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[GiglameshDespair]

IC THREAD

A long, long time ago...

Far beneath the earth, a forgotten temple still rang with the echoes of battle. Among the corpses of monsters and men both, two people alone clung to the most tenuous threads of life.
He coughed and groaned, shifting slightly where he was propped against a cracked stone pillar. He'd left a trail of blood from where a claw had pinned him briefly to the aged rock. She groaned back in response, lying on her side in a puddle of crimson, a leg reduced to a bloody stump.
“I'm dying.” He said. His voice was a smooth baritone, made ragged and wheezy by his ruptured organs.
“Me too,” she responded, her voice high and strung with pain, and for a moment the only sound was the faded echoes of screams and steel.
“It was a damn good fight.”
“It was,” she agreed.

There was the grinding of metal as he tried to shift to have her in his sight, and he tumbled from his prop against the column with a clatter of damaged iron platemail and a gasp of pain. She opened her eyes at the sound, the lids heavy and unresponsive. She smiled, though he could not see it in the gloom. Most of the light-orbs had shattered in the fighting or fallen to the predations of passing eras.

“Do we do it?” her words joined the echoes of the ancient chamber.
“Yeah,” he grunted, twitching towards her. He reached out a shaking hand, and ignoring the spikes of agony she felt she took it in her own.
“The Key...?”
“More broken than me.”
They both snorted with laughter, and hissed at the pain, him even more so than her. The echoes were dying away now, and they listened to the sounds of death that still bounced from the crystal-studded walls.

“No-one's ever going to know, are they?” she said. It wasn't a question.
“They don't need to. It was...” he drew in a shallow scrap of a breath, “...it was done. That is enough. Besides, we'll know.”
“Not much good that does.”
He tried to shake his head, managing little more than a twitch.
“No. Next time. We'll meet again.”
She didn't reply, but the taciturn woman managed to exude a questioning air.
“Next life,” He grinned, teeth glinting red in the darkness, “or the one after. Never could stay away from you.”
“Then we'll meet again,” she said.
“Aye.”
“Then I am content.” The echoes had faded away, the silence creeping in like a shroud on the two souls. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Until next time,” he said, and died.
She lay in the dark, her vital liquids still pooling slowly around her. As the shadow of death engulfed her, she smiled, and held his hand.

Thus the world was doomed.



The gods used to walk the world. Evil and Good had an allegiance – balance was maintained between them. Twelve chosen champions called Icons were elevated to demi-godhood. For centuries, they held the world unchanging. For many, it was a golden age.

Until the Schism.

After a unknown tragedy befell her, the first and greatest of the champions turned against her heavenly masters. Champion fought against champion – those who turned with her are the Fallen, while the six Icons who opposed them became known as the Saints. When the conflict was done, though, the Fallen were victorious – and their foul plans came into motion. God after god was murdered, and the First someone took the power of each in turn, becoming a swirling mass of power and rage.

Seeing they stood no chance against the First in battle, the gods sealed the thing the First had become inside the Weeping Mountain, far behind the Dreaming Wall. Locked away, the First is little more than an ancient force of howling hatred and seeping malignancy, and patiently awaits a crack in it's prison. The efforts of the gods are all directed towards keeping it sealed, and they no longer concern themselves with the deeds of men.

Instead, the twelve Icons now take the worship of the mortal masses. Where before, they strived to maintain the world order, now the Saints battle for control against the Fallen, who have risen to godhood through the dark powers of the First. The Saints have been resurrected and ascended by the few gods who remain.

The cycle of rebirth that powers the word is cracking, and the dead rise in the night. Impossible monsters from beyond the Dreaming Wall are appearing in ever greater numbers, destroying and defiling whatever they find. The world teeters on the edge of a knife.

Within this time of upheaval, a small party of five find themselves caught up in events. In the human kingdom of Lakinium, they arrive at the city of Kolos, a bare hundred miles from the Dreaming Wall. Having travelled for a while, they decided to follow a old tale of treasure - a nearby cave that held a temple to the Bird-Eater. Destroyed by the Blue Crow order, rumour has it the Crows left any treasure behind... and with jobs scarce, even for mercenaries, you decide it's better than a growling belly.

Ye Gods

For the most part, the gods themselves are not invoked. The worship of the masses is instead diverted onto the Icons. The gods, after nearly a thousand years, are nearly forgotten. Some palces have forgotten them, and worship the Icons as creators. Feel free to make up gods or names for the Icons – they were known by many things. These are just their most common titles.

Spoiler: The Icons (click to show/hide)

The Fallen

The First/ The Malignancy – Chaos, Evil. Death, Destruction
Once a mighty, noble champion, it is now a monstrously powerful being of divine energy sealed deep underground. Few worship the First, as it does not often respond to prayer. Those that have it respond often find themselves wishing it didn't... Chaotic Evil. It's chosen weapon is the longsword. Its symbol is depicted as a wide, staring eye, surrounded by jagged and irregular spikes.

The Icy Hammer – Evil, Cold, Strength
Once a cruel northern snow-bandit, she was infamous for her merciless punishment of the Divine's enemies. It is said she betrayed the gods just to have a mighty opponent, as none others could match her strength. Often worshipped by barbarians, bandits, and all who live by taking from the weak. Neutral evil. Her chosen the weapon is the warhammer. Her symbol is a hammer over a snowflake.

The Carefree Thief – Chaos, Luck, Trickery
Not evil himself, he nonetheless assisted in the murder of the gods -  laughing, the Thief had determined his allegiance with a coin toss. Hexblades and rogues often worship the Carefree Thief. Chaotic Neutral. His chosen weapon is the shortsword. His symbol is a pair of dice.

The Bird-Eater – Evil, Air, Knowledge, Animals
A strange woman even before her ascension. With great, green-feathered wings, she hoarded secrets and had an insatiable appetite for bird-meat of all kinds. Possibly the easiest Fallen to bargain with, as she may trade secrets - for a price. Her chosen weapon is the longbow. Her symbol is three feathers.

The Aspect Mage – Earth, Air, Fire, Water
A woman who controlled the elements themselves. She found her loyalty to the First was stronger than her loyalty to the gods, and followed her into damnation. True Neutral. Her chosen weapon is the quarterstaff. Her symbol is depicted as a diamond split into four, often coloured red, green, blue and purple.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Cold_Domain

The Saints

The Kind Librarian – Good, Knowledge, Magic, Protection
The Librarian was reputed to know every arcane spell that ever existed. His skill was magic was unmatched, even by the Iron Mage, and his kindness was legendary – as was his distaste for undead. Neutral Good. His favoured weapon was the quarterstaff. His symbol is depicted as a book.

The Never-King – Good, Law, Sun, War
The Never-King was a heir to a kingdom, to be crowned once he returned. He never did, so he could keep adventuring with his companions. A proud and mighty warrior, he praised the sun-goddess above all others, and received her favour above all others. Lawful Good. His favoured weapon is the longsword.

The Verdant Mother –Good, Animals, Plants
All living things seemed to adore the Mother. Hated by the Bird-Eater. It is said plants would grown where she trod. Neutral Good. Her favoured weapon is the spear.
 Her symbol is a sapling growing from earth.

The Iron Sorcerer – Evil, Law, Magic, Death
A sorcerer who turned his skin to steel. He had no great love of the First, and believed it's plan to kill the gods could only bring disorder and chaos. He had no compunctions against undead – his skill only exceeded the Librarian in skill with necromancy. Lawful Evil. His chosen weapon is the dagger. His symbol is gauntlets gripping a skull.

The Azure Wanderer – Travel, strength
A half-dragon who wandered the world for centuries before becoming an Icon. Impassive to all she saw, she only fought those who attacked her, but those she crushed without mercy. In the Schism, she fought the Icy Hammer, and in that battle, she made the only expression she made in her life. Her servants merely fight the First's monsters, and make no judgements as they travel in the world. Her favoured weapon is the halberd. She is True Neutral.

The Steadfast Guard – Law, Protection, Earth
Once a dwarf from the Deep Holds, the Steadfast Guard merely saw fighting the enemies of the gods an extension of his duties. Rigid and inflexible in his opinion, he held the law above all else: others could argue over good and evil. A guard's duty is first and foremost to the law. Lawful Neutral. His favoured weapon is the light hammer.

Locations of Note

Just a few places. Feel free to invent more. It's worthing noting this world is tilted opposite to Earth - the south has a cooler climate, the Northern continent being blistered desert for the most part.

Spoiler: A few relevant (click to show/hide)

Lakinium
A small, primarily human kingdom in the southern continent. Cold in the south towards the Dreaming Wall. Ruled by King Marian, the long arm of the law is rather stunted when it reaches towards the edges - constantly embroiled in petty border wars, these cities exchange hands every few centuries - or decades. The last war with the nearby Elfreach of Yalani saw Kolos taken back by the humans only forty-seven years ago. The soil is thin but the ore is plentiful, providing weapons of war and goods for trade.

Yalani
An Elven nation, typically referred to a Elfreach. Populated mainly by Artic elves with a few high elf clans. The sister nation of Lakinium... even if, as siblings, they fight often.

Kolos
A rather grubby city a hundred miles from the Wall. Situated near the Coldpoint Mountains, it has everything a growing city needs - a theive's guild, a mercenary's guild, a force of guards backed by the Lakiniun Legion, and a fancy magic fountain in the centre that flows warm even in winter snows. Well, maybe the fountain isn't necessary.

The Sleeping Tribes
The scattered people who live close to the Dreaming Wall. Primitive, they trade furs of strange beasts - stranger and stranger, these days - for metal tools.

The Dreaming Wall
A wall of huge stone blocks, though even a dwarf does not recognise the white hue of the rock. It reaches to the skies themselves, and gargoyles crawl along it's length. It's said the Malignancy is sealed behind it deep underground, and the rest of the Fallen plan chaos and discord from behind the battlements. Said to circle the entire south pole of the world.

The Southern Continent
You are here. A feuding mass of nations of all sorts, it constantly bubbles with change around stable 'islands' of powerful empires or kingdoms. Down at the southern tip is the kingdom of Lakinium, which is rather un-influential in the scheme of things.

The Northern Continent
A sun-baked land of shifting sands and unknown peoples. It seems the calamities of the world haven't had too much effect in the north, but even they haven't escaped all the signs of the impending doom.

The Scatter
When the land was divided into two by the gods, between the two new continents was created a vast chain of islands. These became known as the Scatter.

Basic rules

Level 1.
28-Point buy or roll your stats. You decide. I'd prefer if you rolled.
Link me to the stuff like templates and the more exotic feats. I use online resources for the most part, so you aren't limited by books, but I don't exactly know all the things from heart, either. I'll consider homebrew, but do it in good faith – I'm new at this.
Free LA for lower tiers, but consider it offset by one – tier 3 get one LA, etc, because...
no tier ones. At least, not without a good reason.
Don't minmax, please.
Five players.
Evil characters are fine, as long as you don't play them Stupid Evil. In fact, don't play a character Stupid Anything.

Not first come first serve - I'll be taking the most interesting characters. There'll be a few more details in the following post, which will be up in eight hours or so.

Got any questions? Let me hear 'em.

[GiglameshDespair]

IC THREAD

Players

Actors, vying for a part in this particular play. The five have been chosen!

Izalith. Dragon Shaman

Janik, True Knight

Edgar Snowfoot, Ranger

Thrush, Warlock

Klikklak, Paladin

WAITLIST

Robin Toma, Sorcerer

Kyle Johnson, Dread Necromancer

[Tawa]

Reserved.

[kj1225]

Can I make a character who is good if they're class is evil?

I've been wanting to try it for a while now...

[Tawa]

Starting gold?

EDIT: Sans starting gold totals (placeholder of -cash), backstory, and stuff like that, have James Bond.

If you're not cool with him, I have a spare nuke-sorcerer.

[Nerjin]

I'll likely be in as a Sorcoreress/Bard who is obsessed with her story more than anything else. She behaves righteously and just and all that but underneath she does it only for recognition. She wants tales of her deeds to be passed down through the ages.

[Tawa]

Actually, I'm more in the mood for a sorcerer. Meet Robin Toma, the currently soulless blaster.

[Nerjin]

I rolled as per the instructions in the OP... It didn't go well... I have +3 Ability mod... Total... -1, +1, +1, +1, +1, 0... Sorta over-ruled sorceror... So now I'll go with a ranged Dragon Shaman.

[Tawa]

I can see that you are to the Dragon Shaman as I am to the sorcerer.

[kj1225]

Um... I never really thought about it before but...

What does the tiers thing mean? I see it pop up from time to time and I can only assume it's related to classes.

[Nerjin]

Look at those modifiers Tawa... I wanted, desperately, to do the Sorc/Bard thing. BUT no caster option was available to me so I went with what I love.

[Tawa]

To be fair, there are a lot of problems with rolling, hence the reason I never used it.

Um... I never really thought about it before but...

What does the tiers thing mean? I see it pop up from time to time and I can only assume it's related to classes.

It refers to how good a class is. Wizard is 1 with clerics and druids, sorcerer is 2, bard is 3, rogue, ranger, and barbarian are 4, and fighter, monk, and paladin are 5. Experts and Adepts are a little higher on the list than the other NPC classes.

[Harbingerjm]

28-Point buy or roll your stats. You decide. I'd prefer if you rolled.

What roll scale?

Um... I never really thought about it before but...
What does the tiers thing mean? I see it pop up from time to time and I can only assume it's related to classes.

It refers to how good a class is. Wizard is 1 with clerics and druids, sorcerer is 2, bard is 3, rogue, ranger, and barbarian are 4, and fighter, monk, and paladin are 5. Experts and Adepts are a little higher on the list than the other NPC classes.

No, no it doesn't. It refers to how a class ranks on the scales of versatility and raw power.

[Tawa]

O... kay.

For crunchy bits, that's how good a class is.

[Harbingerjm]

O... kay.

For crunchy bits, that's how good a class is.

If you define "good" as "powerful" then sure, it measures how "good" they are. Of course, if that's your measure of "good" you'll need to shuffle some class tiers, because Paladins have easiest access to Candle of Invocation.