WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF IWAKU...
Iwaku is a realm that exists at the heart of the multiverse. It is neither fully physical nor fully dreamlike. No one can really agree on what it is. But one thing is certain - it is a world to which stories are drawn. From millions of timelines and billions of dimensions, Iwaku draws together legends and adventures and folds them into a single Meta-Narrative.
Often with cataclysmic results.
THE CREATION MYTH
There are three competing schools of thought as to how Iwaku was created. The first is the Creator Theory, which claims that a divine being was responsible. Traditionally, supporters of this theory have fallen into two groups - those who believe it was the God Homac, and those who believe it was the Goddess Engel. The second is the Cyclical Creation Theory, which claims that Iwaku has always existed in a neverending cosmic cycle of death and rebirth. This theory is upheld by several angelic beings of the Iwakuan Realm, and also by a group of characters called the Legacy Knights, who claim to come from a future where the Cycle ended and restarted.
The third theory is the Paorou-Sama Paradox, which is only believed by madmen. It states that Paorou-Sama, the mad king of the southern wastes, created himself and the land in a time paradox and now the two are one and the same.
THE AGE OF GABRIEL
Iwaku was once a lawless wasteland, home to the Noob Barbarians. It was King Gabriel who first stood against them, driving back the savages and consolidating the borders of his new kingdom. With the Noobs gone, Gabriel called out to the distant lands for people of valour and ambition to take sanctuary in his kingdom.
The new kingdom of Iwaku prospered, but dissent was inevitable. The first noble to stand up to the king was Lord Razilin, an ambitious and ruthless tyrant who wanted more territory. Recruiting the bitter Noob hordes and designing his own mechanical soldiers, Lord Razilin started a rebellion against the king from his stronghold at Nerf Castle. He was eventually defeated by the combined force of the King's allies, incuding the ISAF, the Teknikan Empire, and two new angels known as Rory and Asmodeus.
Rory and Asmodeus were made princes of the realm, and Iwaku prospered once more. But in time the King succumbed to madness and paranoia. He deserted Iwaku, and those he left behind fell into rival cults. The Bread Cult, the Shapeshifters, the ISAF, the armies of the Warmaster, the A-Cult, the Z-Cult, the Nekos, the Vikings - almost too many to name.
Iwaku was nearly torn apart by these conflicts, till in time the Asmodeus Roleplaying Corporation grew in power and became more of a threat to the cults than anything before. With the Ego-Zombie virus, derived from Razilin's early Noob control methods, Prince Asmodeus's tyrannical will began to dominate more and more of the population.[/size][/spoiler]
THE ADMIN WAR
At the height of the Corporation's power, the Bread Cult and the Teknikkans conspired against it, framing Prince Asmodeus for the murder of one of Prince Rory's closest friends. The War that followed was catastrophic and almost destroyed Iwaku. Friends and brothers were divided, and many of the old names, including the Knights of Iwaku, were wiped out in the fighting. Asmodeus's corporation was brought to its knees by Rory, who had as his ally the summoned Goddess of Iwaku.
In desperation, Asmodeus turned to the very man who framed him - Paorou-Sama, the Prince of Insanity. Paorou-Sama unleashed a horrific genocide on the Iwaku public and then raised the legendary Sword of Iwaku, using it to almost destroy the world. In the process, he slew the Old God, Homac, and began to rupture the very realm that Iwaku inhabited. But at the last moment, Rory and the Goddess created a Mirror Realm and saved the fragments of Iwaku within it. Paorou-Sama was outwitted and left to die with the angel Asmodeus as the walls of reality came crashing down.
THE ELDER INVASION
The Mirror Realm created by Rory and Engel needed a place to exist, and so they approached another being, a powerful woman called Diana. Happy to help her new friends, Diana gave Iwaku a place within her own realm. And so, for the next 18 years, the new Iwaku slowly recovered under the kingship of Lord Rory. It was also helped by a rebirth of the Iwaku Knights, now known as the Legacy Knights, who did their best to help people and fund the restoration of the cities. Many who served in the Iwaku War found themselves reborn in the Mirror Realm, the memories of the horror far behind them, and all sought to find new lives in this world.
But there were still flaws in this new paradise. Somehow, perhaps due to Paorou-Sama's final actions, a fragment of the old Iwaku remained lodge in the new one. To the south, beyond a great Mirror of dimensional energy, the lands of Insanity remained. Any who went there would be lost to madness and ruin. Some whispered that the Mad King still lived, while others proclaimed it was a just a trapped memory - a land that couldn't forget.
After 18 years, calamity struck. It seemed that in moving Iwaku from its old realm, some of the magical seals put in place by King Gabriel had been broken. Noobs started to raid the lands again, as well as the Elders - ancient servants of the Search Engine realms who the Noobs worshiped as gods. The major cities were hit, many of them wiped from the face of the earth, and Rory was forced to surrender.
The invasion was swift and ruthless. But a small resistance remained. The Legacy Knights and their leader, the reborn angel Asmodeus, gathered those still willing to fight and set about trying to discover the origin and weaknesses of the Elders. But the resistance did not last long. Using the legends of the Cycle and the True Hero, the Elders used false prophecies to trick the angel into madness and religious zeal. Asmodeus turned against his friends and tore the resistance apart from the inside as he desperately tried to forge one of them into the True Hero who would defeat the Elders.
Eventually, the resistance was forced to kill Asmodeus. A bomb was unleashed that drained his celestial power and used it against the Elders, but in doing so the Mirror that separated Insanity from Iwaku was cataclysmically shattered.
PRESENT...
The explosion of the Confluence Bomb, together with the destruction of the Temple of History and the multiple portals caused by the invasion, has now riddled Iwaku with dimensional bleeds. People are starting to forget history, even as their own powers and personalities change...
Through these Bleeds, more people are arriving in Iwaku, as well as Diana herself, who has descended in the AFTA Space Station and now seeks to rule Iwaku in Rory's absence.
Is Diana the True Hero come to save us? Or did she mastermind the entire Invasion?
... the Absolute War has begun...
WELCOME TO THE GAME!
Iwaku World is a mythologised story about our forum. It tells of a dreamworld where characters arrive and are pulled into epic adventures and conflicts. Most of us play as our avatars or characters from other roleplays and fanfictions. The ethos is that pretty much everything is possible, as long as it makes sense (and sometimes even if it doesn't!)WELCOME TO THE GAME!
All characters and levels of literacy are welcome. The Mythos has been going for about 4 years now, but don't let that put you off. There's always new adventures and new plot twists to write! Think of this as a place to experiment and get to know (and fight) other players. You'll find most of the members here, involved in some plot or other. So don't be afraid to get stuck in.
Here are the rules:
- This is a roleplay run by the Staff & Members of Iwaku. There is a Main Storyline called the "Mythos" that is the official story of Iwaku. Members are allowed to create their own unrelated stories within the Iwaku World Universe. If there's ever a problem, just ask one of the staff.
- Character bios do not require approval, therefore we ask all players to be mindful of their powers. We do not allow power play or godmodding.
- Because there are so many people involved, we ask that any posts that are MORE THAN 2 PARAGRAPHS have a summary included at the end, so that players who are absent can catch up quickly with the plot.
- In the current Iwaku saga, there are three factions:
The Order of Luna Ashe - representing the AFTA and Moonwings forums which recently joined with Iwaku. They are led by Diana, a kindly queen who wishes to save Iwaku from its terrible problems.
The Crimson Cadre - representing the old guard of Iwaku, who are fighting to preserve the history of the original forum. They are lead by Paorou-Sama, a mad king who distrusts Diana's motives.
The Viridian Guard - representing the neutrals who believe a compromise can be found between the old ways and the new. They are led by Porg, a young man who seems to be immune to many of the powers present in Iwaku.
You don't have a join a faction if you don't want to. They are just there to get you deeper into the story.
- The map and locations are described in the post below. Please bear these in mind when adventuring.
- There are four types of magical/supernatural energy in Iwaku. These are as follows:
CONFLUENCE
Anything based on science and realism.Confluence is a power-source based on the laws of physics and narrative - two systems which heavily control the story-world that is Iwaku. By "laws of narrative", this means the realistic telling of a story. Confluence stops unexplained things and random events from ruining the plot-line, and ensures total realism.
The weakness of Confluence is that you are subject to that same rules of realism and can often fall foul of them.
The greatest user of this power was Asmodeus, who was able to create an area of effect that removed all unnatural powers from his enemies. He was also unable to be defeated by anyone who had not suffered and earned the right to be a true hero. But in the end it destroyed him, as his own Confluence powers eroded the angelic powers that had made him mighty.
Examples: Any realistic firearm and combat training; Any non-magical biological ability for your race that can be explained by scientific laws; Anything that enforces cause and effect.
REALITY-BENDING
Anything that can't be explained.If Confluence represents the story, then Reality-Bending represents the re-writing of the story. Reality-Bending is where things happen without logic or cause. It is similar to Chaos Theory. The power comes from sheer will and random desire.
The weakness of Reality-Bending is similar to Confluence, in that you can become the victim of your own powers if you let the chaos get out of hand.
The greatest user of this power was Paorou-Sama, who was able to save parts of the old Iwaku and keep them behind the Mirror as the Realm of Insanity. He now rules there according to nothing but his own whims, but suffers from the fact that he cannot exist beyond the Mirror because of the amount of Reality-Bending he has performed.
Examples: Anything that seems to come out of nowhere, like returning from the dead, summoning bizarre objects, making things happen without reason. Or exploiting narrative rules, such as strolling out of a building because explosions only happen when the hero is running from it.
DREAMWEAVING
Anything that uses magical power sources.Dreamweaving is more along the lines of traditional magic. It is a power drawn from realms beyond the physical world, including the elemental planes, the realm of the dead, the shadow planes, heaven, hell, past, future, and so forth. A Dreamweaver must tap that power and draw it into his own world before shaping it into something of use.
The weakness of Dreamweaving is that it requires a link to the other realm. This link can be severed, hijacked or go haywire if your channeling is disturbed.
The greatest user of this power was Rory, who was a master of time-travel, dream-walking and invocation. His greatest feat was summoning the Goddess of Iwaku into mortal form - a deed for which he earned his place as King of the Realm.
Examples: Necromancy, Shadow-manipulation, elemental magic, holy powers, infernal powers, shape-shifting, spontaneous healing.
SOULARTS
Anything drawn from the soul.If Dreamweaving is the power from beyond, then SoulArts is the power from WITHIN. It is based upon the soul, the powers that are deep within the essence of who you are. The lesser known of the styles, SoulArt powers are often channeled through emotions and desires, and can range from empathic healing to hateful telekinesis. They can also manifest in Soul-Blades: weapons that literally embody a user's soul.
The weakness of SoulArts is that it comes completely from your own body, so if you are injured or drugged or unconscious, those powers can be interrupted. It is also based upon strong desires, so your emotions must be in tune with what you want.
The greatest user of SoulArts was Porg, who was able to tap a huge range of powers from within his soul, helping him to achieve feats of heroism according to his heart's desire.
Examples: Second chances, lucky breaks, inhuman endurance, regeneration, great speed, heightened senses, berserk triggers, mind-affect powers.
