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[Errol]

The Ancients existed. There's no choice but to believe, once you see their relics. They left behind beautiful works working on principles far beyond our understanding, ruins and structures of a purpose noone can tell anymore... and their soldiers - the Knights, named for their suits of plate they never remove. As the Great Rebellion threescore years ago proved so bloodily, one of them is worth hundreds of human soldiers in battle.

How the ancients prospered and fell, nobody knows for sure anymore, but the tale goes that they were similar to us. A great, prosperous, advanced civilization - and all that's left of them is burnt out ashes. So much of the truth was lost that all we have is stories, and all the little Conservator monasteries in this land clutch their own small shards of truth.

Though, in the recent colonization of the Northeast hilllands, there's been a lot of Ancients ruins being found, which means a lot of relics to be discovered. And your client, probably some bigshot lord from the southern coast fancying himself above hiring people like you for tasks like this directly, is paying you rather handsomely for finding and extracting interesting relics, and paying you extra handsomely for anything that can be weaponized, on the field of battle or politically.

And that's why you're sitting in this stagecoach rumbling north, with a buncha people you've never met before, that are going to be your partners from now on.

And the entire bloody coach smells of stale, heat-boiled sweat.

Spoiler: Details (click to show/hide)

Setting tech level is rather schizophrenic, but ranges from medieval to renaissance with isolated, basically-magic relics, most of which are held by Lords or by Conservator monasteries. No magic, no inhuman races, though there can be some odd mutations.
The southern coast is rather prosperous and fertile, divided into many duchies. To the southwest, it opens up into wide open steppe.
The north is bounded by mountains. The northeastern foothills, by the coast, is where the game will probably play. It's a region dominated by a single large city and its lord, with some counties to the north that are catching up in importance thanks to a ruins-fueled economic boom.
The eastern coast is treacherous and strewn with reefs, and mountainous wasteland lies inland. A large river flows through it and is the primary route of trade between north and south.
Vast swathes of the world, particularily inland, are desert. Deep into the desert, somewhere in the northwest, the Royal Capital lies. After the Great Rebellion, the Kingdom is a hollow shell of its past.

To post a character sheet, tell me your character's story, what they're like, what your character is good at and what they're bad at, and I'll handle the mechanical details. The general target for power level is 'Semi-professional mercenary', so you have some room to make a character that stands out from the rabble. NOT first come first served, so put some effort in making an interesting character so that you get picked.

Remember, if you have any questions about world or characters, ask away and I might answer.

Taking character sheets! Targeting ~5 players. Signups open for an indefinite duration, for now.

[~Neri]

You may want a somewhat more defined character sheet. People will likely find it easier with one.

[Caellath]

Sheet completed barring tweaks.

Spoiler: Connoisseur Character Sheet (click to show/hide)

Name: Durand Corthan
Gender: Male
Description: A man of slightly above average height and fair skin, dressed in an attire similar to a well-off man's suit adapted to adventuring in order to ensure its wearer is spiffy at all times. His dark brown trousers and jacket are well-cut despite the usage of thick cloth in their making, much like his white undershirt, and his knee-high black leather boots are rather durable. His hair is black, straight and cut short, and his eyes are a light shade of green. He sports a neatly-combed Dali mustache. He carries an adventuring backpack with a pavise shield attached to it.

Backstory: Hailing from a village in the north and the third son of a peasant couple, Durand wasn't exactly born in greatness. His parents were fairly well-known and appreciated in the region: Michael was a reasonable, hard-working woodworker who put less work than he wanted to into his pieces due to the large amount of work needed and his wife was Carla, a popular basketweaver who had managed to sell some of her more decorative baskets to noblewomen.

Despite not being piss-poor, the family had four children and an environment that didn't provide much room for learning and growing beyond the usual occupations expected from people living in a village which only got traffic of people and merchants due to a proximity to the properties of important noblemen and authorities. Luckily, Durand was blessed with a good, inquisitive mind that took him to following and listening into the conversations of scavengers headed for ruins of the Ancients' old civilization. When he wasn't trying to learn to read with the place's analogue to a priest, he'd be skulking around to listen to the banter of treasure hunters. With time his presence close to watering holes and inns was already common, though the objects of his curiosity only actually noticed him when he helped them once.

It was supposed to be an easy job: find some shiny trinkets a previous scouting team had located earlier, get them out of the ruins and bring them to the wealthy buyer. Instead, the battered men had been ambushed once and lost a few men to the ruins' hazards only to discover the best trinkets had been whisked away, most likely by the same scouting group hired by the stupid nobleman. The only thing they managed to get out of the destroyed buildings was a large box the recon squad hadn't been able to retrieve due to a shortage of able hands, and now they just didn't know if it had anything to make it worth dragging it all the way to their employer. Hell, the thing seemed so solid they doubted their employer would be able to open it. Fortunately for them, letting a boy with a good bit of intuition poke around a potentially valuable containment unit paid off. Durand managed to open it after sliding a nearly seamlessly-concealed side panel and noticing an etched depiction of how to unlock the box in case it hadn't been password-locked. And he saved them once more as one of the men almost broke something valuable in a rush to get the goods off the box and didn't notice they were secured with a complex lock.

There was much partying and free drinks that night and after a concerned mercenary prevented his companions from getting the boy to drink, Durand's life as an occasional assistant of adventurers began. His fame as a "good lucker" spread to the neighboring villages and whenever one of the mercenary bands found themselves in a pinch with a piece of tech they didn't know how to make work or even how to extricate something from its resting place without causing damage to the goods. He didn't get it right half the time, but he was smart enough to accept defeat and give up before destroying anything, which was very appreciated. He grew up reading with the cleric and learning from the Ancients with artifacts that weren't his, and the first helped the latter as learning a written language helped him decipher many things by simple association.

As soon as Durand hit his teen years and became old enough to leave his house without being too missed by his parents, so he did. Having spent years learning from men of the trade without actually being in the field, it was about time to put it all to test and acquire relics and a name of his own. He quickly became even more competent in the area where his passion resided thanks to actually following the hardy men and women of the treasure-hunting business in their expeditions. Though the good stuff went to their employers and part of it was occasionally pocketed by some experienced members of the expeditions, Durand was able to convince people into giving him stuff that seemed useless, of little value or out of the contract, such as manuals and reading material. He was usually satisfied enough he prevented some objects from being damaged during their retrieval... The next phase of his plans could wait.

It was through images, numbers and reading that to this day he keeps honing his knowledge of the Ancients. He does not have any ritualized or religious view of their works and that trait, coupled with his knowledge of several types of already-seen artifacts, turned him into a connoisseur and explorer with a favorable fame amidst the local nobility. Even his mustache is partially an affectation in order to give him airs of flamboyant eccentricity that attract customers. Though still unable to fund his own expeditions, he intends to do so in the future and is not avert to requesting payment in Ancient equipment or even requiring special permission to keep part of what it's found depending on the quantity and as long as it helps him in his work. So far his peculiar combination of honesty, luck and competence have paid off, but his dreams are far more grandiose than most can imagine.

Good At:
• Air of Authority;
• Ancient Tech;
• Literate;
• Live Through It...;

Bad At:
• ...Even If As A Coward!;
• Letting Go;
• Shun The Antiquated;

[IronyOwl]

Interested

No magic, no inhuman races

but why

[Errol]

No magic, no inhuman races

but why

Because the fun stops here.

You may want a somewhat more defined character sheet. People will likely find it easier with one.

Noted, but I don't think it's any more difficult without a sheet guideline unless you're not used to playing without one. What I want isn't too different from other character sheets in principle - appearance/personality/bio/skills/negatives, the only thing is that there's no stats to minmax. I want players to worry about their character's story and unique things instead of how to squeeze them into whatever arbitrary system I have designed for character sheets in this game. Make an actual character instead of a stat sheet, and let the rest follow.

[Peradon]

No magic, no inhuman races

but why

Because the fun stops here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Anyway, I may make a sheet later on...

[Pencil_Art]

May make a sheet in a couple of hours.

[Harry Baldman]

Ooh. I have a thought for this. Will post later.

[Pencil_Art]

I have a feeling about this...

[AoshimaMichio]

Hrm, time to join with another serious character.
I'll post something akin of sheet after work.

[Cheesecake]

Probably don't have time to join this right now, so waitlist please?

[Errol]

Probably don't have time to join this right now, so waitlist please?

I don't do waitlists and I certainly don't do first come first serve. I'll not start the game until end of the week at earliest, either apply later this week or reapply when I look for players again.

[GiglameshDespair]

Interesting.

[AoshimaMichio]

Here's my entry.

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Name: Liam Cather

History: His life story is not very unhead of. Liam was born as a bastard son of unimportant noble in south, mother being a handmaid in his castle. His mother wasn't excatly the type to keep her legs closed so identity of his father went undiscovered for long enough. Early childhood consisted of running random small tasks for people in is father's estate, and as soon as he was old enough soldiers of the noble began training him in art of fighting. He wasn't spectacular student, but he learned to use bow and dagger well enough to warrant lifetime role as soldier.

By time of Liam's twelfth birthday her mother let out identity of his father. Legimite sons of the noble, who were also much older than Liam, didn't like the prospect of having to divide their guaranteed inheritance any further, so they took action and drove Liam and his mother out of the county. It was utterly pointless since bastard sons were not permitted to inherit their noble parents, but try telling that to greedy spawns of nobles...

In following years Liam and his mother wandered around the land northwards trying to get a stable job, and more than once he had to rely on his bow to hunt food. It took ten years before they finally found someone who had need for permanent kitchen helper. His mother took the job and Liam found a job for himself as a guard and a hunter. Occasionally he also took jobs as a bounty hunter and a wilderness guide for rich people.

He got a wife, quite archievement for man without father, and fathered three children, joy of his life. After five short and happy years this all was stolen from him by a plague that ravaged through the city. His children, wife, mother and friends died, leaving him all alone. He wasn't left untouched by the plague either; most of his body bears scars of left by abscesses.

Left without much to do, Liam returned to wandering lifestyle he learned as a teenager. He scoured the wilderness in north, learning much of the land, herbs, animals and ruins it contains, and constantly honing his skill with a bow. Even now, at age of 35, he often he finds expensive herbs to sell for healers in city and guides stupid rich people to nearby safe ruins of Ancients.

What he is good at:
Bow and dagger: Lifetime of training has made him quite skilled with them. Being half decent fletcher comes bundled with this.
Tracking / wilderness survival: Nearly 17 years spent in forests, often looking for next dinner is sure to teach you few things.
Medical treatment: Sometimes he took payment for herbs in form of medical training. Losing almost everyone he knew to disease teached him to value such information.

What he is bad at:
Trust / people: He's slow to trust and develop any deeper relationships beyond professional partnership. He unconsciously fears losing everything again.
Illiterate: Unsuprising and probably common in this era.

[GiglameshDespair]

Have a sheet:

Spoiler: Witchhunter Jones (click to show/hide)

Name: Alicia Jones
Gender: F
Age: 24
Description: A pale woman, not particularly tall but well-muscled, dressed in the tradition witchhunter outfit - a heavy leather greatcoat and a blue capotain hat. Beneath the heavy greatcoat, hanging open, one can see a breastplate, resembling those of a Knight, and her weapons - a pair of  wheellock pistol axes. The blue sunburst of the Kulandrian Church hangs on a chain from her neck - daubed in holy substances and softly glowing in sacred blue light when darkness falls. In her pack, she carries the various tools of her trade - a lantern, incense, holy water from the Ancient fountain in the Cathedral itself, a book of matches, various rations, a trio of books - two holy books, the last a novel she feels vaguely guilty about reading.

What she does not know, and would certainly be horrified to discover, is that her piercing gaze and prodigious night vision is a result of a small mutation, giving her eyes almost perfect vision at night. She shields her eyes with the brim of her hat from the brightness of the sun, leaving her face shadowed.

Backstory: Witchhunter Jones did not have a glorious childhood. She grew up in the poorhouses run by the University-Cathedral of the Holy City of Kulandria, a city-state in the south - hard labour for basic living, picking apart the tar ropes used by the ships that carried cargo too and from the sprawling harbours.  She showed a particularly devout belief in the Light - of whom the Ancients were angels, the Knights their sacred soldiers. The sins of mankind lead them to leave, or so Kulandrians believe. These sins of mankind are personified in the mutations of flesh, and should be purged when found.

Her fervent belief was recognised by a kindly priest, who taught her to read and write, and gave her to the Witchhunters, in order to save the souls of the impure through fire. She took to the training with gusto - fighting, knowledge of the ancients and their sacred artefacts, and the sixty-four battle-hymns of the Kulandrian church.

After three years hunting the mutants of Kulandria, news of the discoveries in the hilllands reached the ears of the Church. Many of the holy warriors of the Church were dispatched to the ruins, to recover the artefacts and bring them back to the Cathedral. She's joined a group of others to record and salvage what is found.

Skills: Axe and gun both: the unusual weapons of Kulandria are those she has prodigious talent in.
The Sacred Ancients: she has knowledge of Ancients and their technology, filtered through a layer of mysticism and worship.
Literate: Jones can read. Many cannot. She even has a basic knowledge of the Ancient's words, terms and meanings.
Eyes of night: Jones can see in the dark with little difficulty. Brights days are quite uncomfortable, but manageable.

Anti-skills: Purge the mutant! Jones despises and wants to exterminate the mutated as walking bastions of mankind's sins.
Praise the Light, but shield your eyes: Any bright blinding light leaves her blinded in pain for a lot longer - and more severely - than ordinary folks.
City dweller: Jones has little knowledge of how to survive outside of urban areas.