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The Fall of Altermende



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Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:22 am
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The Story


Before the apocalypse, Altermende was a large and thriving kingdom. Possessing a strong army, and vast expanses of land, it was the strongest of the three kingdoms on the Island of Vangaul.
Altermende discovered magic, the ability to extract and the essences out of Fire, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and harness their powers, about twenty years ago. Thus far, the craft is only strong enough to aid in common labor such as farming and housekeeping, but the potential people saw in it was limitless. As magic began to spread to the other kingdoms, Altermende began researching ways to unlocking magic's true power. That was the beginning of the end.
In an ill-fated experiment attempting to surpass magic's laws researchers in Altermende's capitol extracted the souls of several human subjects and fused each with an elemental essence. In theory, this should have allowed the possessors of these altered souls to bend the element they were fused with on a larger scale and without needing a source of the element physically available. However, when the souls were returned to the bodies of the subjects, they were not able to fully reconnect with their host, nor was the soul able to escape its vessel. The result of the experiment was not human beings with the powers of nature at their fingertips, What they had created were shambling living corpses whose raging soul was ever searching for release, volatile and dangerous creatures known as Dragur. With no one knowing how to combat them, the Dragur soon spread their infection and laid waste to the capitol, then began to ravage the rest of the land.
Now, all that remains of this once proud kingdom are a few lonely outposts, villages that have walled themselves off and are now struggling to protect themselves. But recently, a small ray of hope has come in the form of the appearance of one of Altermende's heirs. Before now, it was believed the entire ruling family has been killed in the destruction of the capitol. The sudden appearance of one of the king's children brought with it the hope of their world somehow being able to return to normal. Each of Altermende's outposts sent one or two of their own, to form a party that would bring the heir to Letia, the last kingdom in Vangaul to remain safe from the Dragur's spread until they came of age to rule. However, the world outside is dangerous and cutthroat, a place where nothing is as it seems.

Magic System


Spoiler! :
Magic is the ability to manipulate the four elements by connecting the magician's soul to an elemental essence. Magic is relatively new to the kingdom, brought in by an outsider, and only weak forms of this magic are currently available. It is normally used as a work tool (Filling buckets of water, clearing land, heating forges, etc.) Normally, because of the varying natures of elemental essences, a magician will specialize in one form of elemental magic.

Rules

Rule of Constant Form: A magician can manipulate an element, but not change its form or state.

Rule of Single Wielding: Elemental essences have different natures, and require a good deal of concentration to control. It would be possible to harness more than one essence at a time, but not without paying the price

Rule of Existing Source: Magicians can't summon an element without a source being physically present.

Rule of Existing Amount: Magicians can't summon more of an element than what is available to them.

Rule of Complexities: As stated before, bending an element takes a great deal of focus, so larger-scale or more complicated bending is harder to perform.

Extracting/Containing Essences

Magicians can extract the essence of an element and store it in quartz crystals for later use. These crystals can act as a magical battery, allowing magicians to temporarily be able to bend that element without an existing source as long as there is energy in the crystal. Once the energy is used, it can't be returned to the crystal, but the same crystal can be used multiple times for storing energy. However, extracting the raw essence of an element is an extremely dangerous and unpredictable task. When the essence is still attached to its elemental host, its effect is dulled, but when separated, a magician is dealing with the full power of an element. Funneling this volatile energy into a new host requires a strong connection to the essence and a great deal of concentration. If a magician loses control of the essence in between the element and the crystal the energy will expand in search of a new host, releasing an explosion of elemental force. When inside the crystal the energy becomes dulled again and can be bent without much trouble. Still, most magicians would rather buy these essence crystals off of other mages when they can.


Fusing Essences
by storing two essences inside the same crystal, a magician can fuse essences to produce different outcomes. (Fire and water creates steam, earth and fire create ash, etc.) This practice is still highly experimental, so not many people practice it.

Outposts


Spoiler! :
Windmede
Largely isolationist and notoriously hard to trade with, but hospitable to anyone willing to put in work. Lead by Morgan Fallowey, owner of one of the larger farms on the outpost's land.

Holdenreach
The victim of a recent Dragur attack that cost them their leader, now lead by the former leader's daughter, Ansley Gallagher, who was able to plan and lead a counterattack and drive the Dragur away from their walls. Holdenreach is the friendliest of the outposts, most open to sending aid to refugees and the other outposts.

Farfell
Predominantly a trading outpost. Not much farmland, but their access to mines means they can easily trade with the other outposts with ore and weapons. It has a good business with all the other outposts but is unmistakably out for their own interests. Lead by Gayle Calloway, a miner's daughter with a head for business.

Cleardale
Lead by Arden Winslow, the oldest of the five leaders and former captain of the Royal Guard. He would have been king after the death of the royal family if there were any sort of kingdom united enough to rule, and this fact combined with the fact that Cleardale bases itself on military strength leads the other outposts to view him with suspicion.

Alta
Lead by Ramiro McCarthy viewed as one of the leading minds in magic. Alta is a safe haven for magicians, who face a lot of prejudice after Altermende's destruction by the Dragur, and basically serves as a giant research facility geared towards finding a way to reverse the effects as well as a home for the kingdom's largest market of magical items.


Dragur


Spoiler! :
Dragur will attack a human on sight, driven by the urge to ease the strain inside them. Thankfully they aren't very smart or stealthy, so it's easy to run or hide from them. All Dragur can manipulate the element they were fused with even without an existing source, and their bending is much more powerful than any human magician's even those who manipulate with raw essences. Dragur will often roam in packs of their same elements.

Fire Dragur:These Dragur are covered in blisters and hardened burn scars. When the nature of their fused element wins over the caution of the human soul, they have a nasty habit of setting themselves--and anything around them--on fire.

Air Dragur: Often create vacuums or pin down victims with powerful currents of air. They can also use their manipulation of air to give themselves speed boosts.

Earth Dragur: Usually the hardest to combat because of their easy manipulation of the ground under your feet, but they are often covered in a hard outer shell of rock that makes them extremely slow.

Water Dragur: Will often attack with high power jets of water powerful enough to break bones.

How they infect poeple

When a Dragur's body is destroyed, the corrupted soul is released from the vessel, and the human soul can pass on, but the corrupted essence is driven to find a new host. If a Dragur simply dies naturally as the body decays this isn't a problem, as the element will simply inhabit the nearest source of its own element, but if there is a human nearby, or if a Dragur is killed by a human being, the essence will be drawn to them. As the essence enters the victim's body, it invades their soul and kills the host's mind. If the soul can resist the essence it remains trapped in the victim's body, slowly causing it to self-destruct as the energy searches for an escape, a process known as essence poisoning. at best, a person who is poisoned would have about a week to live before their body ceased to function.


Class Advantages/Disadvantages


Spoiler! :
Wizard

Pros

Magic: Obviously, a wizard has magic as a tool and second line of defense.

Unkillabe: consistently connecting with elemental essences means that your soul is more accustomed to connecting with the elements.

Cons

Victim of Prejudice: There is a lot of ani-magician sentiment, getting help from others will be harder.

Vulnerable: Since your soul is more accepting of essences, you're more likely to be infected if a corrupted essence enters your body.

Non-Magical

Pros

Resistant: Your soul is less accepting of foreign essences

Sympathy: Being non-magical protects you from anti-magic sentiment. Receiving help from others will be easier.

Cons

Muggle: You don't have the added defense of magic.

Mortality: You are more likely to be killed by a corrupted essence.



Map, Rules and Character Page/Slots


Map
Spoiler! :

(X)=City/village/kingdom that has been destroyedImage


Rules
Spoiler! :
1. Keep language and romance PG
2. Please stay in contact with the rest of the cast and communicate through the DT.
3. All general SB rules apply.


Character Slots
Spoiler! :
1.The Medic (Holdenreach): Brendon Atchison- polishcommonwealth

2. The Guardian (Holdenreach)

3. The Cook (Windmede):Rena Vulgate-Chaser

4. The Scout (Farfell)

5. The Magician (Alta): Gayle O'Dwyer-Europa

6.The Traveller (Farfell):LordZeus


7. The Traitor (Cleardale): Madden Winslow- Europa

8. The Heir (Pref. younger than the rest of the party):winterwolf0100

(To be clear, there can be other magic users besides the Magician. Clearly there are more slots than there are outposts so if you'd like your character to be from a different one than the one assigned to the slot you want, there's some wiggle room as long as you check with me.)


Character Page
Spoiler! :
Code: Select all
[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b] (With the exception of the Heir, 20-30-ish years old)

[b]Gender:[/b]

[b]Role:[/b]

[b]Class:[/b] (If you're a magician, specify which element is your main and how you typically use it.)

[b]Looks:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b] (Include any special skills your character might have)

[b]History:[/b]

[b]Other:[/b]








We wandered the halls of an infinite magic nursing home, led by a hippo nurse with a torch. Really, just an ordinary night for the Kanes.
— Rick Riordan, The Throne of Fire