Yes my friends, the land of Cysthon is infested with dragons and their ilk. True, most of the common folk do not see or get eaten by true dragons but their lesser cousins; Knuckers, Firedrakes, Lindworms, Wyverns and Wyrms. Ignorant peasants and nobles alike lump these great beasts under the term dragon but there are thoughs who know different, the Ordo Increpo Draco Occisors or order of dragon slayers.
In centuries past, during the period of history were an ancient empire ruled all, the Ordo Increpo Draco Occisors were an elite band trained from birth to hunt dragons that had gone rogue. Now, the Higan Empire was able to rule for well over a thousand years unopposed because of their greatest weapon, the Dragon Orb. This large sphere of ever changing color crystal had the power to control dragons and their kin, with only the very stupid or very willful being able to ignore its clarion call.
The troubles with dragonkind started roughly five hundred years ago, when a great plague struck the lands, hitting hardest at the Imperial capital of Rodine. Every member of the Imperial family was stricken with the deadly disease and died within days, covered in terrible boils and coughing up puss filled lungs. As the emperor harked out his last breath, an ever-faithful servant carried the orb down into a massive system of tunnels and caverns, where three dragons guarded the wealth of the Imperial treasury.
With the emperor dead and his control over dragonkind gone, the beasts reverted (well almost all of them, several dragons remained tame proving that it might be possible to tame more, one just would need to find a brooding hen willing to give up her baby) to their true nature, as marauding creatures of nightmare. The living abandoned Rodine, many of the towns and cities until the plague had passed. Even then, the capital remained a city of the dead, as the dragons starved away on top of great piles of what is called, cursed gold..
With their world shattered, the Dragon Slayers broke apart, spread across the land and recruiting all those that were willing to (or had been forced to) kill dragons. The elite status of their order was dimmed some by the influx of members and a division split the ranks. Although to the common and nobles alike, each and every member is a Dragon Slayer, within the order, there are Dragon Slayers and Wyrm Slayers. A Dragon Slayer was someone that has killed (or helped) a dragon, wyvern or a firedrake. A Wyrm Slayer is someone who has killed (or helped) a knucker, lindworm or wyrm.
Knight-errants and nobles also challenge Dragon Slayers, seeking to gain the fame and glory of killing dragons. It is not an all out rivalry, an which the two parties come to blows (most time) but snide comments and uncomfortable meetings are common
Storyline thingy
We’re going to start off with the players split off in groups of two or three, having what adventures they may. After a while, we will all meet at the Slayer’s Ball, a party of sorts, held once every five years with in the abandoned city of Rodine. Once there, they will find the Dragon Orb stolen and its last guardian dead. After that, they have to track it down with some evil bugger starting to forge an army to take over the world or possibly working for an evil dragon, hell bent on taking all the wealth in the world (not like all dragons don’t want that).
Dragonkind
True Dragon
Mighty beasts of indeterminate growth (rapid growth when young and slower growth continuing throughout adulthood), these are the biggest, smartest and most feared of all dragonkind. To hunt one, a party of men is required with their ability to breath fire and fly. It is recorded by Imperial scholars that they can live for half a millennium or more and learn to speak the tongues of men late in life. Something that set them apart from others of Dragonkind is their love of treasure and the fact that they will go through great pains to acquire hoards of coins and gems.
Wyvern
Although smaller then True Dragons, a Wyvern is twice as fierce and hungry. Known for eating anything and being twice as deadly as their smarter cousin (a dragon may snatch a maiden to hold her for ransom, a wyvern will snatch one simply to eat), wyverns have been the target of many hunts, thinner their numbers down to a barely maintainable breeding population. Another thing that sets them apart from dragons is their lack of firebreathing.
Firedrake
The least of the Greater Dragonkind, Firedrakes are nonetheless dangerous. Being almost as large as dragons and almost as long lived; they only lack wings and the intelligence of their mightier cousins. The love of gold is also not found to be as great in Firedrakes, as they will settle for a small pile of glittering tin.
Knucker
The thin, serpent like Knucker is the most common of Dragonkind, being found in wells, sewers and just about everywhere they can find a place to burrow and find prey. They are also the most common breasts that a knight will fights, as they are the only ones that one might have a good chance to kill with a sword, do to their very thin scales, should one be able to escape a poisonous breath. The small wings they grow are not truly wing but quasiwings more for show then flight.
Lindworm
Serpentine and water loving, Lindworms love to live in deep wells or lakes, were they can pop up and constrict their prey. Their numbers are lessened over the years, as Knuckers often take over their lairs. They are a little more dangerous then a knucker or wyrm, because of the ambush hunting tactics they use.
Wyrm
The primitive living ancestor of all Dragonkind, Wyrms are the largest of all of the Lesser Dragonkind, nearly matching the Firedrake in size. Their powerful coils crush the bones of anything they catch into a fine powder before swallowing them alive.
Rules
1.No ninjas. NONE. Don't bother explaining your martial arts skills to me, or how they fit into the story, or how it will enhance the story or whatever. The answer is a simple, clean cut NO. This is a game with a western medieval setting, so you will either be playing a knight or a slayer or a soldier of some sort. No ninjas or samurai or eastern weapons .
2.Obey the basic rules of RPing. No Godmodding (controlling another player's character without permission from them), respect your fellow players, have fun and whatnot.
3.You MUST read the posts before yours. Don't skim or you could miss something important.
4. This is a pet peeve of mine, if you put Long Sword or Broad Sword, I will ask you what you mean. A Long Sword is a two handed weapon who's name is mistakenly used to describe the Arming/Knightly Sword. A Broad Sword is a Basket-hilted sword (not time period) but is also mistakenly used to name an Arming/Knightly Sword or Dao.
5.Request permission to join either by PMing me or by posting here, in the OOC thread. Don't do it on the IC thread.
6.Absolutely no OOC in the IC thread. If you slip up, you will be requested to alter your post. Slip up a lot, and I might begin to think that you just didn't read the rules. So you'll probably be kicked
7. If you’ve read all the rules, put “I like Ike” at to bottom of your post
8.If you go 7 days without posting (without first giving a reasonable excuse, such as vacation, super busy schedule at school, death), you will be kicked from the game.
9.Keep a reasonable amount of realism in your posts. There is a fantasy element here, but it still takes place in a time period near the 1000s. So no time traveling machine gun wielding Amazons running around in bikinis and whatnot.
10.Don't try to force the plot forward. What makes a game work well is if we all work together to push forward the storyline...but don't go from sitting in a tavern to you being brutalized by an Australian king's pet naga that has decided to sweep you away to be his bride. Or anything odd like that.
11. Dragon Slayers do not wear metal armor other then chain mail and veteran slayers disfavor even that. Metal armor is noisy and only helps to cook you if a dragon breaths fire on or near your person. However, plate armor is effective counter measure against constrictors like wyrms and lindworms, though a lighter and swifter slayer in leather armor is just as likely to kill one.
Character Profiles
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Faction: (slayers or other)
Class: (Dragon or Wyrm slayer or noble rank)
Appearance:
Weapon(s):
Bio:
Mine
Name: Alex Forge
Age: 33
Gender: male
Faction: Slayers
Class: Dragon Slayer
Appearance: A large man, built like a blacksmith, with shoulder length hair and short beard looking like they have been dyed with ash. His large hands are covered calluses and old burns, from years working as an apprentice blacksmith. Soft gray eyes take a prominent place on an otherwise broad and plain face. He normally dresses in a tunic of green linen, trousers of brown wool and leather boots. Over those, Alex wears studded leather bracers, greaves and a breastplate.
Weapon(s): Crossbow and a halberd
Bio: Since he was born, Alex was destined to take over as village blacksmith from his equity as large father. He spend years working bellows and making nails, barrel hoops or horseshoes. When he was around sixteen years of age, when a lindworm took up residence in the town well, which was located just inside the forest. The beast attacked several of the towns folk and a nearby Dragon Slayer was summoned to removed the dangerous beast from town. However, before the Dragon Slayer could arrive, the lindworm attacked and nearly killed his sister.
Alex took the heaviest hammer from his father forge and set off for the well. He was found there several hours later by the Dragon Slayer, with broken ribs and the dead lindworm coiled around him. The beast had managed to nearly crush him to death before he smashed it's head in with the hammer. After that, he was taken as an apprentice Dragon Slayer, killing several more lindworms and two knuckers before helping to take down a Firedrake at age twenty-seven.
I've never even heard of that series. What is it about if I may ask?
