The Sons Always Rise

A Sellsword RP

Hear ye! Hear ye!

The explorer Francisco de Veranza has return'd from his voyage eastwards to the Ravaged Lands! He brings tales of mountains of molten gold, and fields brimming with sweetgrass, the lost lands of the old Imperium remain, preserved by the unknown workings of the Last Empress!

The Lord Regent of the New Empire has declared the lands rightful property by right, contested by the Marshal-Elect of the Cleoni, citing warrants of military government in the lack of Imperial Authority. The Doge of Ostrania, however, claims first right, being the backers of honorable Francisco, and have already begun filtering in supplies and peasantry.

To this land, forsaken Helradia, you have come, sworn Men (and women) of the Revenant Sons, a storied band with annals stretching to Imperial days, be you born into the Sons, or having taken bread, salt and bloodied gold, you're a brother all the same, and together with your fellow brothers, you march into this lost, forsaken land in the search of gold, legend, or bloody vengeance, for in these disputed lands, there is no lack for work.

Bloody hands for bloody deeds, and you lot don't lack for either.

So come then! Make yourself known, for a glorious destiny awaits!

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I'M BACK ON MY BULLSHIT

As you may have gathered from the above, this is a Fantasy-based RP, with an average tech basis of maybe the mid 1500s, you, that is, the characters you will create, are members of a mercenary band known as the Revenant Sons, having journeyed across the continent to set up shop in what is wildly considered to be a fucking smorgasbord for fighting men.

The RP is set to be a mixture of skirmish-based mass combat that I will likely do awfully or by obviously ripping people off, or, more comfortably, a small group of suckers trusted individuals running out to murderhobo around in the monster-infested lands.

All the local squabbling nations around are dog-piling on this sweet, sweet pile of loot, lore and sweet sweet shinies. However, primarily what they are looking for is ancient Runelore.

Runes, according to legend, are a language stolen from the gods, they were the words used to shape the world from primordial chaos, Calatine's Empire build itself on the backs of that runelore, inscribed armors, enchanted weapons, infastructure of mind-boggling complexity, and the titanic Runed Golems of yore, maintained and greedily hoarded by the carrion lords.

Helradia, the centre of the old Empire, was the nexus for this information, lost and abandoned, ravaged by rune-wrath in the wake of hubris that brought down the wrath of heaven.

So say the reports from that period, at any rate.

Perhaps you will find the secrets within this forsaken land? Many dangers await you, monsters, bred, captured, created by indulgent Citizens, rival warbands hungry for power, generals and warmongers of all nations and color, foreign and domestic.

It's sure to be an interesting time.

Now then, on to the meat and potatoes.

Nation Information

Calatine's Empire
Inspiration - Byzantium, British Empire

Once, the great Imperium was great and mighty, uncontested in its majesty. Carved from the wildlands by the Warrior-Queen Calatine and her Iron Legions, the empire wrought from the words from ancient times sprawled across the continent, brushing against the Slithering Sea to the west and the dark-skinned desert lords of far Araby with their strange magicks.

They reigned for a thousand years, and one, and the rising of the Great Calamity brought upon them the Dark Age, where thousands upon thousands died in the chaos of the reeling empire's collapse, the Last Empress in her madness damning the Old Capital and bringing upon it a curse that scourged all life for a hundred leagues.

Now, the Empire is less, the great legion wrought from runescript and darkened iron lost to time, lands brimming with revanchism and rebellion, sneering secessionists laughing in their victories, old enemies plundering and molesting the rotted corpse of a giant.

But it is not dead yet. The Regent-Lords still reign from the New Capital, hardened legions still march against the foe-man, runic script still adorns their plate, their white-steel helms.

Holy States of Cleon
Inspiration - Both sides of the Crusades

The border state, in the years of the old Empire, far from the majestic spires and sweet scents of the cities, they stood alone, without the runic constructs or fine armor, they had steel, but that was all.

So with steel in hand they saw off the Scourgers, the screaming hordes, Greenskins and other monstrosities, and they took it with souls like iron, blades like wind.

But iron can break, wind fades. What is left, when there is no aid to come, only ruin and desolation as far as the eye can see?

Faith.

Not much is known of their prophet-warrior, Cleon, but he somehow rallied the flagging defenders and whipped them into a frenzy, zeal prevailing where discipline had faltered, but no frothing madmen were these, no.

Faith is the soil in which strength is grown.

Today, the Sultanate is derisively looked upon as a nation of zealots, mongrels and madmen by the more 'civilized' nations around it. The Cleonites being merely the first and most known of a tangled tapestry of religions and faiths.

For a nation born of zeal and wrath, it has been tolerant in victory, and their chivalrous warriors are respected for their integrity and mastery at arms across the continent.

Confederation of Ostrania
Inspiration - Italian States, particularly Venice

In the wake of the reeling shambles of what was once Empire, there were those who saw opportunity, Cataline's heirs had not always been kind to those less fortunate, many practices now deemed foul were practiced in the Gilded Age, chatel slavery chief among them, in a mass uprising, the underclass rose up in revolt as the confused establishment attempted to regain control in the wake of catastrophe.

The succeeded, and took the northerly coastlands of the Theme of Ostran in conquest, marshaled in quick, precise guerrilla actions chiefed by the men of the marsh and their finely crafted longbows and supplemented by purchased auxiliaries and Dogs of War, the Confederation was where the Revenant Sons made their emergence proper, among dozens of their ilk.

There was a brief surge of outrage and war from the Empire, which faded into a white peace as the zealots of Cleon surged westward from the border-regions, filled with righteous urging from their warrior-prophet.

Even now, the merchant lords finger their arrows thoughtfully as they gaze down at the knotted hydra that calls itself Empire, casting their spiteful, greedy gaze to the forsaken, lost places of the world.

[Possible more to come if I feel the need]

Character Creation

Name - This could be a real name, or an assumed one, Sellsword isn't typical a profession of renown, and perhaps certain people of certain inclinations would do certain things to certain people if certain names were revealed, if you catch my meaning, ser.

Gender - Now, okay, just tell me what's between your fucking legs, no need to make this hard.

Age - If you're old enough to carry a knife and be reasonably confident in killing something with it, you'll probably be alright.

Origin - Where are you from? See above for nation details, or make one of your own, if you don't care, you can also just put none, or Son-born! It's for flavor, really.

Background - Where'd you come from, why're you here, what do you want to do. Any shadowy nemeses, ancient prophecies, heroic lineages or thrones you're heir to or not go here as well.

Personality - Just tell me about you.

Proficiencies

What follows is a list of five skills, and they will be ranked as follows, with a brief description to give you an idea of what you'd be capable of.

With Fourteen (14) points available to you at the start.

- (0) - None, no skill at all, you're basically blindly fumbling in the dark here, the sort of person who's never picked up a sword in their life, and holds it by the wrong end, just embarrassing.

E (1) - Mild skill, you've swung a sword around, and you've a reasonable idea of your capabilities in this area, a student-level ability. You're not the worst the Sons have seen.

E+ (2) - Getting somewhere now, you can be trusted with sword in hand at this level, you're not going to stand out, but you're not 'bad'. Talented for a conscript.

D (3) - Solid knowledge, a worksman's ability, any given regulars of any military is going to be at about this level of capability, solid, not flashy.

D+ (4) - Some expertise shows itself, you're a cut above the rest of your band, and murmurs of your name and ability have begun to spread among the company, talented.

C (5) - Now this is where things get interesting, you're not just talented, you excel at your area of expertise, in swordsmanship, you'd cut down five, no, ten men for every one of you.

Here, you gain what's called your Legend, your area of focus in your given ability, it pushes ahead in leaps and bounds, and you get a Legend Perk of that skill, which grows and adapts with your character.

That's right fuckers, growth is a thing.

But now, Morm, you say, why are there no ranks beyond C, well, my good friend, that's because you can't take ranks beyond that to start with.

You're just a mercenary, if perhaps a particularly powerful one, but here in this land, you have to survive if you are to thrive.

The list of abilities are:

Physique (PHY) - A measurement of your overall capability with physical tasks, running, swimming, and, most importantly, melee combat. Characters with high aptitude with this skill are characteristically masters of some sort of martial skill, and are likely to know a good deal about the body.

Marksmanship (MRK) - The ability to hit what you are aiming at, typically from some distance away. Governs your degree of knowledge or ability to intuit about weaponry not equipped with an edge/skull interface. In addition, due to the number of factors and the degree of focus that go into such a skill, characters with high skill are typically far more perceptive and cool-headed than their comrades.

Armory (ARM) - Not only your ability and experience with armors, but your skill on the defense, shield-craft, for one. While this skill is typically associated with defensive maneuvers, it can be applied to a wide variety of uses, such as getting through defenses, or breaking through a line of men.

Leadership (LED) - Now, this, you might say, will only really be useful to those seeking to command their fellow man, and to an extent that is true, but ability in Leadership says something about a person, about their strength of Spirit, their mien and ability to sway the hearts of their fellow man, to stand staunch in the path of unspeakable horror. Leadership is not to be taken lightly, for that solidity of soul will come in handy when times are dark.

In addition they also get neato tactical moves.

Runecraft (RUN) - The magic of the setting, even a workman's knowledge won't let you say, cast fireball, this ability takes a great deal of investment, while runic fieldcraft is relatively common among the soldiery, true, earthshaking talent lies beyond, in the realms of the Speakers, those who command the universe to bend to their will, godlings in mortal flesh.

Lastly, there is the matter of:

TRAITS

Mostly an extension of your character's backstory, tell me what your character has done that makes them more than Random Grunt #5.

That is not, however, a disparagement of Sergeant Grunt, the last of his five trueborn brothers, each having heroically and valiantly given their lives for the Sons, may they rest peacefully.

Your talents, the sort of thing that, if you reach C Rank, would become your Legend, the things you want your character to excel at.

You get a maximum of three, and, by the way, Legend Traits count as one of your three, as, in backstory, they likely evolved to become Legend Traits from your basis.

Basically, as a summation of the differences, a normal trait is a description of something you're talented at, something you've worked hard at, and might eventually become something fuckin awessome.

A Legend Trait 'is' something amazing, it's wank material, it's anime bullshit, albeit low-level anime, if people see your face, or hear your name, they'll know you by that thing.



Now then, while I can appreciate a bit of levity and goofball shenanigans, if you could give these sheets some firm ground to stand on, I'd appreciate it.

In addition, if there are any questions that you would like to ask me about the setting proper, please go ahead, I've been working on this one for some time.

Any newcomers to this Roleplaying Section are more than welcome, if you're afraid you won't measure up to the RP Shadow Cabal, don't worry about it, I don't either. :V