Thirty years ago, the world of Gaia changed. For almost seven hundred years the Giovanni dinasty, descendants of Apostle Pietro Giovanni, ruled the Holy Empire of Abel. Wise rulers, the Giovanni ruled the world after the disastrous War of God, in which Rah Sith, grandson of the Traitor Apostle Iscariote Sith, tried to conquer the world. When Zhorne Giovanni, grandson of Pietro, finally defeated his armies and prepared the navy of the combined Allied Armies to go towards the Kingdom of Judas, Rah's dominion within the island of Tol Rauko, Rah activated a mystical artifact that caused a cataclysm of apocalyptic proportions.
Two whole continents sank into the seas, magic energies became scarce and most supernatural beings died. The Holy Church of Abel, which considered the supernatural to be the Devil's doing, saw this as God acting to punish Rah for his grandfather's wrong-doings and for his own alliance with supernatural beings and use of magic and other supernatural powers.
Zhorne, leading the devastated remains of the Allied Armies, created the Holy Empire of Abel, which under the rule of his son Lazaro expanded to the whole known world. As the head of both the Church and the Empire, Zhorne made sure peace would be kept by creating several organizations that would protect humanity in many different ways. From the Inquisition to the Templars of Tol Rauko, all of them had the same goal, but very different ways of achieving it.
Many thought that the Giovanni lineage would keep the Empire together forever. Gifted with a long lifespan and incredible abilities, in both combat and politics, they made excellent Emperors. Until Lascar Giovanni, the last Giovanni Emperor.
Lascar was a wicked man, with very strange goals. When his son Lucanor was born, he hid him within an extensive labyrinth he had created under the Imperial Palace. Later, he took one of the two twin sons of the Prince of Manterra and raised him as his son, with an strict code of honor that was completely opposed to everything Lascar did. He forced the Lord of War Elias Barbados, the greatest of his generals, to attack the lands of those Princes that would not stand his corrupt government. In the end, Elias and many other generals organized a coup, and marched towards the Imperial Palace with the intention of taking Lascar prisoner and crowning Lucanor (who had managed to escape the labyrinth whe he was 10). In response, Lascar forced Lucanor to kill him using Seoman Keophas, the Imperial Sword, symbol of the Emperor.
Even with Lascar dead, Lucanor could not become the Emperor. He had killed the Emperor, the greatest crime of the Empire. Some proposed Mijhail Mashen'ka, the kid that Lascar had raised as his son, which would fulfill Lascar's last wish. Elias, fearing that Lascar might have corrupted the young in ways he could not see, didn't want Mijhail to become the Emperor. In the end it was Lucanor who provided the answer to this problem. Following Imperial Law, if it was possible, it would be the closest male relative to the Emperor that didn't already hold a nobility title. It took everyone days to see who this person was, and some say that Lucanor already knew. It was Elias Barbados, as his wife was sister to Lascar's deceased wife. Lucanor, thanks to his mother lineage, was given the title of Prince in the Principalty of Lucrecio, and Elias became the first non Giovanni to become the Emperor.
Elias was a good Emperor, but when the Supreme Archbishop of the Church of Abel died, he was forced to make a decision that would change the world. Instead of choosing one of the Cardinals as the new Archbishop, he chose a young woman named Eljared. Eljared had, at only 28 years of age, reached the highest standing a woman could hold in the Church of Abel, the rank of Abbess, being the head of the Sanctuary of the Lost Hope. Elias had met her only a few weeks after his wife died giving birth to their only daughter Elisabetta.
Shocked, but forced to obey the Emperor, the Cardinals were reluctant to accept Eljared as the Supreme Archbishop. For over ten years, Eljared created a network of contacts and influences, and six months ago, she caused the greatest change in the world since the War of God.
Prince Maximilian Hess of Remo discovered that there was no "Abbess Eljared" in the Church, and that the Sanctuary of the Lost Hope never existed. It was all a lie. Maximilian Hess accused Eljared of being a witch that had used dark magic to confuse and seduce the Emperor. Having being a good friend of the Emperor when he was the Lord of War, and having contacts with the current Lord of War Tadeus van Horsman, the Emperor's most trusted friend, Maximilian thought he could knock some sense into the Emperor. He was wrong.
Elias took Maximilian's claims to be an insult towards him and Eljared. When Tadeus refused to follow his order to attack Remo, Elias imprisioned him and put his son Exodo van Horsman in charge of his armies as the new Lord of War. The armies of the Empire attacked Remo. But during that day, which would be known as the Breach of Heavens as the sky turned red, many more things happened. Tadeus' right hand, a young general called Yuri Olson that had just arrived from the eastern lands of Lannet, led a group of Knights of the Order of Heaven to rescue Tadeus van Horsman, take the Imperial Palace and take Elias to justice.
During the attack, Elias tried to kill his own daughter, but Elisabetta's bodyguard, a man known as Kisidan, killed him and protected her. When the rebel army finally took the castle, knowing that the Empire was about to completely fracture without a head, Tadeus took Elisabetta to the Imperial Senate so that the Senators that were still in the city could be present when he proclaimed Elisabetta the Empress of the Holy Empire of Abel.
Most Principalties separated from the Empire, but Elisabetta managed to hold together the core of the Empire's lands. Many challanges await the young Empress. A war between the Empire and Azur Alliance is inminent, but she has the Knights of the Order of Heaven. Maybe, just maybe, she will be able to hold what is left of the Empire together.
Players start as trainees taking part in the trials to enter the Order of Heavens. More details about the setting in the second post. One thing of note is that Pegasus and Wyverns are extremely rare and there is no military that uses them routinely since the War of God. Of course, as PC are usually special people, you might have been able to find and tame one, but beware that most people will be striken in fear and/or awe, and some might call the Inquisition. The same goes for magic (but most of the time, it shouldn't be a problem. You are Knights of the Order of Heaven after all). We will be using the player's handbook v1.20, as well as the rules changes as outlined here. Terrain rules will be those of the Player's Handbook v1.22 One change to rules is that all characters have 5 item slots, regardless of their CON.
We are using the 1.3 Hadbook now!. The only exceptions are that Stillnes and Provoke are removed from the game and the inventory space for all characters is 5 regardless of their CON. The abilities Luna, Sol and Ignis from the FEF Hub are also added (see more in the third post)
I will be accepting 6 players to startParty Gold: 3000 Gold Crowns (coins)No one right now, there might be room for 1-2 more.
Kind spriters who volunteer to help me in my (apparently) unending fight to create decent sprites for the main NPCs are welcome.
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Topic: Knights of the Empire (FEF OOC) (Read 28402 times)