This is the ancient story. Let it be told now, for the last time.
Welcome to the world of Spiritus.
It is a diverse world, from the windy, green southern islands to the arid wastes of Kashgabat; from the frozen heights of Lunmark to the bustling markets of the Imperial City, Spiritus is a living world. Its many peoples are diverse in language and culture, but they are united against the Draug, the monsters which plague the world. In the darkness of the Dawn Era, the Goddess created seven Magi using fragments of her power. They were to spread the light of magic throughout the world. Three thousand years ago, however, the Goddess was betrayed and attacked by the most powerful of the magi, Thodos. His magic crippled her; he siphoned her power and used it to destroy the other Magi. Thodos created giant, immensely powerful beasts called the Guardian Spirits, and sent them to roam the land, destroying all they saw. Thodos' actions weakened the Goddess so much that she could no longer protect the people of Spiritus, and other monsters called Draug emerged. They wrought even more havoc, bringing an age of darkness. But the hero Yusuf, created by the Goddess herself, arose and led his disciples to bring the Guardian Spirits to heel, building great temples and binding them there with powerful seals. Thodos was defeated and cast into the darkness. Yusuf founded the Church of Mirai, and led the people into the Age of Prosperity, which lasted for many centuries. However, Yusuf eventually returned to the Celestial Realm, and after his departure, Draug began to reappear. They were few for many years, but it seems as though the recent development of Magitech- machines driven by magical energy- has caused them to begin appearing in greater numbers. Beyond that, in the 100 years since Magitech began to propagate, there have been an increasing number of conflicts. The Empire has begun to extend its reach to more distant realms. These are troubled times indeed.
The Church of Mirai is not the only religious organization in the world. There are the Keepers of the Spirit, a group that finds people born with the "summon spark" required to absorb and contain the essences of Guardian Spirits. And there are also the Knights of the Holy Order of St. Thadrumetar, also known as the Knights of the HOST for short. They often accompany groups of ordinary pilgrims; in addition, one knight is assigned to each Spark, to see them through their journey.
Most of your characters hail from the Southern Islands, which are most comparable to the Orkney Islands or Hebrides. In particular, Able, Charlie, and Easy all grew up on and live on Kildara, a pleasant little island with only a single town, surrounded by vast farmlands and pastures. Baker and George have lived on the most populated island, in its elegant capital city of Feyabor, ever since Baker was born. Dog and Fox can be from anywhere, those places included; I'll work with you on them.
Kalai is a sport, played mostly in the Southern Islands. It is played on a field, usually 50 meters long. The two teams of 5 people start on opposite ends; the goal is to move the club, a sturdy staff with knobs at both ends, all the way down to the opposite end of the field. It must be held with two hands at all times; the player holding it is allowed to use it as a bashing weapon. The other players must try to tackle the club carrier but cannot punch or strike him in doing so. If the club changes possession the team that acquires it must run it back to their goal line before they can score by running it to the enemy goal. Protective gear is mostly nonexistent, but heavy gloves are considered a must no matter what. If a team scores, it's worth 1; if they score twice in a row, each consecutive score is one point higher, no matter which team pulls it off. Consecutive scoring is thus the key to winning. Kalai is far from the only sport played in Spiritus, but the others will only be encountered later.
In Spiritus, most people fall into one of two categories: those who use magic, and those who do not. Magic users come in many varieties, but it basically boils down to three types: Red, White, and Green magic. Red magic consists of mainly fire-based offensive spells, like fireballs. It can also cure poisons and ailments, however, and is considered an "honorable" school. White magic comes directly from faith in the Goddess, and consists of lightning bolts as well as spells to heal wounds. Green magic is considered the "opposite" of Red magic, and uses poison and ice spells to damage foes, as well as removing curses and the like. It is viewed with some distrust, especially by Red Mages. Practitioners of all three schools are found worldwide.
Non-magic users have plenty of ways to defend themselves, however. Melee weapons like swords and staves remain the chief weapons for defense, although some use less conventional melee weapons, like Kalai clubs. Two other weapons are nunchaku, consisting of two weapons (sword or staff) connected by a chain; and swordstaves, a combination of the two most common weapons into a longer polearm. In addition, ranged combat is also possible; crossbows are the most common ranged weapon, although they require skill to use. Three-pointed throwing stars called "triskeli" are used by many South Islanders for hunting small game.
(When designing your character, pick one of these weapon classes that has not yet been picked, bearing in mind that magic users will likely not have a high-skill physical weapon unless they are very talented fighters: Sword (any small bladed weapon), Staff (any small blunt weapon), Club (any sports-themed weapon), Swordstaff (any long, heavy weapon), axe (any short, heavy weapon), gauntlet (any hand-to-hand weapon), crossbow (any projectile-throwing weapon), triskeli (any hand-thrown weapon). There will be opportunities to acquire much more powerful versions of these weapons, in true RPG tradition.)
These are the characters you can choose from. Whichever is left after 6 have been chosen, I will design and control. The names I've used here are arbitrary- they're the first 7 letters in the old Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. The constraints as you see them here are all the constraints you need worry about for the moment. However, know that when you take a character on, you are potentially taking on any number of unexpected things. Your character may have some secret desire; some demon haunting them; or even something great or terrible they're fated to do later in the story. I can't guarantee their safety, nor can I tell you everything yet. Information control is important. Do not share the information I send you, even OOC, with the others. All will be made clear in time.
Able: A brash youth who has no childhood memories; well versed in Kalai, everyone's favorite island sport.
Baker: The optimistic young pilgrim who has been chosen to save the world. Has the Spark.
Charlie: Able's best friend, an impulsive person and talented Kalai player.
Dog: A veteran knight, whose mission is to defend Baker to the death.
Easy: The older sibling of Charlie, who is a scholar of some sort. Notably attractive (regardless of chosen gender).
Fox: A mysterious person who will appear slightly later in the story, with goals that seem opposed to Baker's.
George: Baker's flirtatious yet skilled foster parent, who has guarded the chosen pilgrim since childhood.
PS: It's worth noting that you can make any of these characters male or female- there are no presets there.
PS: you don't need to decide on names, appearances, or any other features, if you're having trouble coming up with them. Just post what you got or TG me, and I'll help with the rest.
