"There is no star too distant for a Rider. They can touch the skies in ways that other men can only dream. They can fly past the edges of the map and return unharmed. To the tune of the relentless beat of wings, the rushing of wind in their ears, and the blood pumping endlessly through two connected hearts, they are boundless. By blood and fang, they are invincible. By indomitable will, they are unbreakable. But most of all, they have become more than just a person. They are two souls that cycle between two bodies. Dragon, man, there is no difference. When you have learned this, and when you have understood what it means, then you are truly a Dragon Rider."
-An excerpt from The Annals of The Rider
The First Kingdom
We do not remember its name. We could not possibly fathom how powerful it was. What we know we have scrapped together piecemeal from this ancient passage or that religious text. But what we do know is that the First Kingdom united us all. These 5 kingdoms that you see today did not exist, and the people that lived there - our ancestors - were united together under one banner. It was a time of strange magicks, brutal wars, and brought about the rise of many heroes that we revere today. It was an age of conquest, fire, and blood. In a sense, The First Kingdom waged as much war as we do today.
The very key difference is who we fight against.
While we squabble among ourselves for territorial gains and political advantages, the First Kingdom waged a terrible war against a much greater enemy: the Dragon Menace. In that day, dragons were much more organized than they are now. Their hierarchy meant something, and the Apex Dragons were wholly committed to the extermination of humans on Britannia. It is rumored that they simply wanted this land for themselves, but many historians believe that the First Kingdom began encroaching on their territory to the north and the dragons simply struck back in defense. But yet they never pursued peace, never tried to reach out and communicate with us. They simply massacred us, and we did the same to them.
That war ended with the rise of one we simply know as Arimachus. A heroic general in his own right, Arimachus was one of the primary leaders in the campaign against the Dragon Menace. However, we know from his Annals that he always saw more to dragons than most humans did. To Arimachus, they were not simply a pest to be exterminated. He fought them as an equal, playing intricate games with the Apex Dragons, trying to outmaneuver them just as they tried to annihilate him. A mutual respect formed between the two, and this even kindled a desire to develop understanding.
It was under these circumstances that the Apex Dragons sent an emissary to Arimachus. One of the greatest warriors of the Dragon race, one known as Kadraxx, came to Arimachus on the eve of a particularly decisive battle. He spoke for the Apex Council, asking Arimachus to convince the humans to lay down their arms. There was a desire for peace, to develop understanding between two species who had waged war for decades. Arimachus obliged, and on the morning of the battle - when the dragons did not strike - Arimachus made his case to the armies of the First Kingdom.
Unfortunately, history is never so easy. The Lord Commander Exaltant, who was - to our understanding - both the chief military officer and primary leader of the First Kingdom, labeled Arimachus a traitor and a madman. The Lord Commander ordered almost his immediate imprisonment, and dismissed Arimachus as both tainted by the dragon's influence and clinically insane. But, Kadraxx rescued Arimachus before he could be dragged away. With a swath of flame, Kadraxx sent many men fleeing for protection. In a spur of the moment decision, Arimachus climbed onto Kaddrax's back. This was the First Bonding. In their escape, Kaddrax and Arimachus touched the stars as no human had ever before. He raced the wind, and won. He felt as though he were invincible.
The first Dragon Rider had been born.
Arimachus atop Kaddrax, in the Mountains of Kileshania
Yet Adrimachus was not content to escape and roam as a Rider. He was angry with the rulers of the First Kingdom. He could not simply accept that humanity and dragons would quarrel forever. He felt as though he had to make a change. Over the next several years, as he learned the secrets of dragon riding, he gathered six of his closest allies whom he trusted unconditionally. He imparted unto them the same knowledge he himself was learning as he lived with the dragons. He taught them how to unlock a dragon's raw power, how to fight as one, and how to truly embrace the soul-bond between dragon and man.
These individuals became known as the Seven Harbingers. They waged holy war against the First Kingdom, with the dragons at their back. They slowly gathered their own supporters, and soon were rivaling the Lord Commander Exaltant in status and power. With the ancient magick of dragons at their fingertips, they could annihilate armies and ransack cities like no man was ever able to before. This, we know, became the First Doom. Arimachus and the rest of the Seven Harbingers purged the First Kingdom of its previous leadership and declared themselves the new rulers. They promised to usher in a new age of cooperation with the dragons, and to expand The First Kingdom's power past petty squabbles with neighbors of the land.
This era, the Golden Age of the First Kingdom, saw it expand into the territories that we know as the Five Nations today. It was here that Arimachus wrote his Annals of the Rider: a collection of teachings and lessons that he was given by the Apex Dragons, and just as many lessons that he taught them. The Annals contain the secrets of dragon mastery, and Arimachus' personal accounts of his conquest of the First Kingdom. As far as we know, only one version of the Annals exist anywhere in the Five Kingdoms.
This Golden Age was, unfortunately, not meant to last. The Seven Harbingers still had enemies in the government underneath their rule, though many kept their discontent private. As the years rolled by, and the Seven Harbingers slowly passed onto the afterlife, the First Kingdom began to fracture. Politicians and generals vying for power broke out into open conflict, both in political forums and on the battlefield.
And so, the First Kingdom had ended. The Era of Five Nations began.
The Five Nations and Today's Age
For the past millennium, the Five Nations have fought among each other for political dominion. It is each nation's dream to restore themselves to the former glory of the First Kingdom, and to once again bring a golden age about Britannia. Yet, none of them have succeeded thus far. In the time since the First Kingdom dissolved, dragons have slowly moved away from Britannia, and to new shores. In their place, hardy mountain folk have formed nomadic tribes. These nomads, the Jartun, come down from the Kileshania Mountains to raid and pillage, and recede to their rockbound homes once enough villages have been burned and loot has been seized.
To the North, just below the peaks of the Kileshania, lie the Vargstadt. Many say there were originally immigrants to Britannia, untold centuries before the First Kingdom even formed. They are brutish, hardy, and entirely dependent on their prowess in battle to win them resources. They constantly war with the mountain nomads in an effort to stem the tide of their insurrection into the rest of Britannia, meaning that the Vargstadt armies are constantly split between protecting their borders and fighting a losing battle in the mountains. Vargstadt are often considered savages by other cultures, but their prowess in dismounted combat is nothing to be sneezed at. Any man's best bet, were he to see a Vargstadt Howler running his way, would be to turn heel and flee. Vargstadt's capital is Yaroslav.
The eastern shores of Britannia hold the Calrandians. A strange folk who seem to live in harmony with the forest, they form loose communities and are held together by a High Council that makes all of its decisions from the capital, Deepwood, which resides in the darkest corners of the forest. Renowned for their archery skills, the Calrandians are masters of guerrilla warfare, and have been consistently locked into conflict with massive confederations of bandits that pester their western borders.
Western areas of Britannia contain Sagis. This kingdom rose from the ruins of the First Kingdom, and so its culture is very similar to what we think we would have seen in the First Kingdom. Sagians consider themselves to be the "highest" Britannians. Their education systems and general development is phenomenal, but they are plagued by a choking bureaucratic morass of politics that stagnates every decision the nation makes. If it were not for an almost entirely autonomous military, the Sagians may have already been conquered. This, however, presents its own challenge. The current Marshal of the military is making a bid for political power, and may not hold back on sending his armies to execute other Sagian politicians. The Sagian military is renowned for its heavy cavalry and ingenious scientists. Their siege weapons are some of the best in Britannia. Sagia's capital is named Seven Towers.
The Emerald Plains are almost entirely occupied by the Karkoth Confederation. Not much is known about the strange culture of this nature, since they have had minimal contact with the other nations, except when an invasion force lands on the shores of the Plains. Almost never do the invaders make it far past the beach, being savaged by a lethal combination of light cavalry and spearmen. The Karkoth Confederation is said to be ruled by a man named Uigher Wornkol, and their capital city is Moheria.
On the Southern Shore, across the channel, lie the Umbricans. Umbrica is, by all standards, the most powerful of the Five Nations. They worship the moon, and nighttime in general, and believe they are blessed by some higher Goddess to wage war. Their military is effective and brutal, and their tactics are almost unbeatable by any conventional Britannian force. They often trade with other Britannian nations, and bring strange goods from foreign lands to Britannia's shores. Rumor has it that they are locked in a decades-long conflict with another empire far beyond the Southern Shore, which is one of the reasons they have not conquered the rest of Britannia again. Their capital city is Underlight.
The New Age of Dragons
Castoran Dravos at the Battle of Darkmurk
Over the next few years, I will teach you from the Annals of the Dragon Rider. We will form the Bond with our Dragons, and we will take to the skies to unite Britannia once again.
Let the New Harbingers rise.
Notes From The OP
Hey guys, Skyggeheim here. I know I just threw a wall of text at you guys. So let me clarify a few things before we kick off this OP! First and foremost, this is a fantasy-medieval RP where we will take the role of young, talented individuals from the shattered remains of a once glorious kingdom that is now divided into squabbling nations. We are taken in, whether that be through force or simple request, by a fanatical devotee of the teachings of the first Dragon Rider: Arimachus. This man, Castoran Dravos, was an incredibly famous warrior in his own right. His dirty little secret being that he has mastered the lessons written by Arimachus and formed a Bond with a Dragon. He has taken the moniker of the First Dragon Rider of the Five Nations, since the practice has fallen largely out of favor due to a massive exodus of dragons out of Britannia after the First Kingdom fell.
Our primary task over the course of the RP will be to learn all we can about dragon riding, and a little bit about life too, and eventually try to unite the Five Nations once again and bring peace to the greater area around Britannia. This task may seem insurmountable, but we have chosen to perform this for a very specific reason: we are some of the first people in millennia that possess the natural ability to Bond with a dragon. A Bond - capitalized for a reason - is more than just a friendship with a dragon. Through magick that we don't understand, our souls meld together with the soul of the dragon. While these dragons are not necessarily sapient, they are smarter than the average house pet. We can communicate with them on a deeper level than just commands, but we cannot necessarily understand their emotions or some of their complexities. The only exception to this rule were the Seven Harbingers, who Bonded with Apex Dragons. Unfortunately, we are not afforded that opportunity...at first.
A note on magick, we as humans are not capable of using it. As simple as that, we do not understand the complexities - nor do we have the latent ability - necessary to utilize it. We are but simple humans, other than the fact that we are to become Dragon Riders. However, dragons possess the innate ability to harness one of the six "sects" of physical magic: Arc, Solar, Void, Lith, Tide, and Tempest. Arc covers lightning and storm based abilities, Solar is any fire-based abilities, Void has to do with manipulation of darkness and negative energy, Lith is the mastery of the rocks and dirt around us, Tide is the understanding of water and its forms, and Tempest is mastery of the wind and air. These sects of magic are the first classifier of a dragon.
The second classification of a dragon is its species. In terms of application, I am allowing you guys to have free reign of how you design the look and species of your dragon. However, I am limiting the size to less than 40 feet long. Essentially, for a good scale, your dragon should be somewhere between a Great White Shark and a Megalodon. Look here for reference. Other than that, however, I am leaving it up to you guys! I want the design to be diverse, and shouldn't necessarily stick to the traditional conventions we use for dragons. More variety is better. Think of how diverse and crazy the dragons are in How to Train Your Dragon! That level of creativity is encouraged.
Rules
- 1.) The words of the OP and Co-OPs are final.
2.) Don't be a jerk. No disrespect is necessary.
3.) Character limit per RPer is 2, for now.
4.) There's a discord, to facilitate communication. Once your application has been accepted, I'll TG you the link.
5.) Ensure you are always aware of the current goings-on in the IC.
6.) Our characters will be challenged, and will not be masterful Dragon Riders at the beginning.
7.) Play responsibly and realistically.
8.) Please try to post at least one paragraph per IC post.
9.) No godmodding or metagaming.
Application
- Code: Select all
[box][align=center][size=150][b][u]Dragon Rider Initiate File[/u][/b][/size][/align]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (Between 18 - 23)
[b]Alignment:[/b](Use the classic D&D alignments. BE AWARE: Evil alignments are going to have a difficult time, depending on how well you can build alliances with other initiates.)
[b]Gender:[/b]
[floatright][spoiler=Appearance](place appearance description or image link here)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Dragon Appearance](Image, description, whatever you need. Image is preferred.)[/spoiler][/floatright]
[b]Dragon Name:[/b]
[b]Dragon Species Name:[/b] (Get creative here!)
[b]Dragon Classification:[/b] (Arc, Solar, Void, Lith, Tide, or Tempest)
[b]Dragon Specifications:[/b] (Size, whether it's a heavy hitter or a speedster, etc. Flex your creative muscle here.)
[b]Weaknesses:[/b] (What is your dragon weak to?)
[b]Equipment and weapons:[/b] (please list, if applicable)
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]
[align=center][size=150]OPTIONAL INFORMATION[/size][/align]
[b]Likes:[/b]
[b]Dislikes:[/b]
[b]Fears/Phobias:[/b]
[b]Theme:[/b]
#2020 DO NOT DELETE[/box]
All rights go to its author
