The World is Gaia
This is a RPG/Strategy Multiplayer game that takes place in the world of Gaia, of the pen and paper RPG Anima Beyond Fantasy. Everything that you need to know to play is written in the next spoilers. Please, approach the walls of text with caution. This game has room for 4 players.
When talking about countries within the setting, i've added some references useful to imagining them.
A world ruled by humans... Although it wasn't always like this. About 550 years ago, a young man called Abel appeared in the world. Calling himself "the Son of the one and only God", he united all of humanity within a single creed, one that preached that all supernatural things were evil. Only a few chosen ones had powers given by God, powers that put them apart from normal people and allowed them to fight the supernatural. Alongside with his Apostles, Abel-Christ, as he was called, conquered almost all of the continent of Arcadia, also known as the Old Continent.
He only had to conquer the old Empire of Solomon, an empire in decadence that had resisted his attacks. But the night before his final attack, one of his Apostles, Iscariote Sith, betrayed him and sold his life in exchange for thirty pieces of black metal said to contain the forbidden knowledge that created the Empire of Solomon, the knowledge that, once lost, started the decadence of Solomon.
His other eleven Apostles proceeded to conquer the city of Solomon in a single day, and although they couldn't find the traitor, they recovered the body of their master, entombed him within the city of Solomon and decided to create eleven Holy Kingdoms. Each of them would rule one of this Kingdoms, and they would defend humanity from the supernatural. Pietro Giovanni, favourite of Abel, named his Holy Kingdom after his master, and built the capital of his Holy Kingdom on top of the city of Solomon, giving it the name of Arkangel.
About 250 years after it, the Holy Kingdoms had to face the greatest of threats. Rah Sith, last descendant of Iscariote, attacked the Holy Kingdoms allied with members of other races and supernatural creatures. He and his generals had powers far above those of normal individuals. Closer to demigods than humans, each of them could destroy entire armies. The only one man that achieved some victories against them was Zhorne Giovanni, Pietro's grandson. The Giovanni lineage had been touched and altered by Abel, and each one of them was not only as powerful as the Apostle, but they were very long-lived.
Nobody is sure of what happened, but Zhorne somehow managed to win the war. The war affected the supernatural, weakening supernatural entities. Zhorne united humanity under the banner of what he called The Holy Empire of Abel. He rebuilt Arkangel, founded an Empire and managed to eradicate or expel anything supernatural. With the help of the Inquisition, who destroyed supernatural entities and exterminated members of non human ethnicities wherever they found them, and the Templars of the island of Tol Rauko, who collected supernatural items for study and preservation until a time comes when humanity is ready for the supernatural, Zhorne fulfilled his dream.
Today the Empire of Abel covers all of Gaia. All nations are unified under Abel's banner, and christianity, the religion he created, is the only allowed religion, although some people away from the core of the Empire secretly worship other deities. To solve tensions between different nations, Zhorne created the Arbitrated Wars, alongside with the positions of Arbiters and Lords of War. The 4 Lords of War, the generals of the Emperor's armies, make sure that the different nations don't go against the Empire, as well as protecting the Empire from any danger. The Arbiters, just a step below the Lords of War, make sure that during the Arbitrated Wars, armies don't attack civilians and certain rules are followed. Both Lords of War and Arbiters are incredibly powerful individuals with special powers, considered Gifts of God. These "Gifts of God" are the explanation for the special powers that some Inquisitors, Templars of Tol Rauko, "Saints" or Imperial Agents show.
Each Lord of War has an area of influence. The Lord of the South rules the armies of the Emperor south of the principalty of Abel, core of the Holy Empire. The Lord of the North (known as the Shadow of the Emperor because his identity has always been unkown, known only to the Emperor) rules everything east and north from the core of the Empire, and as such rules some of the more savage areas of the Old Continent. The Third Lord is the Lord of Eurakia, the New Continent. The Fourth, simply known as The Lord of War, rules over the core of the Empire, composed by Helenia, Ilmora, Dalaborn, Arlan, Kanon, Alberia, Galgados and Abel, and he is in a position of "primus inter pares", being more influent and powerful than the other three.
The official religion of the Holy Empire is a pseudo-christianity. The Church is officially ruled by the Emperor, but the true head of the Church is the Supreme Archbishop. Chosen from the Council of Cardenals (the twelve most important bishops) he is one of the most important people in Gaia. Current Archbishop is an old man called Enrico Marco, whose current ambition is to increase the Church's presence in the most distant corners of the Empire, where the influence of the Church is minimal. This includes the New Continent and the Island of Varja, where the eastern nations of Lannet and Shivat still retain most of their traditions.
The Inquisition is controlled by the Thirteenth Cardinal, a mysterious person that answers only to the Supreme Archbishop. Directly under him is the Supreme Inquisitor. The Inquisition usually acts under their own agenda.
The Church also counts with the help of several Kinght orders, as well as their Saints, and the mysterious organization named after Apostle Nathaniel, whose members study the supernatural in order to understand it.
The Current Emperor is Elijah Giovanni, great grandson of Zhorne. Unkown to the people, the Emperor has saved the Empire (and possibly the world) once, by defeating the entity known as Baal, one of the 21 Messengers of the Apocalypse foreseen by Saint Harael Grimoire. Still an incredible fighter, he can easilily defeat an army by himself, and he is probably one of the most powerful beings alive on Gaia. However age is starting to take effect on him. Relatively young by the Giovanni's standards (Zhorne Giovanni himself lived for almost 200 years), he is currently approaching his one hundreth birthday.
His only son (as always happens with the Giovanni. None has had more than one child, always a son), Gad Giovanni, shows the qualities of a leader, although he is still no more than a teenager. Already able to defeat a squad of veteran soldiers with his bare hands, no one doubts that he will become a great warrior like his father.
The Lord of the South controls several, very different territories. Togarini is the one where he resides, and the country is bonded with Remo and Bellafonte by their culture (think of these areas as Renaissance Italy). These lands are curious because they are home to a strange ethnic group, the daevar, men and women of white hair and black skin. The lands of the Dominion (the Vatican) and Argos (Medieval/XV century Spain), home to the power of the Church, are also under his area of influence, which gives this Lord connections to the Church. Just next to those are the Lands of Al-Enneth, composed by Salazar (The Sahara), Kushistan (The Arabic countries) and Estigia (Egypt), where the cult of Jihamath is still strong. Religion has been here the cause of a multitude of Arbitrated Wars against Argos. The savage lands of Kashmir (Ethiopy) and Nanwe (Congo) fall under his area of influence, as does the mysterious land of Baho (India). Among his responsabilities is the land of Lucrecio, a place ruled by criminal gangs and lords of crime.
The Shadow of the Emperor rules over the armies of the Emperor in some of the most conflictive areas of the Old Continent. The men of Goldar and Haufman (Medieval Scandinavy) stick to their traditions, and make war on nearby areas. Hendell (Russia) boils with internal strife. Gabriel (France/Venice), as one of the greatest economic powers in the Empire, is full of political conspirancies. Shivat (China) and Lannet (Japan) have more than once tried to violently separate from the Empire, and the rivalry between Phaion (a mixture of eastern and western cultures), the other great economic power of the area, and Dwanholf (a land ruled by Pirate Kings and crime lords) creates constant tension. Meanwhile Moth is a dark land where ancient powers still haunt men. In these lands, old artifacts from ancient eras can still be found if one knows how to look for them.
The Lord of Eurakia is responsible of a varied land. The islands of Dafne (a land where women have the political power) and Bekent (an Iceland of sorts) fall under his rule. In his lands, Manterra and Arabal still ressemble the lands at the core of the Empire closely, but other lands are different. From the jungles of Itzi (The Amazon) to lands of Corinia (Wild West, less guns, more swords), many savage lands need his attention. Some areas under his rule are quite independent, like Yggdramar (an area of petty feudal wars and ambitious nobles that don't like outsiders stepping into their lands), Pristina (where many people live in the woods and don't even know of the existance of the Empire) or Elcia (a land that still lives under some strange traditions that they developed when their lords were the strange race known as the Vetala). Among all of these lands, there is also Espheria (early US9A), a former colony of Gabriel. With all of these troubles, and the distance to Abel, the Lord of Eurakia has a great deal of independence.
The Lord of War, first among the others, has more political influence than any of the others, but is limited in his independency by how close to the Imperial throne he is. He can also call on the help of the Order of Heavens, the personal army of the Emperor, composed of men and women that have had to go through several trials, or that were directly chosen by the Emperor himself. His area of incluence is composed of Abel (England/France during the XVI century), Alberia (Ireland/Scotland, a land where the supernatural still holds some importance), Galgados (a land isolated by mountains, quite near some ancient sites of non human origin), Dalaborn (a militaristic country somehow resembling Prussia), Kanon (the main economic power in the Empire, and the most important port to the New Continent), Arlan (the most important port of the Inner Sea, it is said the best ships in the world come from this land), Helenia (A pacific land, named after Saint Helena, famous for its cattle raising and the Ilona, a special kind of horse, considered the best ones in the world) and Ilmora (named after the Sage Calandra Ilmora, home to the most prestigious universities in Gaia.)
All Lords of War have been Arbiters before. Arbiters are chosen by the Lords of War for their mastery of combat, special abilites, and leadership. They are given special armors that allow them to subtlely manipulate space and time, creating effects that give them advantage when leading their men (making their men know exactly where they want them to go, for example). These effects are know as "Arbiter Orders". This armors also hide their identity, changing their voices and making supernatural attempts to discover their identity almost impossible. This last power is necessary, as Arbiters are forced by law to never reveal their true identities. Many Lords of War keep their old Arbiter armors.
Zhorne Giovanni created the Order of Heavens as his personal army. The members of the Order are men and women, from any origin, that have gone through the tests made at Arkangel any year or that have been invited by the Emperor. The Order is divided into seven "Heavens".
-The Order of the First Heaven is composed of the new recruits from the tests. They guard the central district of Arkangel.
-The Order of the Second Heaven is the bulk of the Order of Heavens. These are all veteran soldiers. They are organized as an army, and they are trained in the basic principles of Ki.
-The Order of the Third Heaven is composed of the officials that control the First and Second Heaven. Leaders and warriors, they usually were Second Heaven knights that showed a knack for leadership or generals from the Imperial Army.
-The Orders of the Fourth and Fifth Heaven fulfill a similar role. They are special operatives, each of them with his own special skills. These are usually directly invited by the Emperor or one of The Lords of War. The members of the Fifth Heaven are considered of a slightly higher rank.
-The Order of the Sixth Heaven guards the Imperial Palace. These men and women are chosen by the Emperor, and rarely leave the Palace. Each of them is an incredible warrior.
-The Order of the Seventh Heaven is composed of the Praetorians of the Emperor. The leader of this Order is also the leador of the whole Order of Heavens. Members of this Order receive the name of an ancient creature as their new name, a name that shows their supernatural dextery in battle. Each one of them is able to defeat entire armies, and only the best Arbiters, the Lords of War and some of the highest ranking Inquisitors are considered to be powerful enough to defeat one of them. There are currently three members of the Order of the Seventh Heaven and their names are Orochi, Astaroth and Vorvadoss. Vorvadoss is the current High Praetorian.
The different countries that are part of the Empire are known as Principalties. Their governors are given the title of Princes, although some retain the traditional titles from their lands (the Prince of Kushistan is called the Great Sultan, the Prince of Estigia is the Pharaoh, Gabriel has a High Chancellor and so on), but their power is the same as any other Prince. Princes send representatives to the Imperial Senate, and although the Emperor can ignore their decisions, they vote on important matters of the Empire.
Each Principalty has its own army, although their sizes vary. As some examples, Helenia has almost no army, relying on the Lords of War for protection, while Kushistan maintains quite a big army, nearing the limits imposed by Imperial Law. Princes can command the armies of their Principalties without asking for any permission as long as they don't declare war on another Principalty (in which case, an Arbitrated War ensues if the Lords of War see it fit), but they must report any movements of forces exceding 10000 men. Failure to do so can lead to the Lord of War of that area to dethrone the current Prince and put another person (usually of his family, as many Prince titles are hereditary) in the throne.
In recent History, some Principalties have tried to sever their ties with the Empire, some of them in more than one ocasion. Because of this, Lords of War are usually concerned with "tactics" such as dividing armies of more than 10000 men into smaller groups when moving them. Although many Princes say they do this in order to "not slow down Imperial bureaucracy", more than one Prince has been accused of treason for moves like this.
The name of Lawgiver is given to the special weapons that Abel forged for his Apostles using his own blood, as well as to the weapons Inquisitors use, created using the same process as the original Lawgivers, but using blood from supernatural creatures. The orginal Lawgivers are powerful artifacts, and most are in the hands of high ranking Inquisitors. The rest were lost during the war against Rah Sith, with the exception of Seoman Keophas, the Giovanni's Lawgiver, which is a symbol of the Holy Empire of Abel and remains as the weapon of the Emperors.
The truth is that there is no difference between the powers of those "Gifted by God" and those of the creatures the Inquisition hunts. The most common kinds of Supernatural Powers are as follow:
-Ki, an energy that is generated by the balance between body and soul, it allows its users to create incredible effects, like flying, healing, developing imposible combat techniches able to defeat dozens of opponents at a time, or going over the limitations of a normal human and be able to run at incredible speeds, lift enormous weights and many more things. With training, anyone can develop this power.
-Magic. Magic is the control of the world's energies to achieve incredible effects, usually thorugh rituals or spells discovered thousands of years ago. Magic is something one has since he is born, and only one in a million people or less have this "Gift", as it was called in ancient times. The spells witchers (as the Church calls them) use are divided into several schools. Who made this division is unkown, but it seems to have become intrinsical to magic itself. The known schools are Creation, Destruction, Essence (Nature and Spirits) Illusion, Necromancy and the schools of the elements (Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Wind and Earth).
-Psychic Powers. The less known power, the power of the mind. The effects it can create are very varied. From telekinesis to telepathy, pirokinesis, and so on. Only a few can use this power, and they are usually born with it.
-Summoning, a specal power, as it depends on some other power. Most summoners use Magic as the source of their power, but ancient eastern techniques use Ki instead. This is the power of calling, dominating, binding and banishing supernatural creatures, and in some instances, asking for the assistance of ancient entities, many of them creatures close to what we would call a god.
For all the bulk of humanity knows, all non human races disappeared after the war against Rah Sith. However, those in positions of high power know that some of them are still alive. For centuries, the Inquisition has tried to exterminate them, but they have evaded them, working together and hiding inside human society or in the most savage areas. These fugitives are part of one of these races:
-The Duk'zarist, tall, athletic and proud. Their skin is pale, their hair is always black or gray, and their ears are slightly pointy. They grow up at the same speed as humans, but once they become adults, they stop aging, until they reach around 1000 years, when they suddenly wither and die. They have a strange allergy to metals, specially iron, that can kill them, and this is the reason why their culture used the wood of the mystical trees called Ghestals. All Duk'zarist have supernatural powers, with men usually having psychic powers and women controlling magic, although some had both of them, and some had the supernatural power usually associated with the other gender. They are physically superior to humans, and their souls are linked to Darkness and Fire.
-The Sylvain, commonly called elves. They live ten times as long as a human. They always have a slender build, and all members of their race have the Gift of Magic. Physically weaker than men, but more agile and dexterous, their empire was the second most powerful of the world, only behind that of the Duk'zarist. They share some traits with them too, like their ability to recover fast from wounds, and their reduced needs, as both Sylvain and Duk'zarist need only a fifth of what a normal human needs to eat, drink and sleep. Their souls are linked to Light.
-The Deva, once a great empire, only a few families remained when Rah fought against Zhorne. As many other races, they had a link to the Supernatural. They looked like humans, except for their third eye on their forehead. This eye allowed them to see spirits, and if they watched a supernatural creature with it, they could learn its true name in a few seconds. They were master summoners, as they needed someone to fight for them due to their fragile constitution.
-The Ebudan, commonly mistaked with angels sometimes. These winged humanoids were covered in tattoos from their birth. These mystical marks, the Or'inie, as they called it, showed them their fate. They believed each of them had a Sue'aman, a final fate to complete, and that in completing it, they could trascend to a higher existance.
-The Daimah, once common in the eastern parts of the Old Continent. They looked like slighly shorter humans, always athletic and agile, but their ears were catlike, and they had a cat tail. They had an incredible curiosity, and as the Sylvain, they all had the Gift of Magic. They were linked to nature.
-The Jayan, always organized into nomadic tribes. These horned humanoids were taller even than the Duk'zarist, and their strenght was legendary. They had a third eye that allowed them to see spirits, and they had a chamanistic religion. Strong and tough, but sometimes brutal and savage, they never rose to a position of true power.
-The D'Anjayni, mysterious as one can get. These bald humanoids had the ability to change their identity by cutting the face of their victim and putting it over their own. They considered their names holy, as by knowing the name of a D'Anjayni, one could hold power over him.
-The Vetala, former rulers of the whole New Continent. The origin of the legends of Vampires, the Vetala were the Children of the Night. They had allergy to sunlight, and during night their powers were higher. They had to drink blood to survive, and they used their slaves as food. They healed their wounds quickly, and were extremly resistant to damage.
But there's not only the non human races, within humanity, there are some special individuals called the Nephilim, humans born with the soul of a member of one of these old races. Nobody actually knows that Nephilims are a thing, as they look exactly like humans and their special powers are mostly spiritual. A Nephilim with the soul of a Vetala for example, would heal slightly faster, be more resistant to physical trauma, have a slight allergy to sunlight and would gain strenght after drinking blood, although they wouldn't have the physiological need to drink blood. An Ebudan Nephilim would not have his wings, but he would still have his Or'inie and would have dreams about his Sue'aman. I think it's not hard to imagine how it works with the other races.
If you want, your character can be a Nephilim instead of a human. Being a Nephilim has one special disadvantege, however. Because they sometimes have dreams of their former selfs lives, they have slight difficulties to learn new things, as there is conflict between their learning process and their old memories. As such, you would start with slighly less skills.
Being a member of one of the lost races is not an option.
In its days of glory, the Empire of Solomon created incredible machines using a combination of high technology and magic. These are today called the Lost Logias. From vehicles that can fly to communications systems to weapons of mass destruction. There are still some of these Logias to be found around the globe. However most of them have a special requirement to work. It is not known why, but only descendants from the Senators of Solomon, the Emperor of Solomon or their honour guards can activate many of these machines.
Because of their powers, and the danger they could represent in the wrong hands, most imperial forces are very interested in recovering and using them.
You can choose to be a descendant of a Senator of Solomon. However, in order to fully control the power of your blood, you must have had to train and develop a knowledge of the Lost Logias, so you must choose Science as one of your skills, and you lose a bit in your other skills because of the time spent training.
During the History of Gaia, many supernatural entities have mixed their blood with humans. This has caused their descendants to develop special powers. The most known Legacies by experts of the occult, as these bloodlines and their powers are called, are as follows.
The Blood of Elemental Aeons: Aeons are strange creatures, close to what many cultures would call a god. Several of them mixed their blood with humanity. Of these, the Aeons of Fire, Air, Ice, Lightning, Water, Earth, Darkness and Light were the ones that gave their power to more people. The power that they gave is very similar, a link to their element, that increases the strenght of supernatural powers linked to their element, as well as an affinity to the element, that makes them more resistant against it. The names of these Aeons were Kagutsuchi, Boreas, Nilfheim, Rudraksha, Ran, Toa, Phandemonium and Shephirah.
Ayin Apholion, the Eyes of Death: Nobody knows which entity gave birth to these Legacy. But its power is incredible. Its bearers see the threads of life of people, and they can cut them with their attacks, making all of their attacks extremely lethal should they land.
The Eyes of the Soul: This Legacy is associated with the island of Varja and the legend of the Kami. It's bearers have a strange ability related to Ki. They can "see" with their soul, making them able to see spiritual entities. It also gives its bearer the ability to see everything that surrounds him by detecting its energy using his own Ki.
The Blood of Tsukiyomi: Tsukiyomi was one of the Kami of Varja. It is said she gave her blood to twelve of her priestess, and that their descendants carry the power of the Moon. As long as it is night, the bearers of this Legacy become more powerful. On a full moon night their powers are at their lowest point, but should there be an eclipse, their powers rise to their peak, as they are closer to their "mother".
The Blood of Uroboros: The Aeon of Time, its blood gives the bearers of his Legacy to be able to react faster than any creature could, as they had a limited power over space and time, that allows them to act incredibly fast.
The Blood of Naga: Naga, the Aeon called "The Mother of Poisons" gave birth to the most poisonous creatures Gaia has ever seen. Bearers of this Legacy are completely posionous. The mere touch of their skin can kill a lesser man. Their saliva and blood are even a more powerful poison, but for some reasons known only to Naga herself, is during sexual intercourse that they are deadliest. The poison is in their souls too, and thorugh the use of Ki the can make any weapon they use have the effect of a lesser poison.
The Blood of the Dead: Created by the contact not with an Aeon, god or demigod, but with the cursed Versiculum Mortis, The Book of the Dead, an ancient necromancy book, the bearers of this power can make a corpse rise temporaly using their own blood.
The Blood of The Dragon: The Dragon is the Aeon of Fantasy, considered the most powerful Aeon, the bearers of his Legacy have always been heroes of legend. It is said that there's an ancient Ki technique that allows the bearers of this Legacy to unleash the power that runs thorugh their veins.
You can choose one Blood Legacy for your character if you wish, but as always, the time spent trying to master the abilities this Legacies give will be time taken away from learning other skills.
For now, interested people should fill the following character sheet:
Name:
Position: (Which Lord of War you wish to be)
Description:
Weapon of Choice: (Martial Arts could be a weapon of choice, as could be things like using mystical puppets that the character controls from a distance, their own shadow, gun-blade weapons or something else, although some options will obviously need special powers to work. Of course one can say more than one, but learning to master multiple weapons is time consuming, and might cause other skills and powers to be less developed. This can be lessened if the weapons fall under a very similar category, like swords, or are used as part of a common style, like lance, longsword, bastard sword and shield as part of a Kinght's typical weaponry)
Source of Power: (Which source of supernatural power your character has. He has to have at least one, at most three, although the less he has, the more powerful he will be with that power. You can also say that his source of power is more mundande, like subterfuge or mere skill with weapons, although in any case, your character will have a very basic knowledge of Ki at the very least, as his martial training will have probably make him discover some of the basic principles of Ki by himself. If you choose magic, specify the School/s of Magic you prefer. If you choose Psychic powers, specify what you would prefer. If you choose Ki, please tell me how you see yourself using it (How do your manifestations of Ki look like, basicly). If you choose summoning, you can specialize, maybe you prefer to be able to summon elemental creatures (of the same element, like chosing Fire elementals, for example), you prefer to specialize on banishing creatures, or maybe you are at your best when you call for the help of ancient creatures like Aeons to give you special powers for a limited time (You don't have to chose, but doing so makes you quite better at your chosen field).
Skills: Some things your character is good at. The more you put here, the less of a true expert he'll be. It is assumed your character is a good leader and tactician, but you can put emphasis on that too.
Specialty: What is your specialty in warfare? Offense? Defense? Covert Operations? This will influence the kind of powers your Arbiter Armor has.
For the most part, this will be a strategy game, where each player will control the forces of a Lord of War. However when I consider it fitting (or should one player want to directly address a NPC or another PC) there will be roleplaying.
I will determine the results of actions based on a dice roll, but I will put the story as a first matter so I may modify things a bit if I believe it will make for a better story. However should it be a player vs player action, I'll stick to the dice roll.
The objective of the game is to try to remain in your position, fulfill your duties and perhaps fulfill your own personal ambitions.
Each of the Lord of War will have 4 Arbiters under his command. These Arbiters powers, skills, appearence, etc, will be determined by me.
All of you have some basic Ki abilities. These are:
Ki Detection: The ability to detect the aura of a person and his spiritual energies. You can also diferentiate two people thanks to their aura (however someone who knows how to hide his ki can also change his aura). A strong aura is perceived as hot, while the aura of an undead being is perceived as cold.
Use of your Aura: You can use your aura to touch (and thus, attack or parry) spiritual beings, as well as magic and psychic powers. This does not mean you can see them, though. This also allows you to damage structures regardless of how resistant they are. You could eventually break a wall with a spoon by hitting it (it would take long, though) as you damage both it's physical form and it's aura (everything in the world, even non-living beings, has an aura).
Inhumanity: This is the ability to take more advantege of your physical characteristics. With this, you will be able to receive blows that would kill a lesser man, as well as taking your most relevant physical characteristics to new limits. Someone specially agile would be able to run as fast as a horse, while someone specially strong would be able to lift several tons with ease.
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Topic: Lord of War OOC (Multiplayer RPG/Strategy Game) (Read 10721 times)