And we were three—yet, each alone;
We could not move a single pace,
We could not see each other’s face,
But with that pale and livid light
That made us strangers in our sight:
And thus together—yet apart,
Fetter’d in hand, but join’d in heart..."
~ from "The Prisoner of Chillon" by Lord Byron
The year is 1262 in the medieval kingdom of Irdenvahl, which has been for generation upon generation ruled by the Raleth Dynasty, a family of shrewd and tyrannical men and women who will stop at nothing to see that their rule never ends. The current ruler is the newly-crowned King Ronan Asederik Raleth; beside him sits his queen, Queen Consort Ralina Lizsienna Raleth, whom some claim is the King's own sister, wed to him in secret so as to breed an heir with both the mother's talent with sorcery and the father's ruthless strength.
The youngest of his brood, Ronan rose to power on a staircase of his brothers' corpses, eager to prove to his father that he was no weakling while simultaneously cementing his rise to power. He is the living personification of ambition, and it would not take a soothsayer to predict that he will be the most merciless ruler yet. Already he has plans laid for great and unspeakable feats that will require much work to complete. And so he turns his eyes to The Spyres...
The Spyres is a massive prison fortress built especially for Raleth enemies, built some ways into a dark, bleak area of the Renneth Mountains where the sun only shines through black clouds. The Raleth family so rarely orders the execution of their captured enemies, and it has been that way always; men and women are but pawns to be used, and prisoners are no exception. Even if they rot away their lives in cells, they are still more useful than their corpses, if only to provide an example. Would it be less draining on resources to simply kill them? Perhaps. But the Raleths do not see it that way. And so The Spyres has, for many years, been a place where enemies of the kingdom have been simply locked away and forgotten.
Until now.
For the King Ronan needs manpower to fuel his ambitions. And The Spyres will provide it to him. He has ordered all criminals from all provinces brought in chains to the Spyres, where they are held until they are dragged in gangs and set to work building, fighting, or otherwise manually serving their glorious Irdenvahl. Oh, and even the most petty crimes are punishable in such a way.
You are one of these prisoners, and whether you are newly captured or a veteran of the Spyres, you will soon hear that you are to be taken and put on a crew, building a new war fortress on the border; your new king wishes to expand his kingdom into an Empire via conquest. This is as good a time as ever to join with your fellows and make your desperate escape. Will you succeed against all odds? If you should somehow break free, will you return to your old life? Or will you rise up in rebellion against those who have wronged you, or even against the Dynasty itself? Only time will tell...
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Some Notes About Geography, Culture, and Whatnot
Irdenvahl is a largish kingdom bordered by land on three sides and the Renneth mountains on one of those three, the Northern side. To the west is the cold Sea of Kyrengaud and its storm-swept Kyren Coast.
It is split into five Provinces: Auerumn, (pronounced OW-rum-uhn) the shining province of the capitol, City Auerumn. The wealthiest province and home to the Noble Houses. It is the closest thing a 'beautiful' area that Irdenvahl has had since the Raleths took over and darkened the land with their magics, although it is slowly crumbling from the inside out. Falened is a densely-wooded forest, home to loggers and the hidden Druid Mystics that the Raleth Dynasty has pushed almost to oblivion. Greystone is a vallied area of hard-shelled miners who mine and work the ore of Irdenvahl Earth into weaponry. Kyren is the coastal province, home to sailors, fishermen and other singers of chanties. Fairplains encircles Auerumn and is an area of vast grain fields and skilled horsemen. The Spyres are in no province at all.
Humans are the only race to inhabit this world, although people with magic in their blood can acquire very strange physical mutations, like strange eye or hair color or abnormal height. ("Elf" is the nickname for someone who has acquired slightly pointed ears as a mutation, but they are still very much human.)
Ah, and Magic. A rare thing indeed, outside of the Noble Houses. Through careful breeding, Nobles have kept Magical power hereditary, mostly, and hone the gift in their children from a young age. If one is born poor and with magic talent, it is usually considered bad luck, as it will provoke the wrath of the Aristocracy. Besides that, it is usually very weak. One might only be able to conjure small illusions or become invisible for a few moments, or perhaps conjure a small gust of wind, but even those will be considered stigma. Those with great magical power are almost exclusively Raleth, and they can work wonders. An exception would be the Druids, the Earthworkers of Falened, but they are currently in hiding, having been almost wiped out by the last few generations of Raleth.
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Rules and Stuff
- Do not be a jerky-jerk. If you are being one, I will use my OP powers and make you disappear.
- Questions? Comments? TG me!
- Do not feel pressured to spend all day here. RL comes first. The RP will still be here.
- Yuoz gud grammerz (see what I did there? ) and try to make your posts at least a paragraph long.
- Anything to add? TG me as well for that.
- I didn't ask for an RP sample because I trust y'all, but seriously. Try to make your posts quality.
- Have fun! You remember what happened to that one guy who didn't have fun, right?!? ... ...
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Accepted Characters
Aurel Ludor
Player: Ceannairceach
Alosin Rains
Player: Erhialam
Oer-Barad-Oer
Player: Great Confederacy Of Commonwealth States
Ran "Raider" Kastor
Player: Yuzhou
Gwendolyn Tallow
Player: Beiarusia
"King" Valarr "Lord of Cinder" Goldfyre
Player: The Valyria Empire
Andros Turner
Player: Altegonnia
Blodeuwedd, Queen of Powys
Player: Nuridia
Neridis
Player: Transoxthraxia
Antonius Turner
Player: Sarejo
May
Player: Aidannadia
Here be IC
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