Full [High Fantasy Roleplay] Aelora: Realm of the Lost

Tiko

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Aelora: Realm of the Lost
A high-fantasy roleplay
Aelora is a land forgotten. Legend tells of a blight known only as the Void that spread through Aelora two millennia ago. As nation after nation fell the last of the Aeloran races joined together to seal the continent of Aelora away in a final effort to contain the blight from spreading to the rest of the world. A veil was erected and Aelora was lost to time and memory.

For two millennia the veil held and none could enter nor leave Aelora, and for two millennia the war with the Void raged on. Nations were shattered, and entire races driven into extinction. What survivors remained retreated into mountain strongholds until the tides were turned with the return of the Elysian Vanguard - a fabled order of heroes and legends.

With the blight driven back the races of Aelora have stepped forward to reclaim their ancestral homes. It will be an enduring struggle though as much of the land remains tainted by Void corruption and unforgiving wilderness.



[Looking for 2-3 Players]

This roleplay is aimed to be more of a laid back adventure sort with episodic style story arcs. When one is completed a new one will begin. I'll be starting with a few small arcs initially so people can get a feel for writing with each other, and then move into larger more involved ones if people are meshing well and want to continue.

The setting takes place a few generations after the nations of Aelora began trying to rebuild, so there are separate countries with cities and settlements, roads, and travel, but the further you travel from major activity hubs, the more dangerous things become.

Our starting point will be an outlying town by the name of Korvesa. The characters will be arriving via a caravan traveling from Stonehaven (the capital city of Kaldor and major trade hub). What reasons these characters have for leaving Stonehaven for the outskirts of society is entirely up to each player. Perhaps new beginnings, perhaps running from something, or towards something. Be creative and if you aren't sure if something will work or make sense, just ask. I'm happy to work characters (and their backstories) into the story as much as possible.

While I largely like to give people a fair bit of creative license with their characters, I do ask that submitted characters not be asocial misfits who have no reason to interact with other characters. Given the dungeon crawling/adventuring nature of the roleplay, if characters have no interest in engaging with one another it'll be hard to find ways to involve them in the story.

If people want to make characters with preexisting ties or history with one another, that's 100% encouraged as well but not required.

And lastly - given the idea of this being an adventure/progression type roleplay - characters should initially be 'low level' so to speak. Plan for them to grow stronger over the course of the roleplay rather than bringing them in already at the top of their game. Think level 1 mage vs level 20 mage. The upper potential for characters can be high, but everyone should start low.

Anyone is welcome to post interest, but I will be prioritizing giving open spots to players who aren't currently in any roleplays over ones who already have roleplays they're involved in.

I'll be including information into the world setting and races in my next post but go ahead and post interest or ideas if you want.
 
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The People of Aelora
Due to the high concentration of both void and fey magic within the lands of Aelora, both the flora and the fauna of the continent have been greatly influenced to give birth to all manner of fantastical species exclusive to this unique landscape. As such I don't mind at all if people want to create and use their own races or species for this roleplay. I only ask that an element of originality be utilized. Re-hashing generic fantasy races, or pulling inspiration from other fantasy settings is fine, just try to give them a distinct cultural spin that sets them apart from other generic varieties. You're also welcome to create sub-divisions of already existing races as well.

If you would rather use a pre-made race we will have several available. I'll get full write-ups of these races once I get the actual roleplay information pages set-up, but this should offer a brief preview at least.
  • Avorian (winged elven like race - Humanoid)
  • Catfolk, Mira (Tribal/Warrior Cat People - Humanoid)
  • Celestial*
  • Centaur (Tribal/Warrior Horse People. A fey descended race.)
  • Dragon*
  • Draconian (Noble Dragon People - Humanoid)
  • Elf, Altari (High/Noble Elves)
  • Elf, Dw'in (Dark Elves)
  • Elf, Lunari (Moon/Night Elves)
  • Elf, Sylvali (Forest Elves)
  • Elf, Tal'asan (Tribal elves based off Aztec Culture)
  • Fae (A fey descended race)
  • Human, Aramaean
  • Human, Cordelian
  • Human, Korvesan
  • Human, Orlesian
  • Sylvae (A fey descended race)*
  • Wolven (Mystic Tribal Wolf People - Humanoid)

    * Non-character/non-playable Races
 
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I'm very interested in taking part in this project, as I'm going to put it, but I can't be sure what kind of character I'll like to play until I know more about the various races, especially the different human ones and the culture of the different elves. That said, I'm almost 100% certain I can manage to make one of my characters fit in (I work with a ton of characters I've made for various stories and just mold them a bit to fit the RP's needs, as I can't handle more characters and can't write a new character nearly as well.
 
I think I might join. I'm still deliberating heavily but if I sleep on it and figure I have something neato in mind, I'll be on it.
 
I'm interested as well! If the last spot isn't taken yet then I would like to apply.
 
Not taken :)

I'll work on getting the world information and race descriptions posted up throughout the day today. For the sake of efficiency I'll prioritize races people are considering using, so if there's any that people especially want me to get descriptions up for, let me know. Some I can work on filling out after the roleplay starts if no one's planning to use them initially.
 
Do we just post the information of our characters here?

I'm thinking about creating an original race, but I would like to have descriptions for the four human races mentioned so I know what makes them different.
 
You can definitely use this thread to get character information posted. It'll give me something to work with when getting things setup if I know what people are planning to use. Also it'll let you guys brainstorm among each other. And feel free to revise as more information becomes available. Juneberry mentioned the humans too, so I'll get them done first, then the elves, then whatever else anyone else wants.
 
Okay, I got some racial descriptions done up. Decided there really wasn't much to put for the humans, since what distinguishes them is just cultural differences for the most part. Cordelia, Aramaea, and Orlesia unfortunately are regions another person made and we realized we don't have much in the way of documented notes for them anymore. So for the sake of not holding up the roleplay, I'll be relegating those three countries to basic background info until we can get more thorough stuff written up. Cordelia is kind of medieval/feudal england with knights and horses and peasants and all that fun stuff. Aramaea is a mix of egyptian inspired and nomadic Bedouin style cultures. Orlesia is a fantasy monarch with strict controls over religion and magic.

Fortunately the last country of Korvesa (the one we'll be primarily roleplaying in) is more or less a melting pot of human culture, so most things can fit there. People of all skin-types, stature, racial background, and life-style tend to make-up Korvesa.

Korvesa: a fractured and hodge-podge nation consisting of an amalgamation of cities and towns roughly conceding rule to a single ruling council.

Due to its fractured nature, laws often vary from city to city as they maintain a largely autonomous system of running. What authority the council holds over the cities of Korvesa is often loose and maintained through barter and trade or sanctions upon one another when necessary.

The further you get from the cities, the more independent people tend to be and the less involved (or protected) by civilized society they become. Many outlying towns are fully self-sufficient or at minimum rely upon occasional traders from the cities for rarer goods.

Korvesans are notoriously open to foreign cultures and non-human races, so many travelers have settled and made homes within Korvesa from all walks of life.

A number of independent barbarian clans claim land within the borders of Korvesa as well, but as of yet no one has been overly inclined to make a concerted effort to do anything about it while they have bigger problems to worry about.




And these are the race descriptions for the various elves. And do be mindful that anyone is free to add their own sub-group of elf race (or any other race) if none of these quite suit their needsr. I've re-used this setting a lot, and it tends to grow with each use. Anything already created is free to use, but I'm always happy to see people make their own stuff as well and am happy to integrate it into the over-arching setting. Also be mindful that these are guidelines, and cultural influences can vary based on circumstances. Members of these races raised away from cultural norms for their races, may not follow strict cultural expectations.

Elf, Altari - Often considered the most beautiful of the Aeloran elves, the Altari elves are a tall and elegant people, with finely formed features and brightly coloured eyes. Almost always well groomed, the Altari take great pride in their appearance, contributing to the aloof and elitist aura they personify. Though they have exclusively fair skin, their eyes and hair vary as much as humans' do.

Altari society is a political maze that even the most hardened of foreign diplomats have a hard time working their way around. There are so many factions, and factions within factions, and houses within factions within factions that every word or gesture can be interpreted as being as significant as a gunshot in the right context. Though they are ruled by a king or queen, the monarch is regulated by a council of voted-in-representatives. The Altari Houses are led by the noble families, and almost all commoners and lesser nobles are affiliated with a House. The King or Queen is chosen from the leaders of these Houses, based upon which House has the most support from other Houses.

Though they do not openly (or even consciously in many cases) look down upon the non-elven races, racial arrogance is ingrained into Altari culture.

Elf, Dw'in - Dw’in elves are the antithesis to the tall and elegant Altari elves. Shorter, and more muscular in build these elves are well suited for combat. Their black skin sets them apart from many of their kind and makes it very difficult for Dw’in to avoid unwanted attention when traveling beyond the borders of their home-country of Dramath.

Born into a militant and imperialistic society that favors personal power, most Dw’in native to Dramath have been instilled with a rather cut-throat mentality from a young age. This penchant for getting ahead at whatever cost has earned them a sour reputation among the other races of Aelora. Outside of Dramath it is unusual to view a Dw’in elf with anything but mistrust. Even those that have never known their ancestral home-land.

Elf, Sylvali - Sylvali elves straddle a middle-ground between the elegant beauty of the Altari and the feral wildness of the Tal'asan. Their pale skin often holds a slight greenish or brownish pigment that helps them blend into their surroundings, whilst their eyes are unique amongst the elves in that they lack distinct whites and irises, instead being solid colour - most commonly dark browns and greens tending towards black. They are slightly shorter than the Altari elves, at an average of 5'9" for males and 5'6" for females.

Located in the Elderwood Forest and the Forest of the Fall respectively, the Sylvali of Aelora are very similar with regard to culture. With many small villages scattered through their forests, often built around the trees rather than in their place, they are an elusive people who only infrequently contact those outside the forest borders. Each of the two nations are ruled by a single monarch, who is advised by the elders of their nation and its religious and military leaders. Much as the Altari hold themselves above the other races, the Sylvali elves are suspicious of them - but like the Altari, this suspicion has eased a bit since the Void blight pushed the races to the brink of destruction and forced them to rely upon one another. This suspicion excludes animals and plants, which whom Sylvali have a strong connection and understanding.

Elf, Lunari (Including these for reference, but due to their nature and nocturnal limitations, they wouldn't make a good starting character) - Lunari elves are a sight to behold for those fortunate enough to be graced by their presence in their life-time. The Lunari are both nocturnal by nature, and so elusive as to bring into question their existence. Many have presumed them among the many races to have gone extinct when the Void blight ravaged Aelora. Extinct they are not though, and in fact they maintain a sizable population within the Feywilds - a place that few venture. Smaller remote regions of the Forest of the Fall are also rumored to harbor these mythical elves.

The appearance of the Lunari is subject to a great deal of debate, and many Sylvali encounters have been mistakenly claimed as Lunari. However when one lays eyes upon a Lunari elf, there is no mistaking it. When bathed in moonlight, these ghosts of the forests have an almost luminescent glow to their pale skin and silvery-white hair. When cast in shadow though, they’re nearly as invisible as the dark side of the moon.

Elf, Tal'asan (These wouldn't make a good starting characters due to sheer geographical isolation, but I'm including them for future reference) - The Tal'asan elves are a rather visually distinct race of elves native to the southern rainforests of Aelora. Most notably, their skin and hair colors are not fixed, but rather they change depending on their temperament or for the purpose of camouflage. Their skin and hair color can vary broadly from greens to oranges and blues; though, in their natural state the Tal'asan sport lightly tanned skin and most commonly possess dark hair.

All Tal'asan elves are marked by an inherent touch of primal magic, which is credited for their shifting appearances and almost mystical means of traversing their forests. This also grants them longevity and an affinity for all things natural to their environment - flora and fauna both. In addition to the innate primal magic of the Tal'asan elves, the Tal'asan Priests have long mastered the art of elemental magic and sorcery - generally the most raw and natural forms of magic.

The Tal'asan elves remained isolated throughout the fall of Aelora, and the years beyond with almost no contact with outside races. Currently they remain unaware of the events that transpired far from their city. But even in the deep and remote regions of their rainforest, they have felt the ripples if change. No longer does their city remain under constant siege by the Void hordes.
 
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And here's some general write-ups for some of elven countries. I'll work on the other races soon!

Amarathia (homeland of the Altari elves) - Dominating a large central-northern portion of the Aldwardine Plains, Amarathia is amongst the most influential lands of Aelora. The home of the civilised and political Altari, its open landscapes and central location have left it one of the safest locations in Aelora due to the lack of many places for void creatures to hide from concerted efforts to purge them. Amarathia's settlements consist primarily of large walled cities, with few in the way of smaller villages and towns.

Amarathia is ruled by a monarch, a King or Queen, alongside a council of advisers, but in contrast to most monarchies power does not automatically transition via inheritance. The ruling caste of the country is composed of numerous noble houses, and any aspiring monarch must first earn the support and allegiance of a majority of them. This leads to successions being a messy affair, rife with cut-throat politics and underhanded tactics. Thankfully due to the longevity of the Altari, these successions are not very frequent.

Even outside of successions, however, the Amarathian Altari are infamous for their political games between the houses, and the subtlest of gestures or words can hold countless hidden meanings when spoken from one noble to another. Even the lower classes of Amarathia have a cultural inclination towards personal politics and innuendos.

The capital city of Amarathia, Amarathia City, shares its name with the nation.

Kethria - Kethria is a splinter nation of Amarathia formed when a faction of Altari were exiled for their propagation of a form of magic that drew on their fey heritage to empower their spells, consuming their dormant natural magic at the cost of their long lifespans. The exiled faction created their own small nation on the outskirts of Amarathia, beginning to refer to themselves as the 'High Altari'. By contrast, those in Amarathia disdainfully called them the 'Fel Altari'. Upon the repopulation of the old nations following the void creatures being driven back, Kethria was founded as an officially recognised and notably larger land than before. This has caused political tensions with Amarathia, but they maintain an uneasy alliance despite the contested borders.

Kethria is ruled by a council of houses much as Amarathia is, but as opposed to being headed by a monarch, the council heads itself with a high councillor. There is no royal house in Kethria, and many of the houses that did not split from Amarathia in full have renamed themselves to avoid association with their 'relatives' in the original nation.

Dramath (homeland of the Dw'in elves) - The harsh and unforgiving landscape of Dramath is reflected by its inhabitants. A militant and imperialistic society, Dramathians are known for their rigid dedication to order and law. Dramathian society is heavily tiered, but in a manner very different to most cultures. Whilst money and noble birth is likely to earn you influence, what is most important to one’s success within Dramath is personal power. This is not limited to brute strength - a skilled warrior without intellect or charisma is unlikely to advance past a military position, whilst a sly and intelligent spymaster is liable to find themselves with considerable authority. That said, it is a rare thing indeed that a leader in Dramath can’t handle themselves in combat - be that with a weapon or with magic.

There are two other factors that make Dramath fairly distinctive amongst other Aeloran nations. The first is their heavy usage of slaves. With the Dramathian outlook that the strong prosper, it falls to the weak to serve them - whether they want to or not. Dramath’s slaves are those members of society who have no other means of support - the homeless, the bankrupt and the criminals. However, despite their lack of freedom, slavery is often far from the worst outcome for these individuals. A slave is given a place to live, provided food and water, and in some cases the opportunity to earn their freedom through demonstrating their skill or dedication. This is most true for slaves in the cities, performing simple tasks such as cooking, cleaning and construction.

Out in more distant colonies, slaves have a worse time. Forced to labour in mines, quarries and other physically demanding duties, under the watchful eye of harsh taskmasters, they work themselves to exhaustion each and every day. Even in these situations, however, a hardworking slave receives fair treatment in the majority of cases. Taskmasters found to be treating slaves inhumanely without ‘due cause’ (the exact definition of which is nebulous at best) can be taken to account. In practice, this rarely occurs.

The second of these factors is the Dramathians’ propensity for training the monsters and beasts of their homeland. Dramath is home to all manner of vicious creatures, ranging from wyrms to hydras. Dramathians have long fostered a tradition of breaking these beasts and forging them into both workhorses and weapons of war. The Beastmasters of Dramath are amongst the most respected individuals in the nation, afforded a level of authority on par with the archons (though the two groups often overlap).

Auredine (homeland of the Sylvani elves) - Auredine is a monarchy-based nation comprised primarily of sylvani elves, located deep within Elderwood Forest in Aelora. It is a relatively small nation, comprised of a single capital city (Aureva) and a number of smaller towns scattered around near it.

It is a mystical realm that culturally places great reverence on spirits of nature and balance, and druids amongst them are treated with the respect of religious figures - given the title of Ellunae: ‘spirit-guides’.

Auredine’s structures are created in tandem with the forest. Rather than harvesting wood for their homes, the sylvani elves use their magic to form them by influencing the trees’ growth. They call these beautiful, organic buildings the Erulinholm - ‘spirit-homes’.

The forest within Auredine’s borders is not an untouched wilderness, however. Paved pathways have been laid between their settlements to allow for wheeled carriages to travel within the realm, which are lit by hanging lanterns. The growth of the forest around them has been encouraged away from them via the same magic used to create the Erulinholm.

The current Queen of Auredine is named Naene Elusai. The Elusai line has ruled Auredine for countless generations, and was even maintained during the void blight. Naene and her ancestors before her sat upon the throne in Aureva, and so too did they represent the Elderwood sylvani on the council of the mountain stronghold Ta’iemroth during the blight. Naene herself held that position until she led her people back to their ancestral homeland. She has two sons and two daughters of varying ages by her King-Consort, Sinaron Elusai.

Auredine’s military is not expansive, but that which exists is elite. It is largely divided into two portions. The Arbor Wardens patrol the realm itself, watching for threats in the form of beasts or more monstrous creatures that roam from the darker portions of the forest. They keep the towns and Aureva itself safe from within, and are largely comprised of archers and ranger-like warriors. The other is the Arbor Vanguard, the more traditional military of the nation. Well armed and armoured with oft-enchanted equipment, it is a small and elite force responsible for any outward warfare that the nation requires, and for defending its borders.
 
You said I could just post it here, so since I'm too lazy to send a message... Here you go?

Name: Adatia Hortense
Nicknames: Ada, Timmy
Age: Help
Gender: Male

Appearance: Adatia is a bit of an awkward sight. Though actually male, he prefers feminine attire and keeps his orange hair long and braided down towards his butt. He has green eyes and the signature dark skin of a Dw'in, but is exceptionally short at 4'2".

Personality: Adatia has a mixed personality. He often acts very girlishly without realizing it, such as twirling his hair and giggling in a somewhat high tone that he can't seem to control. While many people peg him as a girl, he's still got male pride and will happily show off his strength to anyone that questions him. He has a verbally violent temper, but is quick to forgive. He's got a cautious attitude, and can't say no to his elders easily.

Bio: Adatia was raised outside of Dramath and never saw the violent side of his heritage in person. He was raised with a lot of care by his single father, as his mother died giving birth. Once he turned (insert age), his father decided it was time for him to find his own path in the world. So, he was kicked out and began travelling, searching for his purpose in life. He still can't seem to find it, sadly.
 
A few quick questions. What sort of skill sets does Ada have? What did his father do by trade? Did he grow up in one of the more remote and subsequently dangerous towns, or in a more populated safer area?
 
I went ahead and got a forum set up for us at: https://www.storytellerscircle.com/forums/aelora-realm-of-the-lost/

I'll start getting all the race/geography/country information plugged into the various linked posts as they're finished. It's a little slow going. We used to have all of this stuff compiled into a wiki until the wiki site shut down and we lost everything. A lot of it needs to be rebuilt from scratch. Fortunately we don't need everything fleshed out to start the roleplay.

Soon as people's characters are finished I'll get us an IC thread started. I work tomorrow so won't be around much until later in the evening, but I'll be in and out on my breaks if anyone needs information or has questions.
 
@Hylius How goes with you? Haven't heard back from you and wanted to see how it's coming along or if you need help with anything. Once you get your character done up we can go ahead and start.
 
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@Tiko Apologies for the delay! I got really busy yesterday so I did not really have time to create my character. I'll get at it right now.

Name: Bedivere
Age: ??? (appears 18)
Gender: Male
Race: The Ancients
Occupation: Mage

Appearance: Pale skin and hair as white as snow, Bedivere looks like an average human, except the white hair and his skin paler than normal gives away that there is something odd about him. He stands at average human height at about 5'8".

Personality: Bedivere is quite introverted, but he doesn't mind communicating with others. He can usually be found spending his time reading books, usually to learn new spells. He has quite the serious personality, often missing out on a joke, though he wishes to get better at understanding people so that he can get along better with them.

Bio: Bedivere is part of a race called the Ancients. The Ancients were humanoid beings that existed long before the fall of Aelora. They were beings with a very long lifespan, they could become thousands of years old. They're often called "the race of youth" because once they reach adulthood their appearance barely changes afterwards. Only those who have lived for tens of thousands of years looked like they were actually old.

The Ancients were thought to be long extinct ever since the void appeared and wiped out most races. However, there were a few survivors, Bedivere being one of them. He has continued to live on in secret, observing how the world evolves trying to combat the void. After two thousand years of observing, he decides that he wants to take part in combating the void as well.
 
No worries. I just wanted to make sure you weren't stuck or struggling with anything. Busy is all good :p

Mind if I ask what sort of skills/abilities your character has? A little concerned at the character already being thousands of years old, since we wanted low level characters that could grow into their own over the course of the story. Not impossible to make it work though.
 
Abilities: At the moment, he's learning how to use different kinds of magic. The Ancients were adept magic users so he decided to try his hand at it. At the moment, he only knows how to use basic fire magic.

Well, age is but a number! He may be thousands of years old, but he only recently started to learn magic. He's not at a level where he already is maxed out on everything, he still has much yet to learn himself. If it still is an issue though then I'm willing to change the Ancients as a race a bit.
 
Well age is also experience, not JUST a number. If he didn't use all that time learning up his skills though, as said it's workable. Just keep in mind all the experiences we learn in a life-time, and skills we learn just be existing and experiencing things. In a world as harsh as Aelora, it would be strange to not start picking up skills until you're thousands of years old unless he's been in complete isolation for all those years. So that's something you'll want to consider and make sure you have an explanation in place for.

There is ONE concern though. I've been going light on the world details and history, since the small beginner scope of the roleplay doesn't require a lot of expansive knowledge. If your guy has been around since before the fall, his knowledge pool is going to be much vaster than what I've been preparing for. And since you've never played in this setting, that's going to mean I'll need to be helping you as we go with lore and details. If you're okay with that, I'm okay with it. But much of it isn't written up yet since we lost our old wiki. So you'll need to bear with me there as we go.
 
Hmm... Well, I get that maybe it would spoil the fun if my character were to already know of all events that happened prior because of the fact that he simply was there already. Perhaps it may be better to just make him a descendant instead. He'll still be an ancient, but he'll be much younger and he did not experience the events first-hand. I'll change it so that the Ancients do have an increased life span, but it's not nearly as long as what I initially said. Let's say he's... around 180 years old, with that being the age where someone of that species becomes an adult. Is that alright?
 
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