Crusades and Holocausts (OOC)

[Asyrdar]

Hoo-ha!

I am Asyrdar, and this is the RP version of a novel I am in the process of writing. I run it on occasion to try out new ideas for characters and little plot tweaks, and well, this site was recommended to me by various others, so why not, right?



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A False Beginning

Before I can begin explaining where you all, the PCs, will be, I have to go a little far back in history first. The last time that the realm of Archanas was a united nation, it was ruled by a cruel devil of a woman, Queen Jezebel. A Demonologist and Necromancer, Jezebel kept a wealth of demonic pacts, and was cruel to the people of Archanas. A man known as "The Catalyst", Aerion Stormborne used his unnatural powers of manipulation to organize a rebellion against Jezebel. However, no man is immune to temptation and evil, and he forced himself upon the Captain of the Queen's personal guard, Ellyria Norman. By oath, Norman is to remain celibate; so when it eventually became obvious that she was to bear a child, the Queen in ignorance believed it to fulfill a prophecy of a Black Prophet, born of a virgin mother, who will pave the way for Demonic rule of the Material Realm.

Aerion Stormborne's rebellion was crushed, and the Catalyst himself was imprisoned under another man's identity, presumably for life. The only person who could have identified him, Captain Norman, was in labor with his son, the presumed Black Prophet. That boy was named Alastor by his mother, and was taken in as the personal acolyte of the Queen's Demonologist, Zerakath Gaos, at the age of twelve. A young prodigy, Gaos is only six years older than Alastor. The two grow up to be more like brothers than mentor and pupil. At the age of 18, Alastor suddenly switches sides whilst pursuing Aerion Stormborne, who had escaped imprisonment, and his identity learned. It is presumed that he learned of his true origins and was swayed by his father. Using his own status, connections, and charisma along with his father's, Alastor is able to organize a massive coalition in secret over the course of many months. With the borders of the capital city, Daranaughl, quiet due to Alastor's deep connections, the coalition is able to lead a four-pointed attack in secret. The Archanan military, mostly off-duty and apathetic to the concerns of the Queen, are generally unharmed, as the coalition sweeps through the streets of Daranaughl in an effort to corner the Queen and kill her once and for all. With Zerakath Gaos' help, Alastor cuts Jezebel off and the two combined arms to defeat her. With Archanas now free of corruption, Alastor is crowned Emperor, and the two warlords fighting in his command are given a certain large portion of land to preside over as Duke. Their only superior was Alastor himself.

As men are, they are prone to hypocrisy; curious of the devastating powers of Zerakath Gaos and Jezebel, Alastor begins delving deep into the arts of Demonology; by the time his third son, Ezykiel, is born, his bloodline has been poisoned by many demonic pacts, foremost of which with a demon from a deep level of the Nether known as Malak'har, one who has long coveted the world that Maltheris the Creator had built. However, Alastor was killed mysteriously, supposedly whilst trying to bring Malak'har into the Material Realm. It is never discussed, and Regent Marshal Allidar Alekzander was crowned Emperor of Archanas. At that point, the Dukes of Archanas seceded from the realm and many further wars were fought, with the intentions of either side not entirely known. The world was swept up in a whirlwind of pointless bloodshed, and times were indeed dark.

Allidar Alekzander's rule was very much a mirror of Queen Jezebel's, with harsh taxes and laws. Emperor Alekzander himself was of volatile temper and not well liked by many of his advisors. As Alekzander began throwing more and more political enemies in gladiator pits and dungeon cells, he began amassing enemies with the will to fight back. This eventually led to his downfall, as outside rebels schemed with imprisoned political dissidents. It is not confirmed who killed Emperor Alekzander, but it is known that he was defeated atop his favorite gladiator stadium, the Temple of Death’s Hand.

In place of Emperor Alekzander, Sessho Stormborne, the middle son of the Stormborne family, was chosen, and thus the Stormborne Reign continues.

The Old Kingdom, or “Old Archanas”, is now split up into three specific regions; Archanas Imperialis is Central Archanas, ruled by Emperor Sessho Stormborne. This is the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world; with large, fertile valleys and lined with large mountains, it is the most defensible location in the Old Kingdom. It is also known as Imperial Archanas.

The Middlelands, or Archanas Medius, is a barren and blighted realm, cursed many centuries ago in an ancient war; however, the encounter led to many deep and rich iron, copper, coal, and diamond mines. The former Duke, nowadays known only as "The Judge", presides over the populace; typically, those in power or of royal blood own vast tracks of land, or deep mines, with the lowborn roped in as laborers and farmers. Most of the funds are trafficked back to the capital city, Alderforge, and thus directly into the pocket of the Judge.

Archanas Sanctus, to the east and south of Archanas Imperialis, is a highly rigid, religious society of driven, pious farmers and peasants. Knightly Orders are abound in this realm, watching over the various towns and districts, protecting them from the vast amount of semi-intelligent, carnivorous beings in Archanas Sanctus (large forests give way for large, scary beasts to grow.)

What does this all mean to you? Currently, Emperor Sessho has reigned for four years; recently, the nation of Hemoria, a close ally of Archanas Imperialis, was attacked viciously by the forces of the Middlelands; they ravage the land and leave no survivors in a frightening and unseen act of genocide. In concordance with the oaths of his father, Sessho Stormborne and Archanas Imperialis go to war with the Middle Lands. You, as the PCs, must have a convincing reason for being in southeastern Hemoria, in one of the early and heavily-hit areas of the nation. While Emperor Sessho and twenty thousand elite soldiers head for the Hemorian capital, to help prepare a defense, the rest of the army, led by General Zerakath Gaos and Regent Marshal Loki Basillica, have begun to fan out across various sections of Hemoria, to help stem the tide and hide the Middleland flanks hard. However, they have not been fairing much better than the Hemorians, as the Middlelanders have, so reports show, been using demonic shock troops and spellcasters, giving them devastating killing power to compliment their already vast military forces.

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Races:

Human: Human are hardworking, driven, and adaptable peoples, not particularly strong or graceful, but full of spirit and the ability to learn. I have already explained the general traits of the Human nations, so keep that in mind when writing your character’s backstory.

Elves: Elves are fairly standard in this world only in their physiology; they are tall, graceful, intelligent, and magically gifted. However, the elves of the nations of Naorond and Dao'lar are very much foils to each other. Naorond is a land of snowy and mountainous forests, whose major exports include lumber, big game, fur, and black iron, a quasi-magical metal ore found only in the mountains bordering Naorond. It is the northern most country on the continent, and its people value honor and valor above all else. They are reputed to have the most devastating cavalry in the world. Dao'lar makes up a large sweep of the eastern side of the continent; it is grassy and peaceful, and steeped in ancient magics. It is said the grass sways even when there is no wind. Its people are ambitious and focused and greatly value status, wealth, and pride. This tends to make them seem a bit pretentious or selfish, and in truth, they very much can be, but those extremes are not the norm, by far.

Dwarfs: Dwarfs have always existed in the realm of Archanas, living deep in the mountains long before humans had ever wandered in. Despite the rapid, and sometimes violent, colonization of Archanas by the humans, they have been welcoming allies, and began integrating themselves with Archanan society when they began to see the benefits of progressive civilization. Prideful, honorable, and never too weary for an adventure, dwarfs are very sought after in both military, labor, and engineering positions, as they hold a particular talent for all three.

Hemorians: Hemorians are an ancient experiment of elves that backfired; once elves and men, these beings were warped by the foul energies of the Nether, and were given eternal life, and were gifted with enhanced strength and stamina. However, Hemorians are largely infertile, able to produce a child once every twenty years, if they try at every available opportunity and are extremely lucky. Because of this, they are few in number, despite being "immortal" for several thousand years. They also have a distinct weakness for magic; that is not saying they cannot wield it or defend themselves against it, but should a spell connect, it tends to have a greater effect on a Hemorian.

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On to magic; Magic is a primordial force that exists in all things, in one way or another. Magic is actually the by-product of an otherworldly wind-like force called the Winds of Magic; mages channel this energy in order to cast their spells, whether they be telekinetic or pyrokinetic or whatever the case may be. Any time a person channels energy from the Winds of Magic, his or her psychic resonance shows up in the Nether, the realm of the Demons. A mage channeling too much magical energy can risk having their brain fried, soul eaten, or body possessed, if they are not actively fighting the demons off whilst casting. Due to this difficulty in mastering it, spellcasters that can do anything more than simple cantrips are rare.

Okay, now that that’s all said and done, here is what I want to see from you.

Name: Self Explanatory
Age: Ditto
Race: “ “

Preferred weapons (if any):
Spellcaster? Y/N and if so what kind?:

Physical Description: Clothing, hair and eye color, armor if applicable, tattoos, piercings, scars, jewelry.
Personality: Angel or Asshole?
History: Make sure to include why you are in southeastern Hemoria. And please make this believable. Im not asking for a novel, but I would prefer something sizeable.

Other notes:


Most of all, be original and creative. I wanna see something fun and interesting. And now here's my character. It's very important that you read this, because a lot of the current plot is explained in his history.

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Name: Field Lieutenant Asyrdar of the Academia Imperialis
Age: 19
Race: Human

Preferred weapon: "Sin", a three-foot, single-edge longsword with a slight curve. Thin, worn, and beaten, it is obviously a sword of magic, for it remains sharp as a fresh razor, even in its condition. Its hilt is leather-wrapped mahogany and silver, with a minimal and plain silver handguard. It is an effective weapon for quick, accurate slashes, but still has enough power and weight for a beheading slash with force.

Spellcaster?: Yes; as a Graduate with Honors from the Imperial Academy of Magic and Warfare, Asyrdar is both a Telekinetic and an Empath. With telekinesis, a bit of focus will call small objects to him, or away from him, at his desired speed. He can also hold those with weak willpower in place, break their bones, even crush their spines if they are weak enough and he is well rested.

With Empathy, Asyrdar can perceive, sense, and understand the inner feelings of others. He can even communicate in languages he does not understand, because he can read the overall message of whatever an intelligent being is saying. However, Asyrdar never learned this ability at the Academy; he has always been able to do this. However, both of his magical specialties can be stopped by multiple factors, so it is not reliable. He prefers swordplay.

Physical Description: Asyrdar is not particularly tall, but not short either, standing at a strong 5'11" and weighing in at a little over 140 lbs. Light silver mail sets over a blue and white shirt, silvered greaves over black pants. His boots are tall and leather, and are also sheathed in silver armor. His hair is long, straight, and jet-black; he never leaves it down in combat, preferring to tie his hair wherever he believes there will be an engagement. He has a fair complexion, with a strong jawline and a noble's face; thin nose, high cheekbones, strong yet graceful hands. His eyes, however, are his most entrancing and unique feature; his eyes are a curious emerald green, an eyecolor absolutely unseen in any known realm.

Personality: Asyrdar is very curt and efficient, and confident to an almost overbearing and frustrating level. He does not gloat, but he very strongly yet quietly declares that his way will not fail, his answer is the right answer, and nothing can defeat him. However, he is not outwardly cruel; in fact, he very quickly bonds with people and attracts crowds; he has a mysterious and almost scary charisma, where a person is drawn just to see what outrageous things will happen next. He has very strict morals, and would prefer death to breaking his personal oaths. His hatred towards demons and those who worship the demonic is beyond logical reasoning; it is his weak point, where his calm, logical, and efficient mind is consumed by a blazing hate.

History: Asyrdar keeps a lot of his early childhood kept tightly shut, but certain nights grant a glimpse into the real Asyrdar, and this is as much as anyone can gather. His earliest childhood memory is a horrifying one; he was in a horrible dark room, floating near a large emerald; a black hand reaches up from the depths and grabs tightly on the emerald, its sickening claws painfully scratching across the side of the precious jewel, leaving deep gouges but unable to grasp it, or break it. He awoke on the back of the only family he'd ever known, his adoptive father Dante of Tinnea. The man was a Huntsman; Archanan scouts dispatched to certain areas of the country to deal with criminals on the run, and vicious creatures. Asyrdar grew up around battle and trying to survive; Dante felt that if the boy could survive in the wilds, he can make it against the real monsters, the rulers of the country.

Asyrdar turned out like Dante envisioned, in the sense that Asyrdar was fiercely against the current Monarchy, the Alekzanders. However, Asyrdar was choleric and hotheaded, as youth tends to be. At the age of fourteen, he was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to assassinate the Emperor, Allidar Alekzander, as part of a new age Revolution. All teenagers and young adults involved in the rebellion were thrown into the gladiator pits, while the immediate families of those involved were executed, to set an example. Asyrdar found himself in chains and being forced to walk hundreds of miles to the Temple of Death's Hand, the Emperor's gladiator arena. However, he was there for but a few weeks before the Revolution tore the country into a brutal civil war; while it is not known if he was directly involved in the assassination of Emperor Alekzander, many whisper that he must have been one of the prime culprits, if he was involved at all. It is known that he was freed from prison after the event, and had soon enrolled himself as a student of Military Leadership at the Academy of Magic and Warfare, with whose money no one can say.

Now a fresh graduate of the Academy, Asyrdar has been assigned to take over command of a regiment of thyree hundred Imperial Swordsmen, the 3rd Vanguard Regiment, under overall command of Zerakath Gaos; this is significant because command of the 3rd Vanguard Regiment is a high honor, very prestigious. On top of that, his position and rank means he will be interacting directly with Vanguard General Zerakath Gaos, who also happens to be the professor who taught Asyrdar everything there is to know of Defensive Demonology (The art behind shielding your mind from demonic corruption). Asyrdar does not say why, but he has a large problem with anything demonic, and views those who make demonic pacts as the lowest of scum. However, in today's age, this hatred and bias is standard and justified. He just takes it to a new level of hate. At this point in the war, the Vanguard Regiments have begun hitting the flanks of marauding Middle Land forces, though with little success; the recent battles have dealt a heavy blow to the Vanguard Regiments, and the overall speed of the Middle Land forces has not diminished as it should have.

[Ab'Sinthe]

I've read most of this post and my conclusion is that you're trying to fuse Lord Of The Rings with Final Fantasy XII's lore and a few tweaks from Blizzard's lore for World Of Warcraft? (The latter before it was brutally raped by expansions)

[Asyrdar]

Nope. I actually only got about as far as Helm's Deep in LotR, never played anything past FFX, and well, Warcraft was never an influence. No, this is an odd combination of personal morals and philosophies, tributes to historical figures, and well, Warhammer is probably the closest to any sort of influence I've drawn upon, and its been tentative at best.

But good guesses and I do love to hear criticism Also, this is the first in a series, as the story plays out the real sort of goals/themes begin to show. And hopefully, if this gets a good enough reception, I can run the successive stories to this one.

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