A ship that sails the heavens. This is what we are meant to believe - this is what has been shown to us. Erythoril shines like a pale, straw-coloured mirror across the expansive bow of what they tell us is a ship. It has no sails, no lines. It is drawn neither by the wind, nor the horse, but powers instead - they tell us - from the same material that graces its smooth curves. It is said it will sail through the wide expanse of the stars and to planets close in image to our own, yet it was not long ago that those bright pinpricks were mere ancestors, watching serenly over us as we worked our way through the years. Some say it will not work - that we will be cast from the heavens and fall back into the present where we belong. Other say it will be a great leap into the future and we will finally find our true place in this 'Universe'. Whatever you believe, I believe there is one thing that is certain. We are at the edge of the world. The question is: will you stumble...
Or will you jump?
Or will you jump?
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Indri'Enis: The Year of the Roc - 1675.
Planet
Apart from being more oceanic, i.e. ¾ water, this world differs little from Earth. It is a similar size with the same density, gravity and atmosphere and has only a single sun. It does, however, have two moons – Isiah and Ortel – that orbit perpendicular to each other. Major constellations include the Little Cub, Hertius, and Lia’s Mirror. A bright blue speck marks the nearest planet – named Lorvas – and is visible during day and night.
Landscape
Most land = archipelagos of between 1 and 20 islands, scattered randomly across the globe. There are no continents, only Regions and Archipelagos. Landscape ranges widely like Earth, with forests, deserts, mountains, ice, etc. About 60% of the land is habitable (i.e. big enough and with a habitable landscape).
The story will take place upon Ista, the largest island of the Istan Region which contains six islands in total - in order of size: Ista, Galvos, Forten (uninhabitable), Mart and Ninia (uninhabitable). Ista is an extinct volcanic island with the main towns and cities huddled in the centre of the large (miles-wide) crater and surrounded by mountains. A pass created by an ancient glacier carves through the SE side of the mountain ring, opening out into the largest harbour in the world. Many beaches and coves can be found around the outer edge of the island and a large reef encompasses the whole of the N/E. Climate is the same as the rest of the world, though the major cities and towns are protected to some extent from the worst of it by the mountainous barrier that surrounds them.
Goat and sheep are the main farming practice, grazing on the rough mountain slopes, and cities often hold their own orchards. The mountains cannot be navigated during the winter and, during the blizzard month, even the large SE pass is often too dangerous to travel through. Forests – coniferous on the inner edge, tropical on the outer – can be found at the base of the volcano and are more clumped than evenly spread in the crater due to forestry.
At the centre point of the crater is a lake that is fed from several small tributaries from their sources on the mountain peaks to the estuary mouth at the sea, through the SE pass.
Climate/Tides
Climate is generally the same all over the world but with season extremes: Spring = monsoon season, Summer = drought season, Autumn = hurricane season, Winter = blizzard season. Extremes are predictable, with each season containing a full month of sporadic extreme weather, i.e. March-May = Spring (monsoons = April), June-August = Summer (drought = July), September-November = Autumn (hurricanes = October), December-February = Winter (blizzards = January).
Tides are extreme four times a year when the moons are closest to each other and correspond with the extreme weather: high tides in April and October (often resulting in floods) and low tides in July and January (land bridges form between some islands).
Animals
Teela are the sentient humanoid natives, having evolved from ape-like ancestors, and have been around for just over half a millenia. No other humanoid races as of yet, due to space travel only just being invented.
There are no magical creatures but some very large species are present – most notably Kraken (sea-squids), Morgar (sea-serpents) and Rocs (eagles) – as well as the endemic Eben-wolves (rock-wolves).
There is more than one type of Kraken and each subspecies varies in appearance and size: elongated to round, the size of a small fishing boat to a three-masted flagship and bigger. Kraken are only found on deep-sea voyages and as such, these are made with caution (leading to further segregation of each race).
Morgar are more common than Kraken and vary even more in size – from the size of a small viper to bigger than the width of a carriage and the length of ten – and vary in colouration depending on age. Young Morgar are more brightly coloured, indicating their poisonousness to predators, whereas older Morgar use more stealth in their attacks and thus are duller – often camouflaged.
Rocs - the giant eagles - come in a variety of colours from greys and creams, to blacks and mahoganys. Temperaments also vary between the extremes of hostile and friendly, and a soldier needing to tame a Roc must be wary of the eagle's volatile mood swings. However, Rocs are extremely loyal and once bonded share a very close relationship with whatever it deems its companion. Rocs, therefore can never be adopted once their companion has died. Roc lifespans vary little - most healthy birds living to between 90-100 years - however, lifestyle changes may reduce lifespans significantly e.g. Sky-fighters.
Eben-wolves - commonly known as rock-/cliff-wolves - are wild, secretive creatures that patrol the mountains throughout the globe. The rarely come down from the snowy heights, except in the extreme blizzard month where they can often be found scouring the forests for food. Females have between 2 and 12 cubs and the pack follows a matriarcal heirarchy, males ranging between packs to find mates and hunting singularly. They have been known to attack mounted couriers in times of low food.
Civilisation
Capital island = approx. 46,500,000. World population = approx. 2,000,000,000. Small town = up to 5,000. Large town = between 5,000 and 50,000. City = >50,000.
Cultural diveristy between native Teela is distinguished by their markings – both patterning and colour. More LEDCs than MEDCs (medieval-like era). Social heirarchies within civilisation are often based on colour. Differences in marking shapes often reflects race advancement (the larger and more irregular the markings, the less civilised the race is; can be a generalisation though).
Nb: The eldest sibling often takes on part of the mother/father's name (depending on sex), e.g. my character's older brother Leor takes his name from the first part of his father's forename 'Leortraeus'. Forename of child can be taken from part of parent's forename or family name.
Currency: 1 x Amber Imperial = 5 x Crimson Shillings; 1 x Crimson Shilling = 100 x Ivory Pennies.
Communication on the island is via messenger (usually single rider – rapid delivery) or courier (horse-drawn carriage – slower and more susceptible to bandits). Communication between islands is via Roc - which often only the rich can afford - or via boat. The only possibility of travel between islands in this world is by boat - of which there are all shapes and sizes - as Rocs are only available for travelling in certain occupations, e.g. militant, exploration, courier, etc.
Guilds:
1. Weapons: The most secrective guild of the three, the Weapons Guild has no determined base, though it is well-known across the island. Once a blacksmith establishes his business in weapon-craft, he is contacted by the guild who enforces a licencing fee, in return recieving protection and more high-class clientelle. A smith may also be invited to produce metalwork other than weaponry and is paid hansomly for the privilage. The weapons guild may also provide training to smiths if and when needed.
2. Militant: The Militant Guild is pretty self-explanitary and holds a base - known simply as the Citadel - on the SW side of Ista's crator, close to the pass entrance. Members are invited or can request admission and most are accepted as long as they agree to the training necessary. Different factions are often created through Teela markings, causing some rivalry to arise, however, healers entering the guild from the Academy are accepted and respected by all factions. 'Sky-fighters', 'Stealth' teams and 'Explorers' and are the only militant factions that can rise to the privilage of training and riding Rocs. Sailors are also trained under the militant guild's ageis.
3. Academic: The Academic Guild - also known as the Academy - tutors the poplace in all other aspects than those above. It is the most prominent of its kind and teaches a variety of Teela races, in everything from literature and law to art, theatre and alchemy. The Academy proper is situated on the opposite side of the crator to the Militant Guild, but has various oratoriums across the island - one in each major town.
Healers go through the Academy like the historians, artisits etc. Because healers are so essential, students are often taught in small groups of no more than half-a-dozen to ensure they get the correct training. I'd say a typical healer apprenticeship is around 3-5 years, but most stay on afterwards at the Academy as it can be used as a kind of hospital (people generally know that there will be a healer free if they go to the Academy).
Healing is done in the manner of the alchemists - in fact, it's actually a division of alchemy and both alchemists and healers often study together for their first year. Natural liquids, powders and herbs are used and are mixed to create new ones. Sometimes a healer will create something personal, i.e. not used by anyone else, and these become their trade-mark. Healers can either generalise their knowledge or choose to specify on a particular section of healing, e.g. wounds, burns, sickness, sanity, etc.
'Magic'
‘Magic’ is composed of alchemy or tribal-like rituals, depending on how civilised the race. Simple alchemy uses natural powders and liquids, occasionally bound with ritualisations, whereas complex alchemy used for weapons and flight involves the latter combined with a form of ore called Erythoril.
• Erythoril is a mirrorlike, apricot-coloured ore. It is heavy, smooth and extremely inflexible in solid form. Its melting point is very high, though combining it with other compounds can lower the melting point. Once tempered (like steel), it provides excellent protection from radiation and some insulation against temperature changes, as well as being very unreactive. The smell of sugar comes from this material in its crude form. When exposed to open flame, i.e. when tempered, it becomes paler and almost white-gold in color and is used in this state for metalwork, jewelery and weaponry. When the crude ore is exposed to acid, it explodes, and this has recently been used in the development of space-flight.
‘Magic’ used in rituals comes from personal willpower and is an inexhaustable resource, depending on how the rituals are undertaken. Fasting is more common than sacrifices in LEDCs but the latter do occur: mostly animals but sometimes with the shaman’s own blood or limbs. MEDCs have realised that neither fasting nor sacrifices are necessary for the rituals to work and often only use alchemy anyway.
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This roleplay is a fantasy/sci-fi roleplay with the premise of exploration. Over the last 50 years, Ista's militant and weapons guild have been developing a ship like no other: a ship that will sail the heavens. Made and powered from the world's most precious ore - Erythoril - many have been skeptical but more recently, most have been intrigued. Now has come the time to send out an expedition far into the sky and in this venture, all three guilds have become involved in inviting and training individuals for the flight.
In terms of characters, each must have a purpose to the voyage. As an example, mine (below) has been employed from the militant guild to protect these few VIPs throughout the voyage and the exploration of any planets they'll find. Your characters can be anything from cartographers and geologists to historians and alchemists to weapon-smiths and hunters. However, if you wished simply to become a rich Lord/Lady with influence enough to secure a trip into space, then that's fine with me. If you wanted to become a stow-away... ask, maybe, and I'll see (I don't want too many tag-alongs otherwise there'll be no realism in security aspect). The decision is up to you.
As far as the storyline goes: we'll start off on Ista, approximately 2-4 weeks before the launch date, to allow characters to meet, greet and develop. Then there'll be a period 'in-flight', followed by a rather large section exploring a new planet (maybe even more than one) and/or the two orbiting moons.
Now: THE IMPORTANT BIT! This has been moved from another Advanced roleplaying site, and I'd rather stick to the current storyline so far. There are plenty of places characters can slip into this story arch but if you have any concerns as to where to come in, please PM me and I'll suggest a few ideas. I will be editing my first IC post to include the story so far so PLEASE READ THE FIRST IC POST CAREFULLY. It will contain integral parts of the storyline that you will need to know for your grand entrace! Presently, the 2 other roleplayers Hedya (Stella) and Kestrel (Jean) don't know too much detail about my plot ideas for this arch so everything you need to know has been said IC.
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When writing a character sheet, please try to stick to the below template as much as possible:
- Code: Select all
[u][b]Name: [/b][/u]
[b][u]Description:[/u][/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Height: [/b]
[b]Weight: [/b]
[b]Race: [/b]
[b]Eye Colour: [/b]
[b]Hair:[/b]
[b]• Colour: [/b]
[b]• Length: [/b]
[b]• Style: [/b]
[b]• Worn: [/b]
[b]Skin colour: [/b]
[b]Shape of Face: [/b]
[b]Teela Markings:[/b]
[b]Other distinguishing features: [/b]
[b]How does he/she dress? [/b]
[b]Health:[/b]
[b]Disabilities: [/b]
[u][b]Equipment[/b][/u]
[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[b]Mannerisms:[/b]
[b]Relationship skills: [/b]
[b]Habits: [/b]
[b]Hobbies: [/b]
[b]Favorite Sayings: [/b]
[b]Speech patterns: [/b]
[b]Style (Elegant, shabby etc.): [/b]
[b]Educational Background: [/b]
[b]Intelligence Level: [/b]
[b]Any Mental Illnesses? [/b]
[b]Character's short-term goals in life: [/b]
[b]Character's long-term goals in life:[/b]
[b]How does Character see himself/herself? [/b]
[b]How does Character believe he/she is perceived by others? [/b]
[b]How self-confident is the character? [/b]
[b]Does the character seem ruled by emotion or logic or some combination thereof? [/b]
[b]What would most embarrass this character? [/b]
[b]Strengths/Weaknesses: [/b]
[b]Introvert or Extrovert? [/b]
[b]How does the character deal with anger? [/b]
[b]With sadness? [/b]
[b]With conflict? [/b]
[b]With change? [/b]
[b]With loss? [/b]
[b]What does the character want out of life? [/b]
[b]What would the character like to change in his/her life? [/b]
[b]What motivates this character? [/b]
[b]What frightens this character? [/b]
[b]What makes this character happy? [/b]
[b]Is the character judgmental of others? [/b]
[b]Is the character generous or stingy? [/b]
[b]Is the character generally polite or rude? [/b]
[b]What are the character's spiritual beliefs? [/b]
[b]Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life?[/b]
[b]If so, what role does it play?[/b]
[b][u]History:[/u][/b]
[b]Socioeconomic Level (child): [/b]
[b]Socioeconomic Level (adult): [/b]
[b]Occupation: [/b]
[b]Income: [/b]
[b]Talents/Skills: [/b]
[b]Birth order: [/b]
[b]Parents: [/b]
[b]Siblings: [/b]
[b]Spouse: [/b]
[b]Children: [/b]
[b]Significant Others (describe relationship): [/b]
[b]Biography [to present]:[/b]
