Mount and Blade: Warband OOC [R]

[lain]

[Rated R for violence and mature themes]
[GM: lain, CO-GM: Sprinkles]
[Link to IC]

Calradia

It is the 13th century and the Land of Calradia is calling your name. This land is divided into six factions that are at war with each other almost constantly. Here you will find the looting and burning of villages commonplace, and the ambushing of bandits a daily nuisance. But, that doesn't mean that Calradia has nothing to offer. Many come from faraway lands to add excitement and purpose to their lives-- perhaps using it as a fresh start from a traumatic event, to make a name for themselves, or just quench their thirst for adventure.

Many opportunities await you in Calradia. You may become a wealthy merchant, a mercenary, or even start a rebellion and lead it to every throne in the land! The question is...

Do you have what it takes?

Spoiler: Rules 

What I say goes. (RPA rules apply)
This is a non-fantasy rp based on the video game, Mount and Blade: Warband. There are no fairytale creatures and there is no magic.
Don't assume royal positions without asking.
Please be (in real life) at least 17.
Be able to write posts that further the story and make it fun for you and everyone else.
Use correct grammar to the best of your ability. (I understand typos. Also, I will not exclude you if English is not your first language.)
Please be an active member and not too new.

Factions

Spoiler: The Kingdom of Swadia 

The Kingdom of Swadia resembles a European feudal kingdom, mainly resembling the Holy Roman Empire in names and style of architecture. Their frequent use of cavalry shows signs of influence from the mounted knights of England in the 1000s. It is ruled by King Harlaus.

Swadian troops rely mainly on the strength of their Swadian Knights to power through all enemy formations. They can also train infantry and crossbowmen, although their crossbowmen are outmatched by the ones trained by the Rhodoks and their infantry are outmatched by Nordic shock troopers and the Rhodok spearman.

• Captial: Praven
• Towns: Praven, Suno, Uxhal, Dhirim
• Ruler: King Harlaus
• Color on the map: Orange

Spoiler: The Kingdom of Rhodoks 

The Kingdom of Rhodoks resembles the architecture and military of various nations from European history such as Bavarian style Germany, the Swiss Confederacy, and Reconquista Portugal. The Rhodoks take secondary influences from the Italian principalities and city-states during the Middle Ages, such as Venice, Milan, and Sicily. It is ruled by King Graveth.

Tthe Rhodoks were originally part of the Kingdom of Swadia, but they rebelled and founded their own kingdom. This is reflected in their troop types, and choice of territory, pikemen and crossbowmen in mountainous terrain to defeat the knights of Swadia as they lacked calvary and thus relied on pike and bow to prevail over the Swadian Knights.

• Capital: Jelkala
• Towns: Jelkala, Veluca, Yalen
• Ruler: King Graveth
• Color on the map: Green

Spoiler: The Kindgom of Vaegirs 

The Kingdom of Vaegirs is a faction in the game whose culture mainly represents Medieval Eastern European civilizations, such as the Slavs and the Rus', and is ruled by King Yaroglek. The Vaegirs possess arguably the finest foot archers in Calradia and also include several tiers of reasonably good infantry and heavy cavalry. Vaegir troops prefer using two-handed weapons for an offensive advantage against their foes and live in the mountainous and snowy north-eastern boundaries of the map.

The Vaegir people do not favor discipline or an organized command hierarchy, resulting in diverse but weak troops.

• Capital: Revyadin
• Towns: Revyadin, Curaw, Khudan, Rivacheg
• Ruler: King Yaroglek
• Color on the map: White

Spoiler: The Kingdom of Nords 

The Kingdom of Nords is in military terms an infantry-based civilization. Based on the fearsome Vikings, and drawing influences from other Germanic/Scandanavian cultures, they boast the most powerful heavy shock infantry, whose main tactic is to throw a volley of axes or javelins at their targets before charging in to melee. They are somewhat vulnerable to armies with shock cavalry, as the men on foot cannot keep up with them. On the other hand, they are completely equipped to fight on foot and make for excellent castle attackers, breaking shields and splitting heads with their axes as they go. They also make great castle defenders, forming a nearly impenetrable shield-wall on the ramparts. The monarch of the Kingdom of Nords is King Ragnar.

The Nord people are from the place called "Nordland". The Nordland is said to be far north of Calradia, over the sea.

• Capital: Sargoth
• Towns: Sargoth, Tihr, Wercherg
• Ruler: King Ragnar
• Color on the map: Blue

Spoiler: The Khergit Khanate 

The Khergits are a steppe horde people fashioned after those of the Mongol and Turkic Khanates of Central Asia; except for the most basic troops, they are all mounted. Their lack of armor is compensated by their speed and accuracy at archery. In contrast to the lush heartlands of Calradia, the great steppes to the south are a vast region of dry grassland. With harsh weather, and little resources of wood or ore, the one thing found in abundance are the flocks of horses that live both wild and domestically. It is in this arid waste that one can find the Khergits, a semi-nomadic race of hunters and horsemen, who much like their steppe horses, are lean, hardy, swift and temperamental.

Ruled by Sanjar Khan, the Khergit are a people steeped in complicated principles of family, friendship, and personal honor. To make a Khergit a friend is to receive a lifelong ally, to anger one is the creation of a mortal enemy.

Militarily, one can not think of the Khergits without thinking of the thunder of hooves. Horses are a staple of life for the Khergit, and children learn to ride almost as soon as they learn to walk. Famous too are they for their skill with the bow while mounted, with skilled warriors capable of delivering bow shots at a full gallop that many archers would find difficult at a standstill. All too common are the tales told by would-be raiders of their superior forces whittled down by galloping archers, only to be finally ripped asunder by shining blade and axe as horses flash across their hounded formation like lightning

• Capital: Tulga
• Towns: Tulga, Ichamur, Narra, Halmar
• Ruler: Sanjar Khan
• Color on the map: Purple

Spoiler: The Sarranid Sultinate 

The Sarranid Sultanate is based mostly on the various Caliphates and Sultanates in North Africa and Arabia from roughly the years 1000-1600 A.D.

The Sarranid use units and tactics that seem to blend between Swadian and Vaegir unit types to create more versatile units. The Sarranid cavalry, the Sarranid Mamluke, is on par with Swadian Knights for the toughest horsemen in game, while their infantry and archers more reflect a variation on Vaegir military doctrine, being generally more heavily armored and shielded than Vaegir units. Their weakness lies in an odd lack of specialization that seems to stem from this blending, their archers are relatively tough, but are the weakest archers at their supposed role of archery, their infantry have throwing weapons, but lack staying power in melee, and their horsemen are slightly less armored than their Swadian counterparts in exchange for having blunt weapons to capture prisoners (although their cavalry is still quite fearsome).

They are a formidable force, but it is hard to squeeze an amount of damage out of archers that quickly exhaust their ammo before getting many kills that justifies their use in a siege. Sarranid Archers are a hedged bet - better in a melee, when things are going wrong, but worse when things are actually going well, and ultimately may not be capable of clinching victory even when doing everything right against powerful enemy forces. Mamlukes rule the open desert, and their blunt weapons will help them pay their recruitment costs and salaries for themselves with prisoners, but their horses are of no use upon the walls of a castle. Their infantry might score a few kills with throwing weapons, but when you need them to hold the line, they simply may not be capable of going toe to toe with other faction's infantry in a direct fight.

They are not the Khergits, but they ultimately fight better on the open field where their horsemen can run rampant than in a siege, where Nords and Rhodoks are more capable.

• Capital: Shariz
• Towns: Shariz, Amherrad, Bariyye, Durquba
• Ruler: Sultan Hakim
• Color on the map: Yellow

Map of Calradia

[lain]

Character Sheet

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Personality:

Profession: (Mercenary? Bard? Shopkeeper/Innkeeper? Game Poacher? Bandit/Thief/Looter? Royalty? Page? Lord? Lady-in-waiting?)

Skills: (Archery? Swordsmanship? Spears? Crossbows? Axes? Throwing (daggers, javelins, knives), Riding?)

Faction: (Where do you live?)

Birthplace: (Were you born in Calradia or did you travel from somewhere else?)

Biography: (How did you come to be what you are/why/general backstory?)

Appearance: (Description or realistic picture, i.e. not anime or overly cartoony.)

Miscellaneous: (Anything else not addressed in the above that you would like to add?)

Played by: (your username)

Special thanks to Sprinkles, who helped me get the character sheet started!

Accepted Characters

Spoiler: Aida Kattan 

Name: Aida Kattan

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Personality: In general, she is a woman of little words. But, when she does speak, it is most likely important. She is patient, but strong and opinionated-- which is frowned upon in her culture. Such traits have not appealed to many suitors even though her beauty is not outmatched by many Sarranid women.
She prefers horses to people and treats them like royalty. At times, she wishes she had been born a graceful desert horse instead of a woman. When taking care of horses, a softer side of her can be seen.

Profession: She patrols the desert of the Sarranid with a small army on horseback, defending caravans and farmers that may be attacked by bandits.
When she is not patrolling, she is raising horses and cattle in a village near Bariyye.

Skills: She is an excellent rider and knows horses inside and out. In battle, she is very skilled in horseback archery and knife throwing and moderately skilled in one-handed weapons such as scimitars, daggers, and maces. She prefers to skim the outer lines of battle and slowly wear the enemy down with arrows while tiring them over the vast desert of the Sarranids.

Faction: The Sarranid Sultinate

Birthplace: Aida was born in the large town Bariyye, of the Sarranid Sultinate to a noble. She is the firstborn of many brothers and is the only woman of her siblings. She currently lives in a village close by Bariyye, Iqbayl.

Biography: Her father was a noble, Emir (lord)Kattan of Bariyye, but was killed when the Khergits seiged the town years ago. The Khergits were eventually driven off and the town came back under the Sarranid Sultinate soon after. But, damage had been done to the city and bandits became a problem due to damaged city walls and lack of soldiers.

When Aida was growing up, she was constantly being secreted away by her mother and brothers while they went to fight the bandits. When she got tired of this, she rebelled against her mother's advice and took to fighting for herself, eventually leaving the city and going off on her own.

Most of her brothers have become vassals of Sultan Hakim and have been granted privileges that no woman could hope for on her own. But, Aida sees what happens behind closed doors when she attends feasts with her brothers. She keeps her mouth shut about politics, however, even though at times she feels she would be a better queen than the pigs that are roaming Calradia. She knows that greater hardships would have to come over the entire land before any unmarried woman would be granted a fief, much less be given right to rule. But, with conditions deteriorating faster and faster, it seems, she may not have to wait much longer before such exceptions are made.

Appearance:

Spoiler: Aida Kattan 

Miscellaneous: Aida is rather well known by the smaller villages and is welcomed most hospitably for the good she has done and continues to do for, 'the little voices of Calradia'.

Played by: GM lain

Spoiler: Yorik 

Name: Yorik

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Personality: While once an honorable young man, Yorik is now a much grimmer, crueler person. While he's perfectly willing to do legitimate work if the pay is decent he's far more often going after caravans or traveling farmers. Will not work against his homeland however, he's willing to kill almost anyone, but he won't fight against the Kingdom of Vaegirs.

Profession: Mercenary/bandit

Skills: Most skilled with archery, as well as two handed weapons (Preferring the Bardiche), passably skilled with most other weapons, skilled with a horse only as a means of transportation. Most of his skills involve things such as knowing how to best move through difficult terrain, hunting and foraging for food, and other such skills. When in battle Yorik is best used as a second line combatant, shooting from behind a wall of heavy infantry, and only wading into melee should the first line start to break up.

Faction: Khergit Khanate

Birthplace: Yorik is the only child of a high ranking captain in Nelag Castle.

Biography: As a boy born in a castle, Yorik was taught from a young age how to handle a weapon, if the castle was ever attacked he would likely need to fight just as the full grown men would so he made a point to get very good at it. At age 18 he'd become one of the best shots in the whole fief, and had already had much combat experience, mostly against bandits. If his life had gone on undisturbed he would have gone far, but a brief series of actions ended his life as he knew it.

A week after his 20th birthday the castle came under siege by a huge army of Khergit soldiers, a siege that lasted nearly 3 months, when the hordes actually assaulted the walls the battle lasted for days. Thousands of men stormed up the ladders onto the walls, and although they fought bravely the Boyar (Lord) of the castle was slain and the soldiers were pushed back to the steps of the keep. With him taking control the remaining men were able to hold back the enemy long enough for the Boyar of a neighboring fief to com to their rescue. Although he survived, almost everyone in the castle was killed, a population of nearly 800 (Both soldiers and their families) was reduced to barely 50. To make things worse, even though Yorik personally killed nearly 150 men (Including the Khergit Noyan (Lord)) all of the credit went to the Boyar who was given the land to rule, and the deaths of all those soldiers and their families were glossed over.

Angered by this Yorik left, he and 20 others who agreed with him deserted and have taken refuge in the Khergit Khanate, living as a bandit though after 6 years is having thoughts of looking for more stable, legitimate work.

Appearance:

Spoiler:  

Miscellaneous: Is known locally for his frequent harassment of the village of Tulbuk,

Played by: Sprinkles

[Auki]

As I've probably mentioned before, if you’re looking for more players, don’t forget to make use of all the features that RPA has to offer. You can submit your game to the Roleplaying Games Directory here and if you post here, you can ask the Staff to advertise your roleplay in their signatures.

Most importantly, make sure to apply for Roleplay of the Week!

[lain]

I may submit it for rp of the week once I get the character sheet taken care of. Thanks! I posted in the directory and the advertising thread.

[LittleLionFire]

I will definitely sign up once you have the rest up! I have not played the game nor know it, but I will read about it! I fit the statistics by the way. And can my character be a girl, and in the Khergite Khanate? If not, can she be the dughtaer of the ruler?

[Death of Korzan]

I'll play, I've played the game before.
I'll have to be a male character of the Nords, just like my in game character!

[lain]

Korzan, you aren't at least 17. Sorry. :(

LittleLionFire, if you want to play royalty, make sure you read up on that faction. Also, (and this is a note to everyone), if you use pictures, make them realistic drawings instead of anime and make sure they fit the culture of wherever you are coming from or what profession your character has. Or you can just describe. Of course, I don't have the sheet up yet... so yeah. xD

[Death of Korzan]

Ah okay, shame. Should've read the OOC more carefully.
I saw Mount and Blade and I was like
'OH OH OH'
I'll be keeping a close eye on this Roleplay though

[lain]

Name: Aida Kattan

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Personality: In general, she is a woman of little words. But, when she does speak, it is most likely important. She is patient, but strong and opinionated-- which is frowned upon in her culture. Such traits have not appealed to many suitors even though her beauty is not outmatched by many Sarranid women.

She prefers horses to people and treats them like royalty. At times, she wishes she had been born a graceful desert horse instead of a woman. When taking care of horses, a softer side of her can be seen.

Profession: She patrols the desert of the Sarranid with a small army on horseback, defending caravans and farmers that may be attacked by bandits.

When she is not patrolling, she is raising horses and cattle in a village near Bariyye.

Skills: She is an excellent rider and knows horses inside and out. In battle, she is very skilled in horseback archery and knife throwing and moderately skilled in one-handed weapons such as scimitars, daggers, and maces. She prefers to skim the outer lines of battle and slowly wear the enemy down with arrows while tiring them over the vast desert of the Sarranids.

Faction: The Sarranid Sultinate

Birthplace: Aida was born in the large town Bariyye, of the Sarranid Sultinate to a noble. She is the firstborn of many brothers and is the only woman of her siblings. She currently lives in a village close by Bariyye, Iqbayl.

Biography: Her father was a noble, Emir (lord)Kattan of Bariyye, but was killed when the Khergits sieged the town years ago. The Khergits were eventually driven off and the town came back under the Sarranid Sultinate soon after. But, damage had been done to the city and bandits became a problem due to damaged city walls and lack of soldiers.

When Aida was growing up, she was constantly being secreted away by her mother and brothers while they went to fight the bandits. When she got tired of this, she rebelled against her mother's advice and took to fighting for herself, eventually leaving the city and going off on her own.

Most of her brothers have become vassals of Sultan Hakim and have been granted privileges that no woman could hope for on her own. But, Aida sees what happens behind closed doors when she attends feasts with her brothers. She keeps her mouth shut about politics, however, even though at times she feels she would be a better queen than the pigs that are roaming Calradia. She knows that greater hardships would have to come over the entire land before any unmarried woman would be granted a fief, much less be given right to rule. But, with conditions deteriotating faster and faster, it seems, she may not have to wait much longer before such exceptions are made.

Appearance:

Spoiler: Aida Kattan 

Miscellaneous: Aida is rather well known by the smaller villages and is welcomed most hospitably for the good she has done and continues to do for, 'the little voices of Calradia'.

Played by: GM lain

[LittleLionFire]

I know, that is why I asked.