squeezes a few droplets of clear liquid onto the parchment. Bits of faded black letters slowly begin to appear across the top of the page.
La - r - n - is it spells. The Old Man's eyes grow wide, dazzling with excitement at the realization of what he's just found.
Laurentis.
βIt can't be.β He gasps. βMy Gods. Iβve found it!β But just as the words escape his lips, the sound of footsteps approach from the shadows behind him, and the hammer of a pistol is cocked.
When the Old Man turns around to look, the excitement in his eyes vanishes, and he finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun. βNo, wait!β He cries.
But itβs too late.
The trigger is pulled. The shot rings out. And in that very instant, the Old Man's brains are scattered across the wooden floor.
β
The Tale of Laurentis has been told for thousands of years.
It goes like this.
Once upon a time there was a pirate captain who sailed off into the clouds to a distant, faraway land. There, it was said, he would stash his treasure. When he went, he'd stay there for years. Not just one or two, but ten, twenty β sometimes thirty years at a time. Every time he came back, he looked as though he never aged a day. All the while, his crew withered into old age. Those that knew the captain said he kept a map hidden away in his chambers. Whenever he returned from his travels, he would toil long into the night, slowly etching away every river and lake and mountain-pass he could summon from memory onto paper.
It would become an obsession of his, consuming him to the point of madness.
And then one fateful day, not long before he planned to return to this mystical place, his ship came under attack. The fighting was fierce and bloody, raging on for days. Unfortunately, it was during this fight that the captain met his grisly end. His crew was killed and his ship sunk.
And the map?
Lost. Never to be seen again.
To this day, many believe it to be nothing more than a story. But there are a few out there who swear on their mother's name it's real. And every once in a while, somebody gets the itch to go searching for it.
Only thing is, they are hardly ever seen or heard from again.
β
The Maelstrom is the largest, fastest man-oβ-war in all of Meridian, outfitted with exactly 100 guns and holding up to 200 souls on board. But she wasnβt just designed for combat against other nautical vessels. Oh nonono. She was designed to hunt and kill sea monsters.
Thatβs right.
The very monsters that you hear about in bedtime stories, krakens and leviathans and megalodons? Yeah. Theyβre real.
Maelstrom is one of many ships whose job β a very lucrative one, at that β it is to ensure nothing crosses over to the other side β the side of the ordinary world, that is. But every so often, something makes its way through, and itβs their job to haul it right back.
Just this morning they encountered a shipwreck (see: the Intrepid) off the coast of a deserted island. With their own crew running short, they hope to pick up any survivors to reinforce their numbers. But thereβs a catch. The Captain of the Maelstrom is more than willing to help the stranded sailors return home β but only if they assist her on her latest, upcoming mission.
And what is that, you might ask?
Well.
She's on a mission to find some hidden fucking treasure.
That's if her greatest enemy doesn't find it first.
TLDR FOR ALL YOU LAZY BITCHES
an english man-o-war from the ordinary world accidentally crosses over into the magical world of meridian. they get picked up by the maelstrom, and they team up together to find buried treasure.
THE RULES.
listen β all i got to say is this:
don't be a punkassbitch, move the motherfucking plot foward, and post on time. (side note: i will make sure every character has something to do with another character so you aren't feeling lost. i got ur back, fam!) oh, and READ EVERYTHING. i will know if you don't. and if you're not LGBTQ+ friendly then this aint the place for you.
general things to know:
avg post length is like, 2-6 paragraphs. (hell you can even write one paragraph if that's all you got to say.) if for some reason this bothers your snooty-nosed, elitist-ass-roleplaying-self, then please see yourself out. this is an actionβadventure roleplay, therefore i would like to keep shit moving at a reasonable pace. none of that "let's stay on the same scene for a whole fucking year because we gotta write 2000 words per post." i dunno about you, but that style of roleplaying is unsustainable, and i get tired of writing long posts all the time. i'm not saying you can't do that. if you're vibing and want to write a lot, go for it. but don't feel pressured to. i understand we're all adults with busy lives and want writing to feel fun, not like a chore. so let's not make it that.
due to this, i am instilling a (semi) strict 7-day turnaround time for posts.
if you're gonna be mia for a while just let me know and we can figure something out. if you go completely dark for long stretches of time and i haven't heard from you, first i will shelf your character (usually around ten days), and then after 2.5 weeks of inactivity i will kill off your character to further the story. nothing personal, just business.
also. i don't give a fuck about post formats. be fancy. don't. all i care about is the writing. for everyone's sake though, please make sure the following information is located either at the top or bottom of your post: name, location, and who your character is with.
on applying: i've tried my best to make the roles as open-ended as possible. feel free to create your own interpretation of the character notes. but also, don't make your character too over-powering. also be aware that i will be screening apps very carefully to make sure there are no overlaps with accepted characters. note: this rp will be using real life face-claims only. AI art is strictly prohibited! no you aren't gonna convince me to use your anime fc. this aint the place for that, so please don't ask.
roles are not first come first serve. call that competitive i guess. really it just means that just because you toss up an app, doesn't mean you automatically have the role. i will be taking a close look at each profile to make sure they pass the vibe check.
oh, and you will have ten days to complete your profile upon submitting an app!
anyway, that's all i can think of saying for now. if i make any changes i will let yall know!
LORE.
πππ πππππ ππ ππππππππ
Meridian is a mystical world of sea monsters, pirates, and last but not least, magic. Lots and lots and lots of magic. Everywhere you go you will encounter people of varying ranges of magical ability β healers, sorcerer's, teleporters, and so on. If you can imagine it, it likely exists.
Note: it is this very same magic that allows ships the ability to fly. That's right. Flying is a very common method of travel in this world. Unlike other worlds, where ships take to the skies via steam engines, flying is made possible by inserting an enchanted key into the helm and voila! The ship will take off.
There are different classes of magic.
β ππππ πππππ β this type of magic is one that is practiced among most people in Meridian, hunters especially. Individuals in this class can conjure up spells at will, manipulate the elements, and/or practically do all sorts of fascinating things. This sort of magic is something that is genetically passed down through the generations and takes years to harness. In rarer cases, it is learned.
β πππππ πππππ β as it says. These generally come in the form of small magic pouches that can be bought and sold in shops or even on the streets from sketchy market vendors. An example of this would be a magical potion to cure your cold, and the directions on the back is the spell meant to activate it. Only thing is, some spells might work, some might not, and others, unfortunately, might have negative side-effects. Purchase at will. Note: proper training (i.e.: some magical ability) is required before use.
β ππππ πππππ β also called Blood Magic. If you're gonna use it, you better know exactly what you're doing, because we normally don't fuck with this shit. Like ever.
πππππππππ
Meridian is predominantly ocean, with thousands of islands scattered throughout. Some are highly populated, with large, crowded cities. Others are completely deserted.
Notable places to know of are as follows:
β ππππππ ππππππ β the largest island; it's like its own small, little country, but without any official rulers.
Notable locations include:
- ππππππππ'π πππ: Located on the south end of the island, where smugglers come from all over Meridian to sell their illegal goods. This area is highly populated. Multiple pubs, markets, taverns, and brothels can be found here, to give sailors a place to relax after a long, tiresome journey. This is also the place where hunting ships come to collect their bounties, as well as make any repairs for their ship before heading back out to sea.
- πππ ππππ ππππ: Also in Smugglers Bay. A popular tavern/place of entertainment for sailors, drunkards, and gamblers alike. Every so often, captains stop here to recruit sailors to join their crew.
more to be added, when the time comes.
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