Of Monsters and Men

ChelonianCommander

Strength of Steel, Will of Iron
History

In the beginning, there was the World, the Darkness and the Light. The Light hung above the world, banishing the darkness where ever it may be. The world was safe, and the Light kept the Darkness afraid and away. It was good, and the World prospered. However the fear of the Light became anger, and that anger turned into dedication, dedication to destroy the Light. The Darkness attempted to drag the Light to the world where it can destroy it, knowing full well that to do so would doom both itself, the World and its enemy, and the Light knew this as well. The World tried to fight against the darkness, but the World and the Light could not stop the Darkness's hatred and thus the Darkness nearly defeated its enemy, but the Light did not wish for all to end. So it destroyed itself, separating itself into three pieces, fire, energy and bright. Bright fell over the waters of the World and landed on the plains and mountains. Fire struck into the world, digging itself deeper and deeper until it had reached the safety of the hard stone and rock around it. And the world took energy, and kept it hidden from the darkness to prevent it from destroying what little remained of the light.

Bright and Fire upon striking the world, shattered into thousands of pieces and became known as humanity. The humans of Bright became known as the Anba, while the humans of Fire became known as the Ferrum. Energy on the other hand, who was kept safe by the World, was torn into three pieces by World. Two of those pieces World tossed into the sky where the Darkness can no longer catch them. They became known as the Sun and the Moon. The last piece of Energy, World have to its creations, giving them knowledge and the forms light took, but as they are World's creation, kept the form of animals. They became known as the Beastkin.

The Darkness took on new forms as well. As Light separated into thousands of smaller forms the Darkness could not catch them all to destroy and thus scattered itself across world, implanting itself into many of World's creations. The darkness twisted them and implanted within them its own desires and goals, that is the only goal it cared about, that is to destroy the Light.

Now the Darkness continues to fight the World and the Light. The Humans of the Light and the Beastkin of the World fortresses and nations, tempered iron and sharped wood to fight the Darkness, but as the humans and beastkin grew in power, they almost surpassed Darkness. In a final gambit to survive, it shed a most dangerous trait onto Light, that of Desire. Desire spread through the humans and beastkin and it made it so that just a small glance, a whisper, or show can ruin entire kingdoms. This was enough to weaken the beings of Light and break their momentum in what was known as the Grand War, as the Ferrum, Anba and Beastkin fought each other with such ferocity over power, land, riches and rights that they gave the Darkness time for mass push, and it took the world by storm.

In desperation, the Beings of Light formed one final alliance and despite their weakened state, the managed to keep the creatures of Darkness at bay for many centuries, but never were they able to push them back. Now this history had been lost, forgotten and/or altered by the humans and beastkin as time does to everything. Still the war continues, and while the humans and beastkin enjoy this relative peace, the darkness gathers. The Darkness grows. And if nothing can be done....the Darkness will destroy.

Setting

The world is known simply as Terra, as in the beginning, all men and beastkin shared the same language, but that language has long been lost to time, save for this. No one knows why the world is called Terra, but that is the world's name. Terra is similar to earth in climate and temperature, with many different biomes and environments to speak of with 60% of the world being covered in water, and roughly 40% of available land being occupied by the Creatures of Darkness.

There are five nations to speak of; the Ferrum Republic, the Anba Empire, the Anban Protectorate of Bengla, the Lycan Confederacy, and the Assembly of Terra.

The Ferrum Republic is made up of 168 city states and their repective territories with each city and territory being governed by a Senator who is pledged to the Ferrum people and each other. They are a free thinking and industrious people, with a strong culture that puts the emphasis on personal freedoms and will. One cannot truly exist without seeing what he could be.

The Anba Empire are made up of 17 ruling Clans who swear allegiance and fealty to one Royal clan and Emperor or Empress, who is usually either the oldest child or a declared heir. Underneath the Royal Clan are the Shoguns, and under them are the Daimyos and underneath the Daimyos are the Samurai and finally underneath the Samurai are the Peasantry. The 18 Clans are the Crab Clan, the Turtle Clan, the Shark Clan, the Dolphin Clan, the Crane Clan, the Sparrow Clan, the Hawk Clan, the Owl Clan, the Bear Clan, the Wolf Clan, the Boar Clan, the Horse Clan, the Lion Clan, the Monkey Clan, the Mantis Clan, the Spider Clan, the Scorpion Clan and the Royal Dragon Clan.

The Anban Protectorate of Bengla is a nation that had been founded by the Bengal Beastkin, but have competed for land and resources with the Anba Empire for many years. Eventually after a short but bloody war, the Anba Empire took Bengla as a protectorate, merging the economy and military of both nations.

The Lycan Confederacy is made up of around 61 Lycan tribes who have suffered enslavement and genocide by the Ferrum Republic generations ago, but have since grown to be a respectable power in the world.

The Assembly of Terra is a united effort to form a sigular government that acts as both a neutral ground for all nations to meet, but also as the first and last defense against the Creatures of Darkness. The Assembly of Terra is run by four governors who make the laws and decisions which affect the lives of everyone within the small nation.

Technologies

The Technology of the world is considered to be futuristic but everything is run on a fictional mineral known as Glowstone, called so by the golden glow it gives off when excavate. Glowstone can be drained of their magical energies using Glowstone generators in order to produce energy for everything from vehicles, to weapons, to entire cities. Once its used it, the Glowstone becomes extremely brittle and unusable for much anything. 1kg of Glowstone can keep a car going for around a week.

The world have equipment and technologies like holograms, hovercraft, automatic gunpowder and energy weaponry, though the latter is much more rare, and digital currency, but outside of the more developed cities, the technology can become more rural and primitive, with many hand held tools, horse drawn carriages and candlelit lighting as electricity and technology becomes scarce and difficult to distribute due to the Creatures of Darkness. Most form of long travel comes in the form of heavily armored and armed aircraft while most form of short travel comes in the form of swift hover trains and cars.

Magic and Artifacts

Magic is a strange power that all humans and beastkin have access to, as they can tap into the power the Light once had. However only a few hundred beings are capable of tapping into this power, and it only shows during puberty as visions of a colorless light begin to plague their dreams. They heard a voice echo in their ears, and finally they find that they have the ability to control the light and all of its destructive, altering, enchanting, and restorative attributes.

While most of the population is unable to use this otherworldly power, they can still use Magic Artifacts with little issue. Relics made by channeling pure energy into specially forged items with power and intent. The process of which is difficult and time consuming, with even the simplest items taking at least 50 days of constant forging and meditation to complete. A single mistake can ruin days of work at best, or kill the mage at worst.
Playable Species/Races

Ferruman: The Ferrumen are the humans of fire, and have built an underground republic using and carving many grand tunnels and caverns over the course of thousand of years, and living close to magma vents and lava streams. The Ferrumen have a strong sense of personal freedom and patriotism towards their people and republic. They tend to have paler skin then the Anbans, with a taller posture and heavier build due to the hard living conditions of their homeland. The most interesting characteristics of the Ferrumen is the fact that at the age of 8, all Ferrumen are expected to forge a mask. These masks have a dark history, as in the early years of their empire, death among their people was so common that it was easier to carve masks as a way to show who and how many has died after every battle. Now it is a form of unity as every Ferrumen wears a mask and to lose or break one's mask is usually a sign that something terrible will happen in the near future for that individual. The Ferruman's naming convention consists of a First Name, Family Name then City they currently live in. Example: Lyco Senna Arrabona, Dordalus Narcissus Apua & Livia Dursu Capua. (Aesthetically, I have based the Ferruman off the Roman Empire.)

Anban: The Anbans are the humans of bright and originally resided on the plains and mountains of Terra, living off the land and toiling away for everything as they had little cover from attacks from the Creatures of Darkness. This has turned them into a strict and unmoving caste system where one is born into their role in life and rarely are there opportunities for moving up in the world. Anbans are on the front line of the battle between the Darkness and the Light and because of this they have a strong sense of duty, and often times a Anban who cannot or will not work is an Anban who wishes for the destruction of their people and culture. All peasants must toil. All Samurai must fight and all Royals must rule. The castes are the Due to the poor nutrition of the Anbans early in their budding empire, the Anbans tend to be lighter and shorter then the Ferrumen. One quirk of the Anbans, especially if they belong to any of the ruling clans, is that they tattoo their clan's animal on their bodies, to easily identify which fallen samurai belongs to which Clan. Their naming conventions is based on the gender of the character and the marital status of the individual. With the First Name, Father/Mother's name, Kik (Married)/ Shin (Single)/ Mibo (Widowed). Example: Sanjo Yoshida Shin, Gotou Shinmen Mibo & Miyoshi Kitajo Kik. (Aesthetically, I have based the Anbans off Edo period Japan.)

Beastkin: The Beastkin are a rather strange species as their births not only require the actions of a man and a woman, but also the existence of the moon. For some unknown reason the births require the presence of moonlight and to give birth anytime during the day or during a new moon, or inside a building without any moonlight is impossible and more often the not will result in the death of the child, mother or both. Not only that but the phase of the moon affects the type of Beastkin that is born. There are three types of Beastmen, based on the three phases of the moon. If it is a crescent moon, then the Beastkin will look like an intelligent form, often larger form, of the animal they were originally created from, and are often large enough te be used as mounts and steeds, but only if the Beastkin allows it. If it is a half moon, then the Beastkin will look like a hybrid of man and beast with fur covered bodies, and often clawed hands and feet combined with a human like posture. Finally during full moon, the Beastkin will look indistinguishable from humans, save for having clawed fingers, and some animal features such as the tails, ears and antlers. These forms are known as the Crescent Form, a Half Form and a Full Form. Any combination of these forms can come together and have a child, but the child's form will always be determined by the phase of the moon. The naming convention of most Beastkin is usually based on their features or accomplishments, with many names borrowed from either Ferrumen or Anban cultures, though the Lycans and Bengals often have their own names, usually simple in form with two or three syllables. Examples: Hassha Blackfoot, Albinus Venomclaw, Wada Songtongue.

There are six known species of Beastkin. The Bengals, a race of Tigers. The Lycans, a race of Wolves. The Ursan, a race of Bears. The Cervidae, a race of Deer. The Vulpan, a race of Foxes and the Chiroptans, a race of Bats. The Bengals and Lycans are most commonly found in their home nations, while the Ursans, Chripatans, Cervidae and Vulpans are found equally distributed throughout the world.
 
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We're putting the sheets here for now and I'll move them to the actual thread when we begin. As for where we'll start, we're starting in the Assembly of Terra's main resupply post known as the Hunter's Hall, where most new volunteers go to in order to receive additional training and equipment. Note that you've already spent a week of physical and mental evaluations and will on a hovercraft to the hall.
 
@Draco Shadowdragon Yes they are, and it's also a mark of pride. Refusing, or being unable to forge a mask can mean the person is destined for terrible things, and if a mask cracks, breaks or is lost then it might mean that some bad luck in the future might happen. However it's more or less simply a symbol that unites of Ferrumen and connects them to their roots and ancestry. Also different types of masks are associated with different people or occupations, though its not all that complicated. Masks made of bronze is the sign of a grown child as children can easily forge soft metals. Having no masks is often associated with toddlers and babies. Masks that doesn't hide the mouth and smile is often the sign of a prostitute. Masks are often made of steel, but masks made of gold or silver are the signs of wealth.

As for the mask's designs, that is up to the Ferruman. Often times they would carve images and pictures that represent important events in their lives, or represents items or things that are important to them. Also there is nothing that says a Ferruman cannot have more then one mask. It is common for a Ferruman to have more then one mask and swap them out like clothes day by day. It is important to note however that making the mask should be a source of great pride for a Ferruman and it is expected for a Ferruman to forge their own masks, but there is no shame in hiring someone to paint and/or carve on a design those masks for you.
 
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Is there anything like Aura from RWBY or magic from other settings, or there only varying degrees of technology?

Also, I think that part of this sentence is missing. What is the technology considered to be?
The Technology of the world is considered to be but also fantasy.

Edit: Also, what are you looking for in a character sheet? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
 
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@61 Argent Feathers Seal Evil Yeah that is my bad. I will correct that immediately. As for magic, I'm honestly thinking if I should add magic, and if I do, I'm debating on allowing the players use magic. I've actually been considering on having magical relics that the players can use and magical abilities, but the latter would be extremely rare.
 
Name: Yo Misha Mibo
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Anban

Appearance: Black, short hair. Green eyes. Pale Skin. He has more of a slim fit, but wears apparel over his body most of the time. Most only ever see his black hair. He wears a mask that was given to him by a Ferruman. It's design is simple a mask made of a simple stone, with only eye holes that are highlighted with red paint.

Abilities: Exceptional knowledge for every Anban Clan's Culture, Unique Mixed Samurai Technique (Tranquility & Serenity Style), Expert at Blending in (Unintentional), Blade Maintenance, Adept at Energy Technology.

Equipment: A simple Samurai Sword w/ Energy Weapon Sheath. Wears meal armor, that has weaker plates in exchange for dexterity. Has a ragged cloak he wears over his armor. Has a locket that has a picture of his deceased wife.

Biography: Once a peasant of the Crab Clan. He lived a happy enough life doing honest work. But his wife had gotten killed by the darkness. The Samurai had saved his life, but he lost all his friends and family. All was lost, but he had a new found reason. Inspired by the Samurai pf his home town, he traveled from clan to clan and observed the samurai. He also was self taught and became like the samurai he was striven to be. Being self taught he has a unique combat style that utilizes many fighting style he has observed, while it is exceptional in combat it isn't flawless, it's still being developed. With his time studying many clans he couldn't help but feel at odds because the segregation. It wasn't how he wanted to live. All his life he was to follow a strict code, but now was his time to live his life how he wanted. However he was to stay humble and represent every culture equally. After leaving the main Anban country he had gotten a tattoo of every animal from every clan. Now he is attempting to join the fight against the darkness as a Free Lancer.
 
Name: Naoki Himura Shin
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Race: Anban
Appearance:
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Naoki has a tattoo of a serpent between his collar bones. He wears a piercing in his left ear. He has a birthmark on his right elbow.
Abilities: Iaido sword technique, Exceptional Koto player.
Equipment: A magically enchanted katana style sword that when drawn vibrates at supersonic speeds.
Biography: Naoki was part of the once proud Serpent Clan. At one time the Serpent Clan was renowned for their prowess on the battlefield. Naoki had earned the nickname “The Serpent of Izu” for his speed and might. But one day the Royal Dragon Clan took over Izu while the Serpent Clan was fighting off the Wolf Clan. Having no other choice the Serpent Clan was made to merge with the Royal Dragon Clan. Naoki thought the Royal Dragon Clan to be cowards and refused to swear loyalty to them, thus renouncing the Serpent Clan. Now days he roams the land as a simple ronin slaying monsters.
 
Name: Lissa Longears

Age:
21

Gender:
Female

Species:
Full Moon Beastkin (Chiroptan)

Appearance:

A young Full Moon Chiroptan of average height, with the ears of a bat and sharp teeth. She has dark grey hair, tanned skin, and a toned build. She typically wears light armor, consisting of mostly cloth, with thick leather chestplate, kidney belt, greaves, and bracers. On top of that, her kidney belt is covered in pouches and a knife and machete sheath.

When travelling, she typically also wears a baldric carrying a quiver and a small axe, while holding a bow in her hand. Lissa keeps her claws filed down, to improve dexterity and avoid damaging her bow’s string and other equipment.

History/Biography:

Lissa Longears was raised by a Nomadic clan of Beastkin traders and hunters. There, she was taught how to survive independent from civilization. When she was fourteen, her clan was attacked by a horde of monsters. She was told to run along with the other children and was separated from the group in chaos. Afterwards, she returned to the ruins of her clan’s camp and scavenged for equipment to survive.

Lissa's next seven years were spent surviving mostly alone in wilderness due to having nowhere else to go; what contact with civilization she had was from trading goods from the forest with remote settlements for supplies and tools she couldn’t get herself. Eventually, Lissa decided to seek employment as a Hunter for a more stable source of income.

Equipment:

  • Bushcraft supplies
    • Knife, machete, axe
    • Fire-starting equipment
    • Rations
    • Cord
    • Canteen
    • Etc.
  • Pouches and sheathes to hold all the crap she carries around
    • Padding to keep said crap from rattling as she walks and alerting animals and monsters and to serve as makeshift bandages/kindling
  • Longbow, arrows (~24), quiver
  • Light armor made of thick animal hides, cloth, and metal splints.
Abilities:
  • Bushcraft
    • Things like fire-starting, hunting and fishing, foraging, making shelter, trap-setting, etc.
  • Stealth (high)
    • A requirement for hunting food and avoiding being swarmed by monsters.
    • Habitually hides presence; stays out of direct vision, keeps steps quiet, avoids gaining attention unnecessarily, etc. Easily startles others.
  • Agility (medium)
    • Running away from monsters was a distressingly common event in the forest. Lissa has tried to ensure she can move faster than they can.
  • Endurance (high)
    • Product of years spent living in the wilderness carrying equipment, running from monsters, etc.
  • Sensitive Hearing
    • Hearing boosted by bat-ears.
  • Environmental Awareness (high)
    • Years spent living alone in the forests tends to be fatal to those who can’t read their surroundings. Product of years of mandatory low-key paranoia.
    • Used to paying attention to surroundings; quickly learns about immediate area and notices unusual occurrences.
    • Boosted by hearing using bat-ears.
  • Marksmanship (high)
    • Hunting experience, both against animals and occasional monsters.
    • Usually uses a silenced bow; gunshots hurt ears and alert monsters.
  • Combat Experience against Monsters (low)
    • Mostly avoidance, sometimes leading them into traps if she can’t escape, or finishing off a monster wounded from said traps with arrows and tools.
    • Largely untrained in combat; only knows a few basics from upbringing. Mostly things like “avoid the hurty bits.”
 
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