A sword is not made, it is born. It is born through the life that during the forging it was given. A part of the smith’s heart is left in the blade. And thus the blade gains life. The blade gains a soul of its own and is now out of the smithy’s hand and into the hand of its master. The fire has given it life and the smith has given it a soul. Now it has its own destiny to lead.
It is based upon this principle that armies have been raised. Countries have fallen and empires risen. The blade may find its master. However this isn’t a science. While the blade has the means of life and its own soul it cannot speak. It cannot change destiny and it may only resign to the fate of its master. Yet its own will is still there in its power. It may inhibit its power to those not worthy to wield them and reveal its power to those it can trust. But like trust those powers cannot be revealed at the first meeting. It grows over time until that blade is the companion of a lifetime.
In the history of time there have been legendary warriors, those with upmost command of their blades. But even those, historians have speculated about their command. They say that it was not the upmost power of the blade that been revealed to them. They say that the blades true power had not yet been revealed.

So what would happen if there became people capable of mastering their arte, led in war? The state of flourishing experience. History has asked that question but nobody has been able to answer that question, because those conditions may not arrive in the history of time. But what would happen if it did?

Theme song for the RP: Templars of Steel

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Alright that is the idea of the RP. Now you may be confused about what I meant by the “power” of the swords. And give me a minute to get back to that. But first let me introduce the background of the RP.

Nations
There are 5 nations and I will give a brief description of each here.

Kirtian- Kingdom- Famous for its military might and is located in the north of the continent. However it has a low standard of living. This is the country where the civil war has erupted in. This country has a good system of roads and is relatively easy to pass through, even though it is rather mountainous. It is lined with many fortresses and its cities are terraces to make up for the mountainous territory. Its men are heralded as the strongest in the world and its main economic business is mining. It is cold much of the year up there and snow covers many of the mountaintops. It has a border on plains to Gechuetz in its west, Mountains to Hasal to its south, and Farility to its southeast. Kirtian is rivals with Nattal and not on good terms with Gechuetz but allies with Farility.

Nattal-Republic – Nattal is located in the warm south of the continent. A rather large country, its size is comparable with Kirtian. It has a fairly unstable government, as the government is elected by representatives, corruption is beginning to become more prevalent in the government. However the entire government is not corrupt so there is some stability. Nattal is a rival of Kirtian and on good terms with Farility and on good terms with Gechuetz. Nattal is known for its population and engineering. It is by far the most densely populated of the five countries. It is also the grandest country of all, with most of its buildings multiple floors and with grand mansions and palaces. It is a very urban country with many large cities. (Think renaissance Italy.)However it also has a few rural areas that provide much of the food for the country. It has a northern mountainous border with Hasal and a western desert border with Gechuetz and an eastern grassland border with Farility.

Hasal- Plutocracy (Led by the wealthiest 10 men in the country. The public may call their actions into question however. If found corrupt, the council will complete its session without the member that was found guilty. ) Hasal is the only completely landlocked country of the five. It has one of the most stable governments despite being the smallest country of all. Its government is based upon an annual poll of the ten wealthiest men in the country and they are elected to a council to which people go to with proposals. The government is kept together mainly by the morals of those chosen and while it is not utterly free of corruption, merchants of that quality in Hasal take their business in pride and are quite resistant to corruption. Hasal is a valley, with mountains making its border in the north, east and south, while it is desert in the west. Hasal is rather solitary in politics, preferring to stay out of military or political affairs of other countries. It shares its western border with Gechuetz, northern border with Kirtian and eastern border with Farility and southern border with Nattal. It has a few cities and are often in the style of Greek cities, that are abound with ruins suggesting a grand former empire ruled there.

Gechutez-Theocracy- Gechuetz is a desert empire. It is based in the large western expanses of the desert. It is by far the largest of the five kingdoms and its cities are mainly located on the coasts while having rare cities near oasis more toward the center of its expanse. It has large rock formations that the natives use to navigate. However to those unaccustomed to the desert, they will die. It is a harsh location that has spawned a unique culture and its own religion. The religion is like shintoism, with its leader the one who is most “in tune” with the natural spirits. The men from this region are competent warriors, though not nearly the organization and skill of Kirtian. But what Gechuetz is known for is its spy system. It has an in depth espionage system and its specialists are the best assasans and the best spies in the worldThe towns of Gechuetz are mainly small, due to the lack of resources and the towns are built in a similar style of those in ancient Egypt. Gechuetz is on good terms with Nattal but not on good terms with either Farility or Kirtian. Gechuetz occupies the west of the continent with only the sea on it’s north, south and west. From north to south its borders are with Kirtian, Hasal and Nattal.

Farility-Kingdom- Farility is the knowledge center of the world. It is home to the greatest scholars and tactitians of the time. It is a fairly small kingdom in the southeast of the continent. It has a northern border with Kirtian and western borders with Hasal above the border with Nattal. Farility has the best libraries and tactitians despite having only a modest military. It has few forts and castles, but all are well built and it takes pride in the fact that no castle has ever fallen. The Kingdom is currently very stable, being led by a capable king that has protected the peace across the continent along with a good set of advisors under him. Kirtian has the best navy in the world and has the largest merchant fleet and is said to be the only other country that could make it through the Gechuetz desert. The kingdom is set in low plains that are primarily used for farming and they supply the food for most of the continent in exchange for raw materials such as iron and wool. Farility is much regarded as the most technologically advanced of any kingdom.

Swords/Military
One more thing before I get to describing the properties of the swords. If you wield a sword and were formerly in the army, you MUST HAVE BEEN an officer. The traditional military idea is that the officers get swords and the rest of the division gets lances and axes. Swordsmen are RARE due to the fact of the effort going into making a blade. And as such Blacksmiths are highly regarded, and not anyone is qualified to make a blade. While technically most blacksmiths COULD make a blade, there are one or two in a country that solely on blades, and most blades come from there.

And while it is a single continent there is a heavy emphasis on the Navy of the nation. So while the technology is in the middle ages (Cannons are in existence, but rather rare. They are only used for fortifications as of now as they are ridiculously heavy) the style of the ships is much more advanced. In summation, the ships are like galleons without cannons.

Finally, the swords. As a sword is born it gains a soul. It is a soul of its own with its own values and its own desires. But their powers manifest differently. The swords manifest in elements they’re attributed to, such as fire, ice, lightning, water, or earth. These swords grant their users their power as they desire. And as I stated earlier, these powers grow over time.

But these powers have been classified into categories; defensive, offensive, and support. And they only branch into these categories. For example, if your weapon is an offensive weapon it DOES NOT KNOW abilities other than offensive abilities. They are infinitely specialized and like souls, no two are alike. If you want an example of this, look at my charactors.

Background
As the RP begins, Kirtian has erupted into civil war. A seemingly ragtag band started a surprise attack in a major Kirtian port earning a decisive victory. They escaped with the only ships in the harbor that they did not burn. They raized the fort and took the provisions and escaped. Because the ships in the port were burned they have delayed pursuit, but not for long. Currently they are camped outside a small Kirtian town near the border to Gechuetz, allowing recruits to fill in.
But why is there a civil war? For a while now the king of Kirtian has changed. He has not been looking after the safety of the populous and is benefitting solely the rich. The gap in classes has grown to the point where movement in classes is pretty much impossible. This has enraged the population to the point where it is divided in two. And so civil war has started.
This band is small right now, but is looking to grow in size while it delays in Kirtian territory. And has only recently has been coined with a name.

The Templars of Steel.

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Finally for the character sheets, follow the guidelines. The only thing that I do not want is a person with no past. If you want to do that, PM me and tell me your ideas for their history, because you MUST have some ideas. However if you do want to keep their bio secret then PM me and I will allow a mystery bio. Secondly, under the equipment, describe your sword. Describe their fighting style and their sword’s appearance and its abilities. Please do it like this:

Element:
Type (Offensive, Defensive, or Support):
Description of abilities (Just a generic idea):

Also if you have an idea for an element that’s rather unusual, PM me. Most likely, I will allow it. It just can’t be godly.

THANK YOU!!!