The world of Viscale is ruled by the clerics of the temple of Astrea. But over the centuries, the temple has become corrupted, with priests and priestesses abusing their power to achieve wealth and get away with crimes. Anyone who attempts to fight them is branded a heretic and is executed. The clerics job is supposed to be to heal ailments of the people regardless of background, barter for peace and shelter the innocent in times of danger. But nowadays, they collude with criminals, only health those who pay enough and bar the innocent from entering their homes in times of danger. Additionally, they have built a class like system with the pope and the clerics at the top, followed by wealth tradesmen and nobles, then soldiers, then citizens and at the very bottom heretics and heathens. Anyone branded a heretic or heathen is deemed unworthy of life. The class system is also visible in the cities with clerics often living in the highest parts of the city, usually a mountain. The lower the class the lower in the city they live.

Down in a dungeon, over a dozen prisoners await a show trial followed by execution. There is no justice for them as a show trial means their fates are already determined before the trial has started. Within the dungeon most share a single cell with exception of a single woman in priestess garbs covered in blood. Her cell stands out as the bars are thicker and the guards avoid coming too close to the cell. The prisoners hear from the guards that the priestess is dangerous and probably would kill the other prisoners if she had shared the same cell. They also learn that the priestess was excommunicated for using white magic to kill another cleric, stabbing him with her staff before crushing him to death under a barrier. Upon talking to the priestess, she calls herself the prophet of Astrea and will bring down and purge the corrupted temple so that it can be purified. Thinking the priestess to be crazy and probably someone who has deserved to be here, the prisoners avoid talking to her further.

In the night during sleep, the prisoners hear a snap and then a loud metallic bang waking all of them up. The priestess managed to break out of her cell and kill the guard that was in the room. The cell door was off it's hinges. The priestess takes the key from the guard and unlocks the cell door to let the prisoners out. She tells them they are free, but to be careful when they escape. The prisoners notice a modified priest staff in her hand. How did she get that? The priestess goes through the door and disappears. The screams of guards in the building can be heard and the prisoners find a trail of their corpses on the way out.

Days later, word of the escape is out. Posters of the priestess are everywhere, yet the portrait is too vague to make it possible to find the right priestess. The temple has put a high bounty on her head, high enough that it could make someone immensely wealthy. The posters however also warn that killing or turning in the wrong priestess will be a death sentence.

The escaped prisoners now have to get far enough away from the city to be able to lay low and maybe find jobs in the countryside to make ends meet and to hope that the temple forgets about them or that they can bribe their way out of their situation. But it seems the priestess is never far away.

Roles:

Heroes (Protagonists):


Clerics (Antagonists):


Priestess (Antagonist) played by Aniihya


Viscale: A large nation ruled by the Temple of Astrea and their paladins. The climate is mostly moderate and the landscape is mostly friendly as it consists of forests, farmland and some mountains. The capital is named Astrea's Crest. The starting town is called Heavensdale and is a farming community about a two and a half days journey by foot away from the capital.

Heavensdale: Heavensdale is a town of about 2,500. Many here are farmers, but this is also a place where the adventurer's guild recruits new adventurers and is therefore a perfect place for the escapees to start anew. The reigning priest is quite benevolent compared to those in the capital and will likely turn a blind eye to the escaped convicts knowing well that most of them were probably arrested for crimes they didn't commit. The town has a potion store, a general store, an armorer, a weaponsmith, a temple, an adventurer's guild, an inn, open lots for building homes, restaurants, clothiers, cafes and places for non-adventuring work such as roofing or carrying materials.


Character sheet:

Name
Age
Race (Elf, Dwarf or Human)
Gender
Appearance
Clothing (clothing, not armor. fantasy style, best medieval-ish)
Armor (Starter armor can be leather or used chainmail of whatever description you like as long as it doesn't have unfair advantage or overpowered written all over it)
Weapon (your old weapon was confiscated and could not be found, you have to use a second hand weapon with clear wear and probably needs sharpening or balancing)
Magic ability: (You can use magic, but you are neither a pro nor an expert at it. You need a lot of practice to get better at it. Possible magicks: White magic, fire magic, water magic, earth magic, wind magic, summoning, black magic aka destruction magic, illusion magic, support magic, beast magic, transformation.)
Alignment: (Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Good, True Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil. For further information: http://easydamus.com/alignment.html)
Personality
Background