Fantasy Scions and Demons (OPEN)

[wilk]

ONLY THREE RULES:
- Setting is Medieval.
- You may only be a human or a Scion.
- You DON'T have to read the rest of this post. (unless you RP a Scion)
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For Your Reference:

Scions: Humans with a small amount of Kin Ancestry. Also called Fortis Immortales, or Perilous Immortals. If you RP a Scion, look at instructions for Scions (below).

The Kin: Small group of humans given power by the Starlings. Their job was to fight demons and protect mankind. When the Starlings disappeared, the Kin died off.

Starlings: The ageless pale warriors that live in the sky. The stars themselves are their cities. They can descend to Earth by one of two means: The Staircase to the Heavens (Only a Starling may request Passage: the doors won't open for humans, Scions, Kin, or demons). Starlings may also descend as a comet or a bolt of lightning. Starling warriors possess bows that fire bolts of lightning, and swords that melt/cut through solid stone like it was butter.

Demons: Hulking, smoky figures of varying sizes and forms. They may choose to become solid or ethereal at a moment's notice, making them almost impossible to kill. However, Starling Weapons and magic is always lethal to demons, and can't be avoided. Some still lurk around, hiding from humans.

Politics:
Human political disputes are resolved through 'Trial by Combat.' As such, Scions are valuable because they are much harder to kill than normal humans. They are often hunted and enslaved, then thrown into arena-style combat.

RPing a Scion:
Fairly simple. Scions enter a Trance through deep, calm Breathing (I only capitalize here for clarity). This brings them into a Trance where they can borrow energy from their own future. The can borrow strength, speed, intelligence, and healing factor (think Wolverine, but at 10% the healing rate. And no, they can't regrow limbs...). When they start their Breath, their skin and eyes begin to trail glowing yellow mist, like vaporial sunlight. The deeper they go into their Trance, the slower their heartrate becomes and more psychopathic/calculating they become. The more energy they borrow from their future, the harder the fall will be when they stop their Breathing. Too steep a Trance debt can result in death. As a Scion approaches the danger zone, they feel an icy chill in their veins, like their blood is turning to ice.

Also, a Scion feels almost no emotion during a Trance. However, a dramatic enough event can shock a Scion out of his/her Trance, at which point they pay their Trance debt immediately. Shocking events like seeing someone they love die in front of them is probably going to pull them out of their Trance.

World:
The world is divided by 'Gates.' To understand them, imagine standing on a cliff and staring out across a vast field lit by moonlight. In the middle of the field, an invisible doorway stands open, displaying an entirely new world. Because this door has been open for millennia, the grass from your moonlit world bleeds into a hot desert baked by a red sun. This 'window' or 'doorway' extends upward into the sky forever so that even the constellations bleed between the worlds.

The edges of a Gate are called 'Spires' are they have no substance. They are simply the place where one world ends and another world begins. If you threw a rock at a Spire, the rock would simply split in two and each half would end up in a different world. The base of a Spire is usually marked by a pile of rocks so that no one accidentally runs into one and... dies...

Each world has different constellations and different suns/moons. Near some gates, it is possible to be caught in midday under two sun from two different worlds. That is dangerous and can quickly kill you. Because Gates are so numerous, it is easy to get lost. Anyone who can look at the stars and tell you what world you are in will make a LOT of money.

History:
The Starlings connected the worlds through Gates so that humans and demons would have more to explore and so that humans and demons could meet. However, humans liked to tame their world and shape it to their liking, while the demons (or Takanna) believed in coexistence. Something terrible happens between the humans and the demons (lost in history, but I will explain later) and the demons begin attacking the humans mercilessly.

The Starlings, feeling responsible, step in and defend the humans. After forcing the demons back to their own realm, the Starlings sealed the Gate to the demon realm. But every thousand years (-ish), the seal breaks suddenly and the demons run free again.

In anticipated of these attacks, the Starlings grant select humans their power so that they can defend mankind if the starlings come too late. These select humans were known as The Kin, and they were given power that (in some cases) exceeded the power of any one Starling. But these Kin (who had not the voices of Starlings) could not ascend the Staircase, and therefore could not enter the heavens.

Among these Kin were Kryos and Ryka, cousins by birth and brothers through endless combat. They and their comrades defended mankind over and over again from the advances of the demon race.

One day, the Kin arrived to fight the demons, and the Starlings did not come to help them. Kryos dies at the gates of a crowded city, unable to hold the demons back on his own.

The demons are forced back and sealed away by the Kin, but much of the human world has been destroyed. Cities, libraries, etc, are ravaged.

Many demons avoided capture and now hide away in the human world.

Ryka loses faith in the Starling race and goes his own way.

One of the other Kin uses his power and influence to become king of a great city. This is blatantly against his oath as a Kin, but the Starlings are nowhere to be found. They do not stop him.

The children of this king have the blood of the Kin, and therefore they have great power. These children of the Scions of the Kin, aka 'Fortis.'

The demons will return soon.

 

[wilk]

ooc - I'll just solo post until somebody joins in. (Let me know if that's against the rules).

This scene takes place in Tyrus, a canyons-and-clefts semiarid desert.

bic -
spcThe Brother Moon shone so large and bright that it cast shadows.
spcThe frosty canyons and clefts of Tyrus slept peacefully in the still night air. The large white Brother Moon floated low in the sky, slowly slipping behind behind thick billowing clouds, it's soft moonlight rimming them with silver. The Sister Moon, a small fiery disk, hung somewhere out of view, but cast a dim red glow on the night horizon.
spcFramed by this beautiful night, a bandit shanty-town sat atop a plateau surrounded by a red maze of clefts and ravines. Tyrene guards hid skillfully in the brush, keeping watch over their homes with as much devotion as the Brother Moon itself. But the chill of the night put the Tyrene at ease, since it was unlikely that any of their usual enemies would brave the cold. In this part of their world, the natives were used to warm weather throughout the year. If the night grew cold enough for a frost, humans stayed indoors.
spcBut disguised in this cloak of beauty and safety, the friendly night changed in a subtle and dangerous way, like a hungry coyote.
spcClouds slowly covered the Brother Moon. A mass of crawling things appeared from the clefts and crags, swarming deadly and silent across the plateau.
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spcA terrified scream shattered Hadlee's dreams.
spcShe cautiously sat up in her bed, still separating dreams from reality. Had she imagined the scream?
spc"You are safe," her brother said.
spc"Kaeda?" Hadlee turned to see her brother sitting cross-legged by her bedmat. His back was turned to her and he was facing the curtain that served as their front door. A training shortstaff lay across his lap. Since he was not quite twelve years old, his had not yet been presented with a Tyrene katana.
spc"What's wrong?" Hadlee asked, fear rising.
spcAnother scream ripped through the air. And another. Hadlee's skin crawled in sudden fear.
spc"Stay still and quiet. You will be fine." Kaeda replied without moving.
spcHadlee opened her mouth to protest. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide. But something strange caught her eye- Kaeda's skin glowed faintly, like hot sunlight poured through his veins. A yellow vapor misted lightly from his bare back as he watched the door intently.
spc"You're my little sister. Nothing will take you away from me," he assured her. His voice betrayed nothing- not fear, not calm, not even brotherly love. Only dead, mechanical intent.
spcMore screams ripped through the air. Hadlee shivered and pulled her blanket closer around her body. "Kaeda...?"
spcA stout goblin suddenly ripped the thick curtain off the front door. The dance of firelight and running goblins filled the street outside as people were pulled from their homes.
spcKaeda stood up, confronting the monster in the doorway. "Wrong hut. Get lost."
spcThe goblin snarled as it stepped inside. It was a little shorter than Kaeda, but size wasn't what made goblins frightening- the goblin's smooth amphibious skin was riddled in scars and broken arrowheads, testament to its tenacity. It stood on long hound-like hind legs that were built for running. Its three-fingered hands were tipped in long, sharp claws. These creatures were notoriously tough and thick-skinned, second in strength only to demons and Scions.
spcThe goblin opened its snake-like jaws gave a loud rattling hiss, splaying its claws and showing its long retractable fangs. It pounced toward Kaeda, sweeping at his throat, claws extended. Hadlee screamed.
spcKaeda barely moved. He stepped forward and rotated his staff, using the front end to turn aside the claws and driving the butt of the staff forward, striking the goblin hard in the throat. A simple movement, but swift and effective.
spcThe goblin dropped to the floor, the rattling hiss caught in its throat. It shivered in pain, stunned by the unexpected blow.
spcBefore it had a chance to get up, Kaeda raised the staff high over his head. His skin glowed more brightly for an instant before he brought the staff down again, landing a heavy blow to the top of the goblin's head, knocking it unconscious. It would take far more than that to kill a goblin, but this particular goblin would not be waking up for a long time.
spc"Hadlee."
spcHadlee shook in terror, staring at the creature laying on the floor.
spc"Hadlee," Kaeda repeated. "Stay where you are. I will be back soon."
spcHe did not get a response. Trusting her to stay put, he stepped outside.

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spcKaeda's father had told him once that goblins were unparalleled in tenacity, but also in stupidity. They moved toward noise and chaos.
spcSo Kaeda made noise and chaos. He deepened his Breath, slowing his heart and borrowing more power. He felt his body warm in response.
spcTime to make some noise...

ooc - Yes, Kaeda is a Scion

 

[wilk]

*Bump*