[M] Across Antiquity (OOC)
Grand Ruilira and Mighty Kem. The Twin Jewels of the Known World.
For countless ages, these two major superpowers have dominated the known world: each a model for the lesser of the Known Empires to follow, a far cry from the barbarian lands and untamed wilderness beyond the Known World, and more stable and practical than the strange customs of the mysterious Eastern Lands. For primarily this reason, among various others, the Known World has enjoyed relative peace, as the Ruiliran Empire and the High Kingdom of Kem have overall remained on reasonably good terms with each other.
And so, when romance blossomed between the Crown Prince of Ruilira and the Princess of Kem, the monarchs of both empires celebrated. Neither ruling house was blind to the young royals' feelings for each other, nor did they overlook the potential to forge a powerful and long-lasting alliance that would ensure great peace and prosperity for both Kem and Ruilira. So before long, a marriage was arranged, and a grand celebration was planned for the fateful wedding day.
But then, on the night before the scheduled wedding, the bride and groom were kidnapped by unknown assailants, sparking worldwide searches and desperate calls for would-be heroes to find the two young royals and rescue them from whatever harm might be planned for them. These heroes come from far and wide, each with their own backgrounds and their own reasons for joining the rescue effort, but as the political balance between the Twin Jewels and the rest of the world becomes more and more uncertain, these heroes will play a crucial role in the events to come, as the search for the Prince and Princess leads into conspiracies and intrigue such that no place in the Known or Unknown Worlds will be left untouched.
Known World
The civilizations that developed around the great Salt Sea and the lands those civilizations have come to annex or vassalize have come to be known collectively as the Known World. The great Ruiliran Empire, the Kingdom of Kem and the Aaryan Empire hold technological superiority over the rest of the western world and have grown to immense power. Elsewhere, tribes of Hamites, Shemites and the widely feared Bronze Islanders resist the hegemony of this triumvirate.
Spoiler: Ruiliran Empire
Capital: Ruilira
Monarch: Emperor Alexanjro IV of Qargos
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Religion: Ruiliran Faith (Polytheism)
Gods/Goddesses: Tin the Sky God, Uni the wife of Tin, Cel the Earth Goddess, Selvans the God of Civilization, Turan the Love Goddess, Laran the War God, Leinth the Goddess of Death, Nethuns the Sea God
Ethnic Group: Ruilirans
Language Spoken: Ruiliran
Description: One of the two most dominant kingdoms in the Salt Sea, the Ruiliran Empire has expanded upon its once divided peninsula to conquer and subjugate many. Seen as a bastion of order and technological advancement by some and as ruthless tyrants by others, the Ruiliran had established its place in the Known World as one of the three unbreakable empires and have made a name for themselves in rapidly expanding the western and northern borders of the Known World.
The men of Ruilira are olive in complexion with curly hair of black, brown and gold, though mixing with the capitulated northern barbarians has allowed for light skin and lighter hair colors to appear more common. They are a society of rules and order; men are expected to act accordingly to their social rank, wives are expected to be submissive of their husbands, children are expecting to have an undying obedience to their fathers even into marriage and anything that represents an affront to these customs is to be violently destroyed.
The lands of empire are varied. The southern peninsula is subtropical and mountainous, while to the north, the great mountains are cold and unforgiving. The lands outside of Ruilira proper are even more diverse; deserts in the conquered, coastal Hamitic lands and temperate in the lands teetering on the northernmost of the Known World.
Earth Equivalent: Rome and Greece
Spoiler: Kingdom of Kem
Capital: Iphis
Monarch: God-King Imun IV
Government: Absolute Monarchy
Religion: Great Faith (Polytheism)
Gods/Goddesses: Haruv the Falcon God of Royalty, Hwath the Goddess of Motherhood, Aset the Mother and Carrier of the Dead, Anapa the Black Wolf of Death, Djehuti the Ibis of Judgement, Ajsar the Rebirther, Set the Serpent of Chaos, Kek the Frog God of Mischief, Ubaste the Lioness of War
Ethnic Groups: Lower Kemites, Middle Kemites, Upper Kemites
Language Spoken: Kemitic
Description: Devotion and superstition define this civilization. Its ancient way of life preserved for millennia in spite of foreign influence from the traders of Ruilira, Shem and Ham. Pushing southward, the Kemites have conquered large swaths of conquered land and have assimilated many of the foreign gods into their own, leading to a large amount of gods and goddesses to be worshipped. The lands of Kem are ruled by priests who in turn swear fealty to the God-King, considered holy by most.
The men of Kem are diverse in appearance. To the north in Lower Kem, the people are not too dissimilar in appearance to many of those in Shem or even Ruilira with olive to dark tan complexions and curly black hair. To the near south in the lands of Middle Kem, the people are brown-skinned with black hair and brown eyes. To the deep south in the lands of Upper Kem, the men have even darker skin with kinky hair. All Ruilirans however roughly share the same culture and religion.
The society of Kem is divided into strict social classes: the God-King and his royal family, the viziers which advise the God-King, the priests and priestesses, the doctors and engineers, the scribes and merchants, the peasants and lastly, the slaves, those captured from foreign lands and forced to work in the lowest jobs such as cleaning the waste left behind by the elephants or horses that parade down the streets or tending to the every need of the higher classes.
Earth Equivalent: Egypt and Ethiopia
Spoiler: Tribes of Ham
Capital: Sijil
Leadership: Council of Chieftains
Government: Tribal Federation
Religion: Divine Consort (Polytheism)
Gods/Goddesses: Ba’al the God of Weather and Fertility, Tinnou the Goddess of War and Fertility
Ethnic Group: Hamites
Language Spoken: Various Hamitic Languages
Description: The northwestern deserts of the Southern Continent are inhabited by a diverse array of tribes, known as the Hamites, they are a hardy people who live astride the backs of great cargo camels, agile desert stallions and sure-footed antelopes capable of traversing the hottest of sand. Not a culture widely misunderstood and heavily persecuted by the Ruilirans to the north and the Kemites to the east, many tribes have been destroyed, assimilated or enslaved by foreign hegemons.
The Hamites themselves are diverse, the tribes inhabiting the Mountainlands are light-skinned with straight black hair. They are often the targets of slave raids, considered meek and desirable as concubines. The desert-dwelling nomads are reddish-colored, their complexion not too unlike the sands they traverse on camel or oryx-back. The Hamites to the far south are misunderstood and mysterious, inhabiting the savannas and jungles where they mine gold and trade it for northern salt.
The religion of the Hamites is considered mysterious, often likened to that of a death cult with livestock and child sacrifices. Yet the Hamites aggressively defend these practices and scoff at the ignorance of the civilized Ruilirans and Kemites with their convoluted pantheons of gods and goddesses and traditions to offer little in sacrifice. To show faith, they tattoo their faces, hands and chests with religious symbols.
Earth Equivalent: Berber Tribes, Carthage and West Africa
Spoiler: Land of Shem
Capital: Ular
Leadership: Various Sovereign Kings and Chieftains
Government: Tribal Anarchy
Religion: Elism (Monotheism)
God: El, the Creator
Ethnic Groups: Various Shemite Tribes
Language Spoken: Various Shemite Languages
Description: The lands of Shem are arid, scorching deserts only occasionally interrupted by the occasional oasis. Due to this, the vast majority of Shemites build their cities along coastal areas and have become proficient in trade. The Shemites are not a single people and may live in tribes, kingdoms or even the occasional paltry empire.
Shemites are by and large swarthy, though exceptions do exist. The Shem are highly adaptable and have had to adapt savage lifestyles to survive in a savage, hospitable land. Wars are frequent and entire peoples may find themselves turning from the conquerors to the conquered almost overnight. A common title among the leaders of Shemitic tribes is Sheikhs, who often hold immense power and wealth, even taking multiple wives in order to produce many potential heirs.
Society can be described as patriarchal, with land and rights to rule being passed from father to son, or in the event of a house without a royal male heir, an adopted son. Despite this, many women have gone on to have important roles in Shemite societies, including great warriors. Shemite tribes frequently intermingle, whether peacefully or violently, leading to many close ancestral ties between seemingly unrelated or geographically distant families.
Earth Equivalent: Arabia, Israel, Mesopotamia
Spoiler: Bronze Island
Capital: Bronzeport
Monarch: Seaking V'ezhush
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Religion: Deep Faith (Polytheism)
Gods/Goddesses: Great Dreamer, Deep Father, Deep Mother
Race/Species: Bronze Islanders, also called Halflings of Bronzelings
Language Spoken: Bronzespeak
Description: Scholars are still conflicted on whether the Bronze Islanders could be classified as a race of men or a separate, human-like creature. Short in stature, the average Bronze Islander barley suprasses the height of three or four feet with large feet. It's unknown if they have any racial or ethnic subdivisions as they all seem to be roughly homogeneous in appearance to the average man with large eyes, pointed ears and a somehow youthful but elderly visage.
The Bronze Islanders are said to worship a gigantic kraken colloquially called the Great Dreamer alongside two potentially lesser fish-like deities known as the Deep Father and Mother. It is said that some villages do not fish, but are seemingly granted an unlimited amount of fish by an unknown source. In return, a few of these villagers will disappear, joining the mystical merfolk or whatever they may be in the great Salt Sea.
The Bronze Island is named for its rich deposits of copper, an ingredient of bronze. Past empires have tried and largely failed to conquer the island, their ships mysteriously wrecking on the rocky shoreline of the island with the people nowhere to be found. This has led to widespread suspicion and fear by the race of men, who largely avoid venturing to the island save a select few adventurous souls. The few adventurers that return tell of a civilization unlike any in the Known World with tiny, dwarf elephants the size of dogs and giant, carnivorous swans.
Earth Equivalent: Cyprus, if Cyprus was inhabited by Lovecraftian halflings
Spoiler: Aaryan Empire
Capital: Soosa
Monarch: High King Artoxes
Government: Federal Monarchy
Religion: Mitraism (Monotheistic)
God: Mitra, the God of Order
Ethnic Group: Near Aaryans, South Aaryans, Eastern Aaryans
Language Spoken: Aaryan
Description: The Aaryan Empire is an expansive, eastern civilization pushing eastward to the bounds of the Known World. The Aaryans themselves are an ancient people that have a largely untold history of being divided into hundreds of kingdoms. They were eventually united by the great Dariush I, who created an empire in which equality and freedom allowed many to maintain their own unique religious and cultural practices, so long as they swore fealty to the High King.
The people known as the Near Aaryans are light-skinned, lighter than even the Ruilirans and Mountainlands Hamites with a diverse array of hair and eye colors, they inhabit the far western regions of Aarya, bordering Shem and Ruilira. The South Aaryans are light brown in complexion with black hair and inhabit Central and southern Ruilira. The Eastern Aaryans are the darkest, being of a color almost akin to that of the Upper Kemites but with features similar to the Near and South Ruilirans. They inhabit the subtropical coastal regions fed by monsoons and have adapted an architectural style which minimizes flooding.
The Aaryan are unique in the extreme suppression of slavery, considered abhorrent by their religious beliefs. Though their society remains far from egalitarian as serfs toil the fields to feed the great cities of the empire. Great aristocratic houses rule a vast amount of land, left unharassed by imperial bureaucrats if they pay the relatively low tax of the High King. The Aaryans are a people who enjoy extravagant parties and celebrations with a variety of games invented over the years.
Earth Equivalent: Iran and India
Lesser Known or Outer World
Regions of the world less known about, ranging from the barbarian tribes of the north on the Western Continent or the Far Eastern empires of legend and the black-skinned peoples of the far south.Many other beings capable of civilization may lie in this region, widely unknown or unsubstantiated by the denizens of the Known World.
Spoiler: Character Sheet
Name and Title:
Sex/Gender:
Species: (w/ ethnicity for humans)
Birthplace:
Homeland:
Personality:
Age:
Weapon(s):
Motivation for Joining the Quest:
Appearance:
Language(s)
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Backstory:
Additional Info:
Spoiler: Accepted CharactersSpoiler: Ulgar the Mountain Giant by AtethecatName and Title: Ulgar
Sex/Gender: Male
Species: Mountain Giant
Birthplace: Somewhere in the mountains of the Northern Lands
Homeland: Nomadic (largely limited to the Northern Lands and the Central Highlands)
Personality: Ulgar has a heart full of hatred, longing for his lost people. Those who attempt to compromise his existence will find the worse the giant has to offer, an unbridled, murderous rage. Yet even in his state of hatred, the giant cannot bring himself to hate all of humanity, for a few of the men he has encountered have granted him mercy. Ulgar, for the most part, is not keen on his hatred and would prefer nothing more than to live in peace with the creatures of the world, even in spite of remembrance and the hatred he feels in his heart for the men that killed his tribe. Yet the world is cruel and no sign of that tenuous coexistence seem to feasible for the time being.
Age: Late Thirties
Weapon(s): Ulgar carries no true weapons, preferring to use his brute strength and aggression to drive foes away. He has, however, utilized a variety of weapons which he has discovered, from broadswords to hammers.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: Ulgar primary motivation is to survive without oppression and harassment. If saving the heirs to far-flung empires of man will secure that dream then he will happily pursue it.
Spoiler: Appearance
Language(s)
- Sutgardric [I](Colloquially known as Giant’s Tongue)
- Eardanese (Northern-Central lingua franca)
- Low Ruiliran
Backstory: Long ago, before the men arrived in the north, the land was ruled by bygone creatures: dwarves, giants and dragons. When men did arrive, they were seen as helpless, weak beings of no threat, yet their supposed weakness and primitivism compelled the giants and dwarves to ally themselves with the men. The dwarves for their part showed the men the value of gold and taught them how to forge the enigma of steel. The giants for their parts showed these men the secrets of husbandry with the great mammoths and taught them the value of life. In turn the men swore an oath to honor the two beings, using their newly acquired skills to build great halls of stone and wood away from the secluded mountain homes of the dwarves and the simple, hunter-gatherer lives of the giants.
For a time the men followed this oath, leaving the giants unharassed, but the men are not as slow to change as giants and began to view them as a threat to their very existence. When the men hunted the great thick-furred bison and rhinoceros, they deprived the giants of food, forcing them closer into contact with one another. Eventually, the men began hunting the giants themselves, perfecting techniques that would ultimately spell the extirpation of most, either to the far north or the remote mountainous regions.
Generations of giants passed, having lived in the mountainous regions, establishing tenuous trade with the dwarves. When Ulgar was born, only a few mountain giants remained, many unable to survive off the scarcity of the mountains and plateaus and venturing off into the wild lowlands. Many themselves ending up slaughtered for meat, bones or captured as slaves to battle or labor. Ulgar's tribe was one of the tribes unable to sustain themselves in the mountains, venturing away from the mountains in search of a new home to the south in the Central Highlands where food was plentiful.
One night among many, a party of blue-painted men on their horses ambushed his tribe and slew it, only a few children, small enough to hide well survived. Ulgar watched men fire arrows into his parents as they fell in violent resistance. Scarred from this atrocity, Ulgar vowed to never let any man or beast overcome him. The one peaceful days of his race were gone and now these traitorous men could only be repaid in aggression and aggression he brought. He spared few save for the young and weak as he weaponized his great size against any warrior who sought to slew him.
Fate is a strange thing however and the victorious giant with a reputation found himself chained within the galley of a Ruiliran expedition, an expedition that had conquered the territories of the blue-painted men. Now the hardened giant finds himself contemplating his future in a world alien to what he ever knew. A world where the rule of men is supreme and even the tribes and kingdoms of northmen and highlanders pale in comparison to the technological marvels of the tan-skinned men.
Additional Info: The giant himself stands roughly 11ft (3.353 meters) in height.
Spoiler: Maihes Ignaila of the Shan-akhi by StormWolf
Name and Title: Maihes Ignaila
Sex/Gender: Male
Species: Human; Kem-Ruiliran (northern)
Birthplace: Par-Ubaste, Lower Kem
Homeland: Lower Kem
Personality:
Age: mid-twenties
Spoiler: Weapon(s)As per his training in the great temple of Ubaste, Maihes was made to master the weapons depicted in the likenesses of his patron goddess. The primary weapon is the ngbandi, a spear with a shaft long as Maihes is tall, tipped in a sword-blade the length of a forearm - perfect for thrusting, hewing, and throwing. Paired with the ngbandi is a quiver of assegai; shorter spears mirroring their larger sibling, with shafts long as an arm with half again a length of blade. Both styles of spear are counter-balanced with a pointed pyramidal spike. Maihes carries a nguni-style shield whose center grip is an affixed spear. Maihes' final weapon, should the enemy ever tread so deeply into the temple of Ubaste, is a khopesh whose pommel is decorated with a likeness of the snarling goddess.
These weapons are wrought from a cold, perpetually blue steel. Every weapon of the Ubaste warrior-priests is made from meteoric ore, smelted in a crucible - forge-welded, folded, and hammered into keen purity.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: The Shan-akhi, or the Righteous Roar in the Ruiliran tongue, are the order of warrior-priests who live in service to Ubaste. It is their belief that great deeds are awarded Sekhem - vibrant life-force cut from Her divine essence. Those with greater Sekhem climb higher in the temple hierarchy, the highest being the Grand Vizier. Coming from nothing, Maihes' ambition is ravenous. He seeks to compound his Sekhem so that all who spat at him, the filthy half-breed, would quake at his feet as lessers.
Spoiler: AppearanceMaihes stands at an even 8 spans, weighing 13 stone. Broad of shoulder and deep of chest, his swarthy bronzen complexion stretches tightly over steel-cabled thew and sinew. He stands paler than his fellow countrymen, even after the years of harsh desert sun tanning his scarred hide. Maihes bears the stern predatory features of his father and mother both, with a sever brow, wolfish nose and firm jaw. Though his skin is closer to that of his Kemite countrymen, his eyes are something exotic - a vibrant, stormy cerulean that smolder like blue embers. Maihes' hair is a ruddy shade with flashes of sun-kissed blond streaking through it. Shaved at the back an sides of his head, it is grown out and intricately plaited at the top of his head, bound by red cloth and trailing to his shoulder blades in a lion's tail.
Maihes wears the appropriate vestments of a servant of Ubaste, and a follower of her creed. The primary garment is the scarlet shuka, a blanket-tunic wrapped around Maihes' waist and over his left shoulder. This pattern-woven garment of layered cotton trails down past the knees to protect the legs from sun, sand, and the bite of beast and blade alike. A shendyt of white, pleated linen is wrapped about his waist and belted with a broad girdle of boiled leather, plated in bronze and trimmed with lion hide. Sandals clad his feet and bracers guard her arms, a pectoral gorget of leather and bronze guards his neck and shoulders.
Language(s)
-Kemish
-Shemite
-Ruiliran
Spoiler: BackstoryBorn from two worlds, yet belonging to neither, Maihes has only ever known the temple of Ubaste as his home. To the sickly boy left at the steps of the alabaster temple-palace, Ubaste was his mother, for she provided him everything he needed through the tutelage of the high priests and priestesses, harsh as they were. Though physically scarred by the stern education of the temple, Maihes knew that he was receiving a better live within the pale walls of Ubaste's palace than other children of his status - the son of an anonymous peasant-girl raped by some northern mercenary.
Early on, Maihes proved himself worthy of his name's gravity. At the age of seven, when he was little more than an acolyte-servitor within the temple, he bore witness to the voracious hungers of apostates visited upon a handmaiden. Possessed by a righteous rage, Maihes took up a golden idol of Ubaste and caved in the man's skull. Splattered with the blood and brains of the violator before the eyes of the goddess and her chosen, Maihes' life-path was chosen. Spared the life of a eunuch, the servants of Ubaste had since learned the greatest fighters possessed all their facilities to be properly poked, prodded, and when needed, stroked into devout subservience.
For two decades hence, Maihes has traveled with the priests and priestesses of Ubaste to the great gems of civilization throughout Kem. He has partaken in many great summer rituals in the name of the goddess, from the imbibing of sacred lotus-wines to the orgies and bloodletting games of the season.
Spoiler: Isilo by SikstaSlathalin
Name and Title: Isilo the Bloodied.
Sex/Gender: Male
Species: Human from the Far South
Birthplace: A Tribe deep with the Jungles of he South.
Homeland: The Emerald Jungles in the South.
Personality: Isilo's personality is one of somber stillness and a hair trigger of rage. Many have called him not unlike a wild dog. Content when left alone or being fed but dangerous when pestered. He is a dangerous loose cannon to anyone but the person who is lucky enough to own him or have earned his respect.
Age: 28
Weapon(s): When in the Arena he primarily uses a pair of hooked swords, but as slaves aren't allowed weapons he must rely on his raw physical strength and bare hands as weapons.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: He is a Combat slave in the Grand Colosseum of God-King Imun IV, he is also a skilled combatant and a tracker that has been able to put many of the God-King's own scouts to shame. Once his daughter was kidnapped King Imun brought the Beast of his Arena up and set him on the trail to find the princess.
Appearance:Spoiler: Isilo
Isilo is on the shorter side of 5'5, but extremely bulky. His skin is a deep deep brown and covered in scars, his hair is a matted mess of black kinky dreadlocks. His eyes are wild shade of light brown that look almost red in certain lights.
His usual clothing consists of a single tan loincloth, billowy brown pants, and sturdy animal skin sandals. When fighting in the arena he wears a heavy cloth and leather raiment and and heavier sandals that wrap up his legs and to his knees.
Language(s)
-Kemitic
Backstory: Isilo is a victim of being born a slave from a family of slaves. Isilo isn't even his real name, it's just the only one he knows. It was the word people were shouting when his killed his first opponent in the arena by ripping out his throat with his teeth. He found out later it means Beast and decided to keep it.
Taught how to read, write, and speak on a basic level. Isilo grew into life as a gladiator, fighting all day, sleeping all night, and as he grew and more slaves were brought in he was paired with female slaves from all nations his masters attempting to breed workers and fighters like some kind of farm animal. He has quite a few children, but like him they were born slaves and were taken away with their mothers shortly after their births. Those nights aside Isilo's only human contact is the men and women he kills and his masters. He sits in his cell waiting for his chance to see the sun and taste the blood of his enemies.
Additional Info: Isilo has a soft spot for animals.
Spoiler: Princess Suriya of Aarya by Lady Celeste
Name and Title: Princess Suriya of Aarya
Sex/Gender: Female
Species: Human (Near Aaryan)
Birthplace: Soosa
Homeland: Aaryan Empire
Personality: Having been raised with a great deal of patriotism and filial piety, Suriya has a very deep love for her native land, and will gladly do anything she can for her family and for the good of the Aaryan people. As one of the younger issue of High King Artoxes, Suriya is unlikely to become High Queen any time soon, but she cares little about political ambition and status anyway, preferring instead to focus her efforts on taking an active role in leading the Aaryan Empire and tending to the needs of the people, even if her lesser royal birth limits how much of a difference she can actually make.
Although this makes her come across as too serious most of the time, at heart Suriya is much more friendly and fun-loving than she might seem at first glance. This side of her most often emerges during games and celebrations, which she always enjoys to the fullest, but can still be seen sometimes during her interactions with others, especially with friends and family.
Age: Early Twenties
Weapon(s): Suriya has been known to demonstrate exceptional skill with a bow and arrow, generally preferring the composite bow. Though not much of a melee fighter (esp. in terms of sheer physical strength), her relatively lithe and athletic physical structure make her swifter than most for avoiding attacks and making quick (albeit relatively weaker) strikes of her own, and this speed is complimented with the use of twin daggers.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: As the only empire that even comes close to rivaling the empires of Kem and Ruilira, the Aaryan empire was almost immediately labeled as the prime suspect in the kidnappings of Princess Ayissa and Prince Nestorias, with many theorizing that High King Atroxes orchestrated the double kidnapping in as part of a much larger conspiracy to weaken and subsequently overthrow Aarya's two greatest rivals. Suriya now seeks to clear her father's name, and if that means joining the quest to rescue the two foreign heirs, then so be it.
Appearance:
Spoiler: Royal Gown
Spoiler: Armor
Language(s)
Aaryan
Kemitic
Ruiliran
Backstory: As one of the younger issue of High King Atroxes, Suriya never stood much chance of ascending the throne in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the royal family took great care to raise her and her other siblings to be fiercely loyal to their father and to the Aaryan Empire as a whole, which was no simple feat considering that said "empire" is actually a collection of multiple petty kingdoms united under the rule of the High King. Additionally, since she is not next in line to inherit the throne, Suriya was afforded more leeway to carve out her own path in life, opting for the path of a warrior and archer like many of her male and female ancestors before her, while also learning to dance; these combined skills have shaped her into a swift and graceful warrior on the battlefield, specializing in speed and precision.
Considered by most to be the lesser of the three major empires of the Known World, the Aaryan Empire (especially Near Aarya) had its share of disputes with both Kem and Ruilira in the past, but has managed thus far to maintain a reasonable degree of peace with its western neighbors. And so, when the betrothal between the Princess of Kem and the Crown Prince of Ruilira was first announced, High King Atroxes made arrangements to attend the wedding despite having tried and failed in the past to betroth any of his own children to either empire's heirs, if only to avoid any risk of a diplomatic incident. Suriya was among the retinue accompanying the High King to the royal wedding, but when the bride and groom were kidnapped just before the wedding, some were quick to accuse High King Atroxes of having a hand in the kidnapping. The High King maintained his innocence and freely offered the Aaryan Empire's support in the subsequent rescue mission, while Suriya, determined to prove her father's innocence once and for all, volunteered to personally join the quest.
Additional Info: Suriya's current relationship with both Princess Ayissa and Prince Nestorias is awkward at best, owing largely to her father's past failed efforts to arrange similar betrothals for Suriya and/or her siblings.
Spoiler: Grenn by Dnafein
Name and Title: Grenn; Prince of Thieves
Sex/Gender: Male
Species: (w/ ethnicity for humans): Piniese
Birthplace: His father’s hut.
Homeland: The wild lands.
Personality: Grenn enjoys the hunt, the chase and the discovery. He has developed a taste for the “finer” things in life though is capable of going without. Grenn treats women with respect.
Age: 26
Spoiler: Weapon(s):
Spoiler: Finger Knife
This is less of a weapon then it is a tool. It is intended to be used to cut purse strings. In an emergency it can be used as a weapon.
Spoiler: Blowgun
Grenn’s blowgun his disguised as a cane. He has both clean and drugged darts. The drug is a fairly simple sleep concoction.
Spoiler: Bow
Grenn bought the materials to build this as his father taught him. Though he has yet to actually use it for any purpose.
Spoiler: Knife
This is Grenn’s primary blade. He uses it for hunting, eating and the occasional fighting.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: This hunt sounds legendary.
Spoiler: Appearance:
Grenn stands around 5’9” and wears a variety of comfortable clothing that does not impede his mobility. However he always wears a length of white tiger pelt.
Language(s)
- Piniese
- Ruiliran
Spoiler: Backstory:The Pini are a tribal people; The closest thing they have to a religion is their reverence for the hunt. Each tribe has an animal patron, a predator they honor. For Grenn’s tribe that animal is the tiger. On the eve of a child's birth the father begins a hunt for their tribes honored beast. The belief is that a successful hunt will merge the predators skills with that of the newborn child. Grenn’s father had one of the rarest birth hunts; On the day of Grenn’s birth he discovered a white tiger. Grenn continues to wear the white and black striped pelt his father brought home the following morning.
Grenn had a typical Pini childhood. He ran and played, climbed and swam. As he grew older he contributed to the tribe through chores; Cleaning game, setting and checking traps. The youth even showed skill in stalking and hunting with a blow gun. Grenn was a curious child however. On a hunting trip with his father, for the boys tenth birthday, the boy woke to strangely familiar roars. Slipping away Grenn investigated the noise, and discovered a strange camp. The outskirts of which had a number of large cages, filled with a variety of creatures. Grenn was drawn to one in particular. Inside the cage was a white tiger.
The cage was latched but not locked. And so the youth unlatched the cage, before stepping into it. The youth offered his peoples traditional act of veneration. The tiger froze as the cage opened and a young human entered. The tiger watched the human and then bolted out the exit. As it left it ran into the cage door it caused it to bounce back and slam shut. Grenn found himself trapped in the cage as the camp came to life. Where they had left a white tiger, they discovered a youth wearing a white tiger pelt. The hunters were too superstitious to let the youth out of the cage. That was how he travelled to Ruilira; Where he was sold as a mystical beast to a noble. Grenn lived in his enclosure just long enough to climb the wall and escape.
The ten year old was avoided by the other urchins. And so Grenn ran alone on the streets learning them. He lived this way for a year, until he caught the attention of a thief who’d just moved to town. After a month the thief earned Grenn’s trust, and by the end of the year the boys friendship. Grenn moved into the brothel the thief owned and the boy’s adolescent was spent learning what he could under his mentor’s wing. The boy felt that larceny was largely similar to the hunt. Picking pockets took all the skill learned in stalking prey. Locks were simply more complex traps that needed opened. And the best, most prized items were the rarest and most delicious prey.
One night Grenn’s mentor left the young man the brothel and moved onto another city. Within a week Grenn had committed the burglaries his mentor never finished working out, earning the respect of Ruilira’s seedy underbelly and claiming the title of Prince of thieves. In the 5 years since he has lived off his share of the brothel’s profits and the occasional bit of crime. Stealing mostly for personal enjoyment now.
Additional Info:
Spoiler: Janus Sage by BumbleBeeName and Title: Janus ('Jan' or 'Janny') Sage
Sex/Gender: Female
Species: A Mixed Race Human.
Birthplace: Somewhere off of the shores of Ruilira, possibly near the Kem border but the exact location remains unclear.
Homeland: Janus never remained in one place for too long, however in truth her Father hails from (And one way or another often relocates back to) Ruilira.
Personality: Janny is an odd little soul honestly. Despite being brought up to join perhaps one of the most morbid and grim professions you could have, somehow, she's ended up as a happy-go-lucky guileless girl. The little lady has no reservations about what she does for a living, and is frankly pretty straight forward about the topic. To Janus, death is something that comes to us all eventually, it just might be with a slash to the throat there, a 'accidental' fall there, or perhaps even just good old fashioned old age. Death and it's causes are just another day at the office for Janus, and therefore she treats it as such.
Due to this very candid attitude to mortality, I suppose you could call Janny's sense of humour black, at best. But better she has a dark one than not one at all I suppose. For despite it all, Jan's youthful optimism still shines through her otherwise morbid profession. She jokes and laughs just like any other girl her age would. All in all she's a nice enough young lady, with a pleasant, if a bit dreamy and vaguely naive nature, that also just so happens to be able to kill you when you're not looking.
Age: Just a baby really at nineteen. Although it is her birthday in a month, so there you go.
Weapon(s): Jan was trained, and is accustomed to using either whatever is most useful or whatever weapon she is instructed to use. She's purposefully been taught and trained to have a more general all encompassing type of skill set, all in the aim of making her a more multifaceted and useful weapon. Ideally, her Father would have her master the sword specifically, But Janny rather likes knives and daggers truth be told. Call her old fashioned, but she finds something immensely satisfying in the quick versatility, no-ties-attached sort of looseness that comes with the fleeting slash of a knife. Oh sure, swords are just fine and dandy, but they can't half be big great lumbering things sometimes.
Motivation for Joining the Quest: Janus has had a rather... 'odd' upbringing I suppose. But despite dubious ancestry and questionable childhoods, there's one thing that's always been a constant in her life. Well, both a constant and a inconstant I suppose. But it was adventure. Escapades and exploits, daring dos and dont's. Her established career with her Father contained and provided it's fair amounts of dramatic occurrences sure, but a true real adventure? Never had one of those before. So upon hearing the events of the wedding that wasn't to be, Janny simply thought "Why not?".
Appearance:Spoiler: Janus not Anus
Janus is quite small truth be told, but she isn't too bothered, keeps her useful for hidey holes and creeping through small windows apparently. To be precise she stands at around 5'0". Her frame's well built enough, and she has the muscle where she needs it, but her smaller stature often deceives people. Regarding features and characteristics, Janny is recognisably her Fathers daughter, and boasts attributes expected of her partly Ruiliran heritage. Her skin is a pleasant shade of bronze and her hair is dark and thick (she keeps it short for practicality of course). Her facial features are heavy and bold, with sad shaped eyes that hold an off putting depth to them. Yet despite their more striking initial appearance, Janny's natural optimism and buoyancy make her features appear gentler and softer than perhaps initially perceived.
Language(s):
- Ruiliran
- Kemitic (Sometimes she stumbles but otherwise she can speak and understand it well enough)
- Very rough Bronzespeak (She was taking an evening class)
Backstory: To understand Janus' history properly, one must first come to understand how she came to be in the very first place.
Janus' father is a man named Sage. The man was a freelance assassin, and a rather good one at that. In his youth, he made a relatively decent name for himself throughout the more shadier Ruiliran neighbourhoods, and was hoping to expand his reputation to lands beyond his birthplace. But alas, this was not to be. For Sage, met Bona, or, as she's more commonly known 'Bona of the Bellit'.
Bona was (or possibly still is) one of the most well known Pirates of the southern seas. Her reputation proceeded her, and the woman was a renowned combatant. So it was a hell of a darn shame that upon her one visit to Ruilira she just so happened to fall pregnant with the very first man she lay with. Which also just so unluckily happened to be poor old murderous Mr. Sage.
To add sugar to the porridge, Sage didn't even know he was a Father until Bona made her second and final visit to Ruilira. Upon where she promptly dumped the baby Janus with Sage and buggered off into the sunset, never to be seen by either of them ever again. And so Sage was left all on his todd with a newborn babe to care for, and fair-dos to the man he did just that.
It was a tricky childhood at times, and certainly unconventional, but Janus doesn't perceive her upbringing as a bad experience. She loves her Father, and although he's stern and serious and doesn't really ever smile a lot, she knows that he loves her too. In his own special, rather quiet sort of way. But all birds have to fly the nest sooner or later, and the two of them know it. Perhaps this kidnapping quest thing is just the right opportunity.
Spoiler: Bec Al-Yazid by LeannaName and Title:
Bec Al-Yazid.
Sex/Gender:
Female.
Species:
Human. Assumed Kemite(?)
Birthplace:
Iphis. The Kingdom of Kem.
Homeland:
Kem.
Personality:
I. Be humble.
Humility has always been the defining trait for those fortunate enough to serve under the monarchs of Iphis; because who amongst undeserving mortals were as blessed as they, the individuals who held the pleasure of offering their life in service to a god in human form? In all the world, who could feast their eyes on such magnificence, in such closeness?
II. Be grateful.
Having been groomed from a very young age to conduct herself with such manners, Bec has mastered what the priests of Kem call the Tenets of Virtue—the three unwritten yet non-negotiable laws that governed all who serve in the royal halls of Iphis. Guard, servant, slave. They all must follow the Tenets, or pay the consequences. (And Bec has witnessed the tragic consequences rendered upon those foolish enough to break the Tenets, particularly the third.)
III. Never question.
But who is Bec... truly? Throughout the palace of Kem, peers know her as a warm and hard-working individual, one who is considered suitably attentive by her betters, the divine monarchs. (She is in particular good standing with the princess, who holds the maiden in high regard due to her many years of faithful service.)
So Bec tends to get along well with most, irregardless of status. This is due to the nature of her upbringing, which taught her to go out of her way to comfort and cater to others. It was quite advantageous in winning over the approval of others, it seemed, acting in this way that had been drilled into her since she was a child. It also was her purpose, she was told, even if she didn’t think that it was—a purpose to bring pleasure, and always please. It had been the underlying idea and seemingly unstoppable force that had driven Bec’s life thus far.
As a result, hers has been something of a stifled existence, with her circumstances offering her little opportunity or freedom to ever explore who she truly is.
Age:
When Bec was brought to the palace as an infant, midwives deduced that she was possibly around the same age as the little princess, due to the two appearing similar in size. However, as the two girls began to grow, Bec began to consistently develop earlier than the daughter of god-king Imun. Whether this development manifested in speech, in cognition, or in good old-fashioned physical maturation, Bec always seemed to experience everything earlier. This caused her (otherwise unknown) age to be inwardly questioned by those same midwives—who often compared and contrasted the rates of maturity of the children they helped bring into the world.
Weapon(s):
Royal handmaidens are not usually afforded weapons of their own, nor do they particularly need them, due to the seemingly omnipresent array of guards that constantly orbit the royal family. Therefore, as Bec herself was commonly near the daughter of the god-king, she too was almost always under protection by association.
(However, the princess had a habit of ordering her bodyguards to lend them their weapons; with which the two girls would put on a playful show of (rather messy) sparring. These antics were celebrated as a source of great amusement to the watchful men who, commonly, offered short lectures from the sidelines. So in the very least, Bec has held and utilised different sorts of weaponry; albeit for fun, and at the behest of the princess.)
Motivation for Joining the Quest:
She has no choice. Having been present with the princess at the time of the kidnapping, Bec has been commanded to go by King Imun, himself. She must be a guiding companion to those sent to rescue the prince and princess, as counselled by his viziers on the matter.
First, it was assumed that the handmaiden must carry some knowledge of the assailants (over which she is currently being questioned rigorously, due to a brief run in with them that she somehow survived). Second, few knew the habits of King Imun’s daughter as intimately as Bec, so it was doubly assumed that this knowledge could be of use, as predicting how the princess would respond while in her precarious situation could benefit those dispatched. Not to mention, the viziers reasoned, the familiar presence of Bec could bring comfort to the likely-shook princess.
And to further the notion of the young woman’s use on such an important journey, it was highlighted that she too was a chambermaid, was she not? Surely she could be convenient in other ways throughout the travel, and—if worse came to worse—could work as some sort of bargaining chip? For the sake of his own daughter, the poor princess? Because who dared put a hand on the kin of the god-king? (Though that last notion was unlikely to ever come to fruition, they added, because in their great wisdom, they had chosen only the most capable of men.)
Thus Bec must go, counseled the viziers.
However, even if she had been given the option of not taking on the task, she herself knew she was not like to turn it down. Not with how kind the princess had always been to her. The princess not only taught Bec how to read, but had also protected her from the more scrupulous types of positions that servant girls often found themselves in. The princess could (and had) used her power and influence to keep Bec far away from any environment that too often left other handmaidens vulnerable to the types of cruelties that befell the physically weaker sex.
Appearance:
Spoiler: Bec
Despite the typically low status of handmaidens, Bec’s association with the royal family has left her in a better sort of standing than other females in such roles. For instance, Bec has always had the luxury of being well dressed and well groomed, which was considered a necessity for any and all who closely engaged with the royal family.
(Sometimes the princess would even insist that Bec enjoy the very same types of primming and preening that she herself received, a perk that her handmaiden appreciated ... but also worried about. The ruling family did not approve of royals inviting plebeians into their lifestyle, so the princess had always taken great care to tether Bec around in secret.)
And while the gowns that Bec wore were still technically in the distinct style that identified her as a servant, the quality of the garb was just as recognisable—from the beading on her collar to the stitching on the leather sandals that adorned her feet. All of it stood out as something that held a degree of intricate value.
Language(s):
Kemitic. Fluent.
Ruiliran. Elementary.
(The princess had instructed Bec to begin learning Ruiliran, as her husband-to-be was from the neighbouring kingdom. This was to ensure that her handmaid would be able to communicate with the Ruiliran prince in his native tongue.)
Backstory:
WHAT BEC KNOWS.
*
You want to know about the fate of your parents, Bec? So be it. I suppose you deserve to know that the mother who bore you and the father who sired you both succumbed an acute plague that ravaged the city around the time of your birth. To spare you this same fate, you were swiftly sent here, to the Hall of Midwives.
...
Oh, of course, child! We took you in immediately, because Imun is merciful and cares for the infant and the orphan. But you were malnourished, little one, much due to the grave state of your mother. So we quickly found you a nursemaid to suckle you back to health! Imun be praised!
*
Born and raised in Iphis under such rhetoric, Bec has been groomed to believe that her sole purpose in life is to serve the great god-king Imun. There was no greater privilege than this (or so she was told), as servitude was considered the ultimate form of worship by the priests, who called themselves the mouthpieces of the gods.
To give your life to the god-king is to be free, Bec. You are no slave! Slavery is reserved for the wretched, the reviled, and the untamed. A servant willingly offers their life—in body, mind, and spirit to King Imun through the Vow of Devotion. It is a great affront to abandon this Vow once it is taken, and even akin to spitting in the face of He Who Deserves Praise!
Thus (as encouraged by the midwives who were in turn the instruments of the priests), Bec was one of many children who were coerced into taking this Vow of Devotion, thereby dedicating her life to Imun before she even knew what she was doing. Such tactics, the priests reasoned, ensured that the divine royals would always receive a fresh generation of willing adherents. This way they could preserve the status quo: Mighty Kem and its current dynasty at the zenith of its power, whilst maintaining the obeisance and adulation of the people (without any cruel overuse of slavery, of course).
Therein Young Bec grew, nurtured by the gentle hands of women—until it was decided that she had matured enough to take on a proper servant’s role. So as was custom, these same midwives who cared for the orphans of the palace also held the duty of stationing said children in suitable tasks to serve the god-king, as per the unique features and abilities of each:
Any boy who was found to be sturdy of build was trained to serve as a guard or soldier-eunuch; while the fate of the others was to be bakers, winemakers, or minstrels. Similarly, the girls were filtered into different categories, each according to their physical and mental attributes. Some young females were utilised as chambermaids or cupbearers, with those deemed appropriate being sent off to the Garden of Roses.
As she approached adolescence, what was to be Bec’s Fate thus came into question by these same midwives. It was decided that she (amongst some other girls) would be placed amongst the latter; thus being fetched by a eunuch-soldier as a Rose to be planted into the harem. And such fertile ground it was, this Garden of Imun’s. It was an utter oasis of opulence, a paradise where girls were trained to become masterful muses of the arts, until they ultimately were taught the more sensuous art of seduction.
Ultimately, the midwives considered such placement a kindness, as they considered the Garden to be a safer and more comfortable abode than the Servant’s Quarter. Not only could each girl there enjoy a life of relative peace and quiet, but would also be afforded her own personal soldier-eunuch; a man castrated and commissioned by the god-king to act as a proverbial thorn in the flesh to any who dared disturb his Roses.
But Fate would not have this. Fate itself, it seemed, decided that Bec was never to become a concubine in service to the god-king. Because once she was on the cusp of adolescence, she was uprooted from the harem in a most unexpected way:
On that peculiar day, whilst walking alone in the beauty of the Garden under shockingly blue skies, twelve-year-old Bec saw a robust figure approach her with a purposeful gait. Unused to the company of males (unless they were infants, children, or eunuchs), the daunting guard with the baritone voice was enough to startle her into silence, as he beckoned her to come with him in a very serious tone.
And where was Bec lead by this armoured man?
To a birthday party.
In a different wing of the palace, the one that was parallel to the throne room, there was a lavish celebration going on for Princess Ayissa. Bec was lead before this little princess, before whom she shyly bowed. It was there that she was told that her service to god-king Imun would instead be in the employ of his very own daughter, as Ayissa’s first personal handmaiden.
Shhhh! I’m Ayissa, and you’re my new friend! the young princess later chimed to Bec in the privacy of her bedroom, once the party was over. Princess Ayissa was in the feisty phase of testing the limits, wanting to see just what she could get away with.
But no one is to know, okay? Especially my father. He doesn’t approve of me talking to servants... unless I’m telling them what to do, of course. You’ll still have to do maidy-things, though. But ooooo! This’ll be our secret and... ooooo! A game for us to play, hah! No one will ever know! This is going to be so fun!
Additional Info:
WHAT BEC DOES NOT KNOW.
Unknown to Bec, there exists a man of considerable influence in the royal court—a man who has even held personal sway with the god-king, himself. Also unknown to Bec is the fact that this same man is the individual who fathered her and, in actuality, he is still very much alive. He even walks the same palace halls as she.
Some decades earlier, while performing his duties as appointed by the god-king, Bec’s father was commanded to investigate and otherwise quell a bout of plague that was threatening to spread throughout the city. This commission ultimately lead him to venture into a more decrepit part of Iphis, where he was quick to discover a sewage problem that he suspected was the source of the disease.
Wanting to stop the contamination before any more Kemish lives were claimed by it, Bec’s father acted quickly, after having been given free reign to utilise any of the god-king’s resources to rectify the drainage issue. As it were, her father decided that a dispatch of slaves into the sewer systems was the best solution (as he could not suffer any respectable man to work in such conditions, and also viewed slaves and servants as disposable).
What was he to do? He had need of manpower to carry out the grimier tasks of his grand redesign of the infrastructure in Iphis, and if this meant utilising slavery, then so be it. What mattered to him was the improvement of the lives of Kemites, and if this meant breaking the backs of nameless foreigners, THEN SO BE IT. What were these slaves to him, but cattle? Such were the thoughts crossing through the mind of Bec’s father on the day he met her mother.
That day was decidedly hot, and as he arrived to inspect extents of the work, he fell into an extremely foul mood. Not only was the stench incredibly irksome to him, but he had been told that four of the slaves had already fallen ill. This had therefore put a strain on the rate of the repairs, which left him with the inconvenience of finding replacements. His agitation at this was great, but also rather short-lived, as a young woman soon began to approach him.
In the prime of her youth, the woman was roughly half his age and extremely beautiful to look at—despite her being a foreigner, and the daughter of some sheep-fucking Shemite. Gently, the woman raised a flask of water to the lips of Bec’s father, and proceeded to wipe the beads of sweat from his brow even as he quenched his thirst with the flask. She then began to voice her appreciation to him in mottled Kemish, thanking him for coming to help the Forgotten of Iphis.
Needless to say, Bec’s father was quite taken with the young woman, and within the week had secretly began to visit her small home in the slums, bearing gifts. It was not long, however, before he began to express his more base intents. His repeated rendezvous with the Shemite woman became extremely passionate, and it was addictive; unlike the arranged marriage that he had been in for nearly thirty years, some lifeless union that had somehow still produced seven children.
And though he subconsciously knew the possibility of conception with the Shemite, the eventual arrival of Bec still shook him for a number of reasons. First, he knew that this extended affair of his was extremely taboo—and dangerous—especially with a man of his rank and title. Second, although he never managed to fall in love with his lady wife, he did still care about her and held no desire to humiliate her. She was such a tender soul, and if this scandal came to light at court, he knew that she and his other children would be crushed by the shame of it.
But what of the Shemite woman? By this time, Bec’s father had grown extremely fond of Bec’s mother and, seeking to make things as comfortable as possible for her during the pregnancy, went to great lengths to relocate her to a more developed area of Iphis. There, at least, she could rest and comfortably await the arrival of the child. There, he would ensure that the two of them were perpetually cared for, wanting for nothing for all of their days.
However, in the move to this new location, the Shemite woman tripped and took a fall, which in turn induced a dangerously early labour. In the stress of this labour, she also began to show signs of preeclampsia, which elevated the toxicity in her blood to nigh unbearable levels. When Bec’s father received word of this, he went down to the Shemite woman, only to arrive after she already had died.
Picking up the surviving infant—a girl so small that she fit neatly inside of his two hands—he hid her in his cloak and immediately rushed her to the palace. There, he passed her off to a trusted friend, who agreed to take the child to the Hall of Midwives to be suckled. After forcing his friend to a Vow of Secrecy, Bec’s father reluctantly returned to his lady wife and other children, feeling defeated and utterly miserable.
As the years passed and as Bec continued to grow into womanhood, her father watched from a safe distance. He managed to glean annual reports on the girl, all in secret, in an attempt to ensure that she was in a state of wellbeing. So, throughout her growing years, he was both there for her and not—showing a sign of his presence but, like a ghost or some shadow, never giving her enough information to truly reveal himself. This was for the safety of all, he was convinced, including Bec. Even if she did not know it.
So he stood on the sidelines, pulling strings for her from afar—purposefully acting as a masterful weaver of Bec’s Fate within the palace of Iphis.
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Originally Posted by StormWolf
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