Vampires.
On Earth, we write novels about them. Dracula, Nosferatu, and even the horrible excuses for vampires we see in the Twilight saga. Some violent, others not, all extremely dangerous under the right circumstances.
What if vampires truly existed?
Earth, 1575. Not as our world knew it, however. The vampire, or what led to it, had come into being more than 3 400 years ago. Was it natural? Placed there by some supernatural force? One way or another, the first step toward the vampires of 1575 had been created. Over the next centuries, they evolved, eventually gaining supernatural characteristics. After slightly more than 2000 years, this evolution brought forth a vampire who named herself Kalara Venzalor. Nobody knows what made her so different from those that came before - she so thoroughly eliminated the old vampires that the only knowledge about them was that they existed. She quickly united the 'new vampires' into a single massive coven before she had even reached the age of 130, and had established dominance over humanity before she had reached the tender age of 250.
Now, at the start of November 3491 by the vampires' reckoning, the Myrávian Empire (named for the capital she founded in the northwest of what we call England) is in turmoil. The world is well into its Renaissance and the early stages of an industrial revolution, and humanity has gained in number to outnumber the vampires by nearly 30 to 1. The Venzalor coven remains by far the most powerful of the covens, and Kalara the most powerful of the vampires, but the increasing fragmentation of the world is beginning to bring forth cracks in the coven's structure, and it would only take a vampire wily enough to exploit them - or a human brave or foolish enough to bring the whole of vampire society to its knees.
In this volatile environment, the stage is set, the orchestra engage - now it is time to see if you can dance. At the head of one of the vampire covens within or without the Venzalorian umbrella, you must attempt to navigate your coven through the Great Upheaval - align with Kalara and attempt to preserve the vampiric order which has prevailed for centuries, or move against her in an attempt to bring greater power to yourself and your house. Or, perhaps, you are in control of one of the human noble houses of the day. Working with the vampires would earn you the ire of other noble houses, but Kalara tends to reward those who aid her with money, connections, and above all, power that could be exploited against those other houses. Or, align with the major noble houses, attempt to overthrow the vampires, and set humanity on the pedestal it has been so wrongfully denied by the vampiric race.
The choice, dear reader, must be yours.
0) All forum rules apply.
1) No godmodding. Vampires are supernatural creatures, fine. There's magic here, fine. But there are limits.
2) The Opening Poster (myself) bears the final word on any disputes.
2a) The Opening Poster has the ability to declare posts or portions of posts non-canon, and all non-canon events may be ignored.
3) Please try and keep some detail moving. In fast-paced scenes, some shorter posts may be acceptable, but please at least try to flesh out a few well-developed sentences.
4) All applications will be approved or rejected by the Opening Poster.
5) Co-Opening Posters (co-OPs) have all the powers of the Opening Poster except when overruled.
Current Co-OPs: none
6) No coven or house application can be without a character application. Ideally, apply the head of your coven or house as one of your characters.
7) To avoid the trouble of hilariously long travel times to an extent, let's stay in Europe, thanks.
8) The creator of a coven or house shall roleplay all other entities in the same as non-player characters, unless they approve a player character within their coven or house.
9) Each poster is limited to applying three (3) characters and one (1) coven or noble house.
10) Please make an effort to maintain the continuity of the story.
11) If I (the Opening Poster) know you, leave a note of it instead of leaving an RP sample.
12) Have fun.
A few additional pointers
1) Terrible though the rest of it may be, the Twilight saga is actually a good reference for the non-magical ability levels of vampires.
1a) Vampires in this reality can still be killed by being staked through the heart or shot in the heart with a silver bullet.
1b) In terms of magical ability, the simple rule is "don't be ridiculous". The Opening Poster reserves the right to utilize this pointer in judging things non-canon according to Rule 2a.
2) We do have werewolves, too! They are all non-player characters and can be used or mentioned by anyone in their posts.
3) Though the year is "1575" by humanity's reckoning, the technology level is probably closer to that of the mid-1700s. Influence of vampires being able to think about these things for longer periods, plus magic.
4) Nothing here as yet. I'll add something if/when I think of it!
5) Refer to Rule 11.
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[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Form[/b]: [ ] Human | [ ] Vampire
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]House/Coven Allegiance[/b], if any:
[b]Occupation[/b]:
[b]Appearance[/b]:
[b]A short bio[/b] (1-3 paragraphs, please):
[b]RP samples[/b] (1-3 links or paragraphs, links preferred):
- Code: Select all
[b]House/Coven Name[/b]:
[b]Coven Class[/b]:
[b]Leader[/b]:
[b]Resources points[/b]: --/20
[b]Connections points[/b]: --/20
[b]Influence points[/b]: --/20
[b]Members[/b] (total number):
[b]Coven or House Seat[/b]:
[b]Coat of Arms[/b], if any:
In the fragile days of the potential breakup of the Venzalor coven, what you have access to will mean everything. Do you have the resources to allow your coven or house to generate the wealth it needs to buy its way out of the conflict, perhaps saving its own head? Are you well-enough connected with the criminal underworld or the upper crust of Europe that they'll fight your battles for you? Or does your name carry enough weight with the right people to make sure that you can stay above the fray or, if you're already in the thick of it, to make sure you get the solution you seek? The number of points you receive is dependent on the class of your coven.
The House Venzalor, a Unique Coven, receives 55 points.
If I were to approve someone to portray the Catholic Church, that Unique House would receive 50 points.
Great Houses and Covens receive 45 points a piece (there are 0 Great Coven and 0 Great House spaces available).
Major Houses and Covens receive 36 points a piece (there are 0 Major Coven and 2 Major House spaces available).
Minor Houses and Covens receive 27 points a piece (there can be an unlimited number of these.)