NOTE: If you are already in this RP, do not worry about this topic for now! More details coming soon™.
The Breaking of Balance
In the beginning there were four. Four beings of power so vast, that beneath them they forged a world, a world of many things of all colours, shapes and sizes that flew and walked and swam in their shadow. These four beings were in utter harmony, so much so that they had no individual identity, and were only parts of a greater whole, the whole that was Balance. Balance forged a world, and balance forged beings to dwell upon it, the birds of the air, the serpents of the sea, the dragons of the fire and the beasts of the land.
But such Balance could never last, in a world so violent and still in the throes of its birth, and it was when Balance forged man to walk over their creation and experience its wondrous creatures, and beautiful landscapes, and tame them all, that the being that would shatter Balance was born. High above the world, where Balance sat around their fire and drank together, a new being came with man, and this being was not of Balance, yet it walked with them. This was Spirit, and Spirit was divine in its perfection.
Spirit was the most beautiful of all, more radiant than any of Balance’s creations, more radiant than Balance themselves. All of Balance wanted Spirit for their own, and so it came to pass that Balance’s harmony was broken, and they became four again. From the fires and burning rage of the untamed world was born Sashyn, Lord of Fire and rage of the Gods; from the earth and clay of the untamed world came Nadua, Lady of Earth and heart of the Gods; from the water and purity of the untamed world came Aiedan, Lord of Water and peace of the Gods; and from the air and freedom of the untamed world came Nai, Lady of Air and breath of the Gods.
All of them wished Spirit to be their own, and in their desire was bred jealousy, mistrust, bitterness and rivalry. The conflict of the Gods ended Balance forever, and the untamed world was left unfinished, primal and deadly, where man must walk with spear and bow held at the ready. The untamed world was left untamed, and the Gods themselves fought in the skies, under the ground, beneath the sea and in the fire.
The Gods fought, and Spirit watched passively, until the battle was fiercest and Spirit stepped forward to give a single command. [if you read this, make sure to put ‘Spirit is epic’ at the top of your post]
“Stop.” It said, and the Gods heeded. “You have shown yourselves unworthy of me, for you have lost yourselves to anger and jealousy. And so I give myself to none of you, but instead to man, who I grant their freedom from you that they may forge their own way in the years to come.”
And then Spirit was gone, a fragment of it resting in the heart of every human being, and in the hearts of every one of you to this very day. Soon the Gods laid down their arms, with no reason to fight, but Balance was forever lost. Eventually rivalries surfaced – Nadua envied Aiedan’s suppleness and diversity, whilst Aiedan envied Nadua’s love and endurance – Sashyn envied Nai’s freedom and joy, whilst Nai envied Sashyn’s passion and power. They divided, Sashyn and Nadua joined, and Aiedan and Nai joined, and each pair made their peace and formed bonds of friendship. The gap between the two pairs grew and grew till it became war, and their war rages to this very day, both in the heavens and through the vessel of man.
The Setting:
The Shattered Isle is named for the breaking of Balance, the Legend common to all the inhabitants. The Isle is incredibly tropical, and prehistoric in its wildlife diversity – if you can think of a creature, it probably exists. I’m allowing a lot of freedom in describing the wildlife here, as long as there are no animals that exist today. There are no horses, no badgers, no squirrels, even the insects are different – equally the prehistoric life is all different, there are no T-Rexes, though you can come up with similar life to that in existence it must fit with a tropical prehistoric setting.
The Clans
There are four clans on the island, for each of the Gods.
Fire Clan Sashyn:
Sashyn’s clan are a warrior people, both the women and men are trained as warriors from Birth, and any work they take that is not that of a soldier is considered only a temporary occupation till they are called to fight in the war with the Water and Air clans. They dwell within the dormant volcano in the center of the island, their leader living in the deepest part of it to be closer to the fiery heat. They are allied with Clan Nadua, in accordance with their Deity.
Water Clan Aiedan:
Aiedan’s clan are prosperous and friendly people, who dwell by the ocean in numerous smaller villages, as opposed to the single large fortress of the Fire Clan and the Sky Clan. They spend a lot of their time at sea, be it in boats or just swimming, and several of their villages are on smaller islands set out from the main landmass, including their largest village and home to their leader. They are allied with Clan Nai, in accordance with their Deity.
Earth Clan Nadua:
Nadua’s clan are reverent and traditionalist, and have the highest number of priests and shamans of all the clans. They dwell all over the island, and are the most extensive of the clans – though they are kept from the coast by the Aiedan clan. Their capital is set in a deep cavern beneath the surface of the island, and within they have a circle of mystics that act as their leaders. They are allied with Clan Sashyn, in accordance with their deity.
Sky Clan Nai:
Nai’s clan are a free and proud people, who ride great birds and winged beasts through the skies of the island, dwelling upon the peaks of the mountains. Their leaders are a council of the most experienced and agile riders, be they young or old. Their villages are few and far between, nestled in the peaks and their capital is set upon the highest peak of the island, and down its side in layers – treacherous for any outsider. They are allied with Clan Aiedan, in accordance with their Deity.
The Na’vin:
The Na’vin are the chosen of their God, a select few who are chosen from birth to lead their clan in war and fight for their deity, gifted with supernatural powers to do so. At any one time, each clan has two Na’vin, a male and a female, who can manipulate their God’s element at will. When one Na’vin dies, another is immediately chosen at the same moment, normally a young child of between five and ten. There are distinctive physical signs of a Na’vin, including changes in hair and eye colour, and the appearance of tattoos upon their form. These correspond to the element, so Fire Na’vin have bright orange or red hair and eyes, Water blue or blonde, Air silver or black, and Earth green or brown. These men and women have strong influence within their clan, but are first and foremost warriors, to serve the clan, not lead it. The only time a Na’vin has been a leader is when one has made it onto the Nai council of fliers.
Animal Affinity
The denizens of the Shattered Isle are one with nature, and though predators are just as dangerous and prey just as much a food source, they treat the animals and plants with a reverence – when an animal is slain for food they say a prayer to their God over its body, or when a predator slain in self defence – which allows them to understand and link with it. Each clan has an affinity to animals that dwell within their element, Earth and Water naturally having the greatest diversity and Fire the least (though most mythical and powerful), and equally each Clan has its own traditional warrior mount.
Fire: Underdrakes, dragon like creatures that dwell within the volcano, more at home on the ground but with the ability to fly clumsily, as well as breathe fire and stomp the hell out of enemies on foot.
Earth: Unicorns, not what you might expect, Unicorns are vicious, large hoofed quadrupeds with a single horn similar to that of a Hercules Beetle, though their form is similar to that of a large horse, with the face melding into the large horn.
Water: Sea Serpents, long and winding giant serpents that dwell beneath the waves, though masterful in the water their small legs allow them to travel on land in a way similar to a lizard.
Air: Pteraptors, reptilian winged beasts with vicious teeth in their extended snouts that resemble those of raptors, and leathery wings that resemble pterodactyls (or 'rhamphorynchoid pterosaurs' according to dino), as well as long whip-like tails. They are the most agile creatures in the sky for their large size, but are positively useless on the ground.
THE RP:
The RP is set around the war between the clans, and the main players will of course be the Na’vin. There are only two Na’vin per clan, one male and one female, and you will notice I have taken one for both the fire and the air clans – this is so I have a strong influence in both sides, in case direction or interaction is needed to move the RP on or get people involved. Everyone else is limited to one Na’vin and one other character, or two none Na’vin characters – the Na’vin spots are going to be the most important, and so if I don’t feel you’re up to the task I won’t give you the spot. There will be two spots for Na'vin with even greater significance to the storyline, so if you want to apply for one of those please PM me first for the necessary details [if you read this, make sure to put ‘Na’vin are warriors first’ at the bottom of your post]
If you want to play one of the leaders of the clans, again I will be very demanding in requirements for the players – more so for the single leaders of the Fire and Water clans than the councils of the Earth and Sky.
Otherwise, feel free to be creative in your concepts, but be aware that I want all characters in a respective clan to know each other, if not personally then at least vaguely, so that interaction is easier – so all characters will be starting off in their respective capitals.
Positions that MUST be filled, or they will be NPC'd
Male Fire Na'vin - Kurz 'Madslash' Salamen - Played by: RedOctoberNM
Female Fire Na'vin - Sasyra 'Firecrown' Moradin - Played by: Parabola
Male Earth Na'vin - Hessin 'Mountaintamer' Geltron - Played by: Conumbra
Female Earth Na'vin - OPEN
Male Water Na'vin - Zane 'Tsunami' Naida - Played by: TheUnearthlyGroan
Female Water Na'vin - Kryla 'Tidal' Grilldaea - Played by: CriminalMinds
Male Air Na'vin - Sarrer Vaze - Played by: Alvaron
Female Air Na'vin - Shai 'Stormchaser' Sunamon - Played by: Parabola
Fire Clan Leader (male) - Available - currently NPC'd by Parabola
Earth High Councillor - Syn 'The Honourable' Tyrus - Played by: PriestKoo
Water Clan Leader - Reserved: Hunter_Killer
Air High Councillor - Laylei 'Fog-Bearer' Limora - Played by: Laylei
The Rules:
1. No Godmodding, metagaming, powerplaying, blah blah blah - you know the drill.
2. I am the GM, my word is law, even if it isn't in the rules, if I say you can't do it - you can't do it.
3. I reserve the right to reject any and all profiles that I don't like the look of, or if your past posts aren't up to scratch, or even if I just feel like it.
4. I also reserve the right to remove you from the RP at any time if I feel you aren't up to standards
5. Make decent posts, please make sure that every post is at least 3 paragraphs (a paragraph is five to six lines without linebreaks) long, if not more.
6. Follow the general RPG rules.
7. Be civil in public, take any arguments to PM or straight to me.
Character Skeleton:
- Code: Select all
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] (at least a paragraph of description, a picture can be used as well as a visual aid, mind that’s AS WELL)
[b]Role:[/b] (E.g. warrior, hunter, Na’vin etc.)
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Brief History:[/b] (At least two paragraphs please)
