The Champions of Mara
The IC
Once upon a time, many ages of men ago, a single spark of light dwelt in the void alone. It was a content spark, happy to simply shine and illumine the vast darkness of the cosmos, at least for a time. For endless eons it was solitary, simply musing, thinking, but eventually it grew restless; what good was light if none were there to appreciate it? This spark desired companions, others to gaze upon the beauty of its form; to be cherished and adored.
And thus from its thoughts beings sprang, spirits of lesser brilliance and gorgeous array. And the spark was happy once more, for together the light and the spirits danced and communed, talking for long ages of the wonder of existence and the emptiness of the void. The more luminous of the spirits took on their own names, and their own forms, clothing themselves in shapes magnificent and strange; the spark was glad, for in their minds sprung thoughts it could never have conceived alone, thoughts of the surpassing ingenuity and grace.
At long last the spirits grew restless; the void was so formless, and they desired ought to occupy their time, something to mold. They grew tired of the spark's musings and esoteric discourses, impatient with its placid ways. The light saw their unhappiness and was down-hearted as well; for if its children could not be happy with it, how then could it be glad? Finally it happened upon a way to ease their disquiet.
Within the void it spun itself together, the spark changing and molding itself far beyond the glorious splendor of even the most magnificent of the spirits. Struck speechless by its brilliance the spirits could only watch as the spark became Mara, the Earth, a realm of immeasurable splendor and unknowable secrets. Forests beyond the ken of their minds grew from the rocky veins of the realm, oceans vast and tempestuous, and the spirits descended into the firmament to gaze upon the wonders of Mara.
Last of all the spark left its children a gift; beings walked upon the world, beasts, birds, fish, and finally man. In man the remnant of the spark burned brightest, and the more luminous of the spirits took it upon themselves to guide man, to help him on his course. Man walked in the lush gardens of Mara and was happy, for the radiant spirits walked with him, speaking with him, counseling him.
But in the hearts of the cleverest of the spirits a new thought awoke, a black thought; with the spark gone and these men existent upon Mara, they could gather power and beauty for themselves. Some lights thought to themselves that they could gain dominion over the others, be powerful, grow more like the spark had once been.
And that, gentle listener, is where our story began. But time has wound on, and new pages have been written in our tale. Powers have arisen upon Mara, Divines of great strength and influence that seek to bend the ways of man to better paths, as they see them, Divines wielding the power of a deity. They were not the only sons that the spark left upon Mara, however, only the most prominent. Other spirits and lights still walk the mortal plane, cloaking their forms in flesh like the sons of men. Demigods, Champions, they commit feats of great valor, sometimes acting in concord with the Divines or an individual deity, sometimes striving against the purposes of the brightest lights upon Mara.
This is where your chapter of the story begins.
And thus from its thoughts beings sprang, spirits of lesser brilliance and gorgeous array. And the spark was happy once more, for together the light and the spirits danced and communed, talking for long ages of the wonder of existence and the emptiness of the void. The more luminous of the spirits took on their own names, and their own forms, clothing themselves in shapes magnificent and strange; the spark was glad, for in their minds sprung thoughts it could never have conceived alone, thoughts of the surpassing ingenuity and grace.
At long last the spirits grew restless; the void was so formless, and they desired ought to occupy their time, something to mold. They grew tired of the spark's musings and esoteric discourses, impatient with its placid ways. The light saw their unhappiness and was down-hearted as well; for if its children could not be happy with it, how then could it be glad? Finally it happened upon a way to ease their disquiet.
Within the void it spun itself together, the spark changing and molding itself far beyond the glorious splendor of even the most magnificent of the spirits. Struck speechless by its brilliance the spirits could only watch as the spark became Mara, the Earth, a realm of immeasurable splendor and unknowable secrets. Forests beyond the ken of their minds grew from the rocky veins of the realm, oceans vast and tempestuous, and the spirits descended into the firmament to gaze upon the wonders of Mara.
Last of all the spark left its children a gift; beings walked upon the world, beasts, birds, fish, and finally man. In man the remnant of the spark burned brightest, and the more luminous of the spirits took it upon themselves to guide man, to help him on his course. Man walked in the lush gardens of Mara and was happy, for the radiant spirits walked with him, speaking with him, counseling him.
But in the hearts of the cleverest of the spirits a new thought awoke, a black thought; with the spark gone and these men existent upon Mara, they could gather power and beauty for themselves. Some lights thought to themselves that they could gain dominion over the others, be powerful, grow more like the spark had once been.
And that, gentle listener, is where our story began. But time has wound on, and new pages have been written in our tale. Powers have arisen upon Mara, Divines of great strength and influence that seek to bend the ways of man to better paths, as they see them, Divines wielding the power of a deity. They were not the only sons that the spark left upon Mara, however, only the most prominent. Other spirits and lights still walk the mortal plane, cloaking their forms in flesh like the sons of men. Demigods, Champions, they commit feats of great valor, sometimes acting in concord with the Divines or an individual deity, sometimes striving against the purposes of the brightest lights upon Mara.
This is where your chapter of the story begins.
This is a spin-off of the Spark of the Divine, and will be taking overflow from it as Champions who will interact with Mara as single characters. Post there if you're interested in becoming a Champion; signups will likely be limited, though not excessively so. Champions will interact with the main thread in a fluid time manner; Divines will be able to post in this IC as they wish, and Champion actions will be resolved on a rolling basis, unlike the turn-based nature of the main thread.
As such, have an application you lucky few.
- Code: Select all
[b]Champion[/b]
Champion Name:
Physical Description:
Personality:
Attributes:
Starting Skill:
Starting Perk:
Now, you probably want to know how you as Champions will actually go about interacting with Mara. First of all, most actions will be based on a roll of dice; things like consuming food, sleeping, and walking will be automatic, but all else will play into either an Attribute or a Skill. Perks are abilities that modify various parts of gameplay, such as skill rolls, attribute rolls, or activated powers that can be used from time to time.
Important Details of Gameplay:
You need to eat. Food can either be gathered personally as an action, or received from Divines.
You need to sleep. Only you can decide to take a nap.
Divine Resources can be converted into experience: twenty Food can be converted into one Experience, twenty Influence can be converted into one Experience, fifteen Faith can be converted into one Experience, and fifteen Divinity can be converted into one Experience, which must be at the time of conversion assigned to a skill or attribute.
Experience is gained by performing actions, completing quests, converting Divine Resources, or a variety of other methods.
Attributes and skills can be increased as experience is accumulated in their respective tiers.
Levels, as determined by aggregate experience, will allow the selection of a new Perk.
Combat
There are three types of combat damage: damage, wounds, and death. Damage gives a penalty to rolls by the damaged party. Wounds are subtracted from the opponent's wound score; if that score reaches zero, they are incapacitated and may be automatically killed with the next blow. Death is death, but not permanent. There are many dangerous denizens of the deeps and wilds of Mara, so it might be best not to go alone.
Resurrection
Dead Champions are resurrected on a 20+, with each week they've been dead for decreasing their threshold by three. Dead Champions may reroll to resurrect as many times as they want in a week, but for every failed resurrection they lose 1 randomly determined attribute point, and a level of experience in one randomly determined skill. Dead Champions can be resurrected by others at the same threshold, but even a failed resurrection by another Champion or Divine does not subtract from their scores. Resurrections performed by Followers or religions are calculated at a 100+.
Obviously, this is just a rough incarnation. Ask questions about what you don't understand; I'm certain I haven't explained everything sufficiently, and I'll be adding comments to the OP as we go.
