The Living Waste of Mekhallah (Low Fantasy/OOC/Open)

[Lancearc]

These are the only nonhuman races that exist in the world.

I don't require an RP sample to keep newcomers from being intimidated or feeling as though they'll be rejected, but there are those who I am asking to run their posts by me first before making them official to preserve a good experience for the other, more seasoned players. Age and gender are kind of superfluous details if the character's bio is properly explored.

These are good answers. Hard at work on my app - should be up in the next hour.

Looking forward to it! Working towards our first IC post as well, though unsure when we'd launch officially,

[Reverend Norv]

These are good answers. Hard at work on my app - should be up in the next hour.

Looking forward to it! Working towards our first IC post as well, though unsure when we'd launch officially,

Lots of worldbuilding in my app too, but I hope it mostly builds on what you've already done - which is really fantastic work. I've said it before, but it bears saying again.

[Lancearc]

Looking forward to it! Working towards our first IC post as well, though unsure when we'd launch officially,

Lots of worldbuilding in my app too, but I hope it mostly builds on what you've already done - which is really fantastic work. I've said it before, but it bears saying again.

Thanks much! Glad to see people enjoy it, was hoping to get back into the community with a collaborative world and definitely am happy to see it's attractive to some of our vets and newcomers alike.

[Reverend Norv]

Arif might well have encountered Arukh on his travels, and perhaps James' character as well.

Character Name: Arif al-Hakim

Character Race: Human

Character Description/Image:

Arif has the horseman's build and the swordsman's, for labors of the mind do not reveal themselves in the body: he is lean and long-shanked, with broad shoulders and powerful forearms and wrists. His skin is sun-beaten, the color and consistency of faded leather, and his age is difficult to estimate because of his weathered appearance. That face is alert and serious, clean-shaven, with a straight nose and strong chin and a blade scar marking one cheek. The eyes are unusual, though: large, and a very dark blue, the color of lapis. Still more unusual is the hair, which is roughly cropped and silver-white: a sacred gift of the Shayamun.

Arif typically wears a combination of hard-wearing traveler's clothes and light armor, befitting his role in life. His finely worked mail hauburk, flowing as water, is covered by a loose burnous of simple white linen. Around his helmet he has likewise wound a narrow white linen turban, the tail of which he can wrap around his face to keep out the sand of the Waste. A horseman's long kite shield hangs over his back, its dark blue leather surface inlaid with swirling bronze calligraphy, and bearing a hardened steel boss at its center. His sword - the straight-bladed saif of the Mourakhin - hangs from a baldric on his left hip; on his right hangs a heavy leatherbound book sealed with an iron lock, the other mark of his Order.

Character Personality:

The most immediately obvious aspects of Arif's character are his intense intelligence, his clear-eyed analysis, and his abiding curiosity. He is as the Mourakhin have made him - a scholar to the core, driven to wander where no man has trod, to see strange sights and plumb ancient secrets, and to return burdened not with wealth but with understanding. Already, in his decade and a half on the road, he has seen many strange things, and so he can seem jaded and even cynical to the casual observer: he is a swift and unsparing judge of character, and rarely asks or expects that the world will be aught different or better than it is. His sense of humor is dark and dry; he suffers fools with patient condescension. Though his curiosity has left him devoid of most racial or religious prejudice, this means only that he holds the same low expectations of everyone. By contrast, Arif is brusquely confident in his own abilities, sometimes to the point of arrogance. And he is hardened by his travels: watchful and cautious, but unhesitating and unsparing in action. He can be a dangerous man.

But this first impression, in many ways, is misleading. Arif is, like all Mourakhin, a kind of mystic. In his own life, he experiences as real the gnostic, esoteric teaching of his Order: that there is a hidden Rule that prescribes all earthly events, just as the rules of astronomy prescribe the movements of the moon and stars. His curiosity is not mere academic interest, but a sacred devotion to uncovering the underlying structure of the universe. When he sees or hears or reads something new, really new, he does so with mystical awe and not with self-congratulation. Thus, too, his judgment of people can be scathing, but it is rarely bitter: for even the most limited man is limited not by his own fault, but by his place in the Rule.

On the rare occasion when he feels that someone understands him, Arif becomes a loyal and voluble friend, prone to long and meandering lectures on a myriad of obscure topics and possessed of a strong protective instinct. He understands that his itinerant existence means that most such friendships, and the rare romantic engagement, are inherently temporary; Arif treasures them all the more for that. Likewise, he has a painful love of children - even knowing that he will never have any of his own. This willingness to take blessings as they come, and surrender them without cavil, is essential to Arif's sanity: it allows him to enjoy each soft bed and each warm meal without mourning its absence the next night. It is what keeps him going on his endless road.

Character Flaws:

Arif is, to put it politely, rarely a team player. Accustomed to a more or less solitary and itinerant existence; viewing his own mission as a sacred duty that supersedes all other considerations; and possessed of a sympathetic but somewhat condescending approach to most strangers upon first encounter - he exists in a permanent kind of low-level and self-imposed alienation. And so he has trouble making others' causes his own. Perhaps alone in Mekhallah, if he had to choose, he would rather possess an understanding of the Living Waste than the power to stop it. Likewise, while he treasures friendships, he does not go out of his way to make them - and so he is lonely much of the time. And his deep belief in the Nazam, the Rule of Mourakhi piety, instils in Arif a certain kind of fatalism: with all his curiosity and intelligence, he hopes very little. At times, this can make him fearless; at other times, it deprives him of that capacity to dream which is so necessary for human genius.

Character Bio/Backstory:

Not even Arif knows where he was born, or what his parents named him. He has only the vaguest memory of them, for he was little more than an infant when it became obvious that his hair was a pure silver-white, and the local wise man arranged for him to be borne away by a troop of soldiers to Tawira Mundh, there to be trained by the Sultan's Magi as a seer and oracle.

It soon became apparent that, despite his rare mutation, the boy showed little of the magical talent one would associate with those touched by the Shayamun. He could manage small, practical charms - though even these required great concentration - but no amount of dancing or potions could prize the secrets of the night sky free. Instead, to the surprise of his teachers (most of whom would not have accepted this village boy were it not for his white hair), the child excelled in the academic aspects of his training: history and philosophy, mathematics and metaphysics, and the study of ancient texts. And this drew the attention of the Mourakhin: that mystical sect of Tabalists who believe that the movements of the moon and stars are fixed by a single divine plan, which rules earthly events with equal inexorability. To the Mourakhi Order, a mind fit to unlock the secrets of the universe counted for more than tricks of divination. They took the boy to the Moustadqah, and gave him his new name: Arif al-Hakim, He Who Knows Wisdom. There his life truly began.

There followed years of that famously secretive training which characterizes the Mourakhi Order, intended to unify mind and body and to subdue both beneath the Roha, the unity of rational analysis and mystical insight that allows a mortal to glimpse the weft of the divine shaping the warp of the physical world. Arif studied the numerological significance of his own language before he proceeded to his study of ancient glyphs and runes; he studied algebra and geometry before he learned how those same tools could be used to predict the motion of the stars and the changing of the seasons; he spent weeks observing creatures of the desert and fish of the river, learning from nature how to find water or food where they were scarce or elusive. Before he was taught to strike a single blow in the feared Mourakhi tradition of fighting, he learned to hold his hand out at arm's length, perfectly still, for hours: recognizing and accepting and transcending his pain and muscular exhaustion. Gradually, among the courts and gardens and planetaria of the Moustadqah, Arif learned to learn: to focus his mind through his senses and his body, into observation and analysis and action.

And so, in the end, he proved one of the fortunate few. His mind unbroken by exposure to the many psychoactive elixirs used by the Mourakhim to achieve their goals - his body unbroken by brutal sessions stick-fighting training, undergone while blindfolded - Arif became, at the age of sixteen, the apprentice of Faruq al-Hadi, a veteran Mourakhi sage. In Faruq's company, Arif spent six years traveling the Jalema Sultanate. They investigated rumors of an unsolvable equation in Maladjaz, and were disappointed to discover merely an academic fraud in the city's famous madrasa. In Alqarn, they arrived seeking a reputedly powerful magi of the Sun, and found her at the head of a small army of bandits: in the ensuing battle of magical power against Mourakhi gnosis, the magi slew Faruq before herself being slain by Arif. The young man fled her followers deep into western Alqarn's endless marches, and in the process discovered a thing hitherto unknown: a hidden field of bubbling, hissing craters that periodically threw boiling mud dozens of feet into the air. He staggered into Tawira Rat four months later, exhausted and on the edge of starvation, but triumphant. For in bringing to light one of the world's secrets, he had completed the great test of his Order, and earned the right to call himself a full member of the Mourakhin.

A decade has passed since that ceremony in Tawira Mundh, when Arif held his hand above a candle-flame until it scarred his palm, that he might never forget to set his hands to the labor of illumination. Within the tiny, close-knit circle of his Order, his exploits have won respect. He spent six months sailing the Muluk al-Khalij seeking a mythical sea monster - and found it, to his dismay and frustration, for it destroyed his ship and set him adrift before he could make any useful observation of it. He has remained close with the other survivors of the wreck ever since. In Junadina, he arrived in the city seeking to understand a mysterious plague that had swept the city, and had the misfortune to fall in love with a woman with whom he knew he had no future. Sure enough, Arif fled Junadina eight months later, having been framed as the plague's cause by a mysterious cult of physicians; he spent the next two years hunting them down across Misardun and Mekhallah. But last year he made his most important discovery of all: in an ancient cave on the western coast of Rat Alshiq, Arif found painted upon the stone a stylized but unmistakable map of Alkhafat - a city that postdated the cave painting by millennia. And above the map, equally unmistakable, was painted in yellow ochre a merciless sun.

It is that terrible prophecy that has brought this wandering warrior-sage back to Mekhallah - and he finds, now, that the sun has waxed further than even he dared to fear...

Character Skills and profession:

The Mourakhin are a heterodox, gnostic sect of Tabala, dating back to the period immediately after the Occlusion of the Lunar Mantle. The Order is distinguished by its belief that the Shayamun are not individual spirits, but emanations of the 'Aql: less a single God, and more a sort of divine source code for the universe, the transcendent order that underlies it. It is the 'Aql that means the moon waxes and wanes, and the stars move in regular courses. This sacred principle of order is best visible in the heavens, because of the divinity of the heavenly bodies; there, it can be discerned by the application of mathematics alone, the purest form of human knowledge. But the 'Aql has a secret operation on Earth as well, equally sacred and inevitable, though hidden beneath the dross of coincidence and false causation so that only the initiated can glimpse it at work. It is the warp thread of creation, which supports and defines all the weft, even as it is hidden by it.

It is the task of the Mourakhin to come to understand this Rule, or Nazam, which foreordains all worldly events and reflects the glory of the stars themselves. That quest requires that they seek out secret or hidden knowledge, that they continually expand the boundaries of human understanding: for only by so doing can the Mourakhin find the connections between seemingly disparate phenomena that point them ever back to the true cause of things. This has made them the Sultanate's greatest scholars; the Moustadqah, their fortress-library on a rocky island in the lake at the center of Jazallay, is said to contain more ancient texts than any other place on Earth. But the Mourakhin are also distinguished by their deep interest in occult and esoteric matters, which are often taken as the most direct evidence of the Nazam. This, together with their secretive gnostic practices, their heterodox theology, and their tightly controlled initiation system - at any given moment, there are fewer than two hundred fully initiate Mourakhin - has made them figures equally of religious awe and of superstitious suspicion for the people of the Sultanate at large. It is held that they hold no knowledge forbidden, and themselves bound by no law save the secret requirements of their Order.

Much of the Mourakhin's reputation is due to their apparent capacity to perform magical feats. There is some truth to these legends. Like Arif, almost all fully initiate Mourakhin are raised by the Order from an early age, subjected to a punishing system of physical and psychological conditioning fine-tuned over centuries. This conditioning has two core principles. The first is the idea of "Water Below Rock": a poetic expression of the fact that learning to do one thing makes it easier to learn to do a related thing, just as unseen waters flow below solid stone. Centuries from now, neurologists will describe this idea as synaptic networking; it is reflected in the fact that Nourakhin novices learn as many languages as possible, useful or not, because this will in turn make it easier for them to learn new languages later in life. The second core principle of Nourakhin conditioning is the Roha: a way of being that unites rational analysis and mystical insight into a harmonious bond between consciousness and unconsciousness. To achieve the Roha is to enter a fully aware trance state, a sort of autohypnosis, in which distractions and doubts fall away, action follows instantaneously from thought, and even pain can be excluded from consciousness.

After more than a decade of this conditioning (and the intensive education that goes with it) Mourakhin are left with abilities that, to most ordinary men, seem surely to derive from magic. Initiates can learn new languages in a matter of weeks. They tend to have near-photographic memories. They are freakishly observant: capable of noticing the tiniest flickers of emotion on a stranger's face, of sensing water from the movement of desert insects, or of predicting the weather by feeling the pressure change in one's inner ear. They are steeped in the arts and sciences: poetry, literature, history, and geography, but also more esoteric subjects like biology (their propensity for dissections has contributed to their gruesome reputation), alchemy, and most of all mathematics. On those rare occasions when a member of the Order sets aside his endless search for hidden truth and consents to serve as an advisor or general, his services are usually welcomed despite his reputation: for while Mourakhin do not in fact know everything (contrary to popular belief) they are capable of learning anything, to a high level of expertise and very quickly.

Perhaps even more famously, Mourakhin are great warriors, capable even - as Arif once proved - of slaying powerful magi in single combat. This has been essential for them over the centuries, as their relentless search for truth rarely makes them friends among the powerful of the Sultanate. The Order's novitiate conditioning includes grueling physical training intended to build not only strength but agility, speed, reflexes, and raw toughness. Beyond this, the concept of the Roha is crucial to Mourakhin martial arts: only by achieving that semi-trance state can a man move swiftly and decisively enough to hold his own against a magus, or against a dozen mere mortals. A fully trained initiate fights, in a certain sense, by mathematics: the Roha permits accurate calculations to occur subconsciously, by instinct, and therefore permits a man to fire an arrow at exactly where his foe must be in a fraction of a second, or to parry a blow the instant it is begun because he knows exactly where the blade must pass. As a result, while Mourakhin are as fast and strong as any man - but no more - they are far more efficient and precise in battle than any ordinary soldier. These are the abilities that have contributed so markedly to their legend.

Finally, the Mourakhin have certain abilities that defy explanation based merely on their conditioning. Some report sensing danger a second before it materializes, despite the absence of any tangible warning. Others claim simply to know certain things, like when the weather will change or whether a stranger they pass on the street will die today. These capacities are rare even within the Order, and Arif has demonstrated them only very erratically. Mourakhin consider them proof of the truth of their heterodox beliefs: they have their finger on the warp thread of the world, and so can sense what is foreordained by the Nazam. But these abilities cannot be summoned, or controlled, or relied upon. At best, they are precarious blessings: moments of remarkable insight, or remarkable self-delusion.

Additional information:

The locked tome that Arif carries on his belts contains his notes on all that he has seen and studied since leaving the Moustadqah. Besides this, he is rarely without a few volumes of scholarship on ancient languages, mathematics, or biology. He has a fondness for coffee, and makes an excellent cup. His grey mare, Nameh, is an old friend and traveling companion, possessed of extraordinary endurance. Finally, Arif has recently had difficulty sleeping: since entering the cave on Rat Alshiq, his dreams have been plagued by a sun that casts no shadow and from which there is no escape, and the figure of a distant woman always just out of reach.

[Ovesa]

Here's an updated version of Hikmat! If I should make any adjustments, feel free to let me know

Character Name: Hikmat Eayan
Character Race: Alrifaq
Character Description/Image: Her skin is the color of the deepest blue sapphires; her two vibrant, almond-shaped eyes are the color of moonstones. Her skin is completely covered in sky-blue robes covered with ornate golden embroidery, except for her face and hands. While her hair his completely covered, her robes have small openings for her undecorated, ram-like horns. Instead of feet, she has hooves.
Character Personality: Hikmat is a reserved woman, fulfilling her duty to the Sultanate and speaking only when needed. Calm and collected, she is a peacekeeper who is always seeking answers, whether she voices it or not.
Character Flaws: Her distance from the lives of others, combined with her overreliance on her foresight, mean that she can come off as aloof and uncaring, especially in personal matters. Whether she admits it or not, she's conflicted; there's only so much that locking herself away and viewing glimpses of the future can fix.
Character Bio/Backstory:The daughter of two Alrifaq merchants, Hikmat grew up in between two worlds; one of the human-dominated Mekhallah, and one of Alrifaq mysticism and tradition. From a young age, Hikmat experienced psychic visions, glimpses of futures that could be. When her ability was discovered by local officials, her parents sent her away to be trained as advisor within the Sultanate, in hopes that her daughter would have a brighter future.

Hikmat acclimated well to the life of an advisor. Thanks to her parent's wealth, she could afford a thorough education at the esteemed Academy of the Lunar Mantle, located in the famous port city of Maladjaz. There, she learned everything from mathematics to philosophy. As time went on, she gradually had more control over her foresight. As an independent magi, she offered her advice to numerous officials throughout the Sultanate, and she earned a reputation for her success in doing so. Gradually, she grew more and more distant from her homeland, dropping her traditional beliefs and customs. Mekhallah was a faint memory, a dream-like recollection of an older self...

Until now. With the Living Waste encroaching, Hikmat has been sent to speak with the leaders of Mekhalllah, in hopes of finding a solution to the crisis. Caught in the crossfire between rival magi factions, she will have to tread carefully as she works to save the Sultanate. In her mind, the fate of Melkhallah, and the entire Sultanate, is resting on her shoulders. She will face a difficult decision; will she follow her orders, fulfilling the role she was given and waiting idly by? Or will she take a more active stance in facing the threat that is the encroaching waste?
Character Skills and profession: A magi and advisor to various officials within the Sultanate. She has foresight, a magical ability that allows her to glimpse into possible futures. She is a skilled, albeit distant, diplomat. Her magic is mostly restricted to lesser moon magic, mostly focused on the creation and manipulation of ice. She is well-read in magical lore, and is knowledgable in lunar rituals and magical history. When her mind isn't clouded, she can have insight when it comes to understanding the minds and behaviors of others.
Additional information:
Her focus is a gold necklace, with an eye-shaped pendant. The white of the eye is made from a carved, transluscent, banded blue-white chalcedony, while the iris is a blood-red opalescent cabochon. It was once a vivid moonstone, but after the bloodletting ritual, it turned a deep red, while still retaining some of its luster. The necklace was a parting gift from her parents before her departure.

She appears to glide wherever she moves (in a metaphorical sense). She somewhat looks down on mystics who use tea leaves and other "unreliable forms" of scrying. She almost always wears blue, velvet-like gloves. She is supportive of the idea of training "low-born" mages to help the Sultanate. She may or may not have a soft spot for cats.

[Lancearc]

Excellent stuff on both accounts, gladly accepted Norv, and I'll be sure to update Hikmat's character entry!

I'll also have to gather the lore you guys have posited and either update existing entries or create new ones where appropriate.

[Ovesa]

Excellent stuff on both accounts, gladly accepted Norv, and I'll be sure to update Hikmat's character entry!

I'll also have to gather the lore you guys have posited and either update existing entries or create new ones where appropriate.

Awesome, that's great to hear!
Thanks again for putting so much into this RP. I really can't articulate how amazing all of this is, and I can only imagine what it's like managing a project with this much interest.

[Ovesa]

Hey Lancearc, you know how we talked about having Hikmat introduced alongside some central characters? Without revealing too much of the story, what did you have in mind for the introduction?

[Lancearc]

Hey Lancearc, you know how we talked about having Hikmat introduced alongside some central characters? Without revealing too much of the story, what did you have in mind for the introduction?

I'm actually working on an app right now for the character it would make most sense for her to arrive to the scene alongside! I'll TG with some details as I work through it, it's not a massive issue with spoiling anything since it's the first post of course but I like to have those types of discussions over TG

[Ovesa]

I'm actually working on an app right now for the character it would make most sense for her to arrive to the scene alongside! I'll TG with some details as I work through it, it's not a massive issue with spoiling anything since it's the first post of course but I like to have those types of discussions over TG

Awesome! Good to know

[Lancearc]

First OP app of our central characters! More to come as we move towards IC, which I expect will be by Thursday or Friday.

Character Name: Mubarak Alani Jaffer, "The Flame of the West"

Character Race: Human

Character Description/Image: One of the rare children blessed by the Shayamun after the age of the Lunar Mantle, the first thing people notice about Mubarak without fail is his skin. His complexion is that of rich ivory, or perhaps the full moon, a stark white layered over top of skin that is showing signs of age in its wrinkles and blemishes, but is still remarkably smooth given his count of years. His eyes and hair are of the same hue, his facial features robust and stern. Almond-shaped eyes pierce those around him with a commanding confidence that is apparent even in the absence of irises and pupils, his lips are drawn slightly downward into a steely frown, his nose and brow solid, as if chiseled from marble. A full beard fashioned into two distinct braids completes the man's regal personage.

Mubarak dresses as one would expect from the Sultan's personal magus. His djellaba is a pale blue, almost indistinguishable from white at a distance. Across his chest, Mubarak wears the plumed leather badges which indicate his mastery of various pursuits at the House of the Royal Magi, the greens, reds, and oranges of various exotic birds from Ji-Alsim vividly painting his torso. His turban is thickly wrapped, consisting of the same pale cloth comprising his djellaba, with a lengthy tail which he often keeps wrapped around his shoulders or covering his mouth and nose.

Mubarak is a fairly tall man, standing at 6'2, but his physique has begun to droop with age.

Character Personality: While many men of Mubarak's title and age may have been worn into bitter cruelty by the life he has led, the Sultan's magus has always relished in the challenge attached to his position. Even in his advanced age Mubarak is energetic, and often dominates the room with his gravitas. Never known to pussyfoot around an issue, Mubarak is also an unerringly honest man. Even if the tendency upsets those around him, he would rather speak harsh truths than white lies. Others such as him may have already found themselves kneeling beneath the headsman's ax at the whim of a fickle nobleman, but Mubarak has avoided that fate all his life, and now commands such honor that it is out of the question.

A holdover from his education, Mubarak has an eye for efficiency in his tasks, more than willing to disregard traditions and best-laid plans provided he is able to deduce a more cost-effective or timely method to complete his assignments. Those truly close to the man, which in his old age mostly consist of past apprentices and some senior court members, can safely say that he is one of the kindest men to grace the earth.

Character Flaws: Those that invoke his ire are rarely around long to dispute the claim. While it is rare now that he uses his magic to combat a foe, as a young magus he was sometimes called on to quell rebellion and quash particularly dastardly criminals. He is ruthless in his persecution of misdeeds, and especially so if the unfortunate individual has happened to personally cross the magus. Some say that Mubarak has a history of employing torture, dismemberment, and borderline-terroristic tactics to discourage future unrest. Whatever the truth of that is, Mubarak himself acknowledges he has no mercy for the outlaw, and his fiery magic may be an extension of his temper when riled.

Mubarak is uncommonly reckless for a man of his age and experience, or perhaps because of his age and experience he is reckless -- this paired with the immense power he wields compared to the common man may impart a sense of invulnerability.
Character Bio/Backstory:

Born into the obscurity of the world's far reaches, the boy who would become Mubarak Alani Jaffer was first a faceless farmer's son on the outskirts of Ahadoud, near the edges of Ji-Alsim's boundless rainforests. The farmer's boy grow, yet the pigment in his skin, hair, and eyes faded away, leaving behind a thin ghost of a child. His parents, first fearing their son had fallen ill, soon realized what this meant for their son. At the time, the boy had just entered his sixth year.

Soon enough, word began to spread of the Ghost Boy outside Ahadoud. Inevitably the merchants soon carried these stories back to Tawira Mundh, where guardsmen floated the tale to the ears of the Sultanate's highest authorities. Two cloaked magi sailed into Ahadoud within the month, and the farmer's boy was surrendered to the Sultan's demands.

The child with skin like moonlight would surprisingly tap into the power of the sun, casting him into the stigmatized school of Nadaq Almuuq, the Royal Magi's specialized training for Sun magic apprentices. This school's lessons are heavily skewed to Tabalist teachings and parables explaining a magus's duty to the Sultan, an archaic holdover from a time when Sun magic was widely feared for its association with demons and bad omens. The boy now called Mubarak, although frustrated and terribly bored with his educational trajectory, reluctantly slogged through his early studies. The early explorations of his magical potential lit a fiery desire for power under the boy, and in his tenth year Mubarak began his quest in earnest.

It was not a simple path, despite the boy's expectation. Some today accuse the Magi of deliberately stunting the growth potential of Sun magic students, and in previous decades the allegation was only more easily made. The very structure of Mubarak's education seemed dedicated more to loyalty, honesty, and ethics than earnest applications of his abilities in service to the Sultan.

When he was 11, Mubarak had already developed a reputation at the House of the Royal Magi as a troublesome student. His exploits ranged from regularly starting fires around the academy attempting to harness greater power to toppling a decades-old statue of the then-Sultan attempting to perfect his control of the earth outside of training periods, and the inadvertent destruction often plagued both his environment and his own body. The latter scandal landed him in front of the Sultan himself, when various instructors and other students decried the antic as an intentional ploy by a demon-possessed mad child to disrespect the Sultan's authority.

The charge was certainly serious. Mubarak would ultimately face a public flogging for his transgression, his status as a blessed of the Lunar Mantle granting him little leniency. Mubarak was placed under the near-constant surveillance of a guardsman for a year as he continued his education, and during that time his usual renegade approach was replaced by an even-keeled, yet passionate dedication to perfection of technique.

By age 14 Mubarak had achieved proficiency in all the basic skills expected of students in the Nadaq Almuuq, able to create fire from his hands and use it as an effective self-defense tool, and soon after he demonstrated his ability to shift the earth beneath his feet and rip stones from the dirt using his magic, hurling them across the yard. His swift progress, he felt, came in spite of the academics' best attempts to stifle his growth. Mubarak accepted his plumed badges, though he loathed to receive them from those he felt stood in the way of power. Since the academies offered him no further education in the use of his Sun magic, Mubarak began down the path of Moon magic proficiency. Though he is certainly skilled in its use, his abilities are still only average compared to those naturally gifted in its use.

At 16, his life took a significant turn. The then-Sultan's son, who would go on to become the current Sultan and the first to conquer all of the surrounding sheikdoms, called on him in his academy quarters one night. The Sultanate's heir, a boy four years Mubarak's junior, sneaked across the palace that night after discovering earlier that day he had an ancestor who had been able to tap into Sun magic. Then a naive yet imaginative prince, the Sultan asked Mubarak if he would help him unleash what he declared was hidden potential.

Mubarak initially refused, still insulted by the public humiliation the prince's father had forced upon him. Upon further consideration, Mubarak took the challenge upon himself -- not to train this mundane boy to tap into power he certainly didn't have, but to ensure no talented magi would ever be held back by foolish superstitions again.

Mubarak's fruitless lessons eventually blossomed into a legitimate friendship with the Sultan-to-be, the young boys spending more and more time together as their teenage years went on. By the time he'd officially completed his education at 23, Mubarak and the prince were steadfast companions, who spent many free evenings drinking together, sharpening their swordplay, and dreaming of the beautiful girls who visited the court from distant sheikdoms. Most importantly, Mubarak challenged the Sultan's son to strive for a legacy even beyond his father's -- a drive that Mubarak himself eventually felt responsible for helping his childhood friend achieve.

Mubarak was 26 when the prince's father eventually passed. After a few short years serving local lords in magical affairs, the unproven Sun magus was named the Magus al-Qamar. This caused substantial uproar among the Sultan's magi, but the opposition was short lived when the Sultan took Ji-Alsin in half a year. Misardun fell in a series of wars lasting 10 years, and 10 years after, a short campaign was launched to subdue Mekhalga, lasting three years. Mekhallah was perhaps the harshest campaign, with the already-expanding Living Waste making supplying the Sultan's invading armies a nearly impossible task. Mubarak was instrumental in ensuring it happened, with the Sultan giving him the directive that it be done regardless of the cost. The invasion began twenty years before this tale, when Mubarak was 50 years old, and eight of those years were spent with men bleeding for every inch of Mekhallah. It was before the invasion of Mekhallah that Mubarak became the first documented Sultanate magus to allow the power of the sun to flow freely in his body, granting him inhuman speed and brawn after hours of meditation, incantations, and ritual he'd learned of from the native Alrifaq.

Throughout it all, Mubarak was a magus, a tactician, and a long-trusted advisor. The unproven Sun magus was indeed an instrumental part of uniting the disparate sheikdoms, under a river of sweat, blood, and corpses. Mubarak often wonders if his prodding the Sultan to greatness has helped bring about the current despair that seems to be racking much of the land.

Still, Mubarak also feels he has done his part to see the realm prosper. The Qaraqist faith has never been stronger in the Sultanate, now free of petty superstitions -- at least among the government's highest offices. Sun magi are being recruited and educated at record numbers, and among many of the new generation of magi are welcomed with open arms. Mubarak believes they may be key in understanding and stopping the Living Waste from swallowing the mainland.

Regrets from a lifetime spent chasing glory and waging war, however great his accomplishments for the magi, do still plague him. Now entering his 70th year as another full moon appears over the Sultanate, the elder magus hopes that he will be remembered as a savior before a conqueror. The Sultan has dispatched his trusted friend to Mekhallah to finally put an end to the Waste's expansion, or save Alkhafat's citizens if all else fails.

Character Skills and profession: Mubarak is the Sultan's personal magus, a title known in the court as the Magus al-Qamar. He has achieved a mastery of Sun magic historic among the Sultanate's magi, and is an averagely skilled Moon magic user. Beyond this, Mubarak was once a decent swordsman, but old age has degraded his skill unless aided by magic. His mind remains as sharp as ever, and his eye for strategy and creativity in the field remain top-notch.
Additional information (any quirks, oddities, equipment, or distinguishing characteristics/mannerisms that make them themselves): Mubarak is missing his pinky and ring fingers on his left hand, a result of magic overuse during his boyhood. His magical implement is a beautiful silver saber given to him by the Sultan after their conquest of Mekhallah, its hilt featuring an engraving of a blazing sun. The centerpiece of the weapon is a brilliant orange jewel. Mubarak loves fishing during his free time, a favorite pastime alongside sailing. Has an awful tendency to pull at his beard when speaking or thinking.

[Ovesa]

Great work, OP!
I overlooked some edits with Hikmat in the skills section, so I fixed it. Hopefully that's the last app revision I have to make

[Ormata]

How precisely is law enforcement done in this world?

[Lancearc]

How precisely is law enforcement done in this world?

In the day-to-day, most cities have garrisoned soldiers and prisons that deal with thievery, brawling drunkards, etc. The Sultan's standing troops are the law enforcement officers, and law enforcement is essentially a function of the military in all sheikdoms that aren't Jazallay and Rat Alshiq. The cities in these sheikdoms have semi-independent constabularies, unlike the more recently conquered territories.

In cities it's as simple as the army handling the duties of a police force. In the countryside you usually see only occasional small patrols where crime is recurring or community groups organizing to take care of themselves, whether those be sellsword bands or locals using farm tools.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Character Name: Shadhaa Samita (The Silent)
Character Race: Human
Character Description/Image:

Character Personality: Shadhaa is someone who is almost entirely unreserved. She speaks her mind and she speaks the truth, unless pure necessity dictates otherwise. As a Qadi, or Justice, her task is to bring a truth to the world, no matter how large or small this truth may be. However, as much as she will know and speak the truth, it is not her position to alter the truth. She isn't even in a position to judge. Her duty is to know and to explain, rather than to decide and alter. At least, this is the tradition in which she was raised. Meeting Shadhaa can be uncomfortable to those who are not familiar with a person speaking truthfully, and especially for those in traditions that do not allow women to be so bold and forward. However, the wisest men of the Sultanate have found that it is always good to have a Qadi nearby, if only for truth in moments of desparation, where no-one else can be trusted.

Shadhaa is a naturally curious individual, and she is known to ask too many questions for comfort. Nothing lies particularly outside her intrests, although she focuses on matters of law and sociology, as well as what we today would call political sciences. This interest is not merely secular, but religious, and Shadhaa is a very religious and observant woman indeed. The existence of the divine is presupposed and clear through all the beauty in the world, and it is understanding the will of the divine that gives Shadhaa her natural curiosity.
Character Flaws: Shadhaa fears that being too much of a presence will somehow disturb the world she wants to observe. She enjoys company, but cannot allow herself to rely too much on others. She has to rely on herself, in fear of being intelelctually 'infected' by those she wishes to observe. As such, while she has no trouble making superificial friendships for a time, she shuns close bonds with people that might be beneficial to her. Likewise, she is unable to use her knowledge to actually affect the world, because that is not her purpose, and she might actually befoul her subject matter by interfering. She gathers wisdom for the sake of wisdom, and to help others make decisions, but even then she is reserved. She makes a good councillor, but a terrible leader.
Character Bio/Backstory: Shadhaa was born into a farmer's household of median wealth, owning land surrounding a small oasis in northern Makhalga. Although generally unsuited for growing crop, it provided a good base of operations for their sheep and goat herds. Because she was of median wealth, Shadhaa had to suffer the worst of both worlds: not being extraordinarily wealth, the family could not afford to live their lives in a city like Almaqa, but still being rich enough that she was kept inside, not being required to help with the running of the farm. She got to play with the sheep every once in a while, but generally, she was expected to learn the ancient stories of her people by heart, and to sing the songs of her ancestors. Simple, boring work.

When she was eleven, the oasis of her family hosted peace talks between two neighbouring clans, who laid claim to land whose ownership was in dispute. For seven days, the chieftains negotiated, under the watchful eye of a visitor: a woman, a Qadi, from the Mardiyya el-Amen school of jurisprudence in Almaqa. The ancient tribal traditions in the region, still from before the Sultan's conquest, held the wisdom and neutrality of women in high regard, and seeking a final outcome to their dispute, the two clans had spared no expense. The woman was a true matriarch, keeping order and granting wisdom when asked. When she told a story, everyone was at her lips, and when she decided in the small disputes that made up the final dispute, some might grumble, but all accepted her wisdom.

The dispute was settled peacefully and the clans returned to their home, and so did Tulaiha, the female Qadi. However, not before Shadhaa's father had extracted from her a payment for his hospitality: that his daughter be allowed to study at Mardiyya el-Amen. Now, Tulaiha had grumbled, but the ancient ways would not allow her to deny such a gracious host, and soon they received word that Shadhaa could come and study at Mardiyya el-Amen. Now, these studies were not the light reading she had received back at home, where books and scrolls were scarce. In her first five years, until she was seventeen, she only read the stories, and multiple versions, being taught how to distinguish between the versions and the reason for their differences. Until she was twenty, she was taught the various different schools of taught, with the Mardiyya el-Amen school providing her with a particularly liberal methodology, based on the ancient tribal laws of yore. The final four years of study were spent actually applying these rules, and reading the various tomes of legal scholars to that effect.

Shadhaa was 25 by the time she was finished with her studies, and her hard work had paid off. She was offered a position at the school itself, to teach the younglings. However, the teaching life did not suit her. She wanted to write a legal tome of her own, based on the various local laws that already existed from before the Sultan's conquest. Thus, supplying herself with a donkey, some writing gear, and an iron staff, she headed out on her own, doing the work of a traveling Qadi. When in cities and towns, she was paid in gold and silver, and when in the countryside, she was paid in meat and foodstuffs, as well as clothing. She appreciated the countryside more for its similarities to home, and because of their peace and quiet. Yet, in the towns and cities there were large cases stretching back hundreds of years, as well as rulers who needed advice.

Her travels took her east, until she arrived at the mouth of the Qaara river, which she followed northwards through the river valley. Here, she had her first experiences with Horned Folk and Hooved Folk, and though she was afraid of them at first, through her natural-born curiosity she also learnt a lot about their customs. From this sprouted the idea of an entirely separate tome, on the nature of Dzho'Drakt. Their love for balance was one that really stuck with her, as a lover of peace and justice, and many of the Dzho'Drakt teachings made their way into her notes.

Now, she has arrived at Alkhafat by river barge. She is in need of hospitality, money to pay for her trip, and stories to fill her ever-growing piles of notes. In short, she seeks a case to crack. With the ever-encroaching Living Wase advancing towards the city, she hopes to make it her home, to see the reaction of humanity, and to bear witness to a monumental, historical event that would surely change the world for generations to come. Such wisdom, from such a special event, could only be gained once. So, she seeks to settle, and to take the last possible barge out of the city when the Waste finally arrives, or until she grows bored. In the meantime, she will seek the wisdom of the Horned and Hooved folk, for as long as their civilisations still exist, and her great wish is to visit an Alrifaq mountainside village.
Character Skills and profession: Shadhaa is a Qadi, a master of Tabala jurisprudence and learned, not just in its religious texts, but specifically knowledgeable about the sources of law within the religion. The study of Fiqh Tabala is almost as old as the worship of the stars itself, when the Magi of old tried to divine the way society should be organised from the stars. This study was soon separated into its own field of study. Fiqh Tabala does not follow a single methodology. Rather, the methodology has regional differences as well as philosophical differences, depending on the context of the age and the demands of a given time. Generally, however, most Qadi study the life of the Lunar Mantle and the many stories told since the foundation of Tabala, as well as the ancient legends from before that time. Qadi try to interpret these stories to find hidden meanings and truths that are applicable to the modern day. These rules are then extrapolated into laws by which all followers of Tabala should conduct themselves. Fiqh Tabala holds rules about property, family, criminal justice, and all other kinds of law.

In court, the Qadi is generally does not determine outcome of a case, or sentence. While some Qadi are judges, they generally tend to advise sheiks and sultans in their law-giving, and in lower courts they simply law down the matter before a local jury or a village elder, depending on local customs. Qadi are frequent travellers, since there aren't enough of them to provide every town and village with legal advice. As such, they travel from location to location, and with their arrival all court cases that have come up since the last Qadi left are settled. Qadi of the court are paid handsomely for their services, while travelling Qadi are often paid in food or other items. Being frequent travellers, Qadi often use their time to collect stories and legends of their own, which in turn can be adopted into great legal tomes. The tomes of the most prolific and wisest authors are often themselves seen as law, and reference to these writers is enough to sway most judges.

Shadhaa is a part of the Qadi tradition that looks mostly to nature to find the true meanings of right and wrong, as an addition to the sacred texts. More specifically, she adheres to the school of thought that sees humanity as part of nature, and thus, through watching humans at their most natural can you find out the true nature of the universe. This school is among the more liberal of the Qadi jurisprudences, since it seeks to respect human nature above some laws, and puts emphasis on the idea that human desires are not necessarily the work of evil. This puts them at odds with Qariqism, which they in turn percieve as the chief heresy.
Additional information: Carries an inscribed iron staff for protection, which she would never use to kill. Only to incapacitate.

[Lancearc]

Slight change of plans -- I've had a productive day and the IC is ready to roll by tomorrow, draft is saved.

I'll put up a poll though and see how you guys feel about it being posted tomorrow as opposed to Friday, since I know many are still working on apps and finer details. If you have questions or want to talk a little bit about how to introduce your character to the world (I'd be glad to share a bit of info about our first IC post or alternative introductions more specific to your character) feel free to reach out.

I'll likely be spending tomorrow finishing up on gathering the lore you guys have expanded on and putting it in its proper place so people can review it, and finishing some blurbs describing the other sheikdoms beyond Mekhallah. Excited to get this started with your characters!

[Lavan Tiri]

I'll try and finish up my app tomorrow night or the next day, now that I've figured out the concept

[Lancearc]

I'll try and finish up my app tomorrow night or the next day, now that I've figured out the concept

Sounds like a plan to me! What can we expect?

[Lavan Tiri]

I'll try and finish up my app tomorrow night or the next day, now that I've figured out the concept

Sounds like a plan to me! What can we expect?

Magic Twink(trademark)

[Lancearc]

Sounds like a plan to me! What can we expect?

Magic Twink(trademark)

A welcome addition to the gang

[Lavan Tiri]

Magic Twink(trademark)

A welcome addition to the gang

I come back to NS and this is the treatment I get.

I shoulda kept the rona instead

[Lancearc]

A welcome addition to the gang

I come back to NS and this is the treatment I get.

I shoulda kept the rona instead

You will never fine a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, fool

[Rodez]

Norv, if Arif and Arukh were to have met previously, how do you think it might have happened? Maybe Arif had an encounter with the janissaries on the frontier, or with the imperial guard in the capital? Or it could have been any time in the last four years, though Arukh has been a mere caravan guard in that span.

[Reverend Norv]

Norv, if Arif and Arukh were to have met previously, how do you think it might have happened? Maybe Arif had an encounter with the janissaries on the frontier, or with the imperial guard in the capital? Or it could have been any time in the last four years, though Arukh has been a mere caravan guard in that span.

Either way. Given Arif's borderline-magical powers of observation, he would have seen that there was more to Arukh than a caravan guard, even if he did meet him relatively recently. So it is entirely up to you.

[Somerania]

This looks great! Reading through, I was thinking of making a janissary sort of character, originally from steppe lands that could be off to the northwest. Could I write this in without upsetting your lore?

Absolutely, the area to the north and west is kind of intentionally left a bit vague for that reason, though the general idea is that the are is inhabited primarily by nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples due to the geography and climate. If you had a concept for a group or small kingdom inhabiting that region I wouldn't mind working alongside to make it more established within the world as well.

Is there a Persian civilization in this world?