HistoryThere are two Overgods, five Greater Gods, and many Lesser Gods. The Overgods have no names, but are referred to as He and She when names are needed. They made the world, the basic animals to live in the world, and the Greater Gods. The Greater Gods have no names, only titles: The Wild One, The Stoic One, The Clever One, The Kind One, and The Dark One. All save the Dark One made three races, one of progress, one of balance, and one of power. These races manipulated
vil,
hyr, and
prim energies respectively. The Dark One was disliked by the other Greater Gods, so it was not allowed to make its own races. Angry at this betrayal, it corrupted the races. The Races of Progress became selfish and greedy; the Races of Balance became paranoid and xenophobic; and the Races of Power became savage and mad. The Overgods made humans, and altered the properties of the three energies; between these, a temporary balance was restored to the world. Civilizations rose, and rose new gods to Lesser God status.
But the Dark One was not content to watch this creation it had no part in rise happily. It contacted the former Races of Progress, now the Villainous Races, and made them stronger. It touched the former Races of Balance, now the Heroic Races, and made them weaker. It ignored the former Races of Power, now the Primal Races, for they were doing enough on their own to suit its goals. Finally, it chose a single individual of each race and created the Thirteen Archlords. The Archlords were dark, twisted mockeries of their former selves, spreading death and destruction across the world. The other gods and powers of the world rose against the Archlords, striving to drive them back. But for each Archlord killed, the others gained in power. Eventually there was only one Archlord left: Moredread the Mighty. Moredread was once a human soldier, desiring greater power. Now, he is the most powerful being in the world save the gods--a suit of armor full to bursting with the dark power of the Archlords. He drove back the Heroes and brought the world into a thousand years of darkness single-handedly.
Eventually, the Gods made a set of heroes, the Warriors of Light, mighty as the Archlords had been. They fought Moredread, who had been weakened over time by these thousand years. The Warriors beat back Moredread until his darkness was little more than a memory. The Warriors passed on their power and titles to their students, and centuries of prosperity and peace began.
One by one, the teachings of the Warriors of Light died, young Warriors lacking the time to train a new Apprentice. Now, there are only a few Warriors left, with no one quite sure how many. The Dark One awoke Moredread from his mighty fortress, and he began to wreak havok across the land once more. The Warriors of Light who could fought him back; only one made it to Moredread himself.
This is the story of that one.
RacesThere are thirteen Great Races, created by the gods. Aside from humans, each race can manipulate only one of the three Emergies, and humans can't manipulate the Energies as well as other races. Lesser Races were made by magical means and the like, while Hybrid Races were made by breeding across the Great Races.
Great Races:Drow, a Villainous Race created by the Wild One, spiderlike creatures about 4.5-5.5 feet tall with four arms, four legs, fangs, and black bristles over their bodies. Drow live primarily in dark areas, in bands and groups lead by the breeding female, while other females get sent on suicide missions. Drow are magical and fast, but weak and bad at communicating. They are also excellent climbers.Fairies, a Heroic Race created by the Wild One, insectoid creatures about 1.5-2 feet tall with four arms, two legs, wings, and tough green-gray skin except over the two larger arms and the torso (which are chitinous). Fairies tend to live alone or in small groups except at breeding times, when they gather in the thousands to mate indiscriminately before laying eggs and abandoning them. Fairies are fast and clever, but small, and hence weak and fragile. They can fly.
Felices, a Heroic Race created by the Kind One, furry creatures about 2.5-3 feet tall with two arms ending in clawed hands, two legs ending in paws, a tail, and fangs. They vaguely resemble cats in appearance and wolves in behavior, as they gather in packs lead by a charismatic leader who they follow almost unquestionably. Felices are fast, strong, and have good senses, but are also frail and foolish.
Gnomes, a Heroic Race created by the Clever One, humanoid creatures about 3.5-4 feet tall with warty skin, large noses and ears, and short legs. Gnomes operate in a loose democratic confederation encompassing nearly all gnomes and a surprising number of non-gnomes, lead by leaders of various sorts chosen by the sub-groups. Gnomes are brilliant and have keen senses, but are slow and weak.
Goblins, a Villainous Race created by the Kind One, furry humanoids about 2-2.5 feet tall with talons on their feet and three eyes. Goblins live in loose tribes roaming across plains, forests, and fertile caverns, with a number of competing chiefs in each tribe. goblins are tough, fast, and have keen senses, but are weak and have trouble in social interactions.Humans, a race created by the Overgods (which they don't let people forget), tall humanoids about 5-6 feet tall. Humans live in organized hierarchal systems of government under monarchs of various names, who have more nobles under them. Humans are magically powerful and versatile, but tend to be poor at social interactions due to their arrogance.
Kobolds, a Primal Race created by the Kind One, somewhat furry humanoids about 1.5-2 feet tall with small pterosaurlike wings on their arms and ears each the size of their head. Kobolds live in family groups, gathering food and such from their environment, whether it be urban or not. Kobolds are surprisingly clever and quick, but are also weak and frail. Kobolds also can glide and have echolocation.
Lamias, a Villainous Race created by the Clever One, shapeshifters with a mass from about 50 lbs to over 300 lbs, with a given individual being capable of modifying their weight about 10% from their ideal. Lamias are solitary animals, preferring female forms and bearing children of other races (almost always lamias). Lamias are clever, good at magic, good at bluffing, and tough, but weak, with poor senses, vulnerability to silver, and being reviled by others. They are among the most affected by the Dark One.
Nymphs, a Primal Race created by the Wild One, four-legged humanoid creatures about 4-5 feet tall with chitinous legs but upper bodies like humanoids'. Nymphs live in schools, swimming through lakes and oceans whilst hunting fish with spears, or else live in pairs, or alone in rivers and streams eating frogs and fruit. Many of the latter, especially females, have a habit of pretending to be a member of one of the humanoid races by keeping their lower bodies in the water. Nymphs are clever, strong, and good at social interaction, but are slow and poor at magic.
Ogres, a Villainous Race created by the Stoic One, scaled humanoids about 9-11 feet tall with arms that drag to the ground. Ogres live in packs averaging at four to six individuals, with little social interaction between packs or with other races past territory, tribute, and sometimes trade. Ogres are big, strong, tough, and fast, but dumb, with poor senses aside from smell and cold blood.
Oni, a Primal Race created by the Clever One, thin humanoids 7-8 feet tall with horns and skin in all sorts of colors. Oni are all interconnected in a few webs of backstabbing intrigue that has ensnared many others; they often form various organizations to formalize this control. Oni are fast, clever, and very magically powerful, but weak, fragile, and poor at most social interaction. They excel at intimidation, however. Oni have a specific weakness varying from individual to individual but partly passed down through bloodlines.Stouts, a Heroic Race created by the Stoic One, stout humanoids 4-5 feet tall with plated skin and thick-clawed hands. Stouts live in a strict clannish system, living in fortresses of stone or burrows in hillsides. Stouts are tough, strong, and have strong senses, but are extremely slow.
Trolls, a Primal Race created by the Stoic One, reptillian near-quadrupeds that stand 10-13 feet tall when standing erect, with horns and large, swinging tails. Trolls tend to live on their own, unless defeated by some force (in which case they become loyal servants to it) but when they are angered they can band together into terrifying armies. Trolls are extremely strong, tough, and regenerate, but they are also dumb, and slow.While many Lesser and Hybrid races exist--some as common as the Great Races, such as
elves,
selkies, or
raksasha--but they have the capacity to manipulate Energy reduced somewhat (varying from case to case) and hence do not make as good of Heroes.
Your Hero must be one of the best of the best, and hence must be a fairy, felix, gnome, human, or stout.
EnergyThe three energies--
Vil,
Hyr, and
Prim--are energies that power the souls of all creatures with souls. Despite all creatures having said energies, not all can
use them; Heroic Races can only use
hyr, Villainous Races can only use
vil, Primal Races can only use
prim. Each of these Energies makes the creature with them stronger, particularly the one it is attuned with. These three energies do have other differences, though.
Vil is gained through accomplishments, such as discoveries, conquests, and defeating (or evading) deadly foes. It is the hypothetical "average".
Hyr is gained by defeating foes, or in smaller amounts by making the world work as it "should" or the occasional great accomplishment. It is tough to gain but typically gained quickly when it is.
Prim is accumulated slowly as one ages. This explains why many creatures are stronger as they get older--
prim is accumulated faster in dragons and the like, for instance.
When you reach a certain amount of any given energy (50*current level), you "level up" and become more powerful.
Levels and ClassesClasses are formed of two components--a Specialty and a Role. A Specialty is something like Ice, Spear, or Defensive; a Role is something like Mage or Soldier. Most classes have 10 levels by default, with illogical ones like "Defensive Berserker" or "Sword Mage" getting only 5. While it is possible to gain further levels in a class, they don't grant much benefit.
MagicMana is a fourth energy common to all souls, but it works differently. Rather than being slowly accumulated by various means, it is accumulated quickly. Rather than allowing a slow buildup of power, it is expended for a quick improvement of reality--"Spells". Spells can be gained through classes, study, and perhaps other ways...
And that is all I can think of that would be relevant at the moment.
This is a trap. An excellent one, I might add; I've grown rather fond of it. A wee bit more collateral damage than intended, though.