[PG-13] Blossom of the Goddess OOC

[ImportantNobody]

Backstory
The three Goddesses of creation; Maerura, Gliira, and Lith. Maerura first created all of the inanimate materials that makes up the universe. Lith then created almost all of the life inhabiting the newly created universe. Finally, Gliira observed the life forms that Lith had created and then created the first humans. The human race proved to be the greatest of the species and quickly gathered vast influence and power, much to the obvious dislike of Lith. In fact, she claimed that her creations were being violated due to the actions of Gliira, which is an act of blasphemy worthy of starting a holy war over. Maerura wished to keep balance and avoid such a battle, so she was able to mediate a treaty between Lith and Gliira. According to this new agreement, humans are no longer born naturally. Instead, they're now born within buds sprouting on Sacred Trees that were created by all three of the Goddesses working together. Men are not born in these buds in order to keep the human's reliance on these trees for the continuation of their species, helping stop humans otherwise near unstopable expansion.

At least at the beginning, this agreement worked as planned for Lith. Humans quickly stopped their territorial expansion and formed into the first nations located around the Sacred Trees. After around a thousand years passed, men were considered to be just a myth. Humans had long finished a war that had resulted in each nation solidifying power over a single Sacred Tree at it's center. The balance of power was well maintained during this time, but suddenly some irregularities came about. One of the Sacred Tree's began to make "mistakes" and created a couple of male children, who's gender were kept secret. Due to nobody ever seeing a man before and not even believing that there were such a thing as men, the secret managed to be kept safe for some time. Another irregularity was the increase birth rate of humans, resulting in another need for territorial expansion. There's no proof that Gliira is responsible for these irregularities, so Lith decides to deal with this situation less directly then an all out war between Goddesses.

Sacred Trees
Women called Mothers work inside the Sacred Trees, which are hollow and large enough to contain around 10,000 buds at once at maximum capacity, but normally around half that (the amount varies to keep the human population relatively consistent). The Mothers are usually at least middle aged and are responsible for caring for all of the babies produced by the tree up until school age. The babies take around three months to develop, at which point the bud falls from the tree should they not be collected at the appropriate time, which is when the leaves surrounding the bud turn from green to bright pink. Should the buds fall, they're well cushioned and the baby could survive, but it's quite disrespectful to allow one to fall and considered to give that baby bad luck for the rest of her life. The people responsible for collecting these buds are the Sisters, much younger apprentices to the mothers who dangerously climb out onto the branches to collect the buds. They're also supposed to catch falling buds should it come to that. Women are allowed to adopt the child if they catch a bud that falls from the Sacred Tree (Sisters don't count. They'd all simply get punished for allowing such a thing to occur). The Mothers and Sisters are usually very religious.

Religion
While different religions do exist, a vast majority are related to the three Goddesses, Maerura, Gliira, and Lith. Most humans follow the Tridea religion, which involves worship of all three Goddesses equally. They pray in the morning to Maerura, usually for the land on which they live and work. Around noon they pray to Lith, usually for providing the life that provides their food. At night they pray to Gliira, usually as a thanks for their own life, family, and friends that they had met during the day. Additional prayers can be made to any or all of them at various points. There aren't many strict laws involved in the Tridea religion, although they're expected to live virtuous lives and respect holy things, such as the Sacred Trees. Shoes must be removed when walking on any holy ground, and special white robes with red markings must be worn depending on the circumstance or location. Their religion doesn't believe in an afterlife, but instead their life's energy is said to be placed into the Sacred Trees to allow for new humans to come to life within the tree buds. Reincarnation is said to be possible, although unlikely. In order to due so, someone's life energy is said to have to pass into a bud in one piece and not be mixed or corrupted by any other energy along the way, from the roots their energy is absorbed into all the way up the trunk and through the branches.

The second most common religion is the Gliirean religion, which worships only the Goddess Gliira, and thus have a more humanistic approach to things. They acknowledge that the Goddesses exist, but humans are able to behave how they wish and realize their full potential (although still shouldn't trample on other innocent humans along the way). The Litherian Religion worships only the Goddess Lith. They use human sacrifices and the people are much more oppressed. Dark robes cover their body during rituals. The least common religion involving the three Goddesses is Maerian, which involves the Goddess Maerura and is a more nihilist approach that doesn't take a side. They seem more detached and pacifistic in nature, settling disputes logically whenever they get involved.

Some humans are atheistic. There are also other religions found in some other mythical species, which rarely make their way into human society.

Magic and Mythical Creatures
While most humans don't have magic, magic does exist in roughly 8% of them. The spells are basically limited to creativity and energy cost. If it's really powerful, then it takes more energy from the caster to use. Spells involve vocalization unless the caster is so in sync with magic that they can simply think it, or for the best or luckiest, have the magic anticipate his or her needs or activate on it's own accord.

For mythical creatures, there are some intelligent life outside of the human race. You can get creative about what kinds of mythical creatures there are. A lot of the mythical creatures want to stay away from humans, although they have individually been involved with the humans from time to time. As the plot continues they are more likely to have to get involved.

Setting
The continent that this story takes place on is named Mae, after the Goddess Maerura who created the continent. Humans occupy the center of the continent, which provides mostly moderate temperatures and a lot of grasslands, lakes, and forests, although other geographical locations aren't unheard of. I've listed the four major human nations, but this list is incomplete. You may suggest the addition of a nation, whether it's human controlled or home to mythical creatures.

Empire of Lurill-To the east is the Empire of Lurill, the main bad guys of this roleplay and have the highest incidence of being worshipers of Lith, otherwise known as the Litherian religion. Lurill is the largest of the human nations and has a powerful military.

Republic of Pharee-To the north is Pharee, the "nation of many lakes" and the smallest human nation. They had a lot of mythical creatures visiting their nation compared to the other nations. However, they were abandoned by the mythical creatures once the surprise attack occurred, and they lost the war to Lurill within a year. Most of their soldiers are dead and their people are in hiding. Without control of the Sacred Tree, their population cannot last long.

Queendom of Eliorre-To the west is the Queendom of Eliorre. This is the second largest human nation. While their military is large, they're inexperienced and haven't faired much better then Pharee in their opening battles. It's rumored that the Goddess Gliira favors Eliorre due to secretly providing them with a couple of males in their Sacred Tree. The most common religion in Eliorre is Tridea, followed closely by Gliirean, which is growing in influence far faster then the rest.

Empire of Surrah-Located in the southern lands, Surrah is largely remaining neutral in this war. Due to being in a large desert, the Sacred Tree is starting to wither and the population is decreasing as a result. They are considered a loose cannon and could join any side, or remain natural, although that will be increasingly difficult for multiple reasons. The Maerian religion is more common here then anywhere else, although still not enough to overcome Tridea. The Litherian Religion Cult has a lot of small groups spread out around the empire, causing trouble for the government.

Plot
The balance of power could not last forever. The Empire of Lurill delivered a devastating surprise attack toward it's neighboring nation of Pharee, to the north. Lurillean soldiers had captured the Sacred Tree of Pharee with the year, and with it crushed the hope of the Phareian people. It's now been eight years since the opening attacks, and Lurill is in the opening stages of invading Eliorre, to the west. The boys born in the Sacred Tree of Eliorre have now grown up to be young men, and a prophecy has began to spread saying that mankind will soon be able to survive without relying on the Sacred Trees. The people that know better can't help but think that the Lith worshipers of Lurill wanted to avoid that fate by capturing the Sacred Trees, stopping the males from being born. The men's existence would ruin the status quo that was, in their opinion, needed to maintain the balance of the world, so this war would be justified in order to stop the devastation that would follow had they allowed these irregularities to continue.

What will happen now? It's all up to us to decide.

Rules
1. Standard forum roles apply unless otherwise stated.
2. You may have more then one character if desired.
3. You should post at least one decent sized paragraph, preferably more.
4. Keep this PG-13. While there will probably be some relationships going on, nothing graphic. Keep swearing to a reasonable amount.
5. I can add rules if necessary, but I will be fair with this power.

Character Sheet
You may format the character sheet however you want, but make sure to include all of the information below:

Name-
Age-
Gender- (You can be male, in case you were wondering. Be sure to plan accordingly if you are)
Race- (if a mythical creature, explain about them)
Appearance-
Personality-
Homeland- (such as Lurill or Eliorre)
Occupation-
Power/Abilities- (such as if you have magic)
Biography-

Cast

(None yet)

[Wattz]

Hey there! Because the RP will be rated PG-13, I will edit the title to reflect this. Please keep in mind that PG-13 and up RPs should be labeled. Thank you!

Also, if you'd like to you can submit your RP for Roleplay of the Week or put it in the Roleplaying Games Directory or click here to help attract players! Looks like fun!

[Leon G]

Whoa, first of all, this is a really detailed and interesting RP I would like to join, but I have a few questions;

-What's the age range our characters can be?
-By occupation, do you mean Mother or Sister? Besides those are there normal jobs such as cooks and whatnot?
-Around what time period is this? This is kinda a weird question. What I mean is, do they have technology? Are women held to the standard of the 1700's?

I think that's it~

[ImportantNobody]

@ Wattz, thanks a bunch for telling me.

@ Leoni Green, very good questions.

The age range for the males will have less room to manuever. They can be about as old as low 20's if they were one of the first males created by the trees. The trees would be producing more as time went on. A minimum age for characters would probably be 13 unless you have a really good idea. For female characters, they can be from, lets say 13 to 50. I usually like characters no more then 30 (harder for me to relate to), but that's just a personal preference and you can choose any age if you're able to justify it. The life expectency is around 140, by the way.

Mothers and Sisters are two highly regarded occupations, but there are a lot of normal jobs as well, soldiers included. There wouldn't be any high tech jobs because the time period is more medieval, so keep the jobs possible with that. While they are medieval, however, magic exists and may provide them with certain things that seem more high tech then what they'd have avaliable at the time. For example, they have better sanitation and quality of living then most midieval people would be.

Due to no men (up until just recently), there's no sexism and women weren't held to the same standards as in our world. They're basically free to be how they want, although they're still expected to be good people.

@ Everyone, I forgot to mention that children normally live in boarding schools but can have the option of being adopted. Families do exist, although they aren't related by blood.

[infernai]

((Hrmm, i'm interested although i will say the idea for a character i had is probably going to be a bit...controversial. If he's not up to par i'm prepared to scrap him or edit him as seen fit.))

Name- Zephirus Lurill II
Age- Very old.
Gender- Male
Race- Golem (Human originally)
Appearance-

Spoiler:  

Personality- Once the maddened and cruel king of Ancient Lurill, Zephirus is a man changed by his captivity and the sights he had seen unfold before his eyes over the centuries. He is a calm and not very talkative Golem, concerned only with the protection of humanity and the upholding of justice across the land. He has grown to be rather honorable, and believes that it is unjust to wantonly slaughter others without reason. For this reason, he views the recent invasion attempts by his former kingdom with disgust and believes it must be stopped to ensure people are able to live in peace once again. However, despite his honor and disdain for violence, he is prepared to fight and kill others if it is for the defense of another or for the greater good of justice. This sense of justice has extended to other intelligent races as well, but his first and foremost duty is the defense of humanity of which he has grown incredibly protective of.

His views on the Goddess' remains as volatile as ever, still believing them to be the cause of problems for humanity and views them with disgust. However, he does regret his prior actions and believes them to have been the wrong way to carry out his goal, but still believes that the Goddesses need to disappear from the world and stop interfering in it. Yet, he still respects those who choose to worship them and will not lash out against someone over it, but that does not mean he will not criticize or remark on a persons 'mistaken faith'.
Homeland- Ancient Lurill
Occupation- Former King of Lurill
Power/Abilities- Due to being cursed and bound to the armor he had once worn so proudly by the Goddess Lith, Zephirus has gained some abilities that would not be bestowed on a normal human. He is blessed with strength greater then the average human as well as heightened durability and senses. This inhuman strength is what allows him to be able to wield the large sword he carries, with which he is incredibly skilled with, and also allows him to carry a lot more then what his physical appearance would suggest. Despite his bodies hardiness, he does posses a slow working regeneration ability that is capable of rebuilding his body if it ends up completely ruined.

However, Zephirus is not invincible. He is incredibly weak against most magic spells and seals, which is capable of doing serious damage to his form. He will also, if too greatly damaged, simply 'stop working' and be unable to function until his body rebuilds itself. This can take some time depending on the extent of the damage, and can leave him completely immobile until his body is done repairing itself.
Biography- In Lurill, there is said to be a legend of a mad king that once ruled with an iron fist before the creation of the Sacred tree's. Defying the goddesses, he seeked to usurp them by forcefully bringing humanity together to wage war and take the throne of the gods for himself: As punishment for his defiance the gods destroyed his physical body and bound his soul to the unbreakable armor he wore, freezing him in place as a statue of what would one day become Eliorre. He would be forced to watch the world around him, yet could never again move until a time the gods decreed he was allowed to be free from his torment. He wished to live forever, and so the goddesses gave him his wish.

In truth, Zephirus was the son of the founder of Lurill and came into power after the death of the previous ruler. He was a strict ruler, but never unfair of what he asked of his subjects, managing to usher in an age of prosperity and laid the foundation for the military prowess that his nation would become known for by establishing a proper structure for his forces: After all, he believed that in order to achieve peace one always had to be prepared for war. Finally, he had been blessed with a beautiful wife and queen who he adored above all else, even his own kingdom. They were even expecting a child, who Zephirus hoped would continue the rise of their kingdom 'to the greatest of all in the land'.
The peace would not last though as one day the kings wife fell ill, leading to the loss of their child. Her condition quickly deteriorating, she died two weeks later. Due to the untimely loss of the woman he loved so much, Zephirus started to think that it had been the Goddess' fear of his kingdom that lead to the loss of his child. Growing vengeful, he banned public worship and soon gave himself the task of researching a way to destroy them, believing it the only way that humanity could be truly free and to ensure such cruelty would never befall another human.

His obsession growing, he sent a decree out across the land to have himself forged an unbreakable sword and set of armor so that he could begin his crusade against the rulers of the world. The demand was said to be impossible to fulfill, but Zephirus would not hear their complaints and just ordered them to continue to work on what he desired. This drained the nation financially but still the king would not listen, ignoring complaints and sometimes even stripping titles from nobles who spoke out against him. Believing him a threat to the nation, the nobility tried to have Zephirus assassinated. They tried various methods, all of them ending in failure and just resulted in further precaution from the king. Eventually, the nobles decided to opt for a direct approach: They would murder their king themselves when the next smith presented their 'unbreakable sword and armor' to him.

Having grown further maddened by paranoia, believing the gods out to kill him, Zephirus had security tightened and had begun to have those who spoke out against him killed. He had also started to stop people from leaving the city, placing it under lockdown. The king who had once been fair and just had grown to be a maddened tyrant, and the people who had loved him had now grown to despise him. But, to his mind it was all worth it: If he could stop the goddesses he could ensure nobody would ever suffer his unhappiness again and that peace would reign forever.
When the day of the presentation came, Zephirus found himself overjoyed that he had at-last found some armor that he believed unbreakable. It had passed all the tests with nary but a scratch, so he congratulated the smith on her work. The sword, meanwhile, he found to be problematic: Sure, it had passed all tests but it was far to large and heavy to be wielded, making him think it was just another thing the gods had done to try to stop him. Now clad in the armor, he ordered her executed only to be confronted by the nobles and a small army they had created to kill him. The attempt was again a failure though, this time due to his new armor and managed to force them to retreat. Believing now his whole city that he had worked so hard to build was now under the control of the goddesses, he decided the only way to save himself and his dream was to burn the city to the ground with all inside, ordering his guards to carry out the order.

This was the final straw, as the goddess Lith finally saw fit to intervene by bestowing power to one of the remaining priests in the city, giving them power to stop the mad king. With assistance, the priest cornered Zephirus in his palace and begun the ritual. In desperation, the king tried to grab for the nearest weapon, finding only the sword made by the blacksmith but it was in vain. The spell was successful in completely destroying Zephirus' physical body and binding his soul to the armor he had worn so proudly, but that wasn't all: He was also frozen completely in place like a statue, unable to move his new metallic body. Fearing a possible return, the people of the nation gave him to Eliorre as a 'gift of peace' and to ensure if he ever returned, the city would not be harmed. He became nothing but an ornament, and over time the people completely forgot who he was and just believed him to be an ancient statue.

Frozen in place for centuries, unable to move, Zephirus saw the city and world around him change. He saw people fall in love, learn and sometimes conspire, causing him to begin to slowly change yet again. People were happy under the rule of the goddess' he had so willingly despised, but they were not free from injustices. Regretting some of his past actions, he was instead filled with a desire to try to protect humans due to being unable to stop some of the horrific sights he saw.

Recently, during the evening, he witnessed an attempted mugging occurring in-front of him. The one being mugged had been a kindly woman whom Zephirus had sympathy to due to her many misfortunes that befell her. Enraged, and wanting to help the woman before him, Zephirus discovered that, for some reason, he was able to now move. Not questioning the opportunity, he stepped in and was able to stop the mugging, hoping to find gratitude but only caused the woman to run away screaming at 'the statue coming to life'.
Wandering why he was now free to walk the world again, and if his imprisonment was now at an end, he opted to begin journeying around the world to fight injustices and discover what was causing the recent outbreak of conflicts in order to put a stop to it.

[ImportantNobody]

That character will work.

By the way, I made it seem like all of Luril are really evil and followers of the Litherian religion, but it's mainly their government being corrupted by it due to Lith's meddling.

[Merry Gentry]