Soulforged Crusaders

[GasMaskie]

Hey, I've just finished establishing a setting for a Fantasy RP I want to run and I'd like some opinions or advice. This setting draws heavily upon Garo and Karas and in particular I wanted to run something Toku-related but given their general track records it seemed that fandom-based RPs attracted no one.

• Opening Post
• Lore
• Overview?
• Map

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  "Veiya Auro. Our shining jewel, a city of wonders and enlightenment. All roads led there. Perhaps, that's why our world ended when it fell." - The Sage of Stories
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Soulforged Crusaders
  
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  It has been nearly a century since the fall of Veiya Auro, capital of Aldin. Not a single person in that city survived the catastrophe and the surrounding lands grew infertile. The air became polluted with magic, slowly poisoning the survivors who lived in the neighboring villages. But worst of all, Daemons began to infest these lands once more - leading to its current name: "The Blasted Plains".
  
  
  The cause of this devastation has still not been identified and all that remains of Veiya Auro are its ruins. Not all hope was lost, though. The Soulforged Order, an organization devoted to the study and defense against Daemons, was merely fractured and cast off to the ends of the continent. Time and time again, the four divisions of the Order put aside the bitter rivalries that had formed between them and sent groups of their best to reclaim Veiya Auro and heal the lands. Not a single person made it to Veiya Auro nor has anyone made it back alive.
  
  
  Now, you have been selected by the Order as one of these crusaders. Perhaps they saw potential in you or someone wanted you dead but your duty is clear and your future is unknown. Will your group, the Tenth Crusade, finally be the one that solves the mystery and revives the world?
  
  
  
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  The Soulforged Order
  
  The Soulforged Order was established roughly five centuries ago by the first Lord Slayer, a man by the name of Eluan. Once a lowborn knight from another land, Eluan witnessed the immense suffering caused by the Daemons who preyed on humanity and became the first Soulforged.
  
  
  Eluan launched a successful campaign against the Daemons and united the kingdoms against them. After a decisive victory, the once divided kingdoms came together to form the nation of Aldin. Eluan was offered the throne but instead left it to one of his close companions. The Slayers' Order was then formed with the intent of forever safeguarding Aldin from future Daemon threats. Eluan was succeeded as Lord Slayer by his son and three loyal retainer families.
  
  
  Since the catastrophe, the Soulforged Order was split between the three families who each fled to separate parts of the continent. Each of the families held different ideals on how to develop the Soulforged Order and eventually these differences were focused upon and led to the creation of four separate branches,
  
  
  Tenets of the Order
  
  I. I will protect the human race from all Daemons.
  
  
  II. I will not harm another human being.
  
  
  III. My allegiance belongs to the Soulforged Order, I will not heed the authority of any nation nor will I aid them in times of war.
  
  
  The Northern Order
  
  Led by the Thran Family, the Northern Order focuses on the mastery of arms. They draw upon the ancient histories of knights and place emphasis upon a Slayer's bloodline. In addition, their Soulforged tend to take on heavily armored forms. Training starts at a young age in special camps and initiates are expected to kill their first Daemon at the age of thirteen. Their realm is fortified by an expansive mountain range.
  
  
  The Grand Tournament is perhaps the most notable part of a Northern Soulforged training. Despite its name, the Grand Tournament is more akin to a battle royale. Participants are dropped into the forest and must protect their ring from other competitors while also striving to collect the most. The Grand Tournament lasts for a week and the top hundred Soulforged are awarded with large rings that are welded onto their armor. Fifty receive an Iron Ring, thirty-five receive the Bronze Ring, ten receive the Silver Ring, and the top five are awarded with the prestigious Golden Ring.
  
  
  The Western Order
  
  The Western Order is governed by the Taylos Family and have devoted themselves to the continued preservation of their territory's nature. Eastern Soulforged tend to specialize in ranged combat, although their bladed bows mean that they're no less of a threat at close range. Their choice of armor is a middle ground between the Northern and Eastern's doctrines. Eli Forest remains unpolluted and free of Daemons, but its estimated the the Blasted Plains will spread to the eastern half of the forest within a few decades. There's also a growing dispute between the citizens and the Western Order over how much land should be developed as a result of the growing overpopulation problems.
  
  
  Training is rather hands-off once archery is learned by a fledgling Soulforged. Stealth and survival skills are also part of the Western Order's doctrine. Most Western Soulforged will choose to join a small band of Slayers that devote themselves to watching over a specific portion of Eli Forest.
  
  
  The Eastern Order
  
  The other orders tend to regard the Eastern Order as the most dangerous or risky. The family in charge of the Eastern Order is the Vis'an Family whose lineage includes a large number of Natural Magicians. This is due to the Eastern Order's focus on magic and forming contracts with Daemons. Eastern Soulforged generally wear very little armor, instead choosing to wear robes that aid with casting. They function at both close and long range and Eastern Soulforged will often weave elemental magic into their hand-to-hand combat.
  
  
  The Academia is the Eastern Order's only settlement. Six large towers have been erected around the island that power a massive magical barrier meant to repel Daemons from the continent. Daemon summoning is common and there have been several incidents where a powerful Daemon has slaughtered Soulforged and citizens alike. The focus on scholarly education has drawn the ire of the Northern Order. Much of natural land bridge that once connected their island to Aldin was magically obliterated to narrow the passage to the island should their gate fall, to the chagrin of the Western Order.
  
  
  The Southern Order
  
  An oddity among the sub-orders, the Southern Order was once governed by the Taylos Family. However, the port cities were already well developed and the Slayers' Order was widely believed to have been involved in the fall of Veiya Auro and the Taylos Family's representatives were either murdered or driven off. The Southern Order today is a small organization founded by Soulforged who remained hidden. Their particular focus is on investigation and Southern Soulforged are the most savvy. A Southern Soulforged choice of weapons are ones that can be concealed such as daggers or or claws. As a result of their history, Southern Soulforged are also clad in the same mix of cloth and metal as the Western Order.
  
  
  Erco City was once Aldin's largest port city and their biggest source of trade with other nations. Following Veiya Auro's destruction, however, Erco City's administration was essentially overthrown and replaced by a particular group of criminals. Leadership tends to switch hands often and Erco City has more or less devolved into a hive of wretched scum and villainy. Thus, the other three sub-orders deride the Southern Order as little more than a Thieves Guild who pervert the Slayers' Order in general.
  
  
  Daemons
  
  Daemons are spirits that are theorized to have crossed over from another world although other scholars believe them to actually be the restless spirits of the dead who have been warped by the emotions they held at death. Whatever the case is, Daemons have plagued the continent long before the establishment of the Slayers' Order.
  
  
  Most of the time, Daemons operate individually from one another and merely focus on the continued devouring of human souls. They lack corporeal forms and instead rely on possessing either humans or physical items. Possession of humans causes the destruction of their soul. Their possession turns their chosen vessels into monsters that cannot be slain with mere weaponry.
  
  
  Daemons can be categorized based on strength and potential danger. Lesser Daemons usually possess human or animal carcasses and appear in large numbers as a horde. Even novice Slayers can slay many of them without too much difficulty. Greater Daemons will typically possess a human or one of the Blasted Plains's abandoned technology. These Daemons are able to exert control over Lesser Daemons and generally require at least two Slayers to vanquish. The most dreaded of the Daemons are referred to as Abyssals. They display the most intelligence, Eluan's sworn enemy was an Abyssal who hard organized Greater and Lesser Daemons into an army. In addition, Abyssals have also been known to physically manifest without a host although in that case they become little more than mindless monsters. Greater and Abyssal Daemons may still remain as spirits even after their mortal vessel is destroyed and in that instance must be sealed into a specially crafted item, oftentimes a ring or other jewelry.
  
  
  The identification of a Daemon often requires investigation or the use of magical sight. Specialized lanterns carried by Slayers also emit a special light that wards an area from weaker Daemons. More cunning Daemons will sometimes form magical contracts with humans for their own ensured survival or to carry out their sinister plans.
  
  
  Although most Daemons are regarded as malevolent entities, there have been a few isolated instances where Daemons have aided the Slayers' order against their brethren. Their motives remain largely unknown but a few Daemons still remain in service to the Eastern Order and aid in the development of new tools for Slayers.
  
  
  
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  What is a Soulforged?
  
  The Soulforged can be described as 'enhanced humans'. They resemble humans Through a secret ritual conducted at one of the order's Soulforges, a human becomes a Soulforged and gains a myriad of abilities. The most basic of these is increased durability and physical strength. In addition, they also gain the potential to use magic.
  
  
  A Soulforged's greatest ability is their ability to summon armor and weapons out of thin air. Typically, this is done using some sort of trinket or object as a focus. Their armor resembles some sort of metal or cloth, but in reality it's some sort of material that acts as an anathema towards Daemons. Their own physical and magical capabilities are further increased once their armor is donned. A Soulforged may also summon a weaker version of their chosen weapon without their armor.
  
  
  The armor of a Soulforged will always bare some sort of animal motif or styling. This serves as a symbol of their lineage as members of the same family will all have armor that eventually resemble the same animal. There has only been one recorded exception to this case.
  
  
  You may be asking yourself, "Why would a Soulforged ever take off their armor?". Although details remain hidden from most Slayers, there's one thing that's clear. After a certain amount of time spent in their armor, something terrible happens to a Soulforged. At best, the estimated time limit is ten minutes although later factors may extend or shorten this. It is in a Soulforged's best interest to abide by the unspoken time limit. Dealing enough damage to a Soulforged who has passed the time limit will also cancel their transformation.
  
  
  Magic and Technology
  
  Magic
  
  Magic can be best described as using the energy around oneself to perform miraculous acts. Natural Magicians are the rare humans who are able to inherently use magic without becoming a Soulforged. In the case that a Natural Magician does become a Soulforged, however, their magical capabilities are further enhanced. Daemons have been long associated with magic and there are superstitions that Natural Magicians were born from a possessed human.
  
  
  Typically, a magician will focus on using one of three elements offensively: Fire, Ice, or Lightning. Being able to use all three is unheard of and the most venerated of magicians have barely been able to use a second element. As a magician becomes more skilled, their elemental magic will take on a more defined shape such as a weapon or a creature. A novice may conjure fireballs but a skilled magician will be able to conjure flaming daggers.
  
  
  Magic can also be used to augment a person's senses as well. A particularly skilled magician can very briefly heighten their vision and allow them to see if a Daemon is possessing a person. Another possibility is using magic to quicken their reaction time for a limited amount of time.
  
  
  As stated before, magic draws upon the energy around oneself. This energy is known as mana and can be lethal towards humans in large amounts. It seems to originate from sort of natural source. It's invisible and only magicians or Soulforged are able to detect the its presence. Casting magic consumes the mana in the air and the presence of other magicians will also enhance both the quality of one's magic and the mana consumption rate. Casting magic will also mentally exhaust a magician. After a certain point, a magician will lose consciousness.
  
  
  Technology
  
  Despite the fall of Veiya Auros their innovations and advances in technology still remain. As the Slayers' Order grew in numbers, many humans felt either inspired or threatened by the Soulforged and devised ways to imitate their magical prowess. One such instance was the invention of firearms that draws upon mana in the air. Firearms remain rare in the sub-orders, although there have been a handful of recorded instances where a Soulforged's weapon manifested as rifle or two pistols.
  
  
  A collaboration with the Soulforged Order led to machinery that was powered by absorbing the same natural energy in the air, much like magicians did. The Soulforged Order created anti-Daemon automata and mechanical mounts to supplement their Soulforged while the general public began to replaced horse-drawn carriages with automobiles. However, this also made these magical machines more susceptible to Daemonic possession and is one of the reasons why the Blasted Plains are so lethal.
  
  
  
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  The Blasted Plains
  
  The wasteland created from Veiya Auro's fall. Despite being infested with daemons and filled with toxic air, many humans still reside in small villages spread across the region. Aside from a few oases, very few plants still thrive here.
  
  
  Veiya Auro: Former capital of Aldin, now reduced to ruins that can no longer convey its former glory. Daemons seem to congregate here and possess the scrapped vehicles. The existence of an Abyssal in this area has not been confirmed yet.
  
  
  The Five Gates: When the Order was divided, each sub-order immediately went to work constructing fortifications to prevent Daemons from invading their territories. The Northern, Eastern, and Western Orders each have one gate built while the Southern Order has constructed two gate that are manned by Erco City's current political entity rather than the Soulforged.
  
  
  

I've got no experience running an RP but I'm planning for this RP to take a limited amount of players. One-liners will be unaccepted and I won't demand 3-4 paragraphs per post. There might be slight stipulations on a character's background (i.e. a Northern Soulforged might be an Iron Ring) but right now I'm still trying to hammer out all the details. Unlike Makai Knights, I wanted to specialize the Soulforged in order to diversify the Tenth Crusade's combat roles and also to make sure that each player brought something different. Like any good Toku, I'm also planning on offering a few upgrades for Soulforged that become available as the story progresses. The general pacing of the story will probably be journeying to Veiya Auro while also dealing with Greater Daemons who are plaguing the villages in the Blasted Plains. In addition, there'll be keeps and Daemon-infested fortresses to clear out along the way. The mystery of Veiya Auro's fall will be gradually revealed by coming across the notes of previous crusades. Abyssal bosses are also planned, although I'm not sure how I'd implement a sort of health bar in a dice-free text roleplay.

 

[Idea]

This seems very interesting and I would love to join, was it not for the fact that this seems heavily reliant on concepts and ideas that you understand but have not explained. Many of then, I believe are not supposed to be exlained, dr one reason or another, but this is a heavily complex idea and it will be hard to find myself immersing in this world that I cannot picture.

 

[GasMaskie]

Perhaps you could list out the concepts that you can't comprehend then?

 

[Idea]

Perhaps you could list out the concepts that you can't comprehend then?

Remind me again on the 21st and I will. Right now, I'm on my phone and I'd take hours just copy pasting.