What fate befalls a kingslaying traitor? It wasn't a pleasant question to ponder, but as Drake Barsett ran across the castle wall, royal blood drawing a stuttered line on the stone as it dripped from his sword, it was proving both pressing and persistent. Cries of alarm echoed from behind, but that was fine. The Royal Guard was the most lazy, out of condition force a man could ask for- as long as they were behind, they were staying behind. This was the first threat they'd faced in some ten years, unless you counted the Prince when he'd been rebuked by his father.
With a leap, he cleared the battlements, and tumbled to a roll as he hit the ground. A group of confused conscripts were milling about in the courtyard, looking for a superior officer. At the sight of a raven-haired Drake, charging them with a blood-covered sword, they scattered like a pack of pigeons. He ignored them- no need to for innocent and ignorant to suffer, just for the sins of their king. A few of them rallied, and turned to block his path, short spears gripped in shaking hands. Drake's zweihander came up sharply, and with a few quick slashes, the recruits were either disarmed or disabled. He kept running, dashing for the castle gates. Horns sounded all around, a to-arms, but there was no one there to serve it, no one to stop Drake as he rushed for the slowly closing gates. He judged the distance, the speed of the gates, and realized that just barely he was not going to make it. He snarled in bitter disappointment, but kept running all the same.
Suddenly, a trumpet sounded, as if in reply to Drake's dismay, and this one did not come from within the castle. Instead, it came from beyond the gates, and was accompanied by a roaring battle cry, one that Drake knew well. It was cry of the First Corsairs of Kaer- Drake's unit. Arrows thunked along the wall near the gate, and the doors stopped moving. As he neared, Drake saw one figure leading the unit- Ranaes Rommwell of the Ordian Thirty-Second Cavalry, and, unofficially, Drake's second-in-command. Officially, she was supposed to be their prisoner, but with all the things they'd been doing lately, they could hardly be called loyal to the crown.
"What are you doing here?" he asked incredulously. "This is my responsibility, I'm supposed to-"
"Did you honestly expect your men to go back to serving the king after all that had happened? Taking sole responsibility, getting a full pardon for your men- admirable actions, perhaps, but shouldn't you have stopped to consider their thoughts on the matter?" countered Ranaes in her easy, critical manner. "We're with you until the end, Commander Barsett- not to the throne."
"There is no throne anymore..." whispered Drake quietly. Ranaes's eyes widened in understanding.
"You... you didn't really-"
"We'll talk about it later. We break to the east. Move!"
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Three nations at war- Ord, Elemnia, and Kaer. There is no antagonist nation, no country of evil- like in life, there is no people that can be called villianous. All war for different reasons, and all reasons are valid and right. The only thing that can be said to be definitely wrong is the war itself.
Ord, a free nation, has long held a policy of absolute peace. They do not invade others, and they do not help others fend off invaders, in hopes that other nations will follow their example. The only time they take up arms is when they themselves are invaded, and that is the case at the moment. To defend their homeland, their people, and their philosophies, they take up arms against the invaders. Their army is well-trained and enviably equipped, but inexperienced. Ord is itself an ancient nation, the oldest on the continent, but in the past fifty years it has undergone a revolution and complete change of government. Once a monarchy, the nation now resides under an experimental democratic system of a parliament and prime minister.
Elemnia is a nation united in its faith, and a belief that one day they will find their promised land, where enlightenment and happiness can truly be found. Led by the Church of Elm and its head of office, the Disciple, Elemnia believes it has finally found its promised land, and will do anything to reach it. For this purpose, they have invaded Ord, and will fight to their last breathe to achieve it. The Elemnian military is rather unexceptional in all ways except its numbers- it has an incredible number of experienced, devoted soldiers, large enough to make up for its other shortcomings.
Kaer is a classical monarchy, taken in an unique direction. Having enjoyed stability and peace for such a long time, the kings of Kaer have decided that it is their duty to spread this peace throughout the world- through force, if necessary. They have tasked themselves as the world's peacekeepers, and wherever there is conflict, the Kaeran forces will show up to quell the fighting and stop the aggressor. In this case, however, the usually simple plan has gone awry- in addition to fighting the invader, Elemnia, they find themselves fending off Ord, who has taken their intervention quite personally.
Now these three nations fight a three-way battle, and no end is in sight.
Up to this point, no part of this has seemed too extraordinary- though fictional, this is a situation that could have happened in the Dark Ages of our own world for that matter. But this is not just a world of swords, this is a world of sorcery as well, and the two are linked indivisibly. This is a world that has never seen a swordsmith. In this world, swords are forged by the soul's resolve. A sword is not a weapon that any man can wield- each sword is a physical manifestation of the bearer's willingness to fight. They shape themselves according to the personality and traits of their bearer, and no one else may wield them. Similarly, not all of them are swords- some are spears, bows, or any other medieval weapon you can imagine. These blades are true to who you are, not to what you want- so though it might be handy for you to have a bow, the weapon does not respond to your wishes, so you're stuck with what you've got.
And the aforementioned sorcery, where does it fit in? Well, on occasion, when the time comes for a person to summon their weapon for the first time (called a Forging), no weapon comes out. Instead, they realize an ability to control the forces of magic that flow through the air, and shape them into gouts of flame, gusts of wind, a healing touch, or one of countless possibilites. This power does not come unrestricted, however- they cannot wield it alone. Instead, they must find another person that they have a deep connection with- a friend, an idol, or, most commonly, a love- and use that connection as an anchor, allowing their power to flow forth. This person cannot be a magic-user themselves, or the connection will not anchor them at all, instead allowing the magic to consume them, and eventually destroying their mind. Minor curative magics are possible without a partner, as they do not put too much strain on the soul, but offensive and status-affecting spells are completely impossible alone. Magic-users are quite rare- though every person has the ability to Forge, only one in every three people are put in a position to discover it, and within that, one in every twenty Forges to use magic. This number is noticably higher in Kaer (where it is 1-in-10) due to the high level of magic in the air, but still quite rare.
So the stage is set. The world has been drawn before you, in all of its oddities and wonders. In the next post (I have to make this two in an attempt to avoid a massive wall of text, sorry about the double post), I will bring you up to speed on current events, the specifics of each nation's militaries, the rules of this RP, and the template for applying. Thanks to all of those who braved this massive chunk of writing- it's longer than I'd hoped, but any shorter, and I'd be selling short an idea that's been burning in my head for months.
With a leap, he cleared the battlements, and tumbled to a roll as he hit the ground. A group of confused conscripts were milling about in the courtyard, looking for a superior officer. At the sight of a raven-haired Drake, charging them with a blood-covered sword, they scattered like a pack of pigeons. He ignored them- no need to for innocent and ignorant to suffer, just for the sins of their king. A few of them rallied, and turned to block his path, short spears gripped in shaking hands. Drake's zweihander came up sharply, and with a few quick slashes, the recruits were either disarmed or disabled. He kept running, dashing for the castle gates. Horns sounded all around, a to-arms, but there was no one there to serve it, no one to stop Drake as he rushed for the slowly closing gates. He judged the distance, the speed of the gates, and realized that just barely he was not going to make it. He snarled in bitter disappointment, but kept running all the same.
Suddenly, a trumpet sounded, as if in reply to Drake's dismay, and this one did not come from within the castle. Instead, it came from beyond the gates, and was accompanied by a roaring battle cry, one that Drake knew well. It was cry of the First Corsairs of Kaer- Drake's unit. Arrows thunked along the wall near the gate, and the doors stopped moving. As he neared, Drake saw one figure leading the unit- Ranaes Rommwell of the Ordian Thirty-Second Cavalry, and, unofficially, Drake's second-in-command. Officially, she was supposed to be their prisoner, but with all the things they'd been doing lately, they could hardly be called loyal to the crown.
"What are you doing here?" he asked incredulously. "This is my responsibility, I'm supposed to-"
"Did you honestly expect your men to go back to serving the king after all that had happened? Taking sole responsibility, getting a full pardon for your men- admirable actions, perhaps, but shouldn't you have stopped to consider their thoughts on the matter?" countered Ranaes in her easy, critical manner. "We're with you until the end, Commander Barsett- not to the throne."
"There is no throne anymore..." whispered Drake quietly. Ranaes's eyes widened in understanding.
"You... you didn't really-"
"We'll talk about it later. We break to the east. Move!"
--------------------------------------------------------
Three nations at war- Ord, Elemnia, and Kaer. There is no antagonist nation, no country of evil- like in life, there is no people that can be called villianous. All war for different reasons, and all reasons are valid and right. The only thing that can be said to be definitely wrong is the war itself.
Ord, a free nation, has long held a policy of absolute peace. They do not invade others, and they do not help others fend off invaders, in hopes that other nations will follow their example. The only time they take up arms is when they themselves are invaded, and that is the case at the moment. To defend their homeland, their people, and their philosophies, they take up arms against the invaders. Their army is well-trained and enviably equipped, but inexperienced. Ord is itself an ancient nation, the oldest on the continent, but in the past fifty years it has undergone a revolution and complete change of government. Once a monarchy, the nation now resides under an experimental democratic system of a parliament and prime minister.
Elemnia is a nation united in its faith, and a belief that one day they will find their promised land, where enlightenment and happiness can truly be found. Led by the Church of Elm and its head of office, the Disciple, Elemnia believes it has finally found its promised land, and will do anything to reach it. For this purpose, they have invaded Ord, and will fight to their last breathe to achieve it. The Elemnian military is rather unexceptional in all ways except its numbers- it has an incredible number of experienced, devoted soldiers, large enough to make up for its other shortcomings.
Kaer is a classical monarchy, taken in an unique direction. Having enjoyed stability and peace for such a long time, the kings of Kaer have decided that it is their duty to spread this peace throughout the world- through force, if necessary. They have tasked themselves as the world's peacekeepers, and wherever there is conflict, the Kaeran forces will show up to quell the fighting and stop the aggressor. In this case, however, the usually simple plan has gone awry- in addition to fighting the invader, Elemnia, they find themselves fending off Ord, who has taken their intervention quite personally.
Now these three nations fight a three-way battle, and no end is in sight.
Up to this point, no part of this has seemed too extraordinary- though fictional, this is a situation that could have happened in the Dark Ages of our own world for that matter. But this is not just a world of swords, this is a world of sorcery as well, and the two are linked indivisibly. This is a world that has never seen a swordsmith. In this world, swords are forged by the soul's resolve. A sword is not a weapon that any man can wield- each sword is a physical manifestation of the bearer's willingness to fight. They shape themselves according to the personality and traits of their bearer, and no one else may wield them. Similarly, not all of them are swords- some are spears, bows, or any other medieval weapon you can imagine. These blades are true to who you are, not to what you want- so though it might be handy for you to have a bow, the weapon does not respond to your wishes, so you're stuck with what you've got.
And the aforementioned sorcery, where does it fit in? Well, on occasion, when the time comes for a person to summon their weapon for the first time (called a Forging), no weapon comes out. Instead, they realize an ability to control the forces of magic that flow through the air, and shape them into gouts of flame, gusts of wind, a healing touch, or one of countless possibilites. This power does not come unrestricted, however- they cannot wield it alone. Instead, they must find another person that they have a deep connection with- a friend, an idol, or, most commonly, a love- and use that connection as an anchor, allowing their power to flow forth. This person cannot be a magic-user themselves, or the connection will not anchor them at all, instead allowing the magic to consume them, and eventually destroying their mind. Minor curative magics are possible without a partner, as they do not put too much strain on the soul, but offensive and status-affecting spells are completely impossible alone. Magic-users are quite rare- though every person has the ability to Forge, only one in every three people are put in a position to discover it, and within that, one in every twenty Forges to use magic. This number is noticably higher in Kaer (where it is 1-in-10) due to the high level of magic in the air, but still quite rare.
So the stage is set. The world has been drawn before you, in all of its oddities and wonders. In the next post (I have to make this two in an attempt to avoid a massive wall of text, sorry about the double post), I will bring you up to speed on current events, the specifics of each nation's militaries, the rules of this RP, and the template for applying. Thanks to all of those who braved this massive chunk of writing- it's longer than I'd hoped, but any shorter, and I'd be selling short an idea that's been burning in my head for months.
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