Bay 12 Games Forum

Please note : the RP thread is being moved to the various nonsense forums. The OOC thread will remain here. All players, please copy-paste your posts on the right turn, after Coelacanth reserves his post for statistics in the new thread.

((Scouts may travel a number of tiles equal or less than the speeds you posted in the OOC thread. If they are close enough to return by next turn, then they may return by next turn. If you want to do some math concerning speeds, a turn is 6 weeks, from that you can find out how many tiles you can cross in one week. Technically your scouts can return the same turn they left.

Also, it would be nice if you edited your post instead of making a lot of smaller ones. There is a 'Modify' button in the upper right corner of your posts. It is necessary to make new posts only on new turns. Usually we try to go for one RP post per turn for each player.))

Due to a bot invasion, the IRC channel is now password-protected. The password is 'dwarf'.

No offense taken.

But I wish to remind you that spheres only determine the powers of the god and have no influence on the civ.

As for horses, you might want to have giant horses to fit your half-giants. Especially bred to be super-strong and able to carry a fully armored half-giant into battle. Or you might wish to use giant wolves or giant lizards for mounts. Or just mammoths.

Reyleen Ach'Medarath, Elchmistress of the Elchandaar Tower, surveyed the assembled Mages on the field, in front of the place where the portal was to be opened. There were nearly 200 of them, 200 who had answered to the summons of the Purple Seal. She noticed the half-demon Pyromancer impatiently looking around. He was visibly displeased to be in a robe, but it was a formal occasion.

She wondered if it was the right time to send mages on exploration on another world. The Demon War was already heavily taxing the Tower's resources. The Demons... It was after an assault on one of their fortresses that they had recovered the old parchment which told how to reach the world where the mages were being sent. She was worried that it could easily be a trap, but it was true that the opportunity could not be ignored.

"I know it was a difficult decision, Your Highness." said Kerzon, the Grandmaster Diviner, "We both know that we will never see these mages again."

"You have seen the future, Kerzon. Are you sure there is no onther way ? These mages could make the difference in our current war."

"They may help us gain victory faster, but if we do not send them away now, the future of the Tower will look bleak."

The Elchmistress sighed heavily and nodded towards another group of a hundred Displacers. Their leader nodded back and they all started gathering the flows into the right shape. Tiny yellow particles of magic, like tiny grains of dust, began assembling in the middle of the group. A sphere grew there, as if it was fed by the particles.

As the sphere grew larger, an image could be distinguished in the middle of it : a forest bordering an expanse of water. The Displacers then began getting the portal into the right shape. Slowly the sphere thinned, until it looked like a lens. Then it sank slowly into the ground. Finally, the leader of the Displacers turned toward the Elchmistress and nodded. In turn, she motionned for the mages to enter the portal.

"Farewell", she whispered between clenched teeth.
=============================================

The army of mages slowly walked out of the portal on the other side. They were followed by a huge floating chest, at least the size of a man. The portal slowly closed behind them.

The appointed leader of the assembly, a Druid, smiled and took out a small enveloppe from his robes. He broke the Purple Seal on it and finally read the orders they were all expected to carry out. His smile quickly vanished and his face became deathly pale. The letter fell out of his hands, to be caught by a nearby Geomancer. He read out loud a very interesting passage of it :

"'Your orders are simple : assert the presence of the Tower and investigate the world. No help will be sent during the first ten millenia.' So it's a survive and survey thing." he commented "Well, since we will be here for a very long time, we might as well choose our leaders and-"

He interrupted his sentence and looked downward. There was a long stone spike protruding from his chest. He dropped dead without a further sound. All assembled Mages slowly looked at each other, while the 8 Runeblades, knowing full well what was going to happen next, moved away from the assembly. Then all Hell broke loose.

Fire, lightning, earthquakes, tidal waves and worse began killing the Mages one by one. Or ten by ten in some extreme cases. Calcinated, decapitated, dismembered, pierced, electrified, unnaturally aged to death, entangled then compressed and otherwise killed Mages began to litter the ground.

A few hours later a small wind rose from the sea and drove away the fog of the battle. A few Mages were still left standing. One of them, a Chronomancer, slowly looked around, picked up a stick and held it out. A few seconds later, another Chronomancer appeared at the spot where the stick was and noticed the above-mentionned item protruding from where his heart should have been.

"Trying to move forward in time, old 'friend' ?" said the mage holding the stick before his 'friend' died.

He then looked around. There were 15 other mages left standing and none of them was wearing the same School colors as the others. That was good. They were now enough to start a fresh leadership and to claim the titles of Grandmasters. Without talking to each other, they acted on a common accord and opened the floating chest, while taking good care of standing as far away as possible from it.

Something started to come out of the chest. It was small at first, then slowly grew larger. It ended up as a tall tower, and it came fully equipped with what was necessary to a mage in those foreign parts : laboratories, libraries and sleeping quarters.
================================

In the following days the surviving Grandmasters drew the roll of the first members of the Tower in this new world.

'On the year 187342 of the Tower Calendar the following people were appointed to the mentionned positions on the world of Seristis, newly placed under Tower jurisdiction.

Of the Principle of Creation
Elestris Eth'Vindelar, Grandmaster Hydromancer, Lost Elf
Akrashah Tal'Resh Kraroch, Grandmistress Healer, Leotaur
Athan Fyrkus, Grandmaster Binder, Highblood
Sekhfar Lalantis, Grandmaster Illusionist, Mixblood

Of the Principle of Change
Selene Tirmisthan, Grandmistress Displacer, Highblood
Jaleen Excelmarth, Grandmistress Aeromancer, Pureblood
Shugak, Grandmaster Transmuter, Gnome
Lithios, Grandmaster Chronomancer, Vampire

Of the Principle of Balance
Kirlin Ach'Verdath, Grandmistress Druid, Lost Elf
Sendar Goldsmith, Grandmaster Geomancer, Dwarf
Sirilanai Eth'Mertallar, Grandmaster Diviner, Lost Elf
Xanthis the Eraser, Grandmaster Psychomancer, Lich

Of the Principle of Destruction
Carvanil the Plagued, Grandmaster Necromancer, Lich
Werelath Ach'Orlindis, Grandmistress Illuminator, Lost Elf
Ostralin, Grandmistress Noctalist, Vampire
Dazhmar, Grandmaster Pyromancer, Mixblood

Of the Most Respectable Order of the Elchandaar Tower Runeblades
Karkish Rezhak Rohkarsharel, Leotaur
Partavel, Vampire
Morticia, Vampire
Inifius, Vampire
Gregor Travis, Graveborn
Joshua Verbasit, Graveborn
Alexius Sivrail, Highblood
Unroe Maxalli, Highblood

By the approval of those assembled and under the delegated supreme authority of Reyleen Ach'Medarath, Elchmistress of the Elchandaar Aurea Tower'
===================================

A few days later the most curious mages set to work. Sirilanai prepared a whole arsenal of crystal balls, mirrors and runes and set off to scrying the land around the island where the Tower ended up. He was planning to scry the flow of Divination magic to find if there were nearby settlements or places of strong magic.

First he prodded the south, as it was where civilization had appeared on their homeworld. This time, unfortunately he felt no unnatural bend in the flow.

Then he tried north, the direction which lets magic flow more freely. Again, no result.

The next direction was east, the direction of the unknown and of the surprising. Yet again, no result.

Finally, west, from where the Elchandaar Empire had sprung up and conquered the world. This time he felt a strong pull, a very strong one. There was something in that direction, and it was very powerful. It bent and twisted the flow. It warranted investigation.

He tried to survey the place using his mirrors and crystal balls, but unfortunately his power was not yet great enough to see over such a long distance. There was no way he could compare to Kerzon who could even see the far away future.

The west would require more detailed examination.
==============================

A few days later, two expeditions were assembled. One would head south, because it felt like a good direction. Elestris, Morticia and Karkish would go that way. They would blindly go where no one had gone before.

The other expedition would head west, to find out what causes the disturbance in the flow. This one would be larger : Jaleen, Sendar, Dazhmar, Partavel, Inifius and Gregor.

Both expeditions departed the same day. And both used the same way of transportation. Elestris used his mastery over water to create an iceberg, while Jaleen did the same using air. And they all set off to explore the unknown.
===============================

Selene meanwhile began to draw runes and circles on heavy stones set around the area which was now the Tower's. These runes would prevent anyone from teleporting in from outside the runed area. Later she would also prepare a large platform to serve as a support for portals, when they would need those to move around the world.



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((The main HQ consists of only one building : a single tower with a large entrance. The tower has a radius of 150m and a height of 500m. Images later. There is also a teleportation pad in construction on water. Images above.))
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Coelocanth : you forgot to tell us the percentages of your spheres (these actually determine how powerful your god is, in a field, compared to others and are used to determine the outcome of two gods using opposing powers at the same time and in the same place).

Join us on IRC too :
server : irc.worldirc.org
channel : #BotG

BTW, admitting to know nothing of something is a thing a Tower mage would never do.

No deity.

Spheres : None
Civ symbol : T
Hero symbol : No heroes
Army symbol : t
Prefered site type : Urban areas/Roads
Starting area : (20,60) island
Movement speeds : For Mages
plains/forest/jungle/hills/swamp/desert/rocky hills/tundra/high mountains/sea/on river
Human      6/5/5/4/3/3/4/4/2/N/N
Lost Elf     6/7/6/3/4/3/3/4/2/N/N
Dwarf       5/4/3/6/3/2/6/4/5/N/N
Gnome      6/4/3/5/3/2/5/6/4/N/N
Leotaur     7/5/7/3/4/5/3/2/1/N/N
Vampire     6/6/6/5/6/4/5/5/3/N/N
Undead      4/4/4/3/4/4/3/4/2/2/3
That's an average for a mage since they don't like to move too quickly. Of course they summon mounts and teleport to make up for the lack of speed.
Runeblades, being better trained physically, get a +1 on all terrain types their race can move through.

General
The Elchandaar Arcane Tower, or just the Tower for short, is not a civilisation per se. Instead, it is an organization which freely accepts all races and kingdoms.

Its goal is to aid those able to learn magic to get the knowledge they deserve. While doing so, they also teach of the dangers of using and not magic and spread Tower Law, which is a law forbidding the use of certain powerful effects magic can achieve.

One of these effects is the creation of a deity. When a mage becomes powerful enough, he may deincarnate and transcend his mortal shape to send and his soul and will joins the realm of the Immortals. As this unbalances the already existing pantheon, the Tower will do anything it can to prevent this from happening.

Anyone who breaks Tower Law is either killed or brainwashed.

Tower Organization

The Tower itself is divided in 16 schools spread across 4 principles. Each mage belongs to a school. Each school is led by a Grandmaster who appoints Masters, who are the teachers of that school. Above the Grandmasters is the Elchmaster, who is the supreme leader of the Tower and who is usually chosen among the Grandmasters (but it is not unheard of a simple mage becoming Elchmaster).

Each school and each principle have their own premises. There are also Common grounds for those who aren't in any school.

Tower Hierarchy

When a new member enters the Tower, he is given the rank of Novice and has to wear a grey robe. Novices are not allowed to leave Common places and must not enter Principle or School grounds. Novices have to study general principles of magic under the supervision of Mages who live in the Commons. Once a Novice thinks he has learned enough, he can try the tests to enter one of the Principles.

Once a Novice has passed one of the tests he becomes an Initiate. Initiates are allowed within the Commons and the Principles, but not within the Schools. They are also forbidden from leaving the Tower. From here, they have to practice magic by themselves but can seek advice from Mages and Masters. Once they feel confident enough, they can take a test to enter a School which is under the Principle they are in.

After that the Initiate is given the rank of Mage and earns the right to leave the Tower. Most mages who leave become either free researchers of magic in their own small abodes, or advisors to a ruler. Those who remain are given private quarters within the Commons.

From there, promotion can happen in three ways. A Grandmaster decides he needs another Master under his supervision and appoints one of the graduate Mages to the new position. A Master dies or retires and appoints a replacement. A Mage provokes a Master to a duel, with the position being the prize of the duel.

Masters can get promoted either to replace a leaving Grandmaster or by duel. There can only be 16 Grandmasters, one for each school. Grandmasters can only become Elchmasters if the position is vacant (how it becomes vacant does not really matter). The Elchmaster retains his previous position and duties, therefore the Elchmaster can also be a Grandmaster.

The Tower also has some Sages whose may or may not have any magical powers. It also has melee fighters called Runeblades who use Symbolic magic, and who act as bodyguards for the mages. They are under direct command of the Elchmaster and Grandmasters.

Tower Customs

The Tower has a strict clothing code on formal events, but Mages and above can choose to dress as they wish on normal days.

As said before, Novices wear a grey robe to show their lack of affiliation and a ring as a means of identification, the ring changes as the mage gets promoted. When they become Initiates they are also issued a necklace which bears the symbol of the Principle they are in.

Mages and above wear a carefully designed robe to show their rank and School. They are also given a heavily enchanted staff with the mark of the Tower on it : a large central circle linked by lines to four smaller circles and each smaller circle is linked with a line to another four even smaller circles.

Masters and Grandmasters also wear a golden circlet with a gem of the color of their school. The Elchmaster can wear the robe that came with his previous rank or a special robe of pure bright purple.

It is customary to adress a Tower mage by rank and title (i.e. Master Necromancer). Mages can also be safely adressed as "your Honor", Masters and Grandmaster as "your Excellency" and the Elchmaster as "your Highness". Names are also accepted.

A Mage's staff contains powerful attack spells. It is able to send out powerful shockwaves. A shockwave can either go in one direction, or in every direction. A monodirectional shockwave is powerful enough to punch holes in stone walls... or in people (uses 1 charge). A spherical shockwave can toss back everyone around the caster by 20m (uses 5 charges). A staff has 10 charges and can be easily recharged by any mage using a 2-hour long ritual. The staff also amplifies the ability to manipulate the flows of the mage for whom the staff was made (yes, the staves are made individually and attuned to the person they were made for).

The rings are enchanted to resonate when they are worn by the person they were made for. The resonance is used to identify mages and for magical messengers to find their way to their destination. The resonance can be easily detected by any mage.

The robes are enchanted to protect the wearer against hard weather and to be very resistant. Very often the robe outlives the mage.

Magic System

The Tower recognizes a system of magic made of three types of powers : Universal, Symbolic and Transcended. The first two are based on manipulation of magic flows, directly in the first case, and through symbols in the second. The latter encompasses all unique powers that belong to a person by birth.

There are 16 distinct types of flows, which are the topics of study of each School. They are also grouped depending on their effects and uses in 4 groups, each being one of the Principles. They are :
Creation : Water, Life, Binding, Illusion
Change : Displacement, Air, Transmutation, Temporal
Balance : Nature, Earth, Divination, Mental
Destruction : Death, Light, Darkness, Fire

Casting a spell requires to gather the flows in one place and to make it take the shape the caster wants it to achieve. Universal magic focuses on gathering the flows and willing them to take a shape directly, by sheer force of will. Symbolic magic uses words and symbols to achieve the same results. Transcended magic does not manipulate the flows at all in most cases; though there are cases when it is something else that manipulates the flow (for instance when priests ask their god to do something, the god may use a power that is innate to him or he may manipulate the flow for the priests).

Flows are reinforces when a creature dies and are redirected or weakened when a spell is cast. When the flows become too strong, they saturate and that causes rifts in space-time which may cause anything from a negative aura to a huge blast. A duty of the Tower is to make sure the flows never saturate.

The ability of a mage to manipulate the flows using Universal magic is determined by his affinity with the flows. The affinity is usually the same within a race at birth, but changes with repeated manipulation of a certain type of flow. Practice of Universal magic also causes a lengthening of the lifespan of the mage as it gets the mage closer to the way the universe is made. However life gets cut short by the politics of the Tower.

Starting Races

((As agreed on IRC I will start with only a handful of mages to make up for the overpoweredness of my civ. Here I describe my starting races.))

Highbloods : Humans who descend from the Immortal Emperor are granted a longer lifespan (between 200 and 600 years) and have an above average affinity with all flows.

Mixbloods : Humans may have their blood diluted either by having a non-human ancestor, or as the result of magical experimentation done upon them. Their abilities vary depending of their ancestry, but they mostly look human.

Truebloods : Humans who have only Truebloods among their ancestors. They have average magic affinity.

Lost Elves : Elves who shun the devotion their ancestors have shown to the gods and instead turned to magic. Due to their high use of magic they have a lifespan of a few thousands of years and their greatest mages have been able to live up to 6000 years. They also have a tremendous magic affinity.

Dwarves : Creatures who have evolved underground on a frozen world and therefore are used to have long hair and beards and are also very short of stature. They have below-average affinity with most types of magic but have a high one with earth magic.

Gnomes : Having evolved alongside dwarves but on the surface of the world as traders between dwarven colonies, gnomes have a good affinity with air and water magic.

Leotaurs : A race of ancient creatures, half lion, half human. They are usually strong enough to lift a two-handed human sword. They shun the use of magic as being unfair, but some of them are allowed to practice it. Life affinity is high.

Vampires : While human in appearance, vampires do not suffer from the usual affliction humans dread : death. Indeed, vampires cannot die of old age. They also have some powers of their own, like the ability to age their body back and forth. They are only slightly inconvenienced by sunlight as their eyes are better suited for darkness and can regenerate limbs unless they lose too much blood (in which case they die). They are also stronger and more agile than humans but require blood to use their powers. They are distinguished between 2 types.

Born Vampires : Children of vampires are usually vampires. They cannot regenerate their blood naturally but like drinking that of others.

Turned Vampires : If a member of a race drinks the blood of a vampire he will become a Turned Vampire. He will retain his ability to regenerate his blood but is not used to drinking that of others. Turning into a vampire is a very painful process and most do not survive it.

Undead : A general classification for those who can lead a life beyond the grave. Most have the same magical affinity as they had during their life, but some, like liches, gain even greater affinity with Death.

((Starting party :
Grandmasters : 1 Leotaur, 2 Liches, 2 Vampires, 1 Dwarf, 1 Gnome, 4 Lost Elves, 2 Highbloods, 2 Mixbloods, 1 Pureblood
Runeblades : 1 Leotaur, 3 Vampires, 2 Zombies, 2 Highbloods))

Gaming Style

The Tower will not grow by itself or create new settlements except its HQ and some minor towers for mages (which will not even be shown on the map). Their growth will come from candidate mages from other civs willing to learn magic and able to do so.

They will also try to set up shop in major settlements, either openly when allowed, or covertly. They will also be actively hunting all magic items for study.

They can also be asked by other players to send a mage to deal with a difficult situation (chances are, one of the Grandmasters will accept to send someone over).

For obvious reasons anyone getting promoted to Grandmaster comes under my direct control. Of course noone will be promoted to that rank without the owning player agreeing to the promotion. Also, while graduate Mages are under the control of their original player, they will receive orders from the Tower which they can choose to disregard with dire consequences. It should also be noted that Tower candidates have to swear an oath before they enter the Tower and that oath involves (but is not restricted to) not bringing any kind of harm to the Tower.

****New Turn : Turn 40 - Summer****