A
Arelynn
Guest
Original poster
Post character apps here :)
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[BCOLOR=transparent]HOUSE OF CARDS[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Earth and Wonderland have always existed together, side-by-side, yet never knowing of each other’s existence. They are intertwined, yet vastly different. They are connected, yet the distance between them is infinite. They are not parallel worlds, nor are they mirror opposites either. They are connected in a way that fraternal twins might be. Not too alike, but a powerful bond is still shared.
In House of Cards, you will play as a member of a team in search of work in order to attain the possibility of riches, infamy, and status among the denizens of Wonderland. This will be an open-world adventure--your actions decide what happens! The civil war will rage on around you, as well as other world events, as you continue on your adventures.[/BCOLOR]
Accepted characters: 2/6
[BCOLOR=transparent]"Madness hold me,[fieldbox="History, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"]
Love break me,
And hang me by the neck,
With the string called my Lifeline."[/BCOLOR]
Before the main powers of Wonderland split between the four royal families, there was a being called The Mire Warden. It was the one that instilled madness into Wonderland, slowly corrupting everyone. The King of Spades and the King of Hearts spearheaded the attack on The Mire Warden, defeating it and establishing the four royal families.
Later, due to a split in ideologies on how to deal with the spreading madness, a civil war broke out. The four families split into two alliances: the Black Alliance and the Red Dominion. At the head of the Black Alliance was the Spade family, allied with the Clove family. Leading the Red Dominion was the Heart family, allied with the Diamond family.
Hundreds of years ago, the civil war finally ended in favor of the Black Alliance. During the last major offensive in the capital of the Red Dominion, Bicycle City, the King of Spades and the King of Hearts fought square on with each other. The King of Hearts was slain, but the King of Spades was left heavily wounded. He was taken back to the capital of the Black Alliance, Kem City, where he died in the Spade Palace’s hospital.
Everyone was united under the rule of the Spades, headed by the Queen of Spades, who later became known as the White Queen. Throughout these hundreds of years, the Queen of Hearts had steadily been making contacts and relationships. Only a few years ago, the Queen of Hearts rose again with the Diamonds, declaring that they were the New Red Order. They claimed that they were going to restore order to the chaotic and insane world of Wonderland. This gained her wide popularity, especially among the people struck with poverty and misfortune, and she eventually became known as the Red Queen.
While to them it seemed like Wonderland was constantly spiraling into madness, the White Queen thought differently. While it was true that most of the continent was crazy in some fashion, it had been that way for hundreds of years, and the first civil war only allowed it to grow unhindered. She believed that something that deeply entrenched would have to slowly revert, not suddenly revolutionize. This conflict in political ideology, as well as that fact that they each blamed the other for the death of their husbands, is what caused the civil war to rise again.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Geography, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"][BCOLOR=transparent]The continent of Wonderland is separated into five regions: The North, South, East, West, and Shadowlands.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]In the North lies many rocky mountains and snowy plains. The frigid cold often results in deadly hailstorms or blinding blizzards. Large stone strongholds are often located high in the mountains, though smaller cities and towns can be found inside mountain caves or huddled near cliff faces. Within some mountains are ancient ruins, lost in rockfalls or other phenomenons. Because of the weather conditions, they mostly rely on fishing and farms built outside the mountain ranges for food. Many creatures of the North hide underneath the snow to ambush their prey or dwell in caves.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]The South is a region of vast deserts and imposing plateaus. Dust storms rage across the deserts, impairing vision and making travel difficult without knowledge of the land. Large palaces as well as cities and towns are built near abundant water sources like lakes and oases. Underground, there is an elaborate and complicated series of mazes that make up a sacred labyrinth. Creatures often roam the depths of the labyrinth, though there are many creatures that live aboveground.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]To the East are many forests, including the great Vera Forest. The great palaces, cities, and towns are surrounded by thick foliage. During the springtime, many areas of the forests bloom into beautiful and lively colors. While there are creatures that live in the forests, the most dangerous thing are the forests themselves. They are truly alive in every sense of the word.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]In the region of the West are the grassy plains and many lakes. Palaces and castles are usually located at the top of hills or in the center of lakes, while cities and towns surround them. There are multiple bodies of water which many aquatic creatures call home. Within the grassy plains is an area called the Dream, where most of the more bizarre creatures of Wonderland originate.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]The Shadowlands is located in the very center of the continent. From the outside, it looks like a very dark and very dense forest, constantly surrounded by a heavy fog. Anyone that had ever entered the forest was never seen again. Madness originates from the Shadowlands; those that live closer to the Shadowlands are more likely to turn insane. There are entire populations near the Shadowlands that have descended into madness. Horrifying creatures sometimes stray from the region and terrorize the areas surrounding it. Despite these being terrifying, there are even worse ones inside.[/BCOLOR]
[fieldbox="Race, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"]Wonderland is primarily occupied by the six races of humans, verachromas, gostrulics, umbralockes, nafarians, and exitols.
[BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: There are many variants of the human race, depending on the region they are from. Humans of the North are large, very defined, and strong. Men often sport long beards. The normal hair color for them is blonde with the eye color of blue, though there are a small amount with brown hair. Humans of the South have darker skin and both men and women usually have short, black hair. In some areas of the South, humans have lighter skin with red hair. The typical eye colors are brown and green. Humans of the East have long, straight, black hair with black, almond-shaped eyes, though some have blue eyes. Humans of the West have pale skin and brown hair with brown eyes, though some have platinum hair with grey eyes.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Humans are humans, it’s simple. But in Wonderland, humans have a lifespan of hundreds of years.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Humans do not have anything very special about them. They aren’t the best at anything, but they aren’t the worst at anything either. They’re the jack-of-all-trades.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Humans are the most numerous race in Wonderland. All four of the royal families are human.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: Verachromas are plant-like beings that take the shape of a humanoid. Their eyes are almond-shaped, though they do not have pupils, they simply glow green. In place of hair are leaves and sometimes grass, flowers, or other foliage. Their entire bodies are green, but some are covered in bark of different colors like brown or white. When rooted, their roots are usually brown or green.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Verachromas are very similar to plants. In the place of blood is sap. They have roots, but they can retract them and form feet. They have a natural outer layer of armor, which helps because they cannot wear armor. Armor would bruise their leaves and block sunlight. Verachromas do not need to eat, they only need sunlight, water, and nutrients from their roots. They are not born like any other race. They spend their time within The Ancient, which is an extremely large tree in the Vera Forest, growing and maturing, absorbing knowledge and experience from its roots until they are of age to be released into the world.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Verachromas are not animals, so they do not have vocal chords. Instead, they speak directly through to others’ minds. Different verachromas have different abilities. Some of these include spitting poison, spreading poisonous pollen, ensnaring enemies in vines, and more.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Inside the Vera Forest, they are the most powerful, which is why there has never been a successful invasion of the Vera Forest. Most verachromas prefer to stay secluded inside the Vera Forest, though a small number venture outside. Many feel uncomfortable when not surrounded by nature.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: A gostrulic is a creature with the ability to transform into human form as well. Creatures can range from things like house cats to large beasts like jabberwockies. In human form, they look like a normal human except for certain aspects that they retained from their creature form like wings, ears, or tusks.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Gostrulics in human form retain parts of their creature form and some of the abilities that they have. In creature form, they have all of their abilities.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] These can vary depending on the creature. In human form, a gostrulic may retain abilities like agility, flight, or even the ability to breathe fire.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] They typically live in their natural habitat or with humans.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: Umbralockes are shadowy beings that don’t actually have a physical form. They typically take the shape of a shadow human with glowing white eyes, though they cannot actually interact with anything physically nor can they speak. In order to do either of those, they have to posses an inanimate object. They prefer to possess things like dolls or mannequins, as they give a good range of movement.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] They cannot speak unless they possess something with vocal chords. Only extremely powerful ones can possess a living body, and dead bodies cannot be possessed. When the object they are possessing takes enough damage, they are ejected out of it. Because they cannot be affected by anything physical, they can only be killed by sunlight, and sunlight does not affect them when they are possessing something. They also cannot do anything physical in shadow form.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Umbralockes can possess inanimate objects, though only things like dolls and mannequins can give them full range of movement. Possessing a teapot won’t do anything for them.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Umbralockes come from the Dream. Some say that an umbralocke is created when a dead person’s spirit returns for unfinished business.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: Nafarians are marine humanoids with smooth, silvery skin and fins. Their eyes are similar to those of a verachroma, but instead of green, they’re either blue, purple, or silver. Some of them have small horns at the top of their heads and running down their backs. Their canines are sharper and slightly longer than that of a normal human. They have lightly-colored hair, usually light blue or white but sometimes darker colors.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Nafarians are aquatic creatures, so they have similar qualities with other marine animals. A nafarian has small scales lining their body and can breathe underwater as well as above water.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Nafarians can sing a mind-altering song that can seduce those that have weak will. They can also spit a chemical that emits a very bright light, temporarily blinding enemies. Their bite injects a paralyzing poison into the victim.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Most nafarians call the lakes of the West home, though they can be found around the seas surrounding the continent of Wonderland. Many humans find the look and song of a nafarian very alluring. Nafarians speak to each other through their songs.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: Exitols are creatures of minerals and metals. They are very tough, and often very large. Depending on what the exitol is made of, that determines what it looks like. An exitol made of steel can look something like a robot, while one that is made of a stone-like material can look like a golem. Whatever they are made of, they can manipulate and add on to themselves.
Biology:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] An exitol is entirely made out of one material. Add-ons become a part of the exitol. A steel exitol can take a sword and attach it to its arm to have a new sword.
Abilities:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] They have control of a certain mineral or metal, as long as they can get a hold of it. In order to take a sword, they would have to take it from the grip of the warrior holding it first.
Other Notes:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] Exitols are found in the mountains of the North but also underground in the labyrinths of the South. They are typically hired as miners, being paid with the mineral or metal of their type.[/BCOLOR]
[fieldbox="The Four Royal Families, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"]The continent of Wonderland is ruled by the four royal families of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Cloves.
The Spade family appears pale with platinum hair and grey eyes. They fight in a very by-the-book way, so dirty fighting styles catch them off-guard in direct confrontations. Their main strength is their intelligence, so they make very good strategists. They believe in long-term success for the people of Wonderland and really care for their people.The Heart family appears fair-skinned with red hair and green eyes. They are masters of stealth and manipulation, so infiltration and assassinations are their specialty. Their family members are mostly lax and jubilant and know how to have a good time, but have a serious side as well.The Diamond family appears bronze skinned with black hair and black eyes. They value honor and family above all other responsibilities. It is considered the greatest offense to surrender in battle. They fight very gracefully, and they speak and do other actions the same way.The Clove family appears olive skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes. It is one of the greatest honors to fall in battle and join their warrior ancestors. A seasoned Clove warrior is extremely strong with a great mind for pain. They can go into a raging fury and kill ten others before finally dying due to dozens of stab wounds that should have killed them long ago.
[fieldbox="Other Factions, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"]Multiple factions are spread throughout Wonderland, but these three are the top known ones.
These are people that devote themselves to worshiping and appeasing the Shadowlands in hopes of driving it back and returning sanity. Some parts of the Healing Sanctum practice human sacrifice, sending a worthy offering into the Shadowlands in order to “feed its hunger.” They also create “experimental cures” in order to revert the mad.The Wonderland Tea Party are a cult of insane people seeking to convert others to madness. They believe that the spread of insanity is natural and inevitable for all of the denizens of Wonderland, and willing conversion only makes the process easier.The Church of Hearts are convinced that the insane can’t revert, so they segregate them as well as execute them in the masses. Contrary to popular belief, the Queen of Hearts has nothing to do with the Church of Hearts, nor has she ever said the phrase, “Off with their heads!”
[fieldbox="Other Lore, aqua, dashed, 10, Times New Roman"]
Aces: In each of the four families, one is designated as the “Ace.” Aces are essentially the champion of the family. They are strong, fast, intelligent, and just overall powerful. It is rare that anyone can be evenly matched with an Ace in battle. Since there are only four Aces, it is rare that they meet, but in the event that they do, at least one is guaranteed to die. That is, if they don’t end up destroying each other.
Kings/Queens: A King or Queen is designated in each family to rule their region. When there is both a King and a Queen ruling, they rule with equal power, but it is possible for either of them not to get married and have a patriarchy or matriarchy. If an Ace becomes a King or Queen, the position is passed on to the next in line. It is only then that the King is more powerful than the Ace.
Jacks: A Jack is designated as the heir to the throne, typically being the eldest sibling, though he or she is ultimately decided by the ruling King and or Queen, as it is not a strict regulation.
Numbers: Anyone part of the four royal families is designated a card. For example, a member of the Diamond family may be called the Eight of Diamonds. The higher the number, the more powerful they are.Magic: In Wonderland, magic seems to be connected to the Shadowlands, though whether it’s direct or indirect isn’t known. People that heavily use magic will slowly start to descend into madness. Lighter users won’t turn insane as quickly, but they will start showing symptoms like visual illusions and hearing whispers and voices.
Cards: Each member of any royal family owns a Card corresponding with their alias. These Cards grant special powers, varying from person to person. Each Card has only three uses, and at the end of the final use, the user perishes. To use it, the caster holds out the Card so that the front of it is facing outward, and calls out the name of the Card. This allows the royal families to cast powerful magic without having to worry about the side effects of insanity.
Tech: Technology has gotten about as far as single-shot flintlock weapons. Rifleman battalions are often used in open combat or sieges, but due to the slow reloading and the training required to actually shoot accurately, most people prefer to use standard weapons.A common language exists that all sentient beings of Wonderland understand, though there are also regional languages that allow for more private conversations. Certain things have the ability to communicate in unique ways instead of vocal speech, like the verachromas. -
- Be respectful to me and others.
- While the open-world aspect is pretty lenient, my word is still law. If you disagree with something, feel free to try and sway my opinion!
- Please post using proper grammar and spelling. Typos are okay, but try to keep them to a minimum!
- Don't give super short posts. If you really can't think of something more to say, give it some more time and thought!
- Try to post regularly! I get that you have lives, and that takes priority, but please don't abandon the RP!
- Other general rules of RPing like not god-modding, auto hitting, and other such things. Pretty much common sense!
- Have fun!
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Character Sheet:[BCOLOR=transparent]Name: Firstname "Nickname" Lastname
Gender: Male, female, or other.
Race: Listed in the overview!
Abilities: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]You can create your own, but please refer to the race lore. Max 3.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Beliefs: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]How do they feel about Wonderland’s current situation (politics, madness, the families)? Other beliefs?[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Appearance: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Picture or short description will do![/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Equipment: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Armor, locks picks, potions, and other miscellaneous items. Max 5.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Weapons: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Describe them or give pictures! Max 3.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Background: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Your character’s backstory and history.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Likes and Dislikes: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Food, activities, types of people, and other things.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Accepted Characters:[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Raven "Rave" Haruka
Hanne "Ane" Riitta[/BCOLOR]
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