Skyfall

FACTIONS -

The deiocracy of Lo'dan: The deiocracy, or "De'natio" are a nation that has followed the will of Lo'dan, the last god, since the end of the god wars thousands of years ago. They tend to follow an adherence to the old ways and are steeped in tradition. This is not to say that they do not allow new ideas or technology into their society, but they are more likely to learn the way of the sword before the gun. That and they only embrace new things if it does not "corrupt" their society or otherwise bring negativity into their lives.

A large portion of the nation is trained to fight from an early age despite the fact that they lack a formal military. However, each citizen is expected to lay down their lives for each other and the god which they've sworn fealty to.



The order of deicide: The order is a cult with numbers in the thousands and continue to grow due to recent events. They see the world as dark and dangerous –as it is- and the reason for the constant strife and chaos is because of the gods. Specifically, that the last god, Lo'dan, refuses to die. They believe that merely by existing, the old god attracts misfortune and death. In their eyes, the only way to save the world is to kill Lo'dan.

The order says that after his death and the last drop of divine blood falls to the earth, new gods will be born from the body. The gods will usher in a new age of peace and prosperity, saving the world from the repeating cycles of war and hate.



The Sorcellerie: The sorcellerie (Otherwise known as the college of magi) is an organization of mages and other magic users dedicated to the study and use of magic in all forms. Unlike most magic societies, they freely share their discoveries with the world in order to better it. Though, this practice has not always been favorable for them. Notably, during attacks from the outside, as their techniques are often used against them. Despite this, they keep up the optimistic attitude towards the pursuit and spreading of knowledge.



The dynasty of Inu: The dynasty is a nation comprised of several islands in the Far East. It is ruled by the enigmatic empress Ryu and her Eunuchs. The nation, while still fully a monarchy, does allow its citizens to vote on lower offices in government. As well as on a few different laws that apply to various regions. Of course, Ryu always has final say. She does tend to be fairly agreeable, however.



(non-character)Fora: The fora, as they've announced themselves, are the outsiders from the sky. They remain in mystery and remain hostile. Any communications after first contact have been met with either silence, or bullets.



The Disgraced: The disgraced is a warrior order of "fallen" Aravein. They are outcasts, ousted by the elder council of their species as heretical or inherently evil people. They take refuge in a Temple somewhere in the Dark Wood, hidden from the eyes of even the Aravein Elders.

They branch out across the world, working as dangerous mercenaries for hire. The biggest distinction they have from the Aravein is that their wings have been removed. The ultimate sign of humiliation possible for their species. With their wings gone, their bird forms become useless, painful creatures and are slowly forgotten by the individual members as who they once were is lost in anger, spite, and blood. They are lead by a powerful warrior known for hunting and collecting the heads and wings of Aravein he finds too close to the ground, jealously guarding it against his flying brethren. As they stripped him and his fellows of their wings, he would strip them of theirs.



He is simply named Thrall, bane of the Aravein



LANDS/PLACES –




City of Sovereign: Sovereign is the city state of the last god. It is located in the valley of several mountains (Which provide a natural wall preventing attacks from the north) and despite it's quaint appearance, the city is fully modernized. It's governed by a carefully selected council as well as an aspect of Lo'dan(or more directly, his will given form)






Tower: The tower is home of the sorcellerie. It is a marvel of magic and science combined. While the outside may be large and intimidating, the inner whole is far more vast and miraculous, for, the sorcellerie have created pocket dimensions inside where all manner of things may be found!




Nihon(and surrounding islands) :Nihon is the name of the large island occupied by the dynasty and often extends to the various smaller islands around it. It is a land of great beauty, covered in rolling mountains, forests, and rivers. All dotted with flowering pink trees. It's two most notable features are Mt. Fuhi and the city of Toko. Both of which are right near the empress' personal palace.




The devastation(Tir'la) : This site is where the outsider's came down. During that day, skyfall, their vessel destroyed what was once holy land and the single most populous city on Auima, Tir'la. Now, it belongs to the Fora and their foreign nature.




Darkwood: Though none would dare to venture up the colossal trunk of a Darken Tree to search for their cities, Aravein commonly build their homes in the dense foliage of Darken Trees. Those that would chance intrusion are usually not heard from again. These massive tree's tower over a majority of the forest, the biggest of which stands in the exact geological center of the Wood, doubtfully by chance.

The Dark Wood. Dangerous, mysterious, fantastical. It is all of these things and so much more. The inhabitants of this land, stoic, giant creatures and packs of ravenous hunters call it home. But the most well known species are the Aravein, who, ironic to their stature as information traders, won't reveal anything about their homeland to outsiders even if bribed. In the mossy overgrown bases of the great trees of the Woods, there are settlements of foreign people to the land. They are not bothered by the Aravein, who take no interest in their business. They tolerate settlement in their lands solely because they do not believe in greedy wasting of potential life. The roots of the trees are strong, and have been turned into shabby villages by the poor and desperate.

A serf village at the base of a Darken Tree...

These people face the hardships of dealing with the great predators of the land, but at the trade of never having to participate in factional conflict. The soil is rich, and they have built moss farms to produce food and material for survival. It is a tough existence in the Roots, but one could get accustomed to such a lifestyle if they didn't mind some hard labor, and the occasional Rooter attack.

(Rooters are small predatory cat's that travel in social packs akin to wolves, though similar to wolves they are tamable and make solid companions if you raise them right.)

Waypoints between the Aravein and visitors are kept in the stumps of dead Darken Trees. New life springs forth from them, and the great saplings are woven into canopy's to create safe havens from the weather and creatures that abound in the Dark Wood. View attachment 808

The Wood is a dangerous place, and one would not expect to enter unprepared for a challenge and survive. The Aravein thrive there because of their habit of never coming to the ground, where the hazards truly lie. Mysterious in nature, and unexplained in science, these massive tree's seem to be impervious to fire, taking root even near fiery mountains and surviving apocalyptic ash storms periodically.

The only Darken Tree outside of the Dark Wood is an ancient one, that has sat dead for as long as anyone can remember, a grim monolith, turned into a shrine of death by the locals.




Taoul di Darastrixi, the City of Dragons:

Taoul di Darastrixi is a city formed long ago, tucked away in the eastern mountains, by the first of the draconic kinds. The city itself is meant more for human living, as thousands have decided to live among the dragons, as friends and as mates. In the flying tower above is where the dragons can also choose to roost or to hide away their hoard. The tower is held aloft in the air by the magic of the land and the magic from the draconians themselves.



RACES –






Mouzers: Mouzers are a cousin of the extinct goblin species. They tend to be tall and lanky. Most have a rather high intelligence and the dexterity of your average elf. They also tend to be quite agile and can move freely through most obstacles (A sort of natural parkor). They've developed a culture independent of the outside world, not counting their old goblin overlords. They admire skill in the craft of material objects and intelligence. They also hold a great deal of importance in "the masks". Originally forced on them by the other goblins, the masks used to serve two (And still do) purposes. To hide their faces (as they are far too ugly for even themselves to bear) and identify them in terms of trade. In old days, they'd be factory copies of each other but without their overlords, the mousers were allowed to more freely express themselves and customize their masks to mark them as individuals.




Aurora: The auroras are a strange race. Their bodies are impossibly made of metal, flesh, and magic in equal parts. Most hold a great deal of magical and physical strength and have the ability in equal to become fine spellswords. As menacing as they look, they're actually quite friendly. They openly trade and mingle with all races out of their little nation. Many of the aurora nation are struck with wonderlust in the early years of their lives, and so, seek to travel. Most who do get by as bards, or more commonly, mercenaries.




Chesspieces: Chesspieces are living suits of armor, originally created by wizards of the west who were simply too cheap to hire guards. chesspieces are born to serve their creators until death. when their creators die they are free to live their own lives as individual beings. each one is unique and has their own personality. However they do have one thing that makes them all alike, other than being empty armor. and that one thing is their fierce loyalty and devotion to anything or anyone they deem worthy, whether it be a cause they truly believe in or a stray cat that kept them company.




Dwarves: Pale, twisted creatures are the dwarves. They are often hunched over, from long years of tinkering and forge tending. Their long limbs and digits are used the help with their work, and you wouldn't think it from their lanky frames, but they posses a great deal of physical strength as well. In all, it's easy to mistake them for monsters based solely on their appearance, but they're some of the most intelligent beings in the world. They live mostly underground fiddling with new machines and tending their forges. They are very perceptive, able to tell where nearly anything near them is at the moment. This trait perplexes most, as the dwarves are eyeless and have no way to see, as far as any can tell. They have the habit of wearing thick robes or full armor in order to hide their figures, so that they do not alarm potential trade partners of other races.

It should be to note, that the dwarves were once said to be vastly different. Once they were stout, short beings similar to humans, but eternity living in the underground has changed them drastically.




Elves: These are very odd individuals. Elves are born as small, pointy eared, and extraordinarily ugly creatures. Their ugliness disgusted even themselves. In times past, they covered themselves with intricate costumes to hide their hideousness, but more recently, they've... adapted, their bodies. Their obsession with their looks drove them to seek assistance from the dwarves in changing their form. With their own magic and dwarven machinery, they removed and replaced parts of their bodies. Long, sculpted limbs replaced their short gangly ones and portions of their skin was switched for various materials. Going so far as to even replace their own faces with masks made of porcelain. Their obsession, changing them completely. One not to pay attention to; they are very sensitive about their looks. Any insult to them can lead to murder.



Kengeki: Much like the chesspieces from the west, the kengeki were made by witches in the east in order to fill the gaps in the military. Rather than being made from armor, however, they are made from weapons. Swords, shields, guns, anything that can be taken in hand for combat. The Kengeki are able to project bodies for themselves which often look human. Their projected bodies can be destroyed; however, this will not kill them. Eventually, they will regenerate until their true bodies, the weapon, is destroyed. They can also opt to "barrow" bodies from the living or dead in order to increase their own power.




(Non-character)Foma: The foma are tall, lanky creatures from outside. They posses great strength, though it's unclear if it is natural. They also have abilities like that of magic, however, some spells are unfamiliar to us.




Lasseli: they can take on just about any form (but not ones bigger or smaller than themselves) a lot of them prefer a human form because it's the new trend right now. The older, more traditional ones like to stay in an undefined state. They are constantly changing form throughout the day. They have no gender unless they choose to identify, although choosing a gender is looked down upon by the elder Laselians. They normally produce asexually unless two get together and decide to take on female and male roles.




Mosslings: The spawn of undergrowth and excess magic left about by witches. When exposed to traces of living things, magic tends to go wild and can create all manners of bizarre life from plants and such. Mosslings are made entirely of plant matter woven together with magic and dna into a replica of the original animal. They only require water for sustenance and can meld into any leafy environment.




Aravien: A race of intelligent and contemplative people, they thrive on commerce, specifically, information trading. As a neutral party to almost all factions they made an uneasy peace with their neighbors by never acting out against anyone specifically, however this peace has always teetered on the edge due to their nature as perfect spies, you cannot look at every bird with suspicion, yet any bird could be an Aravein. While the majority of them are scholarly and reserved, there is no lack of powerful warriors, which acted as a secondary deterrent to attempting to attack the peaceful Aravein. Their creation myth speaks of a great battle between great magical beasts, the blood of this battlefield was consumed by a raven, crow, hawk, and eagle. These birds became the mothers to a race of powerful half beings that resemble "Angels", their eggs hatching forth fully matured members of the species, who went on to found their mystical and baffling cities risen in the trees of the Dark Wood




Unnamed: They live in small covens and prefer dense forests where they can blend in and hide. They are fully sentient, but the world is a scary place and they prefer nature. Even so, it isn't unheard of for one of them to venture out in order to see the world, sell their crafts or their abilities(as healers, mostly).

Their abilities revolve around nature - in addition to their shapeshifting, they know some magic. Curses, natural magic and the like, but the source is the stone in their forehead - weaved in between the "branches" that make up their skin.

It can be removed, but not without the witch noticing it, since it becomes a part of them after a while.

They can enhance these abilities with more stones, but most don't need it or find it necessary at all.

They're a mono-gendered specie and they reproduce by enchanting the seeds of trees - their skin will end up being the same color as the bark of the tree their seed came from. Mind you, this requires a tremendous amount of magic and it is usually only a process performed by the eldest of the specie.

This seed becomes their heart and never grows; instead, it is hidden in their chest, kept safe by the branches that form their bodies and the magic that sustains them.

Their lifespan is long - like a trees, but in most cases they die of various illnesses or simply because they're feel like they're too frail to live without burdening others; and thus simply "releases" the energy and life binding them to the seed, after which the seed can be planted and grown into a tree.

The species itself is a very social one. Most stick with their covens, while others will venture out and find their own. Likewise, these witches bond for life. While life outside the covens can be scary, they are also a curious people and are very interested in other species and their affairs. It is not uncommon for them to seek out other people for the sole purpose of exchanging stories or simply to learn more about them.

Once a year, typically at the beginning of autumn, all the covens will gather, exchange stories and information or simply to meet new witches and form new bonds.

They are also naturally mischievous and they like to play pranks on each other. Most of them are harmless; they couldn't dream of hurting a member of another specie either, since death for them can be incredibly hard. Especially the death of a mate.

Despite all this, they aren't the brightest specie; they don't understand why other species don't live the way they do, shiny things will easily distract them and their attention span is short.



Draconic variants:

All draconic kind have the power of magic and mighty strength, though in varying degrees. They also all have the ability to transform in to human skin--so one may never know when they've just insulted a dragon.



DRAGONS

Thought to be the oldest of the draconic species, dragons can obtain a great size, with four legs and wings for flight. They are greatly skilled in their magic, bested only by wyrms.



WYVERNS

More slender than their dragon cousins, wyverns have only two hind legs, with their wings often used as forelegs when they are not in flight. Their magic does not have the stamina like the dragons or the wyrms, but it is just as deadly.



WYRMS

Slender and long, the wyrms have the greatest and most powerful of magic, as it is also what powers their ability of flight. They rarely have wings, and if they do, they are mostly used for navigation in flight instead of power. Also, they can vary between two or four legs.



DRAKES

The biggest and strongest of all draconic species, the drakes are so big they cannot fly, having neither wings nor magic powerful enough to lift their great bodies. Drakes are rather rare, as mating is difficult and the eggs take a long time to hatch. Legends say that mountains are made from the bodies of old drakes that the world had reclaimed beneath its soil.





LORE –




Origins: Long ago, there was a void. An empty spot of space in the vast abyss. Then, there was fire. Many of them. All created from the combat of two beasts. Winged and scaled giants, spitting flame and ripping at one another's flesh. The two dragons of the nothing. Ater, the black, and Byr, the red. Their conflict is said to have birthed all. With their fire becoming the stars and blood forming worlds. Our own, is said to be made of the body of one of these beasts. Which, is unknown, for neither live today to repeat the victory.




The gods: When the world was young, there was no life. Save, for the gods. Massive beings, the size of mountains. They were born from the blood of the great dragons and held the power, to create. Their world was nothing but cracked earth and flame, but through their divine power, they molded it into a living, breathing thing. Experimenting with new lives, plants, animals... us, eventually. Their only motivation was to fill the world with life so they would not be alone. They succeeded in this and ruled for a million years. Those times, were known as the divine ages. They were known, as paradise. Of course, only in retrospect.




The god wars: at some point, a number of the gods feared that the world they had made had grown stagnant. And that it was an imperfect place. That there was no point to the continuing such a failure. So, many wished to start over. Wipe the slate clean. The only problem with this, is that they'd have to cleanse the world of all they had created, effectively killing all things. Many were willing to do this, but others saw differently. They saw hope in the world, and the life on it. They saw it as worthy. Thus, creating a schism, leading to the war. They fought each other, and dragged the mortals into the conflict. Gods were slain, and returned to the soil. At the end of it, only one god remained, and the world was in tatters. The divine age, was over.




The last god: Lo'dan, the soul surviving god. Left over from the wars. He had fought to protect the world, and stayed to rebuild. He'd learned from the past conflict and felt terribly for the strife that came to his subjects, and all other things. He chose to lead passively, so that the actions of a god would not again destroy so much. He built a city, with the living followers he had left. He gave a select few authority over the lands then entered into a deep slumber, leaving behind an aspect of his will to help guide his subjects. Only awakening in the most dire of times.