Post by Skadaddle09 on May 27, 2013 2:42:42 GMT -5
The crowd erupted into cheers when the festival began. Flames shot from the sides of the stage, crossing midair and extended well past the edges of the outdoor platform. Before they were completely extinguished, a blast of water interrupted the area where the flames crossed, steam billowing straight up with a hiss. Where the three met, wild flowers seemed to grow instantly from the vines sprouting up from center stage.
The four elements collided in the middle, representing the four nations living in peace and relying on each other. The fire calmed and became two gently burning flames on each side of the stage, while the water receded creating a flowing fountain over an arch made of vines and flowers. A gentle breeze floated on the air, lifting the veil of steam away. The crowd quieted when a man with a long, flowing pastel colored robe walked onto the stage and stood under the arch. A line of men in the respective armor of their nation stood behind him, looking sharp in their well disciplined manner. The breeze blew back the man's white hair and beard. Though the man was well along in years, he carried himself as a younger man would. Strong shoulders and head held high, he held his arms out and began to speak in a voice full of confident kindness, carrying easily over the people gathered just to hear their king.
"My people! I wish to thank you for joining us in our fine capital for our one hundred and fiftieth celebration! For centuries, my family had striven to bring peace to our land! My grandfather finally managed it by driving the darkness out of our kingdom for good! However, it would have never been possible without all of you setting aside your differences. As a reward, we hold this celebration every year to celebrate those differences!"
"Fire!" As he said each, the people of the respective nations let out a cheer to show their pride.
"Earth!"
"Water!"
"And Air!"
When the cheers died down, he continued, "I am proud to stand before you today! Now, I know you're all eager for the upcoming feast, as I can hear the rumble of your stomachs and see your young ones getting restless." The crowd laughed and the king smiled, "So without further ado, let the celebrations beg-"
A single arrow whizzed past one of the dancing flames on stage, causing it to shy away. It caught the eye of one of the guards in a bright crimson armor adorned with obsidian and rubies. His gold helm gleamed in the sun as he reacted without hesitation. He leapt for the arrow, diving in front of the king to protect him. The other guards sprang into action as well.
Only a second too late. All eyes were on the king when a bright red stain crept across his chest from where the arrow was stuck. He never lost his composure until he fell to the floor. Healers scurried onto the stage, mixing herbs and potions as quickly as they could, and one tried to tend to the arrow. The crowd was silent and wide eyed as they watched their once strong and beloved king collapsed on the stage in a pool of his own blood. Who would have any desire to kill this man? He had been nothing but good to his people and few had wanted for anything. The stage was in chaos as the high council and the king's personal guard shouted orders. A flood of warriors and trained knights alike came rushing out of the halls and from their watches, trying to find who loosed the arrow. Speculations were rampant, and accusations were flying.
Everyone froze though when, after what seemed like an eternity, one of the healers stood up and shook his head. The rest carried the king off the stage as the flames burned out and flowers wilted. Once the king was off stage, the people began to murmur and pull their children quickly along with them in case the assassin was nearby still. They eyed each other suspiciously, no one trusting any other. Families returned home, and each took with them their suspicions of who had murdered their beloved king.
And after one hundred and fifty years, the peace was shattered by a single arrow.
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Alright! I don't know how much interest this will get, but that was just backstory. The king is dead. He is from a long line of people of the "Spirit" element. Since spirit is believed to be the center of all the elements, his family has ruled for centuries, and at one point brought peace to the land. Now that the king is dead, and has no known heirs, the kingdom is in chaos. The king's guard is trying to find the killer while his high council is looking for a replacement.
This is where you come in. You'll be playing people who have a reason to be looking for the king's killer or his heir. Preferably, that would be someone from his council or guard, but if you have other ideas, I'm completely open to them.
ONTO THE ELEMENTS.
Our characters will be from one of the nations based on one of the four elements. Earth, Wind, Fire, or Air. Some people can have basic elemental control, but that's rare, and in some lands, they're frowned upon as witches. In others, they're revered and some find themselves in the king's guard or on his council. Each nation is divided up into lordships, so it gives you some room to create your own backstory and family sigil if you wish. :3 Each element will have distinguishing characteristics shared by all in the nation, but the individual lordships will differ from each other. The nations do intermingle and often live in the same areas, but for the most part, they stick to places where their element is most prominent. For example: A webbed footed water type would be severely uncomfortable in a dry Earth person's desert home. Each lordship creates weapons and armor based on the materials in their regions. For example, an ocean dweller may adorn their armor coral and make it out of sharkskin or something along those lines. The armor is very distinguishable between each region. Kinda like their trademark. :3
Water: Members of the water nation have slightly webbed fingers and toes. They tend to be fantastic swimmers, and have an almost unnatural ability to hold their breath for extended periods of time. Though their appearances do vary, most have eyes a shade of blue that depends on their region. Ocean dwellers tend to have deep blue eyes, whereas if they're from the marshes, they will be tinted green. They are very intuitive and can usually predict what will happen based on observation alone. Waters are seen by other nations as emotional and sometimes too soft. That is, until they meet a water that is of the ocean, or the raging river. Like water, these people seek to nurture and heal everyone around them. They are patient and kind, but if you aren't careful around a water, you could be swept away.
These people live on islands, near rivers, in marshes, and around lakes, and even near arctic glaciers. Anywhere there is a large body of water, that's where the people of this nation find their home.
Earth: The earth people are probably the most varied of all the nations. They represent the various landscapes of the earth. From the strong mountain men, to the lithe forest folk, the earth people come in all shapes and sizes. The thing they share is their knowledge of whatever region they are from. Good luck finding a forest folk if he's hiding from you in a forest, and you will be no match for surviving in the desert with a desert man. They know all there is to know about their regions, and they excel at living in them.
Earths are patient and reliable, as well as stubborn and unmovable. They frown upon irrational decision making and always seek the most logical way out of a problem. They tend to focus their studies on a single skill, much like the tree grows in one spot. Some excel at metalwork, while others are fierce swordsmen. They dedicate their lives to growth and always look to better themselves. They are usually tall people with green or brown eyes, depending on their region. Earths are often viewed by other nations as stubborn and rigid, afraid to take risks. They live in their comfort zone, and have very little desire to try anything new. They stick with what they know, and use what they know they're good at.
The Earth people live in rocky mountains, forests, and deserts.
Fire: Fire people tend to have dark skin as they spend their time under the heat of the sun. They can resist high temperatures, and a fire must be burning intensely to cause damage to a fire. Fires are innovative and often inspirational. Their demonstrations of courage can rid the fear in an army's heart, and they are often seen in leadership roles because of it. They are smart and the first to tackle a problem when one arises. Other nations view them as arrogant and sometimes rude. They can be aggressive, and they do not take lightly to insults, but whatever they do, they do with great enthusiasm.
Fires make their homes around volcanoes, and alongside the Earth people of the deserts. Some can even be found among the water types on tropical islands.
Air: Air types are small and light and very flexible. They can perform amazing acrobatic feats with ease and are very fast. Airs have grey or light blue eyes and they will talk with just about anyone. They love to share what they learned, but they rarely get excited about things in front of others. They're very intellectual people and are often found studying so they can learn more about the world around them. Though they rarely show it, they love interacting with other people, and they love to see other people interact. Air is all about connecting everyone. After all, none of the other elements would be possible without air. Other nations see them as emotionless and detached, and sometimes haughty. Sometimes, they let their brains get the best of them and can become flighty and chase nearly impossible dreams. They come up with outlandish ideas because they tend to overthink.
Airs can be found among the earth dwellers of mountains at the highest peaks, the water dwellers near glaciers, and even living in huge, tall towers they built to be closer to the air and away from the ground. Airs are the most adaptable people as far as where they live, and are found most anywhere.
THE FUN PART! RULES!
1. If anyone has ever RP'd with me, they know I'm all about the character development. Focus on your character and how he/she feels, thinks, desires, blah. Having said that, no more than two characters per person in this RP. Preferably one, but I'll accept two.
2. I only want two characters per element, but I'm flexible with that too. I just want a mostly balanced game. If we have more people, I'll open up more slots. :3
3. No joint posting unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. I would like to approve it before it's done. :3 I do this so that, while your characters are going at each other with swords, another character can cut in and be like, "HEY I'M BETTER THAN BOTH OF YOU AND I'LL KILL YOU BOTH IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP." That kind of thing.
Really, that's all. Just have fun with it, focus on how your character would react in certain situations, and you'll be fine. :3
The RP will probably, most likely start with our characters in some kind of meeting in the king's hall, but that depends on what kind of characters y'all come up with. Like I said, I'm pretty flexible.
Enjoy. :3
I'm gonna go ahead and claim a foresty-earth character. And I'll be randomly playing the roll of various NPCs that will help the story along.
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CHARACTER SKELETON!
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Element:
Region: (where you're from!)
House Name and Sigil:
Powers: (If any, I'm gonna limit them to specific abilities instead of just "herpderp I control fire")
Appearance: (Descriptions or pictures are both okay, this is just to get an idea of appearance, so I don't really care too much about the anime or real only rule)
Background: