forum An Ancient Kingdom Dies (Small group, 2/2 ⎮ Mature, 15+)

Started May 12, 2023 by @lord-of-the-carnival group

tune

this roleplay will be based off of a song by TheFatRat called "Pride and Fear." I'll be using the lyrics as a prompt for this one so it's not required to listen to it but i highly suggest you do since it's honestly a good song!

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Once a realm on the shoulders of giants, forged with ember and gold. An empire stood through the clouds, it was endless, stories of peace it foretold. . .

The empire continent of Emarusia was a wonderful paradise of vibrant colors and enthusiastic scientific progression, a mighty yet peaceful nation of strong minded and joyful peoples. War and famine were relics of a bygone age, and death was getting less and less common. Theft and murder were delt with swiftly and harshly.

Where sea meets sky, emerald water in moonlight, mountain tops kissed with snow. . . People held up the legends of bounty, reaping the peace that they sowed.

It was a lustrous nation of age old mountains and old-growth forests untouched by mortal hands for centuries. People respected nature and treated the world around them with kindness and compassion, always asking for permission before cutting down a tree or going on the hunt for food. Legends of ancient, benevolent deities kept children in awe even into adulthood, teaching the virtues of respect and discipline. No blood had been spilt in wars or revolt for ages. . .

But one by one, in secrets, planted greed. . . and watered it with pride and fear.

But as it is with every peaceful nation, there are those who are, as a basis, discontent with the status quo, who always wanted more, especially amongst the noblemen and women.

Seasons changed, like the turning of tides, the blossoms started to fade. . . The air grew heavy, electric in warning, the greedy knelt down and they prayed

The land started to lose its apparant blessing as more and more people became discontent, became greedy and violent and cruel. They turned away from the gods, and worshipped coin and trade instead.

They begged for peace, for the legends of bounty, no one planted or sowed. The secrets grew like the storm in the distance, came to collect what they owed. . .

War came. It came swift and devoured the forests in flame, children swallowed by blood and steel and pain. It tore through the mountains and the people turned back to the old gods, but it was too late. They were already gone, their bodies which had served as anchors now rotting or hewn by giant swords or frozen in ice. Some faded, some simply went into hiding.

The poisoned fruit fell not far from the tree, the fiend that nobody could see. Once a realm on the shoulders of giants, forged with ember and gold. Now a lost land, it's fading in silence, haunted by demons and ghosts. . .

Emarusia fell, and with it fell their age of prosperity and peace. The land was consumed by the remnants of those who had survived, and now the old lands are salted and barren, petrified forests paying homage to what once was. The new kingdom of Tÿr was filled with evil and spectres.

It's up to a brave few, sons and daughters of old heros and maybe even monsters, to cleanse this land, to bring back the glory of the old gods. They may yet succeed, though not without learning harsh truths and confronting slumbering evils long pinned underneath soil and rock by the last of the fighters of Emarusia. It is up to the gods whther they wish this or not. . .

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So for those of you who don't know, my group RPs tend to cover sensitive topics like graphic violence and stuff like that, so stalk at your own risk! Not going to say don't stalk at all for this one - it's going to be fun and fast paced - but uh- this one is going to be a doozy, with a lot of less savory themes; just about the only things that won't be allowed here are incest and rape/sexual assault. This is going to be a dark high fantasy roleplay, so racism is going to be included here, though i'm keeping racism strictly an NPC concept, meaning i'll be the one writing it. Sexism is okay, but not explicit ableism or downright nazism. Don't go overboard, treat the writers theirselves with respect and if you're not comfortable about any of this, ignore it! It's not hurting you, and you can move on about your day.

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RULES!

1. As previously stated, this will cover some controversial and horrible themes. This does not mean you get to be a dick OOC! If I see any rudeness or anger towards me or the other member, I'll ask whoever was being rude and/or disrespectful to sort it out. If they can't, they'll be booted. This means Andrew's Rules still apply, basically!
2. I will be asking for a writing sample if I've never roleplayed with you before! If I deny you it's nothing against you, it just means you might not be the best fit.
3. Power is expected, but don't be overpowered. I expect a general overview of powers I can expect from your character; if I feel you're too powerful I'll ask you to alter it slightly. It's nothing against you, I just need this one to not be a sort of thing where everyone's ignoring plot points in favor of their own power.
4. I'm not exactly the best about this, but I expect at least one paragraph responses. (meaning 3-5 sentences, minimum.) That being said, don't write short stories! I'm probably going to skip over an important detail if you write anything more than 2 long paragraphs, and I don't want that to be an issue so I'm calling it here. (I'll be doing my best with this as well lol)
5. Most important, work with me and the other people who join! If something is mentioned such as a magic dulling/negating effect, or something like environmental details, don't ignore it or say that the character can't be affected by it. It ruins the fun in my opinion. So please, just work with the responses. This doesn't mean don't point out any issues, though- correct me if I'm wrong about something!
6. Last one- just have fun here! That's it!

Have a potato for making it through all of that lol 🥔

Name:
Nicknames/Titles (Optional):
Age:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Sexuality:

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Appearance-
Hair Color & Length:
Eye Color:
Height:
Weight:
Skin Color:
Body Type:
Facial Structure:
Markings (i.e. scars, tattoos, etc.):
Face Claim (Optional):
Voice Claim (Optional):

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Personality-
Basic Traits:
Biases:
Political Lean (Optional):
Motivations (Optional):
Flaws:
Hobbies:
Talents:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Fears:
Hopes:

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Power(s)-
Basic Outline (Repeat for every power):
Drawbacks (Repeat for every power):
Inherent Limitations (Repeat for every power; limitations aren't optional here):
Special Applications (Optional):

Name: Percival Huang
Nicknames/Titles (Optional): The Chained Warrior
Age: 23
Ethnicity: were this not a literal fantasy story where human race and ethnic groups didn’t really hold relevance here (at least I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong), I’d say he’s Chinese/Ethnically Jewish since that’s what he is in my writing project.
Gender: Trans man, he/him
Sexuality: Very, very gay. Like, the gaydar of this lad is off the charts.

Appearance-
Hair Color & Length: A beautiful obsidian black that falls down to his mid-back in soft, gentle slight waves, typically braided or tied up somehow.
Eye Color: Deep brown like garden mulch, green and gold flecks within.
Height: 5’11”
Weight: Skinny for his height, but his body is still strong enough to hold up in a fight.
Skin Color: Pale with cool undertones.
Face Claim (Optional): N/A
Voice Claim (Optional): Hunter from The Owl House, but like, a bit older.

Personality-
Basic Traits: Flirtatious yet extremely flustered, almost chaste when people actually bother to return the affection, and very kind even when arguably the person it’s directed at doesn’t deserve it. Very optimistic.
Biases: Uhh none? He’s dealt with enough bs to know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Political Lean (Optional): N/A
Motivations (Optional): To make the world a more whole, safe, and healthy place to live in.
Flaws: Probably just that he’s bad at taking care of himself, and will almost always put the needs of others before his own.
Hobbies: Gardening, cooking, and psychoanalysis of his friends.
Talents: Anything to do with plants.

Power(s)- Can commune with the earth and plants, his powers grow stronger but less under control the more he uses them.
Basic Outline (Repeat for every power): Growth- He can grow and manipulate plant matter in the vicinity kinda like Poison Ivy (the Batman villain, not the plant). Earth’s Venom- can create powerful poisons and toxins that can basically… uhh, kill you or anything living besides himself. Doesn’t use this except to cull harmful plants in his garden and would NEVER use it on a human or otherwise person… for now. Speak To The Trees- can glean information about what has happened in an area by using the networks in plants.
Drawbacks (Repeat for every power): Growth- costs a lot of energy even for small things, has put him in a coma before. Earth’s Venom- cannot destroy nonliving nonnatural matter. Speak To The Trees- uh not really any drawbacks other than he can only use it for detective work ex. he can’t actually see or hear what happened, as most plants do not see or hear.
Inherent Limitations (Repeat for every power; limitations aren't optional here): Growth- can’t do anything to animal or really non plant/fungi type matter, limited range for now. Earth’s Venom- Again, limited physical range, usually needs to be touching him or if a gas be within close quarters to work. Speak To The Trees- again, can’t actually see what’s happened, ex. he can know that blood was in the soil and can detective work it out that someone was killed, and for decaying matter on site can glean what type of thing or person was killed.
Special Applications (Optional): Really none?? They’re pretty general abilities haha, nothing super special.

(lol, i make them so long for personal preference; i do add or take away aspects depending, but generally changes i make stick)

(Lol ok! Also let me know if Percival is ok!)

(This is very long sorry! I'm aware that this is mostly dialogue and you don't have to read all of it, and if you're looking for something less dialogue-heavy I can provide that. this isn't from an rp but it is from a wip)

Darius Irvine stared at the map in front of him, eyebrows furrowed. He brought a clawed hand to his chin. He'd known the constellations above him for so long that he felt as if he were born with that ability; but there was nothing on the star map that he recognized. "Tahlia, come here, please?" He turned to his co-captain, who had been fiddling with a pearl she'd found. At his request, she placed the pearl back in the box and examined the star map on the desk. "This again?" Tahlia sighed.
"Yes," he replied. "Does any of this appear familiar to you?" The map was something the captain had discovered in one of his many chests, covered in dust. The paper was yellowed and ripped around the edges, depicting an ever-changing sky. Thalia clicked her tongue. "Can't say I do. What makes you think I'd know anything about this, anyway?"
"It mocks me," Darius seethed. "But fate and the stars above brought this to me. As an astronomer, I'm compelled to comply," he said fervently. Tahlia smirked at his dramaticism. "I see." She nodded, though she didn't entirely understand his musings. "Have you considered stopping by and talking to a mage?"
"I have a bounty on my head." Damien rolled up the map like a scroll and knelt by the chest he found it in. "So do you."
"So? We've been at sea for years and I haven't been caught. Neither have you.
"One day, Tahlia," Damien began, closing the chest, "You will captain this vessel. You are a wonder in combat, really, but you have to be careful."
"… That has nothing to do with-"
"It does." Irvine stood and crossed his arms, looking pained as he said this. "I don't trust that you won't get yourself killed."
"I won't be killed, and I won't captain, either. Not any time soon, at least."
"You think you'll pass before me?" Damien cocked his head and stood. "Just yesterday, you or I could have been shot down."
"I don't know. I figured we'd die at the same time. We are not only allies, but siblings to the sea. When you go, I will go as well, should the heavens allow it. If not, I'll find a way."
"That is a heartfelt sentiment, but a childish one. Someone has to overlook Valiance when I die. This journey will surely take me- meddling with magic has consequences, as I'm sure you know." Tahlia averted her eyes, hands on her hips. If we don't go down together, then what, Stallard?" He didn't wait for a reply. "I will go suddenly, without warning. As is the fate of anyone who chooses the ocean. As is the fate of a captain. A loyal one, anyway. I hope you know that."

Name: Renier Isia Verlice
Age: 26
Ethnicity: Jewish, Latin-American (if this took place in a real setting, since obviously America does not exist here), Polish

Race: Halfhuman, half saltwater Saremar (SAH-re-mar)

Saremar are, in the most simple description, aquatic people. They have gills on their necks, over the area of the ribs, or both (in Renier's case, just the neck) as well as lungs. They can use both, but depending on how human they are, they may be better suited for either water or land (land in this circumstance). Since Renier is only half Saremar, these traits are dulled and he is more humanoid.

Gender: Male. I refer to him with he/him, but this is not always clear.
Sexuality: Bi

Appearance-
Hair Color & Length: Dark brown, but appears black. Just slightly below the chin, a little long and layered. Looks wavy when exposed to saltwater.
Eye Color: Black
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 130 lbs
Skin Color: Cool-toned brown, lighter on the underarms
Body Type: Does not look particularly feminine or masculine in structure, with shoulders that are slightly small. Not necessarily thin or skinny, but generally a smaller person. Unsure of how to describe hips but they are there.
Facial Structure: Sort of long and angular, but soft on the chin. His eyes are purposely kept half-lidded.
Markings (i.e. scars, tattoos, etc.): Being a halfhuman, there are marks around the ribs where gills would have been if Renier were fully Saremar. Has a long scar on the calf from falling off of a sharp rock.

Personality-
Basic Traits: Acts in a confident and boisterous manner. Flighty, making him somewhat unreliable. Wily. Despite this, though, he does have good intentions, and if he wasn't already, grows warm over time. Usually outgoing and (usually) polite. Talkative, though slightly eccentric.
Biases: Distrustful of anyone directly related with or to the law or military.
Flaws: Again, flighty, overconfident, and at times uncooperative. The eccentricity is sometimes off-putting, because he often says exactly what is on his mind. Sometimes pushes people out of their comfort zones without asking. Lets people get under his skin and has a short temper.

Hobbies: Will sometimes whittle wood if he has a dagger on him. Tends to collect or steal small things when bored, and will mess with, polish, or inspect these items in his downtime. If he has access to an instrument of any kind, he will try to learn it, but is best with percussion and is hoping to learn some kind of bard magic.
Strengths: Cunning and wily, something of an escape artist. Has a keen sense of hearing and smell. Can draw, divert or avoid attention if he needs to. Outgoing.
Weaknesses: Overconfident and uncautious. Restlessness quickly becomes recklessness. Holds hard grudges. Stubborn and petty. Quickly loses his temper.
Fears: Commitment, (strong) magic, being seen as lesser or weak
Hopes: Hopes to be able to learn music-related magic at some point. More than that, he wants to see the world start anew, but doesn't vocalize either of these desires because he doesn't to sound boyish or naïve.

Power(s)-
Basic Outline: Amphibious (can utilize gills in freshwater and saltwater, for about one hour before coming up for oxygen), Transformation (can adopt a semiaquatic form in saltwater for about an hour straight), Tempo (While playing a percussion instrument or improvised instrument, Renier can increase the energy of others around him)

Drawbacks: Transformation (The rubbery skin will burn away and damage the human skin, taking on the effect of a first-degree burn) Tempo (The energy given to others is taken from Renier's own)

Inherent Limitations: Amphibious (This only lasts for about an hour before oxygen becomes necessary) Transformation (Also only lasts for an hour and requires focus to use) Tempo (Can't be performed- at least not well- if Renier is already very fatigued. Doesn't work with non-percussion applications)

(Sorry for the wait ahh also here is some art of renier cuz I'm not good at explaining things https://ibb.co/jgXpsgN
https://ibb.co/dPDFkrt
If I need to change anything I will!)

Name: Nimue Morwenna Zephyrine
Nicknames/Titles (Optional): Nimu ⎮ Admiral Nimue of the Bellepharen Navy; Naval Chief of Operations Nimue (CNO Nimue)
Age: 27
Ethnicity: In IRL terms, she looks Phoenician/Carthaginian with some aspects of Greek, Italian and Scandinavian blood.
Race: Quarter Nereid, the rest is actually grey elf
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual

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Appearance-
Hair Color & Length: Changes to match the weather; i.e. stormy weather, she'd have some shade of grey hair, while in clear weather she'd have hair that looked perfectly bleached of color, leaving it as clear as a spring
Eye Color: Her eyes actually change to reflect the color and depth of the water she's near or in, so if the water is very clear and deep her eyes will look midnight blue. This also applies to when she's overtop a large underground reservoir of water, such as an aquifer, or an underground river.
Height: 5'6 3/12"
Weight: 209.32 lbs
Skin Color: A deep, leathery brown color from all her time on the open sea
Body Type: Her body is made up of more water than the average person's, giving her a slightly rounder figure than average; her chest is about average, as is her ass, and she's covered with scars and whatnot.
Facial Structure: Round, short chin, low cheekbones and a strong jawline.
Markings (i.e. scars, tattoos, etc.): She's covered in scars from fishing lines, cutlasses, knives and even from fish that managed to put up a struggle before they got gutted.
Face Claim (Optional): N/A
Voice Claim (Optional): N/A

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Personality-
Basic Traits: She's a very pragmatic thinker, but don't let that fool you - she has a vengeant streak a mile long and an even longer list of reasons to add to it. She's an expert at getting the room to listen, and an even better commander on the water. When she makes a promise, she keeps it. And her threats are always promises. Despite being so pragmatic, she's also a very creative thinker, meaning if logic doesn't get her through something? Well, she always has the side of chaos to back her up. Due to the ammount of time she spent near or at sea - even as a child - she has less than optimal patience with those who dance around with words or who can't read her very well (she's very open with her emotions, as a matter of fact, so you'd have to be very ignorant to not see what she's feeling). Think Lawful Neutral with a slight tendency towards good and an ocassional lean towards chaotic.
Biases: Working on a ship, she's learned to get over biases.
Political Lean (Optional): She's closely tied to Bellephar, the nation to the west of Emarusia, seeing as she has full command of all naval matters regarding their military.
Motivations (Optional): She knows her history as a descendant of a servant of one of the old gods of Emarusia and wants to learn more about her past, and along the way she wants to see if she can bring back what Emarusia once was.
Flaws: She can be very harsh towards people at times, due to her distance from most people for more than half the year at sea (besides her crew). This tends to give her a very gruff and annoyed seeming attitude towards people when in reality she's forgotten how to talk to anyone normally.
Hobbies: Fishing, sailing, drinking, gambling, cartography.
Talents: Fishing, sailing, cooking, gambling, fighting, wayfinding
Strengths: Deep water (well, water in general), and she's actually a pretty good smooth talker despite her innate dislike of people who dance with words, so if nothing else she can talk her way out of a fine. She's also good at intimidation, if nothing else. She's amazing with daggers and certain types of polearms like spears and tridents, and is also decent with swords of any type. She knows when a storm is coming just by the way the air feels as well, even on land.
Weaknesses: Since she's so used to the open water, her land senses are slightly skewed, so she has trouble discerning what is what. Also, she absolutely hates fire, as it will actually deal more damage to her than it would anyone else.
Fears: She fears that she'll never reach her own goals for herself and constantly strives to be better and better. This is what's lead her to where she is right now in life, actually, but it might also be what causes her downfall.
Hopes: She hopes to learn the truth about her family and her family's history, and hopes she can finally put her forefathers to rest.

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Power(s)- Riptide, Rehydration, Invigorate, Stormcall, Form of the Ocean Goddess, Fisher's Luck, Armaments of the Ocean Goddess, Sailor's Instinct, Oceanspeak

Basic Outline: Riptide gives her some control over the currents around her.
Drawbacks: Large currents take a lot of energy to control, meaning if they're caught in a large tidal vortex (a.k.a. a whirlpool) it would nearly kill her to slow it so the crew can get the ship clear of the influence of its pull. Smaller currents require less energy, but it will still quickly exhaust her to control them.
Inherent Limitations: She can't control any more than two or three small currents at once, or one big current. This is usually enough, but there are times where it nearly wasn't. She hasn't run into a time where it wasn't.

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Basic Outline: Invigorate gives her a certain ammount of strength and/or stamina whenever she touches water.
Drawbacks: It works best with saltwater.
Inherent Limitations: She can't replenish more strength/stamina than the least powerful member of whatever crew/team she's on.

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Basic Outline: Rehydration works much the same way as Invigorate, but with hunger/thirst.
Drawbacks: It works best with saltwater.
Inherent Limitations: She can't make herself completely full or hydrated as long as everyone else on her team is hungry or slightly dehydrated.

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Basic Outline: Stormcall does what it sounds like it does - it calls a storm.
Drawbacks: It works best on the open ocean, where moisture and wind are unobstructed by anything, though she can produce tamed versions of storms on land.
Inherent Limitations: If the conditions aren't already there for the storm to happen, such as migh moisture in the atmosphere and/or clouds, she can't call a storm. It also relies on her endurance, so it doesn't work when she's asleep or anything.

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Basic Outline: Form of the Ocean Goddess is a special power from her descent from the ocean goddess' nereids. It allows her to take the divine form of the ocean goddess, though for a heavy price. It gives her enhanced control over currents and even allows her to manipulate the water itself, calling down waves of todal wrath upon her target and giving her enhanced control over storms as well.
Drawbacks: Due to the nature of the energy her body is conducting when using this power, and the fact that she is only mortal, it will literally slowly kill her if she stays in the form for longer than 1 minute due to oversaturation of water in the cell walls of her body and the extreme ammounts of divine energy she's trying to control. Even staying in this form for thirty seconds raises her chances of getting skin cancer considerably, since the divine energy comes out as heavy UV light mostly. (This power is one of the reasons why her skin is so dark, actually. She's used this power once in her entire life before, and she stayed in the form for 2 minutes 2.3 seconds.) This power may also have a mind of its own, meaning it could potentially come out and do whatever it wants, though this is just speculation on her part.
Inherent Limitations: She can't stay in this form any longer than 3 minutes. Because she dies at that point. Also, she can only use the power once every 5 years.

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Basic Outline: Fisher's Luck is a passive skill that simply increases the ammount of fish in a net.
Drawbacks: It can only multiply smaller fish. Anything larger than a Bellepharen Conger (which can get up to lengths of 9 feet and 209 lbs, mind you) and this passive doesn't work.
Inherent Limitations: To restate what was said in the drawbacks: anything longer than 9 feet or that weighs more than 200 lbs won't be multiplied.

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Basic Outline: Armaments of the Ocean Goddess gives her a dagger and a trident; the dagger she keeps summoned at all times, while she only summons the trident in truly dangerous situations.
Drawbacks: The dagger poses no drawbacks besides a slight desire for more water intake. It has no real power on its own and serves as a focus for powers such as Stormcall or Form of the Ocean Goddess. The trident, however. . . well, that's a different story. It relies on its weilder's physical and mental strength to be weilded. Nimue only barely meets its base requirements and she can only call out about 3% of its total power (though that's more than she'll ever need). The trident enhances the output of powers such as Stormcall or Form of the Ocean Goddess, and allows for more versatility in each. When used in conjunction with Form of the Ocean Goddess, strange things happen to the world around her. To this day, she has yet to use the trident while using Form of the Ocean Goddess, though maybe something in Emarusia might force her to. . .
Inherent Limitations: She can't summon the trident unless she's fully hydrated as it uses whatever water is in her body to manifest. The only reason why she keeps the dagger constantly summoned is so she can call minor demonstrations of power to keep new members of her crew in line. The dagger only requires a minor increase in water intake.

Dagger-

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Basic Outline: Sailor's Instinct is another passive ability that she was born with, giving her advanced knowledge of sailing and sea maneuvering. It also allows her to innately know how fast her ship is going and gives her an overall view of if she needs to make repairs or not.
Drawbacks: If it's a ship she doesn't know, this power's influence will either lessen or won't work at all until she learns the basics of the ship.
Inherent Limitations: If it's a ship she doesn't know, this power's influence will either lessen or won't work at all until she learns the basics of the ship.

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Basic Outline: Oceanspeak allows her to communicate with ocean creatures, or creatures that favor the ocean as their habitat.
Drawbacks: It's a passive ability, meaning she lower the volume of the noise, but she can't turn it off. When she was younger this caused lots of issues, since she would be constantly found whispering to animals.
Inherent Limitations: The smaller the creature is, the more difficulty she has actually communicating, meaning small creatures such as shrimp can only give her basic info. She tends to gravitate towards bass and tuna for this very reason, since they're abundant near her home of Bellephar. However, the more intelligent the creature, the more difficulty she has determing which thoughts are hers and which ones are the creatures, so she needs to be careful, since the ocean spirits like to play pranks upon those like Nimue.